Kollywood 2008 - The year that was

Now this blog post is dedicated to our dear Kollywood. There were a lot of good ones in 2008. Songs like Kandaen from Pirivom Sandhippom and one from Kuruvi also sounded good. But I didn't find them good enough to run on a loop in my playlist. So let me jot down my favourites of 2008.

13.'Oru Vaarthai Pesamal' - Poi Solla Porom

I still haven't given enough listens to this song compared to others in the list. Got to know of this song from a friend. Shreya Ghoshal, a fast paced number complimented by a cute video makes it an enjoyable song.

12.'Adada Adada'- Santosh Subramaniam

Another cute movie and a cute video. A catchy tune also. But just because it happens to be a second hand version puts this song at #11.

11.'Mudhal Mazhai'- Bheema

Tough choice between this one and Enadhuyire. The disastrous video of the latter tiled the balance in favour of Mudhal mazhai. Kettu kettu pulithu ponalum still a hummable number.

10.'En Anbe' - Satyam

Late entrant...Terrible movie.Good tune though by Harris, sounds Peppy and ably aided by Sadhana Sargam's voice.

9.'Dost Bada Dosth' - Saroja

Brilliant movie complimented by superb music. I guess after 'Mustafa Mustafa', this would be one of the landmark song in celebration of friendship.

8.'Venmegam' - Yaaradi Nee Mohini

I was initially smitten by Yengeyo of Udit, his diction not withstanding. But, decided to give a couple of listens to this one and it has been Hariharan from then on. Simple tune, video has traces of artificiality, still a memorable number 2008 has given us.

7.'Naan varaindhu vaitha'- Jeyam Kondaan

I bet you didn't see this coming. Hariharan's melliflous voice is the highlight of this song set in a tune familiar to Kollywood. Still, a lovely number

6.'Marudhani' - Sakkarakatti

Rahman's high buzz action in Bollywood has been compensated with a quieter year in Kollywood. Nice tune, madhusree's diction could have been much better. Nevertheless, Rahman shows he is still alive to Kollywood.

5.'Kallai Mattum' - Dasavatharam

The showpiece of 2008 could have done lot better with any other music director at the helm. Still this one and Mukundha represent reasonable success on debut for Himesh.Hariharan lends life to controversial lyrics and a dramatic video adds to the viwer's excitement.

4.'Kathazha Kannale' - Anjathey

Myskinn has a knack of getting famous gaana paatu to figure in his movies I guess. Like Vaalameenu, this song was a major rage in the first half of 2008. Flora apart, Pandirajan and his antics in the name of dance steps makes it a funny video.

3.'Sagiye' - Dhaam Dhoom

This movie was so predictable for a thriller. I still strongly feel audience went to the theatre just for the songs. Bombay Jayasree delivers her usual haunting melody with this song.

2.'Nenjukkul Peidhidum' - Varanam Aayiram

So hard to pick one.Part of the audience hate the movie. Am not one among them. Cutting across decades, all songs were excellent. But I shall cast the blogger's vote for this slot and settle on this wonderful performance by Hariharan.

1.'Kangal Irandal' - Subramaniapuram

I bet you didn't see this coming either.One of the songs in recent times when voice and instruments didn't compete with each other and worked in sync. The raga made famous by Balamurali Krishna ji with 'Chinna kannan azhaikkiran' gets a new lease of life with this one. Hats off to "Vilai enna" James Vasanthan...

Bollywood - 2008

No, no, this post is not about the movies, I would be the last person to waste my time looking for diamonds in a stone quarry. This is about music. Let me jot down the top Hindi songs that come to my mind.

11.'Haule Haule' - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Not even close to DDLJ even in terms of musical composition. Though in the eye of storm over a copyright infringement issue, this one is a funny video in the backdrop of Amritsar, aided beautifully by Sukhwinder Singh's rendition, this song just manages to make the cut.

10.'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi' - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

Rahman and Aamir factor was instrumental in making audience come to the theatres. Rahman had done a decent work on the background score. Just some similarity with 'Appudo ippudo' takes some sheen off what otherwise was the best song of the album. And a mention about lyrics also, beautifully penned by Abbas Tyrewala

9.'Pichle Saat Dinon Mein' - Rock On

This movie is a major rage in college campuses and has shades of Dil Chahta Hai. The only problem with the album being that it is too one dimensional with all songs bordering on soft or hard rock. Still, Farhan does a decent job on debut with his 4 songs. Just for the josh factor associated with it, it finds a place.


8.'Pehli Nazar Mein' - Race

At 2:00 AM on sunday morning, a friend of mine pinged me from U.S. saying he wanted to commit suidice after wasting $12 on this movie. We aren't talking about movie reviews, are we? Aided by Atif Aslam's magical voice and good guitars, this is a worthy entrant in this list.

7.'Bakhuda Tumhi Ho' - Kismat Konnection

Shahid claimed that songs of this movie are even better than Jab we Met. But I didn't find them to be, except for one sung by Sonu Nigam and this one, expertedly rendered by Atif and Alka Yagnik. A picturesque setting in the vicinity of Toronto, it is an enjoyable video too...The remix version of this song also sounds good.


6.'Zara si' - Jannat

I was completely disinterested when I was forced to watch this movie. Story was different and good while the way in which it was told wasn't. Sunidhi Chauhan's pick of 2008 (apart from her own, of course), KK has done a masterful job with this as well as "Haan tu Hain". Hard to choose between the two, but I'm settling on 'Zara si'

5.'Kaise Mujhe' - Ghajini

Even before release, caught in copyright storm. I personally waited eagerly and guess was one of the early birds to listen to it. Comparisons with tamil version tarnished my openness to listen to this album. Taare Zameen Par style lyrics in 'Behka' and then opinions floating that it is the next "Main aisa kyun hoon" killed off my interest in listening to the album fully multiple number of times. However, this composition is a complicated beauty. Benny Dayal must have cursed himself for committing to a song that was stretching his pitch to the maximum extent possible. The last 48 second instrumental is one of the best I've heard from Rahman and any musician for that matter. Melody Queen Shreya also does her job meticulously. Slow tune, mushy mushy lyrics, but still enjoyable. That's 'Kaise Mujhe' for you...

4.'Teri Ore'- Singh is Kinng

No, Snoop Dog, Tata Young, Bhangra, and lousy beats don't interest me. This was what this Pritam album was exactly. There was only one anamoly though and it was this song set in a Rajasthani folk tune. Ravishing Katrina in the backdrop of Pyramids makes you want to watch the video again and again. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shreya Ghoshal have done their work in a professional manner. I wouldn't be surprised if Shreya wins Filmfare or some accolade for this song.


3.'Meherbaan' - Ada

The movie is not yet out. Music was in production since 2001. A very different album with shades of Italian style in 'Ishq Ada' song. However, Meherbaan steals the show. Rahman does magic with the keyboard. The sense of calmness the song brings in, it is just amazing. Another 'Vellai Pookkal',maybe...

2.'Jashn-e-bahaara' - Jodha Akbar

A period film, with Gowariker, lot of room to experiment, Rahman didn't disappoint. Though the song doesnt run fully in movie, it captures the situation perfectly. Thought it took people to recollect the man who rendered 'Kajra Re', Javed Ali got a comeback vehicle through this.


1.'Tu Muskura' - Yuvvraaj

Bollywood's Ultimate showman hasn't turned up a hit in more than a decade now. It's sad that with the movie's failure the songs have also slowly disappeared. Except for Shanno, all songs were likeable and had an element of symphony in them. It was quite refreshing. This song flows like a river and I just couldn't stop listening till Ghajini arrived to distract me...I still feel, this deserves its position because it grabbed the audience attention despite being a different genre.

Butterfly effect and Eligibility Criteria

When my close friend wrote a post on Chaos theory and its implementation in Dasavatharam, I thought such a complicated screenplay is needed to make people understand that it sounds impossible to visualize the phenomenon at work in the real world. However, the past few months have shown adequate proof of things that no one could have imagined of. What started as a collapse of an investment bank has seen bailout packages of the order whose zeroes I can't count.The biggest company in the beginning of 20th century, GM is waiting for bailout while its CEO will get a salary of $1 from January.The snowballing effects has seen so many banks from across the globe being sucked into this blackhole.

The fortunes of other currencies have been tied to dollar since World war-II after which all business transactions have been routed with dollar as the trading currency. With so many financial institutions having fallen prey to the fancied financial instruments MBAs like me had designed,this inter twining of world financial institutions' fate with that of U.S. economy had only gotten stronger with this agreement.Sadly, the world didn't bother to notice amidst the euphoria of globalization. This entanglement has served as a perfect platform for a live demo (demonstration cum demolition) of chaos theory and butterfly effect.

Amidst all the sectors such as automotive and technology and IT service firms suffering indirectly due to credit crunch and drying up of offshore projects, this crisis has managed to pull down oil prices from $100 a barrel to $44 a barrel. Something to be proud of, maybe. No say the oil companies, whose numbers have taken a real hit. How true, it is impossible to satisfy all sections of the society. Another interesting bit, Knut, the rare baby polar bear born in Berlin Zoo turns two and needs a larger enclosure to release its adolescent hormones and grow well. However, the crisis has meant unavailability of funds for the project. Knut may be offloaded to another zoo by 2010. Not fair to cute little Knut, which had brought in revenues of 10 million Euros so far.



I guess I've taken off tangentially from what I really want to talk about. The financial meltdown has had its effects on many of us, am sure. But, I'm not a commoner, sort to speak of since I'm a student right now. However, I feel it puts me in a better position to know the market signals early due to being constantly in touch with potential recruiters. Some head honchos say things will not improve for the next four years which also happens to coincide with Obama's tenure. Given Obama's stance on outsourcing, does this ring any bells about which sector I'm talking about? Companies are cutting down on growth projections in decreasing arithmetic progression also shows that things don't look that encouraging. More than signals, I would like to bring forth the fact that when things go helter-skelter everything that companies boast of goes for a toss. As part of strategy, am sure companies have a mission, vision and some ethical code of functioning. And being a student, my focus would obviously be on recruitment stance of these celebrated brands.

"Powered by opportunism, Driven by blood-sucking-vampires-in-disguise aka managers"

Companies which had been maintaining relations with our college ever since our inception ditch us and don't even bother to send an apology mail expressing their situation. They have fallen victim to greed as they feel they maybe able to get even apparently better students from top b-schools, where they usually used to get poor treatment, at cheaper prices. Sure, they must be feeling like a kid in candy shop now...Having been part of this BSE star performer and finding the internal modus operandi being completely opposite to what its mentor used to proclaim in the popular press about having a healthy work-life balance, I'd been holding some dissatisfaction about this company. This has only reopened the old wounds.Maybe I'm trying to lend some cognizance to my belief that "be whatever you want to be, but don't act a hypocrite and act like some thing you are not to the outside world". My mind though says it's how corporations have been since time immemorial.

Experience uncertainty

Another pioneer company in IT space says, it will consider people with work experience for selection and offer them suitable hike. But then, it never shortlists any, including those with rich experience in IT. Having work experience is a sin in B-schools this year. Mantra is "Be a fresher, don't bother about anything, if you have just managed to clear 40% in class XII, we would pick you". However, this company's recruitment automated system rejected the candidature since the student didn't satisfy the 60% cut off in class XII. Either the HR has not found his bearings still or the company has recruited someone who has escaped from a mental asylum. I don't see any logic in shortlisting a guy who the computer is subsequently is going to reject.

Celebrating "No work"

The company known for its "graveyard shift" played its cards cleverly saying its sister concern's HR would handle while the sister concern's HR pointed at the parent company's direction. People familiar with DBMS would easily correlate this with the concept of "deadlock". Both will ultimately fail to make a progressive move. Am suggesting strategies for HR to dodge candidates here, ain't I?

Application of thought - Ingenuity

A company hired engineers for coding then halved salaries and sent them to BPOs. Then post strikes by engineers, magnanimously decided to offer full salary and work in BPOs.This is one company which has strong value system, you see...

Volte face in 3 hours

A core industry company, promising to "Build a new India", that had sent in writing that they would recruit us did a U-turn in 3 hours with HR saying "That was a mistake, we aren't coming". Maybe this HR and the one who contradicted his company's automated system were dorm mates in the same asylum. I'm sure the company's annual report reads something like "committed to values, blah blah". Some core companies say they don't have money, really pitiable paupers they have become overnight.

Criteria that cannot be met

Another company wants candidates who have 2 or more years of experience and have worked in Mergers and Acquisitions. To understand A-Z of M&A and get involved in it would take minimum two years in a work atmosphere and we can safely assume only top investment banks or top business houses would involve in such deals. Why would such guys leave their comfy jobs at these top brands to do MBA if they already know the ins and outs of M&A? It's as good as company saying "We won't take you"

Companies which said in 2007 "only people with 2 or more years of experience may apply" says in 2008 "people with work ex to a maximum of 24 months may apply".

Seeing all the weird reasons and cock-and-bull stories companies are making up, I've decided to go entrepreneur way. I'm going to float my company called "Mannar Infotech". Funded by venture capitalist firms, Mannar would be opening offices in 6 metros in India. We would also open a small office in Dubai near Dubai bus stand. Strongly committed to bringing the best minds to serve supreme solutions and in delighting our customers every single time, we would not be compromising on our recruitment policy. If you satisfy the following criteria, please write in to us:

1) Should have done school education from Hogwarts as we need people who can weave magic with their fingers.
2) UG any degree (should not have more than 60% and should have minimum one arrear) as we believe failure is stepping stone to success and only such people will understand the value of success.
3) Should have a minimum break of one year after 12th as we believe ability to destress is a vital qualification to succeed in our company.
4) Should have served as CEO or CFO in a company for two years before MBA, we need people who have demonstrated leadership ability and all round personality. And of course, the person should have worked in a minimum of 4 M&A deals.
5) He must have worked in Timbuktoo or Xanadu as we value exposure to abroad and exotic locations highly.
6) Age should be under 23. No relaxation of this rule at any cost.
7) Candidates having knowledge of languages such as Swahili,Telerin,Doriathrin/Ilkorin, and Nandorin will get preference.

When do you know it's Love?

Does the blog title remind you of the latest movie creating waves in Bollywood? After a really long time, I was excited about seeing a hindi movie. But I still could not put a finger at one place saying this is one reason for which I want to see 'Jaane tu ya jaane na'; AR Rahman, maybe I guess...Chaos reigned as I made my way to the match box sized Anuega.



A simple, nothing extra-ordinary story, the movie excels in the way in which it is presented. Watching this movie would be an enjoyable experience for many, am sure. More than going on narrating the story and spoiling whatever little is present in the movie as surprise element, I would rather prefer to focus on the theme of movie; love, friendship and intertwining of these two.

In Bollywood, this concept of a 'she' and 'he' eventually realizing that they are soul mates, made for each other, etc. has yielded rich dividends for the film maker. Yes,"pyaar dosti hai", the famous line from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is the torch bearer. There has also been a case of the other extreme wherein Hum and Tum were always at loggerheads before running into each other's arms finally. The movie was also a runaway success. Another category involving travellers eventually realizing their sole purpose in life was they were made for each other was seen in 'Jab We Met', difference being that the 'he' and 'she' here were relatively quieter and peace loving types unlike their counterparts in Hum Tum.

Our Kollywood's representation of love eventually taking the baton from friendship was seen in 'April Maadhathil'. The movie was a hit. Unnale Unnale, where a lover gives up her position to a friend due to her inability to get along with her boyfriend, thereby highlighting the importance of wavelength, met with modest success. No one would care to remember this movie 'Jolly' featuring Abbas and Kousalya, whose story line runs pretty much like April Maadhathil till climax, where in a crunch situation, the boy says that he is just a friend and can't betray the friendship for societal pressure?



Now this brings me to the crux of this blog. Along with the question "When do you know it's love", the question "Why does it have to be love" also intrigues me. It is like there are two creatures fighting inside me, let's call it Satan, canvassing for the cliched theme "pyaar dosti hai" and Lucifer, saying "No, platonic relationships can exist between guy and gal, Ladder theory is no pile of crap :-)". Usually they say when you are in love, rationality goes for a toss. However, with respect to the fight between Satan and Lucifer if even an iota of rationality prevails, it should be clear that the context defines which creature is the victor. I don't have any experience where Satan has dominated my decision making, so I'm not in a position to delve into this further.One thing I can say is that no one can say that Satan is completely wrong or Lucifer is completely wrong.



However, the public attitude towards 'Friendship rules' movies like 'Jolly' makes it a risky venture for anyone having a similar script to go ahead. Maybe Friendship blossoming into love looks more enchanting to viewers that movie makers are making it some kind of a formula for success. Maybe platonic relationships still remain an abstract concept to majority of our viewers. I have so many 'she' friends and guess I have been true to them. That doesn't mean I don't like the "dosti-to-pyaar" movies. Just that I feel the entertainment industry has been serving with overdose of one kind. Is the audience at fault for failing to appreciate movies like Jolly or is it the film industry's risk averse approach that has been making audience behave the way they are behaving? Sounds similar to "Egg or Chicken? Which came first?" :D

The True Sporting Heroes

One of the oft repeated statements during my "art of living" foundation course was "Don't get disturbed by winning or losing.Take them in your stride". Short statement, strong message and more importantly, very difficult to practice for many of us. As for myself, I try to ensure that winning doesn't affect me. However, defeats do affect me. The time of recovery from defeat for me is directly proportional to how involved I was in the cause.This post shall be about those sporting heroes who turned things around from nowhere and refused to get bogged down by a setback. I take lot of inspiration from these people and incidents.

When we should be thankful to God (Thiest, that's me :)) that we are born without any physical deformities, we don't let go an opportunity to crib about the slightest disappointment. Consider someone who was diagnosed with testicular cancer but still managed to carry on, turn his career graph upside down and consistently win the toughest test of endurance in Tour de France. Yes, I'm talking about the one and only Lance Armstrong.



Lance hasn't just stopped with winning. His foundation works earnestly towards helping Cancer patients. Guess, people would be familiar with wrist bands introduced for this purpose. Lance was a source of inspiration to Corina Morariu, a former Doubles World Number 1 in Tennis who made a remarkable recovery from Leukamia in 2001. Ivan Klasnic, Croatian footballer scored a goal against Poland in Euro 2008 after getting his kidney transplanted for the second time.

Alright, maybe we cannot really relate to these dreadful situation. If it has got to do with motivation, consider Zinedine Zidane. From nowhere, France became a force to reckon with in footballing world, thanks to Zidane's heroics in 1998 World Cup. Zizou won all coveted footballing honours, world player, champions league, Euro and World cup. Understandbly, his hunger would have subsided and he retired in 2004. However, when his nation needed him most before World cup 2006, he made a comeback and took over the captaincy of a team in trouble, slitted by administrators and media alike. Les Bleus were on the brink of elimination at the group stage when Zizou started weaving his magic. From then on, the fairy tale began and was abruptly ended when the player used his head (quite literally) to get the better of Materazzi. Still, it marks one of the most inspiring stories in football. Without Zidane, France now look like a fish out of water is a testimony to the influence he had.



Zidane was on the losing side, alright. However, the winning team on that night, Italy was on the verge of a miraculous transformation; from a nation dirtied in calciopoli, match fixing and drug scandals to World Champions. Thus, what's inside us matters much more than what's behind us or ahead of us. Inspiration can come from anywhere, Liverpudlians yelling "You'll never walk alone" stirred the greatest comeback in club football when Liverpool overturned a 3 goal deficit to steal the Champions League trophy from under the nose of AC Milan in 2005.



It was a disappointing night for me yesterday with Federer conceding his crown to Nadal. However, I was thrilled to see Fed push Nadal till the end. There is no shame in going down fighting. I believe a true champion leaves an indelible remark in fans in the manner in which they bounce back from a setback. I'm confident that the moment when the Swiss master comes back with a bang is not that far and am looking forward to it. After all, "The greatest glory is not in never falling, but from rising each time you fall"



An interesting link I got related to these comeback kings and queens:

http://www.winnipegsun.com/Sports/Top10/2007/10/14/4574886-sun.html

Tennis - The Beauty and the Beast

It is the third successive time in Wimbledon that we are going to see a Nadal vs. Federer final. Federer’s route to final was tougher than that of Nadal and the Swiss master has literally breezed through without dropping a set. I felt agitated to see so many experts already writing off Federer following the drubbing he got at the hands of Nadal in Roland Garros a month back. It has been a difficult year for Fedex as he is yet to get off the mark in the grand slam titles column. If given a chance to sensationalize something myself, I would say that the media; experts at dramatizing slightest of events have all formed an “anti-Federer” campaign. Now that he is in the final, the momentum of this campaign may have reduced a bit.

True that he is nearing 27. However, the kind of game that Federer plays, I feel that the alterations age would have on his game play would be pretty minimal. Anticipation is his middle name, which gives him lot of time to make his next move. There is no need to clutter the calibration of speed guns as Federer can serve aces comfortably at 115 Miles. Baseline play isn’t ideal for him as we witnessed in the disastrous French open final in June 2008. So the question of aged legs unable to pick the shot on the baseline doesn’t really arise. If I can equate this to football, players like Zidane and Bergkamp did not change their playing style much, but still had great influence on the teams they played in despite aging.

I just feel that the media gets behind anyone who has managed to win atleast a slam amidst Federer’s stranglehold. Look at what happened to Roddick? For all the hype, he has only one U.S. open title to show for. Same with Juan Carlos Ferrero. Safin would be the greatest enigma in tennis after McEnroe and Ivanisevic. No doubting the huge talent these guys have, but as the German football coach, Joachim Loew mentioned, disastrously before losing the Euro 2008 final, that a winning mentality should be part of a player’s repertoire. A never-say-die spirit, ability to adapt, a non-imitable and athletic style of play; To sum-up, a bulldozer which can operate with the precision of a surgical knife, that is how I would describe Nadal, in short ;).

I saw that disastrous French open final and also the Wimbledon final last year where he literally threatened to take the match away from Federer. The Spaniard has been getting better with every year and his ability to adapt to different surfaces which was previously lacking, impresses me. Maybe, he has got some extra motivation, like I shall conquer grass before Fed conquers clay :D.

However, which one pleases me more? A symphony or a scene of Lewis Hamilton turning full speed at 90 degrees in Monaco grand prix? Fighting with a rapier or a bludgeon? A Mercedes Benz E-220 or a red Ferrari? A horse or a raging bull? I would happily pick the symphony, rapier, Benz and horse over the other option in each case.

Also, having watched Federer announce his arrival on the grand slam stage with the conquering of another favourite of mine, Pete Sampras, till today, I can say with some assurance that his game play has not changed much. The master doesn’t take any opponent lightly and he concentrates hard on winning the battles and mini battles in each game. Especially when the opponent feels like there is a ray of hope, Fed completely sends him into darkness with a breathtaking pass or an ace served with clinical precision.

It would be too early to pass a judgment on Nadal’s capability to maintain his phenomenally athletic style of play after he crosses 25. Tireless running and rash play may have helped Hewitt to an U.S. open and a Wimbledon. However, his performances apart from these have been mediocre. Nadal, has shown tremendous consistency in keeping his authority on clay intact. However, will that be enough to knock the king of grass off his throne? Self confidence can work wonders for any individual. I’m banking on that extra factor to guide Fedex to his 6th Wimbledon crown. And irrespective of what happens tomorrow and beyond, it will always be “Jai Federer” for me.

Dasavatharam -The over riding factor

Read the blog titled "Dazzling Dasavatharam" before this...

Dasavatharam does not have a theme like Anbe Sivam (those helping people in need are God) or typical Shankar movies concentrating on corruption... Was there a deliberate attempt made to package too many things and obfuscate the viewer while also managing to get across their personal manifesto?

Kamal movie and controversy have been kind of going hand-in-hand ever since Virumandi. The only difference being that opposition that was raised this time were dismissed outright by the court. And i wonder how not. Because the opposition is not the violent type. When the name of the movie itself caused so much furore and forced kamal to change it from 'sandiyar' to 'virumandi', dasavatharam is not a name patented by kamal. An old tamil movie, 40 years old, already exists in this name,and for all his meticulousness, his proficiency in tamizh, his quest for originality and perfection, Kamal could have found some other title (with tax rebate) for his dream project.

Boovaragan's character was used to stress on dalit magnanimity, dedication and liberalization. There was a massacre of dalits in melavalavu in south Tamilnadu involving some upper caste (again related to virumandi & co) in late 1990s. For all his screen play skills, Kamal could have squeezed it in the storyline. But would he have dared to to after the virumandi episode? There has been a case of forced religion conversion, involving some christian missionaries sometime ago, maybe he could have touched upon that. How about tailoring Da Vinci code for tamil audience, a book that shook the entire world, which proclaimed Jesus was no supreme being and in fact had earthly descendants; would have been a mouthwatering prospect for Kamal. But when the opposition managed to block the screening in Pondicherry of a movie made 15,000 miles across in Hollywood, Kamal would have been lynched had he tried to...

"The word Shouchalayam (toilet) also has aalayam (temple) in it" - And this guy technically is a brahmin. With the community deciding to keep quiet and watch, and just because he has the control over a mass medium doesn't mean he can get away saying anything and everything he wants.

"At a time when Shiva and Vishnu, perhaps because they were the only Gods that existed wished to fight through their devotees" For someone who screens in the initial scene that it is based on proof and imagination mixed, he should have known that even before the trimurthy, there was a Goddess supreme, who was the starting point for everything...

I'm a hybrid. So my views will not be biased to one side in this regard. I accept whatever exists in history/mythology as granted including the episode involving Rangarajan Nambi.

Mahabharatha was written by Lord Ganesha, son of Lord Shiva. If as per Kamal's vyagyanam, the Gods were at loggerheads, Lord Ganesha would have annihilated Ved Vyasa, as Mahabharatha's main protagonist, star attraction was Mukundha, Lord Vishnu's incarnation.
Hanuman is identified as 11th avtar of Lord Shiva. Rama bhakta Hanuman is an epitome of devotion to Lord Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Just one reckless statement mentioning devotees fighting with each other can be interpreted in different situations. I'm sure if Kamal is given guarantee of security to life and all the time he wants (provided he has too), he would go on a talkathon about these...
Had it not been for Lord Ganesha's tricks, the lanka bound statue of Lord Ranganatha would not have landed in Srirangam.
Bhaja Govindam was written by Saiva guru Adi sankara even before Ramanujacharya came into the picture. When both saivites and vaishnavities are atleast not fighting now, picking a slice from history in the form of Chola king's lunacy and dramatizing it will needlessly hurt sentiments.
Why does kamal not give any justification for tsumani water not entering the mosque?
The mosque's architecture was such that it could block water at the rate of xyz cubic metres per second? During Tsunami 2004, the waters receded in the shore temple of Tiruchendur, Kanyakumari. Any explanations for why that was not shown Universal Hero?maybe technical non feasibility or maybe because these two temples were housing saiva Gods?

I see a contradiction throughout the movie. Someone wants Perumal to be under the spotlight throughout the movie but also wants to say it would be good if God existed. Meaning he won't accept it existed until proven so.Much like a classic court judgment where a person is accused until proven not guilty.Also, you can wake up someone who is sleeping, not someone who is acting like he is asleep. Likewise,this guy, irrespective of the attempts made will not change his stand

As per him, every human is God. But do we act like human? Do we have any consideration for other creatures with whom we share this planet? Poaching, disturbing the food chain, killing animals in the name of God, We plunder Mother nature. Hurricane, Tsunami and earth quakes are some ways in which Mother Nature shows her displeasure. How can Kamal explain how almost all the animals in a lankan zoo in Colombo managed to reach higher plains and escape the onslaught of Tsunami?Yes, discovery channels may give a scientific explanation. But why don't humans have those traits?Who will kamal blame for humans not having that foresight to see disaster?Obviously God. Even if he had, Man, equipped with the sixth sense, has become arrogant and calculating to the core.

Under the guise of rationality and a careful thought process, we are hell bent upon pulling each other down, we fight within ourselves, we kill each other. The gift of thinking and analysing bestowed upon man would certainly have given him self confidence in the initial stages of evolution. But over a period of time, man has become so much obsessed with it that it has made him feel that faith and the concept of an almighty can be discounted with. When a space probe gets successfully by Nasa, it is good work by scientists, but by chance the space probe gets burnt in space (like it did when Kalpana Chawla was on board), atleast the bereaved family members would first blame God. When they cannot fathom why something happened, they find a party to put the blame on.

Where there is complete faith, probability of miracles happening is quite high. There is literature mentioning that Saint Thyagaraja has seen Lord Rama, just 200 years ago. But the world is devoid of people of such faith. It has literally only 'suyanalavadhigal', who remember God only during troubled times and not when something good happens to them.

Alertness, brought upon by self confidence and faith, brought upon by belief in another power and subsequently considering oneself relatively a lesser being are kind of two contradicting schools of thought.Trying to maintain a fine balance of both is the trouble most of the humans who believe the existence of a supreme power have to contend with. Some people, who can't digest this situation of dilemma invariably take up the side of alertness, the reasons of which can be tracked back to the obsession with the capability of self...

Man has taken for granted that everything has an explanation (Even I've suffered from this syndrome in recent times; leading to a lot of heartburn and headache) There are many things beyond human comprehension. Why are planets aligned the way they are?Why does sun rise in east and set in the west?When people haven't cared to know about these ever since they came onto this earth, just using words like "pagutharivu" and "reasoning" at places convenient to them amounts to hypocrisy.

Just taking a small slice of history and over dramatizing it, capitalizing on the loophole in the form of limited availability of literature represents narrow minded thinking. Why do I have to crib so much when Kamal has not done it for the first time? It's because he has used the background of God to stress upon his doctrine of non-existence of God. As the face of tamilnadu and the nation as well, he has a lot of respect and is revered. Of late, his penchant for endorsing Athiesm, albeit subtly has increased. He has been candid in his views about sex and censoring in Indian movies. At this rate, maybe he will make a blue film in the near future and fight for its release. Quite possible!!!

This film has come at a time when the political forces are hell bent upon breaking down the Adam's bridge (spiritual and ecological opposition not withstanding) Such broadcasting would only pep these groups up and make the resolve of these groups stronger. How else can someone who hates hearing anything related to God appear as a guest in a movie bearing God's name?If this group has its way, faith of 80 million Indians would be shattered by a handful of people. Is this how democracy is supposed to operate? The only reason for me to be unhappy with Mahakavi Bharathiyar for these lines "sethuvai meduruthi vidhisamaippom".

There were a bunch of blind men who hit a block while moving by the road in the night. One guy touches the block and said it is a tree trunk, next guy touches and says it is a pillar holding some structure. Like this, all blind men keep giving some explanation and start fighting over it. After sometime, a guy with normal eyesight passes by and says "you fools!you have been touching an elephant's leg till this point. It is an elephant, okay... now chill".

The point is the blind men due to their poor vision could not get the complete picture of the thing as an elephant and started bickering that their point of view is right. The deeds and actions of humans could span beyond this present life. No mortal can interpret it, some accept it as it is (faith oriented), Some try and find a meaning and eventually give up and restrict themselves to a smaller zone of thinking. As a riposte to this narrow vision syndrome suffered by kamal, I'm forced to rephrase a couple of lines from the opening song...

"Kaalai mattum kandaal yaanai theriyadhu
Yaanai mattum kandaal kaalae theriyadhu"

:D

Dazzling Dasavatharam

It's been just less than an hour since I came out of the theatre. My disappointment at missing out on the initial day was compensated to a good extent as a centre of the theatre cozy seat at Sathyam awaited me as I entered at 2:30 PM. So let me get down straight to my opinions about the movie. This blog is written by the cinema fan in me. I'm not a Kamalhasan Sycophant/Fanatic. Be assured that my review would be as neutral as it could get..

It would be naive to put the review down in a couple of words. There are many superlatives that can associated with it. Acknowledging my limited repertoire in English language, I'll try and put my thoughts across as lucidly as possible...

Cast:

I must be joking. It's all one man show. Rest of them are just people like us who just managed to get their faces onto the camera... No one else in the world could have had the patience and courage to don the grease paint to this level. The behind-the-scenes portion in "ulaga nayagan" song is a testimony...Voice modulation, body language, accent... Lot of attention has been paid and you expect that from Kamal... It would be unjust on my part to pick one avatar as better and some other as bad as I'm sure he has taken pain staking efforts on all of them...

Asin, the actor with the second highest screen time (a very distant second) has done her bit well... I found the character irritating at times.

Screenplay/Pace:

Though Andal character's occasional tantrums made me feel irritated and look at the watch, 3.5 hours just flew by like a breeze...

Also having watched "Indy - Kingdom of Crystal Skull" two weeks back, I got a feeling of Deja vu involving running with the idol as both involved protecting some artifact before safely depositing it in the rightful place.

I am quite sure that I'm not speaking too early about this. I was suggested to concentrate every minute of the movie, else told that I may miss out something. However, I never had to do anything special like tweaking my CPU...Maybe I subconsciously enhanced my alertness or maybe because I've got used to brain bending English movies like "The Prestige", "Butterfly Effect", "Twelve Monkeys", I found it a piece of cake...

Aaidha Ezuthu, Alaipayudhe, and Virumandi were revelations in the screenplay department. This cannot be put in the same bracket, but the frenetic pace of events and with so many kamals popping up, you need to be on your vigil.

Lighting/Camera/Makeup:

Just brilliant, all 10 look different.Nowhere do you get the doubt that the concept of two persons looking alike could exist..However, some concerns. The foreign characters, Fletcher, Bush and Japanese look like they have put on some face mask. I was amazed with the way cinematography has progressed when I watched Nirav Shah make gangsters roaming in the night a scenic beauty in Billa 2007... Maybe, something could have been done with respect to lighting on just these foreign faces. Technically feasible?I've no idea though.Just an afterthought...

Having said that, camera work was a delight to watch in this movie. Standing on tall buildings in the night in the U.S. or covering car chases, it was a pleasure to see...

Sets

Kamal,arguably, was the first tamizhan to introduce the word Tsunami to us. Recollect in Anbe Sivam, when in the hotel with Madhavan, Kamal would say that his dad was washed away by Tsunami... So I wasn't completely surprised when I read Tsunami was about to be recreated as part of this movie. But the execution has been done so professionally. Just recollect a video as simple as the beginning bike scene of "paartha mudhal naale" was made a hash of, because of some terrible editing and graphics work. A recreation as complicated as Tsunami, something never done before too, Hats off!!!

Stunts
Awesome!!!I felt like seeing some Jackie Chan movie when i saw the climax fight between the Japanese and Fletcher.No gravity defying somersaults, a trademark of Vijay or boot flying or transformer bursting. Very much believable stunts picturizations. Another deparment which has come out with flying colours in this film...

Background/Songs

I definitely don't have anything positive to say about songs, except for mukundha and kallai mattum... Background score will not stay in your memory after 2 months, I bet. Compare this with "kalaba kadhala" from "kaakha kaakha", soundtracks from "kadhal kondaen", "baba" rap, "Sivaji background". It doesn't stand a chance, background looks more like extension of the other lousy songs. I can use one word "indianizing death metal" as Himesh's work on the other 2 songs... Harris Jeyaraj or Yuvan Shankr Raja would have done a much better work. Especially Harris, who is a director's musician and Kamal would have found him best suited for this project...

Substance

The ten characters cover all regions from U.S. to Japan.Caste system has been touched upon with Boovaragan character and caste equality gets a boost in the scene when an insane old upper caste lady Krishnaveni starts crying over the dead body of Boovaragan and telling that boovaragan is indeed her lost son Aaravamudhan who has darkened in complexion in sun...

Avatar Singh's passion for singing, Fletcher's win-at-all-costs approach, Japanese avenging his sister's death, Boovagaran's dedication, Kalifullah's innocence, all emotions were packaged into this film.

Verdict

All the makings of a box office blockbuster. Already production costs have been recovered. I was nonplussed to see so many people as jobless as me at satyam theatre on a weekday afternoon when the sun was beating down hard. A commercially successful venture for the producer, a visual treat for kamal fans, and a racy entertainer on the lines for cinema lovers like me...

I would like to close my review on this note. However, I have a couple of observations or rather describing some different feelings that I experienced after the movie ended.

Too much of a visual treat to the eyes, too many emotions, too many facets of human life discussed, too much to tell, too little time, looked like even 3.5 hours was not enough.In this background, a question that I would pose is, is there something over riding all the above technical aspects that would have a higher recall value in the audience minds?

I would like to shed my cinema lover image and would like to take over to my next post to discuss about this...

Cricket - My Musings

I wasn't completely glued to the Indo-Pak final y'day night. Despite the loss, our boys did put up a good fight after tottering at 105/4 in the 17th over. But my musings have their roots in some of the performances by the opposition left handers against India in the last decade.Some of the terms that I can quickly associate with India's scourge

'Left' is right
Matthew Hayden - Resurrection
Sanath Jayasuriya - Annihilation
Saeed Anwar - Demolition
Shivnarine Chanderpaul - Apparition
Andy Flower - Crucifiction
Adam Gilchrist - Asphyxiation
Brian Charles Lara - Exception

Also, when selected to make their debut, many of our players are touted as good with both bat and ball. Were they really?

Bowling Allrounder
Ajit Agarkar was a fast bowler who could also double up as a useful lower order batsman. But after 10 years, fastest ODI fifty by an Indian,a test century at Lords, and 7 consecutive ducks in Australia, Mr. Reliable continues to remain an enigma.
(I heard in a commentary sometime ago, that Agarkar, in his under-15 days was a top order batsman who could bowl part time medium pace. Ironic, indeed)

Compare this with Shaun Pollock. 'Polly' came in as an opening bowler who later went on to become a dangerous lower middle order batsman.

Batting Allrounder
Saurav Ganguly, Virendra Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Hrishikesh Kanitkar. This is one long list indeed. Anyone heard of the fifth bowler problem perennially plaguing India? What does the captain do?Throw the ball to the part timers like Sehwag, Yuvraj, Sachin, etc. From batting allrounder to full time batsman and part time bowler?Is this what they call as 'specializing as you progress in your career'?

Compare this with Jacques Kallis. He started bowling against Holland as part timer in WC '96 but by 1999 had developed into a world class allrounder.

Opening -a problem without closure
Sanath Jayasuriya, Mark Richardson - left arm spinners converted into opening batsmen. But India's conundrum of opening batsman has been continuing for decades.

There are so many more I wish to write. The only problem that there is no way to even come close to understanding why these occurred. So I'll reserve my stock for a later day...

IPL - League Loyalty and Success

The 8 O'clock factor (the absurdity of ad 'Mano Ranjan ka baap kaun hai', not withstanding),skeptics eating humble pie, glamour and sport feeding on each other...IPL had it all.

Some of my observations,opinions and my two cents on what would really define IPL's success...

The concept of league loyalty with respect to the viewers is not that difficult to implement. Our guys and many for that matter associate ourselves well, when the action is closer to us or involves our people; familiarizing with Yorkshire for Tendulkar, for instance in 1991.

Sticking with England, Compare Natwest Trophy vs Ranji trophy. Just because the action is closer to us, it would be presumptuous to conclude that Ranji trophy is a hit. In fact, it has never been so far. Apart from being close to the fans, role of marketing is vital as can be seen from overwhelming response to IPL and Ranji trophy's historically miserable reception.

And with respect to the players, league loyalty has been forced on them. If you happened to read the recent news on the impending T20 Champions League (am a proud football fan, another concept borrowed :)), IPL will get a first pick on the players. So, Matty Hayden, for all his attachment to Brisbane and Gabba will have to play for Chennai Superkings rather than Queensland in the event of both teams qualifying for T20 Champions League. Richest cricket league's financial muscle at work...

But is the league really for those, who have a wider knowledge base and who like to see superstars face off or play in one side?

Practically, I have wished so many times why there is a 4 foreigners restriction? If entertainment is what everyone wants, why not lift this 4 players' restriction. Especially when you see Palani Amarnath get hit all over the park, you crave to see two all rounders Oram, Morkel in the team. But you want Hayden, Hussey and Murali too. Where is the room for the fifth one?Why not have a team filled with Flintoff, Pietersen, Symonds, Afridi, Dhoni, Gilchrist, Sachin, Lara, Mcgrath, Akhtar, and Warne? (recipe for disaster in hindsight, Deccan dechargers :) )

This is what English Premier League has done. The league is the most competitive league in the world, but the african imports from Ivory Coast gets the nod to play in Arsenal's first eleven ahead of a local lad brought up in nearby Islington, London whose family members also happen to be lifelong club supporters. However, EPL is getting back to its roots now, as similar to IPL, they are also going to bring in a 6-5 combination of local and abroad players, w.e.f 2012.

So providing an avenue for local talent is paramount. Its effects will not show instantly.We need to bide our time to reap the rewards of this system. These guys compete with the best. Such tough conditions makes IPL their expressway to get into the Indian team.

Thus the demands of the fans, craving for home grown talent have been addressed, sufficiently, but has not been marketed that well as these young guys aren't going to help their franchisees sell more T-shirts like an Akhtar or Warne. The learning curve for our youngsters would steepen due to this foreign influence.Yes, you may see a Chennai grown Yomahesh play for Delhi and Punjab-da-puttar Gony play for Chennai, but to me, the long term success of the league would lie in showcasing local talent to the selectors and viewers alike.

Imagine, If you want entertainment and also a chance to spot bright young talent (feeling like a real life superselectors, so to speak), would you rather watch a Ranji trophy final at Brabourne stadium with free tickets and look at probably 15-20 young talent versus an IPL match at Wankhede with only 8 youngsters to look at. That's the real difference IPL has managed to bring. Viewers can see little guys unheard of (like asnodkar) explode on the big stage and witness fireworks from the Watsons and Symonds. Franchisee owners would be delighted to see their coffers filled up so fast. Selectors get a relaxed atmosphere to assess exciting talent. This win-win-win combination and keeping up the good work is what will really define the success of IPL.

(To be concluded...) :)

Jodha Akbar - Just manages to make the Cut

Our desperation to see the movie on the first day drove us to two multiplexes where we were informed the release has been deferred, obviously to our dismay.

My eyes were frantically searching in all websites for reviews. I wasn't restricting myself to just positive reviews. I had to be very careful in choosing whether to see this one or not as a hat-trick of horrible movie experiences (after Salaam-e-Ishq and Saawariya) was awaiting if I take a bad call. Reviews were presenting a picture like "movie is just okay". I needed to exercise prudence really. But somehow, my gut feeling said "Got for it, for Rahman, for Gowariker, for Hrithik". We advanced our scheduled evening show on wednesday to afternoon show on the same daya after taking into consideration the navigability of Kanpur's forever under construction roads in the night.

We just entered the colossal waste of space, Rave Moti and Adlabs theatre in time to hear Amitabh's customary monologue. We knew we had a daunting task of staying awake and fixed for 3.5 hours. The cozy seat was a source of respite though.

The first moving frame starts with 13 year old Jalaluddin witnessing his general Berham Khan slaying off Hemu's army and giving the sword to young Jalaluddin to chop off Hemu's head which the prince refuses to do as he considered Kings, though defeated deserved respect and not death. Wait, If I start narrating frame by frame, I might have to write on till my hair turns grey. Whatever little suspense is there will also get spoiled if I intend to do so. So off I step on the accelerator to my feelings about the movie.

The casting: Though you come across many familiar faces from Lagaan and Swades, the characters have been etched to perfection. Lot of care has been given towards attire.

A heavy dose of Urdu is needed to portray the Mughal Emperor's era. The fact that my Hindi itself wasn't good enough made it all the more difficult to get a hang of some long sentences. Nevertheless, the body language and expressions of actors are more than sufficient for you to get the message.

Ashutosh and Hrithik were widely criticized with popular press feeling he doesn't fit the bill. But when you notice the way Hrithik has carried himself throughout the movie, be it in glancing secretively at Aishwarya, taming the elephant, flexing the muscles, wielding the sword, portraying innocence when going inside town in the disguise of an aam aadmi, exploding when he orders death sentence to his foster brother, you can't help but wonder if someone else could have fitted in better than him.

Aishwarya does what was asked of her. She looks beautiful though signs of ageing are becoming more clearly visible. The chemistry between Hrithik and Aishwarya makes for an awesome watch. Especially watch out for the small sword fight between Hrithik and Aishwarya. She has also done some homework in fighting with swords and needs to be appreciated.

The Songs: A R Rahman takes you to the 17th century. The only let down for me was songs like Mann Mohana (first of the movie) and Jashn-e-Bahaara run in some kind of background and are not shown as full fledged videos. Azeem-O-Shaan picturization and Rahman's clever use of instruments make the song look breathtaking. In Lamhon kaa, the last song portrays the differences between the pair closing down finally. My taste buds, probably didn't have the ability to appreciate Khwaja, a sufi song. The gentle dance steps in the video are worth seeing once atleast. Background score, Rahman, the name is enough.

The Sets: The authentic feel has been maintained. But somehow i can't get help the feeling that Ashutosh was showing the same fort in different angles and referring to them as forts in different kingdoms. Whoever expected an Indian version of Troy is in for a disappointment. This movie is not about just how the greatest Mughal Emperor captured the world, it is about how he won over the hearts of the people(This dialogue comes in the movie). The fight sequences of armies looks okay. The climax fight between Akbar and Sharifuddin deserves special mention though for the way it has been picturized.

The Duration: The intermission came after two hours. But I never realized two hours had gone by. The tempo of the movie was slow, unless you have some funny company, there is a reasonable chance of you dosing off in between, especially if you are going after a heavy lunch :). 3.5 hours is long. It does not have the cricket frenzy of Lagaan or the personal touch of Swades. The duration, hence, could make it difficult for people to appreciate. Probably, I can say, you cant expect the audience to come to the theatre and see the movie again. Don't get me wrong. Som scenes are brilliant, but you would think twice if you have to sit through 3.5 hours to watch selected frames alone.

Overall, I would recommend all people longing for good Hindi cinema to see it once. They won't be disappointed. But don't go with sky high expectations of seeing India's answer to Ben Hur or Troy.