Review of 'Naan Kadavul' - Tamil Movie

Here is the review of latest movie by Bala - Naan Kadavul. Bala is a well established director in Tamil film industry, he has done only two films so far and he has won more hearts plus awards. The first was Sethu which won National Award for Best Feature film in that year and the next was Pithamagan for which the lead character Vikram got National Award for best actor.

His third film Naan Kadavul is in the making for 3 years now. The film got into delays right from the start which included selection of lead actors opting to drop out and lead actress was asked to leave. All sorts of things was happening for this film and when everything was settled one year was over. The film ran into trouble again when the film was completed. This time it was between the director and producer over film cost. Finally, everything was settled in Dec'08 and film was released last 6 Feb'09.

So, after 3 years you get to watch the much awaited movie. What do you get? I can say it is NOT the best movie of 2008 (since it was censored in 2008) and from Bala you expect more, I mean MORE. The movie is good, no doubt about it but could have been better.

The protoganist in this movie is who claims himself 'I am God' a literal meaning of title Naan Kadavul. I guess there are lot of 'sadhus' in Kaasi in North India where they claim themsleves as God. They are called 'aghori sadhus' and Rajinikanth has also written in his appreciation letter to Bala that he has met many aghori sadhus. The story does not revolve around him but a group of disabled persons who are asked to beg in front of a temple. The beggars money goes to one of the leader (the villian) in that sorrounding area. The villian is merciless creature (as always!) who will make people handicap so that they earn more!

I need to mention that Pooja - the lead actress has done an excellent job as blind beggar who can sing well. She is outstanding and brilliant, I am short of words. I hope she will go places after the success of this movie. She has given a mind blowing performance! She is forced to join this beggar group. The movie goes on fine with some hilarious moments and the dialogues, delivery of dialogues makes you clap with full heart. The music is outstanding as always from Ilayaraaja.

Arya, the lead character has given fine performance and I would say he has transformed into aghori sadhu. The voice modulation has worked effectively and people around him watch him like he is a maniac or is god. We have the same feeling watching in the theater, such is the power of screenplay from Bala. Finally a day comes when this god comes face to face with the villians. The intensity of the fight sequence hits you hard. You feel that they deserve it and feel that the protogonist is actually God. The supreme power, the intensity with which he hits out at the villians is powerful. I am not going to reveal the climax here but it has equal depth as that of the whole movie. You will find the answer for 'Who is God?' in the climax.

Now, the only weak link in the movie is Arya's state. How did he become Aghori Sadhu? In the last two films all the characters have purpose and we know the characters well. In Naan Kadavul the characters come as is condition. There is no background and do not know why they act like they should.

My rating for this movie is 3 stars out of 5.

Rating Details:
***** - Classic & Outstanding.
**** - Must Watch. Don't Miss!
*** - Good Movie. Watch it.
** - Watch it only if you really want to.
* - Not worth your money.

Review of 'Dev D' - Hindi Movie.

The movie is a remake of Devdass. As far as I know this movie was released early in black and white, Devdass was the first commercial movie in Tamil regional language and there was a recent remake with Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai. The wikipedia suggest this Devdass has been remade 9 times!

What do you expect from this film where you know the story, plot, characters and behaviour? I guess you get a lot more than you expect from Dev D. You know the storyline, Dev loves Paro from childhood and they love each other even when Dev is far from her. The day comes when Dev comes back to her Paro only to hear wrong things about her. This enrages Dev and he ignores Paro. She is devastated and gets married to another guy. This time Dev cannot hide his emotions of losing Paro and gets into drinks. Break.

Chandramukhi or Chanda in this new Dev D is introduced as a school girl and the journey from there to Chandramukhi is shown brilliantly. Hats off to Anurag who does an excellent job of twining the recent known incidents which was talk of the country. Break.

The next part is Dev D falling at Chanda place. Dev D is addicted to drinks and drugs. He comes to Delhi with no intention just filled with cash to spend on drugs & drinks. During one of those nights in the streets of Delhi he is thrown to Chanda and from there he makes visits to Chanda whenever he needs to talk. Chanda too falls for him because he is not one of her 'regular' customer. This intriguing part between Chanda and Dev is well acted by both the lead actors. They both comfort each other and share their stories. Break.

The time comes when Dev goes back to usual drunken state and gets into trouble. Another recent incident is highlighted that is talk of the country still now! Dev goes all around North India, goes to Himalayas and returns back to Delhi after a while. The self-realisation hits hard on Dev and goes in search of Chanda. He realises that he loved Chanda and finally meets her.

The movie is well written, characters developed fully and it is a treat to watch such good movies. I could not find any fault on the story telling except where Dev is addicted to drinks and drugs, the movie seem to drag a bit. But otherwise it is an excellent movie.. a must watch movie.

I almost forgot to mention... it's strictly an adult movie.

My rating for this movie is 4 stars out of 5.

Rating Details:
***** - Classic & Outstanding.
**** - Must Watch. Don't Miss!
*** - Good Movie. Watch it.
** - Watch it only if you really want to.
* - Not worth your money.

Attack on Women - Mangalore Pub incident.

I saw this clipping on a news channel when I was in for a vacation last week. The attack on women completely shocked me... I was in disbelief for a moment. How can someone do such a thing in public and when the camera was on! The attackers are defending for their acts. It is such a shame that the TV channels are giving a chance to speak in front of the camera for defending their attacks.

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1792540

They should be beaten to death as they claim to be done in some muslim countries. The attackers claim they are guardians of hindu culture. What Hindu Culture? They absolutely do not know their history or their culture, just half baked goondas trying to get cheap publicity and I still cannot believe that they actually beat the ladies out there. What is that the ladies tried to do? just having few drinks with fellow men is nothing! In a country where women are considered gods the attackers are just madmen! they have lost their sense and identity. The attackers must be punished severely so that this kind of incident never happens again!

Review of Slumdog Millionaire - English

I saw this movie last night, 22 Jan 2009 on a Paid preview show in one of multiplexes in Mumbai, India. The hall was only 1/3rd full, I do not know why such a lukewarm welcome for a movie that has won world acclaim, won hearts worldwide and won 4 Golden Globes. Just wondering!

I guess there are lot of reviews written but I think this will be one of the first from India by an Indian.

The best things first. A.R. Rahman - he is the one who has actually lifted this movie to the next level. The background score is a masterpiece! Hats off to him. He should deservedly get an Oscar for original score. He is a true genius and am proud to be a fellow citizen. Without AR Rahman the movie will go nowhere. It would fall flat, seriously.

The next best is the acting of kids. They are just brilliant especially the kid Jamaal and Salim was good at the last stage (like the guy you see in City of Gods) of his character. Latika character is so so through out the movie. The young Jamaal who plays WWTAM is OK but his expressions are flat. Out of 3 characters, Salim's character is well etched and all the 3 stages of Salim are done well by the actors.

The next best can be Cinematography. The camera moves with the kids and their point of view. The music supports the camera work. Screenplay & Editing could have been better.

The cons for the movie are
- movie language in English
- no character development.
- no depth in characters. For example, Jamaal is extraordinary in English and keeps upto date information. He can answer any questions that is thrown to him. How?
- loop holes in the script.
- plausible storyline.
- Emotional Quotient missing between Jamaal and Latika.
- think of bollywood movie in English, that SM.

The first thing you notice about the movie is language. The movie is mostly English and when you see good actors like Irfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla (the police constable) speaking English it is ODD. Our (my wife & me) initial opinion was this movie should have been taken in Hindi. The local flavour will have increased the credibility for this film.

The lack of depth in characters and a little bit more time to develop the characters would not have done any harm. We get to know Salim's character right from the beginning but Jamaal's and Latika character (lead characters) are left to us for our own imagination.

The most certain loop hole is Salim helping Latika at the end... Why would he do that? Why does he change??? We were puzzled!

The plot is too thin and plausible. Jamaal loves Latika from when and why? The emotion between them is missing. I cannot feel it. I just can't.

This is a real slick film and a good one. I hate to say this... it does not deserve the attention it has got. There are hundreds of movies which I can rate better than SM even in Regional films of India. I quote the example movie as Satya by Ram Gopal Varma as mentioned in one instance by Danny Boyle, is far far better than SM. The Indians who have seen Satya and SM can say they are different genres but you must admit that SM is nowhere near to Satya.

I gave a 7 on IMDB rating just for AR Rahman and the kids.

Go watch it if you have to else rent a DVD.

MBA in International Business.

I finally got my MBA certificate from Pondicherry University-Loyola College. It was difficult 2 years 2006-2008, with the support of my family I got through in first class. When I look back I do not know how the days went. Work 5 and half days, go out in the evening on Saturday and classes on Sunday. We were lucky that the classes were reduced to half day instead of full day from the 2nd Semester onwards.

Tamil Ghajini Vs Hindi Ghajini.

I feel I am writing after a long time!!!!!!!!!

I saw Ghajini in Hindi last Saturday, 27 Dec 2008. Incidentally Ghajini (T) was my first movie with my would-be wife after engagement in 2005. We watched Ghajini (H) as a happily married couple... :)

I read few reviews of Ghajini (H) and all of them compared with original Ghajini (T). I suppose we cannot resist a comparison of remake with original.

The remake Ghajini (H) is same as Ghajini (T), scene by scene but a little better in terms of colour and technology. I feel Aamir Khan has portrayed a better lead character as Short Term Memory Loss patient. Surya was good but he was more kind of mechanical in finding Ghajini. I guess Surya did not emote well as Short Term Memory Loss patient whereas Aamir scores high in bringing out emotions. Aamir shows so much depth in the character which he must have improvised from the original.

Asin is bubbly and chubby. She dons the role with ease only we thought she was nervous in the intro song. But as the character progresses she was in terms with the character. AR Rahman has once again scored good music which lingers through your ears all day. It is NOT surprising to see that the Ghajini (H) songs are making waves in South India too!!!!!

In today's cinema world it is difficult to give one blockbuster hit but A.R. Murugadoss has given 2 blockbuster hits for the same movie Ghajini. It shows the power of plot and script that he has written. He thoroughly deserves kudos for his efforts! Bravo Murugadoss.

My rating for this movie is 3 stars out of 5.

Rating Details:
***** - Classic & Outstanding.
**** - Must Watch. Don't Miss!
*** - Good Movie. Watch it.
** - Watch it only if you really want to.
* - Not worth your money.

Indians.....

எக்ஸ்க்ளுசிவ்:

இந்த பதிவு யாரையோ கிண்டல் செய்ய வேண்டும், நக்கல் செய்ய வேண்டும் என்ற எண்ணத்தில் நையாண்டி நோக்கில் எழுதப்படவில்லை. நடப்பதை கண்டு வலியிலும், கோபத்திலும் எழுதியது.

தீவிரவாதி 1: நாம பனிரெண்டு பேர அனுப்பி, இருநூறு மக்களை கொன்னுருக்கோம். ஆனா இந்திய அரசு, தீவிரவாதிகளுடனான போரில் வெற்றி, சதி முறியடிப்பு பேசிக்கிறாங்களே?

தீவிரவாதி 2: அதான் எனக்கும் புரியல. டிபன் பாக்ஸ்ல குண்டு வச்சோம். ஒரு மாசத்துல மறந்திட்டாங்க. சைக்கிள்ள குண்டு வச்சோம். ரெண்டு மாசத்துல மறந்திட்டாங்க. என்ன பண்ணினாலும் அதிகபட்சம் மூணு மாசத்துல மறந்திடுறாங்க.

தீவிரவாதி 1: அதனால தான் இந்த தடவை, ஏழை, நடுத்தர மக்களை விட்டுட்டு, இந்திய அரசு அக்கறை எடுத்துக்கிற மேல்தட்டு மக்களை தாக்குனோம்.

தீவிரவாதி 2: அதுக்கும் எந்த விதமான பிரயோஜனம் இருக்குற மாதிரி இல்ல. நாம நடத்தின தாக்குதல வச்சி அரசியல்வாதிங்க இப்பவே அவனுங்களுக்காக ஒட்டு பொறுக்க ஆரம்பிச்சிட்டாங்க.

தீவிரவாதி 1: எனக்கென்னமோ, ஒரு நல்ல விஷயம் நடக்குற மாதிரி இருக்குது.

தீவிரவாதி 2: என்ன?

தீவிரவாதி 1: ஏதோ, தகவல் பரிமாறிக்கணும்'ன்னு நம்ம பாகிஸ்தான் ஐ.எஸ்.ஐ. தலைவர கூப்பிட்டு இருக்காங்க. போயிட்டு வந்ததும், அவர்கிட்ட என்ன ஏதுன்னு ட்டுட்டு அடுத்த முறை அதுக்கு ஏத்த மாதிரி பிளான் பண்ணனும். மாட்டிக்க கூடாது.

தீவிரவாதி 2: மாட்டினாலும் பிரச்சனை இல்லை. ஏன்னு சொல்லு?

தீவிரவாதி 1 (யோசித்துவிட்டு): கருணை மனு போட்டுட்டு வெளிய வந்திடலாம். அதானே? சரியா?

தீவிரவாதி 2: ஆமாம். ஆமாம். அதே மாதிரி, அடுத்த முறை இந்தியாவுல கொஞ்சம் ஆளுங்கள நமக்காக ஏற்பாடு பண்ணினா போதும்.

தீவிரவாதி 1: ஏன்?

தீவிரவாதி 2: நமக்காக வேல பார்க்க, நிறைய டிவி சானல்கள் இருக்காங்க. நம்மளோட சாட்டிலைட் போன் மூலமா, பேச மட்டும்தான் முடியுது. ஆனா, அவுங்க நமக்காக லைவ் டெலிகாஸ்ட்'யே பண்றாங்க. அது மட்டும் இல்லாம, கமாண்டர்ஸ் கிட்ட பேசி என்ன பிளான்னு கேட்டும் சொல்றாங்க. ரொம்ப யூஸ்புல்லா இருக்கு.

தீவிரவாதி 1: கரெக்ட். அடுத்து எங்க டார்கெட் பண்ணலாம்? சவுத் இந்தியாவுல பண்ணிரலாமா? சென்னை எப்படி?

தீவிரவாதி 2: அங்க வேண்டாம்.

தீவிரவாதி 1: ஏன்?

தீவிரவாதி 2: நாம கஷ்டப்பட்டு குண்டு வைப்போம். ஆனா அங்க இருக்குற அரசியல்வாதிகள் குண்டு வச்சது யாருன்னு அவுங்களுக்குள்ள அடிச்சிக்குவாங்க. ஆளுங்கட்சி, எதிர்கட்சியை சொல்லுவாங்க. எதிர்க்கட்சி, ஆளுங்கட்சியை சொல்லுவாங்க. கடைசில நம்மள மறந்திடுவாங்க.

தீவிரவாதி 1: ஒ!

தீவிரவாதி 2: அதுமட்டும் இல்ல. டிவிக்காரங்களும், இந்த அளவுக்கு உதவுவாங்கன்னு சொல்ல முடியாது. அவுங்கவுங்க கட்சிகாரங்களையும், சினிமாகாரங்களையும் பேட்டி கண்டுட்டு இருப்பாங்க.

தீவிரவாதி 1: இப்பதான் ஒரு தாக்குதல் பண்ணிருக்கோம். அதுக்குள்ளே இன்னொன்னு பண்ண முடியுமா? முன்னெச்சரிக்கை நடவடிக்கைகள் பல எடுத்திருப்பாங்களே?

தீவிரவாதி 2: கடல் வழியா வந்தோம்னு எல்லா துறைமுகத்திலையும் பாதுகாப்பு அதிகரிச்சிருக்காங்களாம். ஹோட்டல்'ல தாக்குதல் பண்ணிருக்கோம்னு எல்லா ஹோட்டல்'லையும் பாதுகாப்ப அதிகரிக்க சொல்லி இருக்காங்களாம். இவனுங்க எப்பவும் இப்படித்தான். கோவில அடிச்சா கோவிலுக்கு பாதுகாப்பு. மார்க்கெட்ட அடிச்சா மார்க்கெட்டுக்கு பாதுகாப்பு. தியேட்டர அடிச்சா தியேட்டர்களுக்கு பாதுகாப்பு. நாம என்ன அடிச்ச எடத்தையா இருப்பி அடிப்போம்?

தீவிரவாதி 1: அதானே? ஆனாலும் எனக்கு வர வர வன்முறை மேல நம்பிக்கையே போயிடுச்சி.

தீவிரவாதி 2: ஏன்?

தீவிரவாதி 1: எவ்ளோ அடிச்சாலும் தாங்குறாங்க.இந்தியா ரொம்ம்ம்பபபப நல்ல நாடுப்பா...

அவனுங்களே வெறுத்து சோர்ந்து தீவிரவாதத்தை விட்டாதான் உண்டு. _._

Top Ten Movies - My favourites

I wanted to list out the my top ten commercial movies of all time..... I tried to order in particular number position but it's tough... they are all my favourites.



The Shawshank Redemption





The Godfather I & II







Pulp Fiction








Black Hawk Down







Memento








Goodfellas








Scarface








The Good, Bad and Ugly







A Few Good Men.






The Italian Job.

Review of 'Vaaranam Aayiram' - Tamil Movie.

We watched the movie last Saturday, 28 Nov 2008 at PVR. The first and foremost before writing a full review will be... Surya is phenomenal... he is brilliant, outstanding on the two characters as father and son. Surya is one gem of an actor who I hope will follow the foot steps of the great Kamal Hassan.

The film shows the 4 phases of Surya's life and there is a portion of Surya' as father. If you put altogether imagine the length of the movie.... it is well over 2 and half hours. It is a well crafted movie and it is one of the best for Gautam Menon and Surya. For Surya this movie will be an icon in his career.

We (myself n my wife) loved the character of young Surya, the adolescent Surya. He had completely transformed to look like a school boy studying in +2. The hair style and the facial expressions are brilliant. The next phase of his life is after his college life he meets his love Sameera Reddy and my god... she is gorgeous. She has an addictive smile... an inquisitive smile on her face which makes her attractive. The young Surya woos her finally after a struggle but fate his own things written over their love.

The next phase of Surya's life is onto drugs after he loses Sameera in a bomb blast. The look is considerably changed from a lovable Surya to rowdy look Surya. He gets out of drugs after an ordeal with gangsters, saving a child. The next phase which is shown as the current phase, as a major in Indian Army. In this character Surya is stout and portrays as army man. The characterisation and the look are perfect.

As you can see there are 4-5 dimension for Surya or 6 looks for Surya, you seem to think the movie runs fast and due to this I feel the depth is lacking. The movie is suppose to be a relationship between a father and son instead the movie goes where the son Surya goes. It's basically son Surya's life. Surya says he draws inspiration from his father at every point of time but that bonding, inspiration is not seen in the movie. The father Surya is very subtle all along the movie, one would expect as a responsible father his son studies well and settle well in life but in this movie he encourages his son to do things which most fathers' will resist. I guess it's the style of urban or metropolitan culture.

The music is peppy and all the songs are a hit. In order to match the music on screenplay the background, sets and location needs to be taken care of, I mean it will be additional work effort for the Director and the cameraman involved to bring the hit song in the movie. The cameraman work is also doubled due to Surya's double role.. one as old age father and a young son. In an interview Gautam Menon told he wanted this movie to be a musical treat. So, there is lot of things happening for one movie and in this essential plot is missed, the relationship between a father and son. If you see the movie 'Thavamai Thavmirundhu' you can feel the emotion from the characters of that movie the bonding between father and his sons - which I feel the emotion quotient is missing in Vaaranam Aayiram.

We also discussed that it is an epic movie and if the Director had used 4 or 5 different cameraman for each phase the visual treat would have been different. Ratnavelu, the cameraman has tried his best for this movie to take it to the next level whenever son Surya goes to next level but falls flat.

On a final note I would give 2.5 stars out of 5. Go watch it for Surya!!!!!

Mumbai Under Siege - Terror.

Mumbai city is under siege by terrorists from late last night 26 Nov 2008. This time the attack is direct, there is no bombs exploding at crowded market places. The attack is done at the prominent and posh hotels of Mumbai, The Taj, Oberoi and Trident and at a hospital.

There is no sign of incidents where I live Kandivali (East) which is about 30-35 kms from the Gateway of India. The life is normal here with auto-richshaws and people going about the usual business. It's like we are insulated from the events that is currently happening on the other part of the city. Strange!!!!!

We had to know the news as everybody else, from the breaking news of news channels. Mumbai is shut for today, people are advised to stay indoors.

Here is the complete news updated today on the net.

New Bharti (Airtel) Ad...Truly Inspiring.

Global Economic Crisis.

The Global economic crisis of 2008 has started to affect all living in this earth. On the macro level several countries in Europe are in recession, USA industries are fighting to survive, Japan in recession, layoffs and jobcuts are happening in all industries. The forecast is gloomy and likely to remain until 1st quarter of 2009. Singapore, Korea, Taiwan exports has been affected largely due to the economic slowdown. China is also facing the heat now as exports has slowed down. Here is the full story.

The ripple effect is seen in the shipping industry. The freight rates ex Asia to Europe/USA is steadily falling down due to mismatch of demand and supply. The supply is more and the demand has fallen down considerably ex Asia.

On the brighter side IT companies of India are eyeing to cash in on this crisis. They are on look out for acquisitions of European companies. They could get better deal and close in fast on acquisition when there is a recession in the buying country.

Gautam Gambhir ban appeal rejected.

Gambhir's appeal for one test match is rejected by the ICC. Here is the full story of verdict

It seems that you can provoke a player any number of times but can get past with a small fine. Why did Gambhir elbow Watson or under what circumstances he elbow? No body is seemed to bother about this question at all. Why would someone come into physical contact with the opposite team player?

Sunil Gavaskar is the only player who is raising this question boldly. There is a biased verdicts on white players when compared to the Subcontinent players. It is always the maximum penalty for players from Subcontinent whereas the white nation players are mildly let off with a fine. I must support Sunil Gavaskar at this juncture, atleast he is outspoken on this issue.

Spread the news across and support for Sunil Gavaskar.

Kumble Quits.

Anil Kumble alias Jumbo quit the international cricket at the last day of 3rd test match between India and Australia at Delhi. He announced his retirement after he had injury problems and he was not able to play 100% in the Delhi test.

He has been playing for India for 18 years! 18 years, thats a long journey! He was phenomenal in his prime years at both forms of cricket, one day and test matches. The lethal delivery which he mastered was the top spinner which hurried on the batsmen from a good length and the batsmen did not have time to adjust, eventually get out LBW. He was a fierce competitor and a good batsmen down the order. The one innings which I cannot forget with his bat was at the ODI (I believe it was the world cup'96) vs Pakistan at Bangalore Chinnaswamy stadium. India was in a bad position after losing 7 or 8 wickets and Kumble played some outstanding strokes to take India to victory. His mother was at the venue and the emotions she showed during the match while her son Kumble was batting is priceless. The emotions reflected each and every Indian at the venue and the millions to their TV sets.

I hope he will write a book on his journey in cricket and hope there are no contraversies. Wish him all the very best on his retirement life.

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Thrilling Finish at F1 World Championship.

Yesterday, 02 Nov 2008 was the final race for F1 at Sao Paulo, Brazil. Here is the background for you

Lewis Hamilton of Mclaren leads the points table and Felipe Massa is at the second place. Massa needs to win this final race to win the drivers championship and Hamilton needs to finish the race atleast by 5th place. Massa is ready at pole position and Hamilton starts the race from 4th position. The stage is set.

Massa leads the race with Alonso behind him at 2nd, Raikkonen at 3rd and 4th position was constantly under change with Glock, Vettel and Hamilton. Hamilton was driving the race at 5th position most of the race and the pit strategy worked for all. Ferrari, Mclaren, Renault, Toyota, Torro Rosso every car maker made no mistake at the pit. This put to Massa in the lead and Hamilton at 5th. The classification after 3 pit stops around 55 laps completed, Massa - 1st, Alonso - 2nd, Raikkonen - 3rd, Glock-4th, Hamilton-5th and Vettel-6th. Vettel at 6th position was on the tail of Hamilton and pushing hard at him. During the lap 68 Kubica who was a lap behind Hamilton made a move that led Vettel ahead of Hamilton. Vettel was in 5th place now with 2 laps remaining and Hamilton was at 6th place. This could ruin his dream of becoming world champion.

At the chequered flag after 2 min, Massa won, Alonso second and Raikkonen finishing 3rd. You thought and the 100,000 thousand home fans at the grand stand thought Massa won the world championship because Hamilton was on 6th. But hold on to your breadth... Glock who was in 4th position has some trouble at the final curve leading to the finish line. Vettel goes past him, finishes 4th and Hamilton right behind him finishes 5th. Have you ever imagined a race like this? I could not believe it! Hamilton won the world championship and Massa lost it by 1 point. It was a great race full of drama(!) and pure adrenalin finish.

Movie Review of Fashion - Hindi

Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut and others
Directed By: Madhur Bhandarkar

I was keen to watch this film from the date of release, 29 Oct 2008. I had seen few glimpses of Chandni Bar and Traffic Signal by Madhur Bhandarkar. His films have the original feel or the real life feel in a particular backdrop. This time the fashion world is the backdrop.

Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) is an aspiring young model from Chandigarh who land into Mumbai in search of her dreams. She is guided by one of the top designer assistant, who is one of the gay. Yes, there are few more gays and it seems that the fashion world particulary has gay designers and they are successful! She does not immediately lands into ramp walk and learns the intricacies of fashion world. When the time comes and with the blessings of business tycoon who runs the fashion industry she becomes the face of fashion.

I do not want to miss out the character played by Kangana. She is superb! excellent acting and her ramp presence is electrifying with the apt music on the background. When she is on ramp all eyes are on her (no blinking!) and she carries the aura required for super model. But when she is at backstage she is a depressed lonely women who lost her identity.

Back to Priyanka's career. She becomes super model and the tycoon who lifted her to top takes advantage of her. One fine day, when she says she is pregnant he dumps her and her attitude becomes arrogant. The transformation from a small town model to super model is as fast as the downturn in her career. The speed at which she goes up, she comes down at a double speed! When she is not in control, she loses herself and heads back to home.

The revival comes after one year when her father persuades to complete her dream. The rest of the story you must have guessed by now. The storyline is expected and the turn of events happen just you thought. So, I feel the spice is missing a lil bit.

Priyanka Chopra carries herself as Meghna Mathur, the changes that are brought in herself are subtle like when she leaves her boyfriend she goes for the cigarette. When the tycoon dumps her she goes for drinking. Kangana as I said, she is brilliant on ramp and off ramp. Other characters do their job. Overall it's a good movie where you can see the glimpses of fashion industry on the backstage.

The White Tiger - Book Review.

I completed reading of the new book which won Booker Prize for 2008 - The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga.

I had ordered this book online with Landmark, Chennai and the book was delivered in 3 days which is fantastic... I did not have to walk into a book store, browse or search for the book. It was delivered to me on my hand!

The opening of the book is itself makes the book a page turner. This is about a story of a man from the low-strata of society in India. The views expressed are from his viewpoint about India, the rich and famous, the politics and the system. The language of the book is very simple, easy to understand, no made-up twists or turns. Arvind Adiga brings you the picture of a village in interior India (most of urban population in India, including me do not have any idea of this interior India), the lives they live, joint family system, village heads, local politics and the boy who has seen it all. The protagonist is seen as writing letters to the Chinese president summing up things that has happened in his life and how he is in the present situation.

Shashi Tharoor's 'India From Midnight to the Millenium' is also a similar book (I have not read this book fully.. though) but the view of India is from a upper middle class or upper class citizen who lives in USA but has seen changes in India. When you compare this book with The White Tiger you seem to feel both are correct. The system in which we live in has not changed for more than hundred years and will continue to be so for the next hundred years. The lower caste or lower strata of Indians will continue to stuggle and the rich will become richer. In spite of the system there has been several developments like the economic growth, infrastructure development, global companies having India strategy, market stability and many other things.

People say there is too much of history in India and we as Indians cling to history, brought up listening stories from our Grandma/Grandpa's. In the 'n' number of stories that you might have heard the value or the core thing that you learn is honesty, integrity and sprituality. On the contrary the actual world is full of dirt... it's a clash between the ideology you have learnt as a kid and practical world. Almost all succumb to the practical world to survive and even if someone thinks that he can follow the rules as per his heart he cannot do it in his/this lifetime.

I recommend you to read this book The White Tiger to enhance your knowledge on India, the other side of India or true India.

Diwali.......in Mumbai

We celebrated Diwali or Deepavali as called in South India on 27 Oct 2008, Monday at Mumbai, India. This was our first Diwali on my own. We got up early, had oil bath, pooja in the morning, new dresses for both of us and fire crackers, all as usual. In the night we burnt the fire crackers with another tamil family living on the same building. It was fun!! because for the North Indians the Diwali was yet to begin!!!! and our housing complex has majority North Indians.... I would it was odd for us to celebrate Diwali one day earlier than the rest but we got to follow the system~

The next day 28 Oct 2008, North Indians celebrated Diwali and we had expected full of fire crackers during the day... We were expecting that the sound of fire crackers is going to make us mad... but you will not believe there was no sound - it was like a sunday - during the day. No people on the road, cars were off... we were surprised and wondered where all the people had gone. Then came the evening, the sounds started around 8.00 pm and the colourful rockets invaded the sky from all around.... It was the time that the North Indians began to celebrate in full style. There was lights, sound and action all around with the mist sorrounding the region.... anyone flying above on the flights could have actually enjoyed the spectacular evening yesterday. We enjoyed it watching them lit the flower pots, rockets, chakkars and colourful sticks.

I think I am slowly beginning to understand the culture of North Indians. All their functions, auspicious occasions and celebrations are reserved for the evening/night. The day time is for the prayers and preparing for the night. The North Indians weddings are during night, the ganesh chathurthi celebration was during night time, the dussera or navrathri was celebrated the same and now Diwali is also celebrated during night time. I guess almost all of them sleep only after midnight during occasions! whereas if you look at South India everyone is into bed by 10 pm on any occasions (except the singles). Singles have their own agenda!!!!

Hum Kise se kum nahin....

This is what Bihari's are trying to prove..... If MNS activists in Mumbai are trying to pose themselves as uneducated thugs then Biharis are matching with them by destroying public properties. What is the possible result is going to be achieved by disrupting and destroying public properties? I do not understand.

I must appreciate Lalu Prasad Yadav for being calm and effective on the situation.... He invited marathi manoos to come and write railway exams in Bihar.... Biharis will not stop them! or beat them... I believe this is the effective reply to Raj Thackeray who thinks he is the saviour of marathi manoos. Marathis or Biharis or anyone can prosper if and only if they are properly educated. Formal education is a must for everyone and education brings in culture where you can appreciate one's life.

I request to Raj Thackarey that instead of asking preference for Marathis in everything ask for formal education for everyone.... make sure that every child in Maharastra gets atleast upto high school education.... build schools and provide incentives for children if they attend the school... awareness is the key.... the prosperity will follow.... every child can become a hero. There is one tamil advertisement where all silver screen stars appear and appeal to children for a formal education. Make something happen as you are been accepted by millions of people as your leader.