I was reading this two reports on the same page of TOI, today's edition 10 July 2009. The articles were about two personnel, one is Nandan Nilekani ex co-founder and ex co-chairman of Infosys. He represented the New Face of India along with Narayan Murthy. He is retiring today from Infosys and will be heading the department which will provide Unique Identification Number to all Indians in India.
The other was Ramalinga Raju, the founder of Satyam who is in prison for corporate fraud. He and his CFO are to be subjected to lie-detector test and brain mapping.
I found it ironic to find these two articles side by side. A guy who has worked 28 years tirelessly to build one of best & admired company from India and the other is a fraudster who siphoned off public money for his own well being. I feel this is one of the fine example where both world exists! the good and bad.
I could not stop writing or commenting as soon as I read those articles.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
One of the Interesting forwarded mail....
Notepad as Diary
For people who wants to use notepad to write down any info on a day to day basis
(like diary):
1. Open a blank Notepad file
2. Write .LOG as the first line of the file, followed by a enter. Save the
file and close it.
3. Double-click the file to open it and notice that Notepad appends the
current date and time to the end of the file and places the cursor on the line after.
4. Type your notes and then save and close the file.
5. Each time you open the file, Notepad repeats the process, appending the
time and date to the end of the file and placing the cursor below it.
For people who wants to use notepad to write down any info on a day to day basis
(like diary):
1. Open a blank Notepad file
2. Write .LOG as the first line of the file, followed by a enter. Save the
file and close it.
3. Double-click the file to open it and notice that Notepad appends the
current date and time to the end of the file and places the cursor on the line after.
4. Type your notes and then save and close the file.
5. Each time you open the file, Notepad repeats the process, appending the
time and date to the end of the file and placing the cursor below it.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Review of 'Ayan' - Tamil Movie
It's been long time I wrote a review! I saw 'Firaaq', a Hindi movie by Nandita Das sometime back but didn't feel to write a review. Firaaq was more like Hindi version of 'Crash' and a documentary like movie. I just gave a pass!
I watched 'Ayan', new tamil movie starring Suriya and Tamanna last week. The movie is directed by KV Anand, a cinematographer turned Director. The first thing you notice on watching 5-10 mins into the movie is the 'fresh & green' feel. Surya is wonderful, he is young and you can feel it in this movie.
The movie has been approached to imitate Hollywood movies in terms of actions & stunts. The team has succeeded in bringing out the stunts to a new level and comparable to the best of Hollywood action. One more point, you can actually believe some of the stunts because of Surya's well toned body.
The lead lady Tamanna is fresh and cool-looking beauty who falls for Surya at first sight!!!! She will be in Tamil film industry for long I guess! The support cast includes Prabhu, Karunaas, Jegan and others have done their job according to their roles.
There is nothing new in the story. Surya is con-man who smuggles new film CDs to Diamonds via airport & seaport. He works for Prabhu who has connections at all levels. Then, there is a villian who wants to dethrone Prabhu's position in black market trade. There is a love angle with Tamanna who happens to be the sister of his colleague/friend. So, now you know how the story can go and end. There are portions of movie where it reminds of hollywood movies. It's like cut and paste. Then, there are times where you feel why is the movie not over yet?
I think its high time that the new set of directors avoid unnecessary songs. There are 2 songs in this movies which I feel can be removed. It's totally a waste of time, money and effort. The movie could have easily ended in one and half hours or one hour and forty five minutes. I do not know the compulsion of taking the movie to 2 hours and 15 min. I hope the viewers agree with me.
One of outstanding aspect is Cinematography. The photography is excellent, the colour is vibrant and refreshing. The scenes in Congo are really superb! Editing is sleek, music is good.
On a whole it's a good entertaining movie.
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.
I watched 'Ayan', new tamil movie starring Suriya and Tamanna last week. The movie is directed by KV Anand, a cinematographer turned Director. The first thing you notice on watching 5-10 mins into the movie is the 'fresh & green' feel. Surya is wonderful, he is young and you can feel it in this movie.
The movie has been approached to imitate Hollywood movies in terms of actions & stunts. The team has succeeded in bringing out the stunts to a new level and comparable to the best of Hollywood action. One more point, you can actually believe some of the stunts because of Surya's well toned body.
The lead lady Tamanna is fresh and cool-looking beauty who falls for Surya at first sight!!!! She will be in Tamil film industry for long I guess! The support cast includes Prabhu, Karunaas, Jegan and others have done their job according to their roles.
There is nothing new in the story. Surya is con-man who smuggles new film CDs to Diamonds via airport & seaport. He works for Prabhu who has connections at all levels. Then, there is a villian who wants to dethrone Prabhu's position in black market trade. There is a love angle with Tamanna who happens to be the sister of his colleague/friend. So, now you know how the story can go and end. There are portions of movie where it reminds of hollywood movies. It's like cut and paste. Then, there are times where you feel why is the movie not over yet?
I think its high time that the new set of directors avoid unnecessary songs. There are 2 songs in this movies which I feel can be removed. It's totally a waste of time, money and effort. The movie could have easily ended in one and half hours or one hour and forty five minutes. I do not know the compulsion of taking the movie to 2 hours and 15 min. I hope the viewers agree with me.
One of outstanding aspect is Cinematography. The photography is excellent, the colour is vibrant and refreshing. The scenes in Congo are really superb! Editing is sleek, music is good.
On a whole it's a good entertaining movie.
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.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Review of 'Delhi-6' - Hindi Movie.
The much awaited movie from Rakesh Omprakash Mehra was released last weekend, 19th - 20th Feb 2009. His last movie Rang De Basanti was a huge hit in India with Aamir Khan in the lead role. I have not seen his earlier film (1st film) 'Aks', hence not able to comment on it. But RDB is fantastic movie and I loved it. The screenplay, actors, music and story telling had an unique style.
The expectation was more for Delhi-6 since the music by AR Rahman is a chartbuster for about one month now. I certainly expected more from the director solely due to the past performance in RDB. I guess I am disappointed after watching this movie on last Saturday, 21 Feb 2009.
I am watching Waheeda Rehman after a long time and she is a fine actor. In this movie she returns to her homeland with her grandson when she knows her medical condition. Abhishek Bachan lands in Delhi and likes the old Delhi or Delhi-6. She reunites with the family clan and AB finds new relatives, among them is Sonam Kapoor. The story goes on where Sonam has her goal to become Indian Idol one day, AB is amazed at how people live in Delhi-6, all the rest of characters have their own work/identity and life goes on. The story revolves around the rumour based on the 'Monkey Man' thought to be sighted in Delhi. Further story can be read at
The script is too shallow, nothing heroic of sorts, just plain and I find its preaching. You don't go to a movie to be preached, everyone knows why India is in a state where it is. Its the people who need to change and change cannot happen overnight! and certainly not after watching a movie!!!!!!! We must educate our future generations to be responsible and be not like us.
The good things are few specific characters in the movie. They can be seen around us and they are natural. The power of this movie are the original characters created by the director, only AB falls flat in this entire cast or mis-cast in the movie. He doesn't look comfortable in the American character and I feel he doesn't suit the role. He does not take efforts in his looks nor his expressions to bring about the change that the character requires. I guess only Manirathnam can extract best out of him! LOL.
Music is peppy as usual but you will find that the songs are shortened as the director did in RDB. I do not know why he wants an album from AR Rahman and does not film all the songs fully! AR Rahman needs to seriously think of doing music for him again. Cinematography is good and screenplay falls in line.
A better rendition would have made the movie tick.
My rating for this movie is 2 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.
The expectation was more for Delhi-6 since the music by AR Rahman is a chartbuster for about one month now. I certainly expected more from the director solely due to the past performance in RDB. I guess I am disappointed after watching this movie on last Saturday, 21 Feb 2009.
I am watching Waheeda Rehman after a long time and she is a fine actor. In this movie she returns to her homeland with her grandson when she knows her medical condition. Abhishek Bachan lands in Delhi and likes the old Delhi or Delhi-6. She reunites with the family clan and AB finds new relatives, among them is Sonam Kapoor. The story goes on where Sonam has her goal to become Indian Idol one day, AB is amazed at how people live in Delhi-6, all the rest of characters have their own work/identity and life goes on. The story revolves around the rumour based on the 'Monkey Man' thought to be sighted in Delhi. Further story can be read at
The script is too shallow, nothing heroic of sorts, just plain and I find its preaching. You don't go to a movie to be preached, everyone knows why India is in a state where it is. Its the people who need to change and change cannot happen overnight! and certainly not after watching a movie!!!!!!! We must educate our future generations to be responsible and be not like us.
The good things are few specific characters in the movie. They can be seen around us and they are natural. The power of this movie are the original characters created by the director, only AB falls flat in this entire cast or mis-cast in the movie. He doesn't look comfortable in the American character and I feel he doesn't suit the role. He does not take efforts in his looks nor his expressions to bring about the change that the character requires. I guess only Manirathnam can extract best out of him! LOL.
Music is peppy as usual but you will find that the songs are shortened as the director did in RDB. I do not know why he wants an album from AR Rahman and does not film all the songs fully! AR Rahman needs to seriously think of doing music for him again. Cinematography is good and screenplay falls in line.
A better rendition would have made the movie tick.
My rating for this movie is 2 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.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, February 09, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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!
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!
Friday, January 23, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
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.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, December 05, 2008
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. _._
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, December 01, 2008
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!!!!!
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!!!!!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, November 03, 2008
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.
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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