Let me not start with the usual stuffs like "here we go guys or hey folks bla bla....".I am going to play another innings in my familiar territory.Hold on ,no prizes for guessing.Its about movies.Yesterday,when i was watching a hindi movie 'Hum Tum' ,i could not avoid thinking about 'When Harry met Sally'.But,HumTum has better comedy sequences and the movie totally rests on Saif's shoulder in the first half.His natural sense of wits and his impeccable comic timing carries the movie smoothly till the first half.Second half was a typical Hindi movie.
I am seriously thinking of changing the name Bollywood to Punjabwood.The heroes are always Rahul khannas or Karan kapoors or Raj Malhotras.The heroines are usually Poojas or rheas.The very moment hero has a glimpse on the heroine, he starts singing "khudiye,tusi kitni soni laghthi ve' and the heroine responds by singing ' mundeyaa,lejaa mora nindhiyaa'.If we are not having lead roles as punjabis,then at least there should be one Anupam Kher as sardarji and Archana puran singh as his sweetheart for comedy.
But,when it comes to showing Marathis,the character is described as a roughian blabbering 'Bole to ek dham sahi' kind of dialogs.If it is Gujarathis,they are shown as some crazy cave men and the tamilian's characterization,its much more lousy.They always say "ayyayo' and keep eating idly,sambar,idly sambar.Why northies.why do you happily accept it??
Move away,widowed,white sareed movie mammas!here comes the bubbly,witty dadi maas.Every hindi movie should have a dadi ma who is as smart as a Mensa.She calls everybody as 'oye!puthar,yahaan aa jaa puthar' and usually be the first one to sniff the love affairs and stands against those who oppose the young lovers.She can be preferably Farida jalal.The rule says that she should call out for 'wahe guru' whenever possible.
The lead family never goes out without their Armani suit on and their mode of transportation is preferably choppers which drops them at their very own backyard.Or at least there is one Hrithik roshan driving Ferrari to the college.
Our bollywood heroes do major favour for the multinational fashion outfits.They always make sure they show the Polo T-shirts(with the Polo name printed on it) and Italian designer shoes with Police sun glasses covering their eyes.And the heroines talk abuot her wardrobe with all the latest brands while talking casually and she carries the GUCCI vanities.
If i say lead family,i am talking about atleast 6 different families living together and doing business together.There is always one lousy uncle or aunt who cracks jokes all the time and does some major sacrifice in the end for the hero's family.
We have this certain advantage when we go for a Hindi movie.You get to see the whole Europe or US in the best of their seasons in just 100 rupees.You do not need to go for a package tour.The heroine walks over the plush green meadows in NewZealand and zooooooom,our hero stands on top of Alps singing and explaining us how he became deewaana.Or the hero runs in the streets of Manhattan searching for his soul mate while the girl stays in Paris.
Just mix Shah Rukh Khan as hero,Aishwarya Rai as heroine and Amitabh bachan as Dad and stir it properly.You have a hit movie ready to be served.
Ooops..is there something missing in the main ingredients?yeah.'The Story'..Oh! Come on man! You cannot be so much demanding.How much do you expect for the 50 bucks you pay??
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Friday, July 23, 2004
Thought for the day
Do you know the names of few Latin American writers?Do you know or at least heard about the South American rebel cum writer Che Guevara or his kinds?Do you often use words like 'post modernism','Neo-modernism','magical realism','sur-realism' (not necessarily knowing their meanings)?Have you written any piece of work which challenges the understanding power of a common reader?
If your response to any one of the above questions is YES,then you can boast yourself as a writer,or may be a great writer in the present world of Tamil literature.Before starting to talk about this,i have to admit that my knowledge in the literature is almost null.I just have the habit of browsing through the various sites and some of them happens to have the works of some good writers in Tamil.
What i feel is,these so called new crop of writers mostly fall into fewer sub categories.One set of writers who just bash anybody and everybody's literary work.They do not even bother to sit and read and find out the positives and negatives of others work.The other category simply are the ones which i have mentioned in the beginning.
I know one tamil writer who claims that he is the only person who has written a Tamil novel with international standards.That embraces the style of post modernism.I happened to read his (only)novel which he was boasting about.That novel was more like a crazily edited movie which did not have a proper start or end.It neither had a continuity.That novel served as a dictionary of nasty slangs of human anatomy.Then only i understood,post modernism is post mortem of the ethics of the literature. I do not understand why they alienate themselves and go further away from the enthusiastic reader.That novelist had an answer for this question too.He says ," i am beyond this earthly desires.You people are mean middle class creatures.So do not read my work".The so called beyond earthly desire people once had an intellectual meeting in a local wine shop(!!!) and some of those geniuses smashed down our novelist's face into a bloody mess.Haha..
I am reluctantly using the cliche here ,writing is an art.As a common reader,When i read some book,i should not put an extra effort to understand what has been written.I am sure many people will feel it that way.
Here i would like to mention about the Tamil short stories collection of Sujatha's 'SriRangathu devadhaigal'.There are many reasons why it is close to my heart.One is the slang used by the characters in the stories is the same as that of mine.Secondly,the author writes the incidents of his younger days.The author gives a right blend of his imagination with the real incidents.The mixing is so perfect like the colors of the rainbow that one cannot find out where the imaginary part starts.Gradually,it makes me feel that i am narrating the story instead of the author.That is where the author succeeds.
I used to admire this author for his width of knowledge.Apart from his literary work,he has inspired many a young writers by guiding them all.He has played a significant role in introducing the usage of computers to the age old Tamil literature.Now,that i call as a service to the literary world.
If i am labeled as mean middle class for reading such books,then i am happy to be one.
If your response to any one of the above questions is YES,then you can boast yourself as a writer,or may be a great writer in the present world of Tamil literature.Before starting to talk about this,i have to admit that my knowledge in the literature is almost null.I just have the habit of browsing through the various sites and some of them happens to have the works of some good writers in Tamil.
What i feel is,these so called new crop of writers mostly fall into fewer sub categories.One set of writers who just bash anybody and everybody's literary work.They do not even bother to sit and read and find out the positives and negatives of others work.The other category simply are the ones which i have mentioned in the beginning.
I know one tamil writer who claims that he is the only person who has written a Tamil novel with international standards.That embraces the style of post modernism.I happened to read his (only)novel which he was boasting about.That novel was more like a crazily edited movie which did not have a proper start or end.It neither had a continuity.That novel served as a dictionary of nasty slangs of human anatomy.Then only i understood,post modernism is post mortem of the ethics of the literature. I do not understand why they alienate themselves and go further away from the enthusiastic reader.That novelist had an answer for this question too.He says ," i am beyond this earthly desires.You people are mean middle class creatures.So do not read my work".The so called beyond earthly desire people once had an intellectual meeting in a local wine shop(!!!) and some of those geniuses smashed down our novelist's face into a bloody mess.Haha..
I am reluctantly using the cliche here ,writing is an art.As a common reader,When i read some book,i should not put an extra effort to understand what has been written.I am sure many people will feel it that way.
Here i would like to mention about the Tamil short stories collection of Sujatha's 'SriRangathu devadhaigal'.There are many reasons why it is close to my heart.One is the slang used by the characters in the stories is the same as that of mine.Secondly,the author writes the incidents of his younger days.The author gives a right blend of his imagination with the real incidents.The mixing is so perfect like the colors of the rainbow that one cannot find out where the imaginary part starts.Gradually,it makes me feel that i am narrating the story instead of the author.That is where the author succeeds.
I used to admire this author for his width of knowledge.Apart from his literary work,he has inspired many a young writers by guiding them all.He has played a significant role in introducing the usage of computers to the age old Tamil literature.Now,that i call as a service to the literary world.
If i am labeled as mean middle class for reading such books,then i am happy to be one.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Black Friday
It was a heart breaking accident which left the parents of school going kids speechless in sorrow and fear.90 kids were burnt alive when a major fire broke out in a primary school at Kumbakonam,Tamil nadu.When i saw the news in the internet first,i was not aware of the degree of devestation.But after a while,when i saw the details that 90 primary school students were burnt alive,my heart froze.This is the kind of loss that nothing can compensate it and console the grief of the parents.We do not know how many future entrepreneurs we lost in that accident.
There are certain other things i noticed during the proceedings after the accident.The first and most important is the manner in which the media handled the coverage of the news.In my humble opinion,the media should have restricted the coverage by not showing the severely charred bodies of the kids.It does not add up any value to the news.instead,such photo news simply increases the grievances and increases the panic among the other parents.Those photos were in such a way that if a weak hearted person takes a look at those snaps,he or she is sure to have at least a mild attack.Media is such a senstive medium that they should realize it and have some ethics in their job.
Next thing is the TamilNadu government's relief measures.It was good to see the CM cancelling the licence of all the schools with thatched roofs and those that do not meet the minimum safety requirements.We hope the government take the future of the students in those schools also into consideration.This accident is an alarm for the government and the educational authorities that they cannot afford to be careless in the precautionary meassures anymore.
The District educational Officer and some more have been suspended.All i know is the District Educational officer visits the schools every year and ask the students some questions and makes sure the academics are conducted properly.I do not think he has any power to decide the licence issues of the schools.I feel the government blindly points the fingers at everybody in the hierarchy.This is not time for the blame game.They should concentrate more in the precautionary actions to avoid further incidents like this.
It was sad to see the teachers of the concerned school are chased by the police like criminals.Though the allegation that they fled the spot during the accident is justified to certain extent,this is no way to treat the noble professionals.What they did during the accident was just human.They do not deserve punishments like sentencing them for 7 years imprisonment and all.People who are to be arrested here are the corrupt educational authorities, who gave permission for such an unsafe premises.Here politicians do that usual foul play and make the common teachers as soft targets.
May the little innocent souls rest in peace and may God give mental strength to the parents to overcome this terrible incident.
There are certain other things i noticed during the proceedings after the accident.The first and most important is the manner in which the media handled the coverage of the news.In my humble opinion,the media should have restricted the coverage by not showing the severely charred bodies of the kids.It does not add up any value to the news.instead,such photo news simply increases the grievances and increases the panic among the other parents.Those photos were in such a way that if a weak hearted person takes a look at those snaps,he or she is sure to have at least a mild attack.Media is such a senstive medium that they should realize it and have some ethics in their job.
Next thing is the TamilNadu government's relief measures.It was good to see the CM cancelling the licence of all the schools with thatched roofs and those that do not meet the minimum safety requirements.We hope the government take the future of the students in those schools also into consideration.This accident is an alarm for the government and the educational authorities that they cannot afford to be careless in the precautionary meassures anymore.
The District educational Officer and some more have been suspended.All i know is the District Educational officer visits the schools every year and ask the students some questions and makes sure the academics are conducted properly.I do not think he has any power to decide the licence issues of the schools.I feel the government blindly points the fingers at everybody in the hierarchy.This is not time for the blame game.They should concentrate more in the precautionary actions to avoid further incidents like this.
It was sad to see the teachers of the concerned school are chased by the police like criminals.Though the allegation that they fled the spot during the accident is justified to certain extent,this is no way to treat the noble professionals.What they did during the accident was just human.They do not deserve punishments like sentencing them for 7 years imprisonment and all.People who are to be arrested here are the corrupt educational authorities, who gave permission for such an unsafe premises.Here politicians do that usual foul play and make the common teachers as soft targets.
May the little innocent souls rest in peace and may God give mental strength to the parents to overcome this terrible incident.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Spider Man-2
A party on friday evening in an Italian Restaurant with all your buddies,in the party you get the surprise news of your bank balance growing thicker by a good amount and a saturday evening Spider man movie.How better can a weekend be than the above?Yes,these all happened to me last weekend.
So,when a good news comes,a treat follows.Yes,i am no exception to this unwritten rule.Saturday's spending was all mine.No cribbing about that.After all,we earn to have fun.As per the plan,We went to Spiderman part 2.
We have been watching the trailers of this much awaited movie for quite sometime.Though the clippings shown were good,there was always a doubt that the spirit of the first part might not be carried to the next part.But not only did the second part carry that spirit,but it was far beyond my expectations too.The movie spun a sheer magical web in the hall for two hours.
The main reason for the success of this spider man series is that,it is not just a story of a super hero's stunts to save the man kind.It is a story of a boy who accidentally happens to be a super hero.It narrates beautifully,the sacrifices he makes in his personal life and the emotional trauma he undergoes because of that.Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst have lived as spider man and Mary Jane.The emotional scenes that involves spiderman,his childhood sweetheart Mary Jane and his aunt May were too good.
The technical team is solely responsible for the success of the movie.I just could not take the magnificence of the cinematography when the spidey flies in the NY streets.My god! it was just eye popping to say in the least exclamation.I felt like i was also flying with him and even had the same feeling of sitting in the roller-coaster ride.
"Being intelligent is not a privilage.Its a God's gift to serve the mankind",
"With great power comes great responsibilities".These were the punchy one liners i liked very much in the movie.
Of course,if you let me,i will be writing all day about this movie.I had a great time watching this movie.So,please watch this movie and enjoy without fail.But,please dont ever watch this one in VCD or DVD at home.That will be a big mistake to do.
Have fun folks!!
Adios
So,when a good news comes,a treat follows.Yes,i am no exception to this unwritten rule.Saturday's spending was all mine.No cribbing about that.After all,we earn to have fun.As per the plan,We went to Spiderman part 2.
We have been watching the trailers of this much awaited movie for quite sometime.Though the clippings shown were good,there was always a doubt that the spirit of the first part might not be carried to the next part.But not only did the second part carry that spirit,but it was far beyond my expectations too.The movie spun a sheer magical web in the hall for two hours.
The main reason for the success of this spider man series is that,it is not just a story of a super hero's stunts to save the man kind.It is a story of a boy who accidentally happens to be a super hero.It narrates beautifully,the sacrifices he makes in his personal life and the emotional trauma he undergoes because of that.Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst have lived as spider man and Mary Jane.The emotional scenes that involves spiderman,his childhood sweetheart Mary Jane and his aunt May were too good.
The technical team is solely responsible for the success of the movie.I just could not take the magnificence of the cinematography when the spidey flies in the NY streets.My god! it was just eye popping to say in the least exclamation.I felt like i was also flying with him and even had the same feeling of sitting in the roller-coaster ride.
"Being intelligent is not a privilage.Its a God's gift to serve the mankind",
"With great power comes great responsibilities".These were the punchy one liners i liked very much in the movie.
Of course,if you let me,i will be writing all day about this movie.I had a great time watching this movie.So,please watch this movie and enjoy without fail.But,please dont ever watch this one in VCD or DVD at home.That will be a big mistake to do.
Have fun folks!!
Adios
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Nostalgia!
MasilaaMani temple.
"Why would you ever want to leave such a beautiful place buddy?",asked one of my colleague.I can list down more than a handful of reasons for our family to be shifted to chennai from my native place.No basic infrastructures.There are no doctors there anymore and we never had a hospital.Inspite of all these,i cannot help that lump in the throat when i see these snaps of my native.It has been almost 8 years since i stayed more than a month continuously in my native.So,though its not going to be too hard for me,I wonder how emotional my parents will be right now.
My native place is called Porayar,located on the east coast,100 Km from Pondicherry towards the famous shrines,Velankanni and Nagore Darha.Needless to say,my native was one of the most picturesque places i have been to.It has appeared in few movies too.The temple in the above snap will be there in that place mostly for another 10 years.I took a snap of the last tomb standing.The sea erosion has been the Tomb raider here.It is very sad to see such an amazing architectural work going down in front of your eyes.But,i feel nothing much can be done to prevent that.My granny used to say that she used bull carts to goto the sea shore from this temple when she was young.Though it sounded like an exaggeration,i could believe it to some extent because of the major cyclone that hit our native some 50 years ago.
An Evening View of the beach in my native
There is one beautiful Danish fort just in the sea shore.I would have loved to post a snap of that,had the government authorities not spoiled it so miserably making it appear worse than an ordinary godown,in the name of 'Renovation'.
My mornings in my native were the best way to start a day.I used to have the habit of waking up early in the morning in my school days.I could hear the birds's wake up calls and cuckoos humming up and flying.Open the door and a heavenly frame unfolds in front of your eyes.You see farmers starting their day with the ploughs,the best and my favourite one was,the calves running around.One needs a thousand eyes to see the jubiliant mood of those cute little animals.It jumps around so ecstatic that anybdy who sees it will forget their worries at that moment and feel like their own child playing in front of them.I made sure to catch hold of one calf at least and play around with that for 5-10 minutes.I miss them all so much when i see the people holding a burger in the hand and literally running to catch the train.
Yeah,yeah.,i hear you say,"move on dude.You have got whole lot of life to live".Yes.,thats exactly i am doing now.I am just saving the thoughts for the rainy days.
I am able to have pleasant thoughts of my native only because of the great childhood my parents gave us.Thanks to my parents,we brothers were never made to feel the impact of the financial struggles our dad was undergoing.I have fewer words in my limited vocabulary to write them all down here.
I will miss my native,no doubts.But,the native i visualize is no more there.Its all gone 10 years back.Life goes on folks!!
Monday, July 05, 2004
The New Wizkid!
Controlled Aggression.Yes,that's how i will define her.This year Wimbledon witnessed the making of a champion who is going to be there for many more years,and will hopefully rewrite the record books.The kid i am talking about here is none other than the Wimbledon 2004 women's champion Maria Sharapova.
It is just unbelievable for a girl of just 17 years old to show such 'Never-say-die' attitude and tremendous killer instinct.In the finals of the championship,Serena Williams was simply outplayed by the sheer character and determination of Sharapova.Anybody would misjudge and just take this girl for granted seeing her silky blonde hair and the innocent,photogenic beauty.But beware people,there is a lioness inside that beauty.
Sharapova drew everybody's attention when she beat much experienced Ai sugiyama in the quarterfinals.Ai sugiyama is a player who plays by the book,which is a typical Japanese character.It helped her to win the first set comfortably.But in the crunch moments,one needs the fighter instinct and thoughts beyond the book.Thats what Sharapova did when she fought like a tigress to win the second set and went on to crush Ai in the third and decisive set.
For those who thought that it was just a flash in the pan to win on a lucky day,Sharapova proved them all wrong in the semifinals against the former champion and aging Lindsey Davenport.In this match too,Sharapova gifted the first set to Lindsey easily.She seemed to be losing focus even in the second set.Thanks to the rain interruption,Sharapova got some breathing time and when she came back to continue the game,she was totally a different player with a overhauled attitude.She fired from all her barrels to achieve a seemingly impossible victory.
The final was the perfect finish for the well carried performance throughout.After seeing the murderous defeat of Jenifer Capriati in the hands of Serena,everybody would have thought the final was going to be a finishing formality for Serena to get her third consecutive Wimbledon crown.But within the first half an hour of the match,Sharapova fired so early winning the first set so easily, and showed Serena that will power is greater than physical power.Serena could do nothing other than looking at awe and appreciating the opponent at times.Sharapova's powerful shots and big volleying was simply too good for Serena to handle.It was surprising to see such a strokeplay from that slender teenage girl.The second set was a classy exhibition of her brilliance and her presence of mind when she played some timely lofts.Serena was outplayed in every area in the second set.The win was so well deserved and hence her ecstatic moments were so beautiful.Her running into the spectators to give her dad a sweet hug,trying to reach her mom over the cellular phone in the middle of the court and her control even with the mike,everything were so typical of a teenage girl.Nobody,including Sharapova herself,would have expected that she would win against a player who was strong enough to play in Men's section.
The sports magazines have got their new Cover girl.Only difference is,this girl is not going to be just a cover girl.She can cross many milestones if she controls her unforced errors and improves her serves considerably.
One thing is for sure,whenever she plays,whatever may be the outcome of the match,i will stay fixed in front of the TV enjoying the grace of the glorious beauty.Boy,she is like an angel!
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