Thiru Krishnan, Thiru Muthu avaragalai medaiku vandhu thanga chain matrum thanga modhiram petrukollumaaru azhaikirom! Thiru Krishnan, Thiru Muthae!

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Raavanan aanda enna, Rahman aanda enna..aaga motham padam mokkai

Ok, the movie sucked. Really. Neither was the Direction good nor was the screenplay coherent. There is no point in narrating the story because the movie was so blatantly lifted off from Ramayana I really got bored after a while and could predict what would happen next. For me such adaptations doesn't reflect the prowess of the Director at all. It was a very run of the mill kind of story/screenplay which was tailored to reflect a well known epic. Maybe the audience are supposed to shriek in ecstasy when they relate to characters resembling Hanuman and Vibheeshanan, but I most certainly was put off by that. There was no elaborate build up to the story. The movie begins with Veeraiya (Vikram) kidnapping Ragini (Aishwarya Rai) and her husband Dev played by PrithviRaj prepares to mount an all out attack on Veera. BGMs sucked because there were no true BGMs. The bits and pieces from the songs were just rehashed to form the BGM. What happened to the good old days of our Ilayaraja when people actually spent as much time on BGMs as they did on songs?

The first half moves slowly. I mean so slowly that it feels more stagnant than all of Aishwarya's facial expressions can muster. The Director is only focused on portraying the love sprouting in Vikram's heart for Ragini. It is not a bad concept if it had been handled well but he had gone overboard with the Screenplay part. The scenes were too jumpy; in the sense there was no smooth flow. Yet the same scenario was being shown for one hour; Ragini falling down the cliff for some five times in Vikram's mind. There is actually no good characterization in the first half except for Vikram's. Suhasini has written the Dialogues for the movie and I couldn't help but laugh during those 'typical' one liner exchanges in the first half when Dev was told his wife was kidnapped. It went something like this:
Hemanth: siiirrr, river la oru accident
Dev: Eppo
H: Ippodhan sirrr
Dev: Enna aachu
H: sirrr, inoru boat idichu....adhula vandhu...
D: enna?
H: unga wife...
D: solunga Hemanth..
It reminded me of that classic spoof in Thamizh Padam of that 'Thalabadhi' scene where Mammooty visits his injured henchman in a hospital.

Karthik gets totally wasted by ManiRatnam. I felt great pity for such a talented actor reduced to doing buffoonery just because one of his 'mentors' asked him to act in the movie. His intro scene when he does some 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon'isque jumping around of trees looked so bad and made no sense. Later, in the movie Kartihk gets to be the Hanuman of the story and if those initial tree jumping scenes were intended to give the audience a clue about that, then I am sorry to say ManiRatnam but Perarasu would have done a better job of it. If his role was intended to be that of a comic relief with his monkey acts, then somebody like Vivek etc. would have done a much better job of it. Same is the case with Prabu. The continued references to the epic was also irritating. People should have been left feeling a resemblance to the epic. Instead, ManiRatnam makes sure that the audience have no doubts whatsoever. Somebody should count the number of times references are made to the numbers 10 and 14 in that movie! We all know Raavanan had ten heads, Sir. Please. No need to remind us again and again. Also, we all know that Ramar went to vanavaasam for 14 years. No need to give not so subtle hints such as 'she will die in 14 hours', 'she was supposed to be held for 14hours but now she should be held for 14 days' etc. Maybe you were making this movie for an 'international' audience who have no idea what Ramayanam is about and probably you would give a quick guide to Ramayanam along with the movie tickets to those audience so that they can croon in delight when they see those cross references making sense.

Amidst all this drudgery, there are two things in the movie that is spectacular. Firstly, the Cinematography. It is just indescribable. It was not just one or two scenes but the entire movie that was shot in vivid colors and some breathtaking camera angles. Some do stick to the mind: Vikram's standing on the cliff edge and doing a 'will he jump or won't he' kind of thing, the scene where the officers cut through the dense forest and the camera focuses on a dragon fly perched on the branch and slowly pans out to the bunch of people (the dragonfly looked totally like a toy though), the waterfalls, the final scene in which Vikram is shot and falls down in a SloMo. Breathtaking is the only word that justifies all this.

Secondly, Vikram. The story was not just centered around his character but his performance in the movie is so towering that all the other flaws seem more magnified because of that. Seeing Aishwarya's banality of expressions and PrithviRaj's stonyfaced reactions (thanks to ManiRatnam's idea of a steel nerved Police I believe) Vikram seemed to really possess ten times the prowess of the other actors! If Vikram hadn't captivated the audience enough till the end of the movie then he definitely delivers the sucker punch in the climax when he realizes the trap he has fallen in. Even his expressions as he falls to his death lingers in the mind. As a friend of mine said, his performance in this movie is like watching Sachin score a century in a losing cause!

If I see this movie again it would be for the Cinematography and Vikram. And I hope this refocuses his immense acting abilities and makes him a better chooser of movies in the future!

P.S.: It feels so good to say, I told you so!

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Adraa Sakka

I saw two videos well after midnight and I still have trouble sleeping because of them. First one was this. The way she imitates the Singh, the Patel and the Italian and her emphasis on Vasantha was awesomely funny.

The second video was this - Our very own TR. Earlier in the day I was seeing some of the videos of the internet sensation Wilbur Sargunaraj and read about how he had become popular in the US as well (with well known movie critic Roger Ebert mentioning this video in one of his twitter message). I was wondering if this is guy really like this? I mean, does he have a secret identity which is his real life that is hid behind this character? Surely there has to be. Having said that it is really hard to believe when someone actually are just the way they appear to be - like our TR. Whaat a maaannn (as Abbas says in Padayappa). Not only does he have the gumption to render his version of an African beat for more than a minute but he also says it would become an internet sensation. And the way he ends the call - "Ellaa pugazhum iraivanuke, inshah allah".

Ada Raama....

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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Nothing beats seeing a good movie in a awesome theater. Except, of course, if you get to see an awesome movie in an awesome theater! I saw Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and I thoroughly enjoyed it enough to think about going for a second time!

The movie is about the famous Prince who most of us would have known when trying to take him to the Princess through the dungeons with the help of 4 keyboard buttons. Later, came the gaming consoles etc. that popularized the franchise enough to merit a movie out of it. But unlike ventures that were made into poorly made cheesy movies (ala Tomb Raider), PoP is a perfectly served blend of action, magical forces and stunning visuals.

Prince Dastan, the protagonist, is played by Jake Gyllenhaal. I had some serious doubts on the credibility of the movie once I saw the trailers: the trailer was more of a select scenes of action without much insight into the story itself and moreover Jake seemed a total misfit for the role. Strongly lingering images of Jake playing the young guy trying to escape the snow in the Day After Tomorrow & the boyish ranch hand in the Brokeback Mountain made him a suspect for this role, in my opinion (Jake is the younger brother of Maggie Gyllenhall, in case you din't know it!). But to his credit, at the end of the movie I could not think of a better person for the role.

Dastan is an orphan who gets adopted by the King of Persia after showing courage in the face of adversity. This makes him the youngest of the three Princes in the line to the throne - Tus & Garsiv. When the King is away from the city, news reaches the Princes about the treachery by the sacred city of Alamut which is selling weapons to the enemies of the Persian empire. The two Princes decide to invade the city aided by the counsel of their uncle Nizam, against the suggestion of Dastan. This leads to a trail of events during which the King, on his return to the city, gets killed and Jake is blamed for his death. Jake escapes with Princess Tamina (played by Gemma Arterton, and she is Hot!)of Alamut. Tamina is the guardian of the Dagger of Time which she safeguards from falling into the hands of evil men. The rest of the story is about how Dastan proves his innocence and also helps Tamina in returning the Dagger to safety. The strength of the movie is the realization by the Director that a story like this would abound with cliches during movie making: the culture of Persia has to be showcased in a way that everyone identifies with but yet must not be too banal, the hero has to be agile and fight many kinds of enemies yet there must be no poorly placed wise quips etc. The Director has walked this fine line and never let the movie drift away. The focus and packaging keeps the audience riveted. He has cleverly avoided pitfalls of loud mouthed villains (if you see The Mummy movies, you know what I am talking about), unnecessary number of mushy scenes with the female lead, sidekicks etc.

The film editing is by a trio that includes the legendary Michael Kahn who is one of my all time favorite and he has done a fabulous job in this movie. The movie has some stunning visuals that includes panoramic scenery and intelligent graphics. Soundtrack is a big plus for the movie too. I am a big sucker for multi-channel audio tracks and a movie with a storyline like PoP provides ample opportunities for it and the way it is has been smartly interspersed and employed, I just fell head over heels for it.

One of those movies that I would probably end up seeing many times over.

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Minute by Minute Commentary

Friend: Why are you not updating anything on Facebook?
Me: I don't know. What is there to update anyway?
Friend: So many things! Like that trip you went on 2 weeks back, India's T20 matches etc. You have to let people know what you are thinking by writing on your wall.
Me: Why would I write on my wall? I always like my walls to be clean and white! In fact, I am going to see if I can prevent others from scribbling on my neat wall as well..
Friend: Loosu..seri leave it. At least you can twitter, no?
Me: What am I? A sparrow?
Friend: But everybody twitters now. This is how people share their thoughts and opinions.
Me: But I already write a blog for that. If I want to force my opinion on people who refuse to read it then I will call them and let them know what I think. Who is going to be interested in where I ate lunch, which place I went to last night and how I "Juz feel lazy to go 2 work 2day". If Sachin tweets "I should have blocked instead of trying to drive that ball", it is worth reading. Who would be interested in knowing what a nobody like me feels looking at the sunset on a lovely summer night!
Friend: &*$#%@

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First look of the Semmozhi video for the Ulaga Thamizh Maanadu. Impressive track from Rahman, though I feel it has a much more contemporary feel to it than it should have in terms of the instrument used as well as the singers. Especially considering the fact that the conference is meant to serve as a point of discussion on the 'thamizh kalaacharam' (that includes the contemporary relevance of literary pieces such as Tholkaapiyam & Thirukkural) and spreading awareness to the current diaspora).

Gowtham Menon has tried to do a Mile Sur Mera Thumhara with the video but there lacks a distinct flow to it. I have no idea why Shruthi Hassan and Blaaze are even there in the video.

But anyhow...

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Like the saying "Ennadhaan naaya kulipaatti naduveetla vechaalum, adhu vaala suzhatindu therukudhaan odum nu", ivanunga ennadhaan adipaatalum thirundha maatanga polarke!

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Mani Ratnam

I like Mani Ratnam's movies a lot just like many others. Some of his earlier works are real masterpieces, with each subsequent movie of his exploring different genres with no similarity in the stories that would have made any Director predictable ala Shankar.

But what I don't understand and what makes me recoil with confusion bordering on hate is his obsession to simultaneously direct a version in Hindi. Why does he want to do that? Imagine filming two movies at the same time. Irrespective of both having the same storyline you still have to manage different cast, schedules, slightly modified screenplay to suit different audiences, etc. Why this masochism? What does he get out of it? Is the recognition and pleasure of seeing the movie run successfully in Tamil too small to satisfy his über sized ego? He wants his 'art pieces' to be applauded by all of India? Is the desire for wider recognition driving him to do this crazy stuff? Wasn't he recognized as a great director till Iruvar? Then why does he have to bend backwards to cater to a bigger audience? I myself can think of 10 answers to this but still none of them make sense.

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"..more than the game, there was more pressure from my friends for passes. i had never felt so much pressure before...." - MS Dhoni during the toss interview. One reason why Chennai won. The other reason being of course Mumbai sucks which was why they cleanly took Hayden's catch while dropping Raina's.

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Kaasedhan Kadavulada

"Dooode!! Are you ready to be thrashed? Bewarrre". The threats from my colleague, who is from Bombay, only increased in frequency since that first call. He seems more excited that Chennai made it to finals than me. Immediately, plans were made to watch the finals together duly accompanied by more threats of 'thrashing', 'clobbering', 'smashing' and other superlatives that only war-mongering American Presidents can think of.

Soon after our PC offered to resign following the Maoists attack, which was categorically rejected by our Honorable PM, a member of Twitterati (which is no way related to the Illuminati, lest Dan Brown gets all too excited about writing a book in which Robert Langdon reveals the truth behind the covert operations of the BCCI/IPL with trip to exotic locales such as the BCCI's head office in Mumbai aided by cutting edge technologies such as the MRF blimp) has been asked to resign. My glee at the guillotine that has been falling can be expressed only to some extent through words. Scenes of Modi's head & hands wedged between the wood waiting for the guillotine to fall (even as he tweets from his Blackberry "@unsuspectingmedia: i wonder how individuals & companies had so much money to spend on ipl teams. fishy isn't it? ;) " ).

As this year's edition of the grand circus draws to an end, Modi has redefined the very definition of commercialism. The viewers have been caught unawares with the modern technological marvel that the blimp is. The sheer awesomeness of it is mindboggling. I, like million other viewers, was wondering after the first few matches what is so special about the balloon suspended 100 feet above the ground. But the organizers cleverly withheld the secret till the semi-finals. After impatiently scratching around for 3 matches and 12 time-outs, it eventually dawned on me. It is amazing. The MRF blimp is the first ever object in the time-space continuum to be there at a location; yet not quite there. The camera kept panning out to the giant screen on the ground which shows the blimp every now and then, even as Sivaramakrishnan and Danny Morrison croon in unison with ecstasy on sighting the blimp. Obviously, the blimp is over the ground as per the assertions of all the commentators yet it can be seen only on the giant screen! Awesomeness. In fact, the blimp is so popular that people are flocking stores to get a model that can float around their living rooms.

Meanwhile, as the Overlord of the IPL sinks deeper and deeper into the quagmire, there are great expectations that the entire cricketing structure is going to be revamped. By cricketing structure, we are referring to the people who can make the big bucks and rub shoulders with Mukesh Ambani, Siddharth Mallya (No, it must be Vijay Mallya, I think, because Siddharth Mallya is only seen rubbing shoulders with Deepika Padukone) etc. There are even some preposterous rumours that Ravi Shastri would be given an important post. Maybe a good thing. If he can shout at the franchise owners half as much as he shouts during the toss then running the IPL would be a piece of cake. But Modi is reported to be unfazed as of now, challenging the BCCI to try and sack him as the IPL commissioner. With nobody seeing any light at the end of this tussle, the prescient Sachidhaanandha Swamigal (now that he doesn't have to attend training sessions till the finals because of injury on his hand, suddenly finds that he has lots of time on his other uninjured hand) has predicted that the IPL will overcome the crisis. But there are reports that Modi is showing no signs of let down. In fact, for the closing ceremony of the game (which would be yet another grand ceremony that usually begins with pledging for green, blue, pink and all other color coded environmental benefits and ends with spectacular fireworks display and 1 million kW of electricity consumed for the lights and the show) it is believed that Modi will make a spectacular appearance by descending from the 'Technological Marvel' MRF blimp (complete with a cape and everything thereby laying to rest all doubts of his perceived superhuman qualities) and would declare the entire tournament a grand Citi 'Moment' of Success.

So amidst all these distractions the focus shifts to the DY Patil stadium (which is staging the 10,347th match in the last 3 years) after the bomb blasts in Bangalore stadium 'forced' the organizers to shift the venue to the safest city in the world where the spectators known for their knowledge of cricket will come in full attendance for the neutral matches (Take that you dumb Chennaiites). Here is hoping Sachin is fit to play (otherwise even if Chennai win all the bloody Mumbaikars and Maruticars will be saying 'only because He wasn't playing') and Chennai thrash them and execute on Mumbai all the other forms of mutilations that my Mumbai (or Bombay. Whatever dude! It doesn't sound half as cool as Madras) friend talks of inflicting on the CSK team. If not, then I would have to wear that stoic face only a 'rathathula Chennai oori ponna' people can pull off and say "Its ok dude, it was a good game, I am happy that we came to finals, so many positives, Vijay, Ashwin, etc." and then to quote Dhoni's "from the semis it is just a lottery..".

P.S.: Watching people like Gavaskar, Shastri and even Bhogle struggle between the by-now well honed instinct of praising anything Modi-sque and then refraining because of the controversy he is in right now is amusing. Bhogle 'aathu aathunu aathifies a sorpozhivu' on Cricinfo where he half assails Modi and then retracts to shower praises on how Modi single handedly made IPL into a behemoth etc. Only because he is still on the payroll of you-know-who. All hypocrites, I say.

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