Time for yet another controversy- a very shameful one at that! Available above are the photographs of the most famous people these days in Kerala- Santhosh Madhavan alias Swami Amrithachaithanya and Himaval Maheshwara Bhadranandaji alias Ernakulam Swami!
What disappointed me all through while sitting through Kuruvi was the fact that the last time Vijay- Trisha- Dharani came together was for the immensely entertaining "Ghilli". In comparison "Kuruvi" is a study on what not to do in a movie. It has every cliche in it that one can think about- a hero who bashes up two dozen henchmen each of whom are three times his size, a dreamy eyed heroine who breaks into a duet everytime she sees the hero, the hero being projected as a messiah of the masses by his father as well as the entire population available on the frame, a blood thirsty villain who is as ruthless as it can get and a host of comic book characters who have nothing much to do but sing hosannahs to the hero!!!
I think this is a great idea to put together all the one liner stuff that I wanted to post on my blog:
I am quite surprised that I am still able to balance my work with personal life even in spite of the fact that I have been working full night for the past one week. My work day (or should I say night?) starts at 11 PM and goes on till 8 next morning. I sleep from around 10 AM till 5 PM in the evening, but, hey I am still able to catch up with all the things that I normally do on a working day (reading newspapers, spending time with my family, checking my emails, going out downtown to get stuff done) and also keep myself awake and full of zest throughout the night shift.
Another big advantage has been the fact that I have been able to clean up a lot of things that were lying on my to- do list. The good thing about working night shifts is that one does not get distracted by e mails or phone calls or even anyone approaching for a casual talk! This has helped me concentrate completely on what I am doing at any point of time and even complete the work in half the time I would have taken in completing it, had I been working during my normal office hours!
The night shift is going to continue for another week at least and at this point, all I have to say is- I’m loving it!
The State Board results should be out in a couple of days and the Education department has issued a statement that the pass percentage is going to be a whooping 92%
5 years back the pass percentage for state school exams was in the range of 60- 65%. If it has to improve to such an extent in 5 years, there definitely has to be a significant change in the education methodology and the extent of hard work put in by the students, right?
Wrong! Instead, it is all about the extent of leniency that has crept in to the evaluation process over years. Everything in this country is being dictated by politics these days and the government to gain mileage is doing nothing but boosting up the pass percentages by bringing in simpler evaluation techniques and alarming levels of moderation!
If you think that this is going to benefit the students, then you are grossly mistaken. All these students who pass their SSLC need to start with their +2. Now where are the schools in this state which can absorb this mammoth population of SSLC passed students?
Because you cannot get things straight, this is when one starts looking for short cuts. In the meantime, the education department and the school managements keep their bags open for the millions of rupees that they can make in the bargain!
Who is it that suffers? It definitely is the students who are going to suffer. With the alarming fall in the standards of education, these students are definitely not going to cope up with the pressure of studies as they move up and if at all they manage to get into a professional course after paying the huge amount of capitation fee, it is ultimately the profession that is going to suffer for they would definitely lack the quality and the skill set that is desired of a true blue professional!
I am not sure what kind of generation we are going to build in future after taking all these unnecessary and suicidal steps! All we can do for now is to keep our fingers crossed and look forward to the future hoping that things will change soon for better!
Now this is one topic on which discussions are happening left, right and centre. The acute food scarcity and the plummeting prices of food grains is driving the nation crazy. Fingers are being pointed at the government’s inefficiency in promoting agriculture and ensuring adequate procurement of food grain. So much so that people the world over are even predicting a third World War due to food shortage!
Looks like the predictions are going to come true. How else would one explain the stupid statements that have been made by George Bush and Condoleezza Rice recently? The learned duo who are ruling the world (or rather trying to) have come up with an idiotic idea that the prosperity of India and China is the cause for the shortage of food the world over.
While it is true that there has been an increase in consumption in these two countries coupled with reduction in the production of food grains, there is not even an iota of doubt that the statements issued by Bush and Rice are examples of sheer stupidity! Rather than taking steps to bring the situation under control, they are indulging in a blame- game and diverting the concentration of the entire world to a completely trivial issue!
When you have idiots of this nature in positions that matter, I would say the day is not far away when the entire World is engulfed by another war for food!
I don’t want to waste my time writing much about this movie nor do I want to waste the time of the reader. I would have even tried not writing anything about Annan Thambi but the rage with which I left the theatre half an hour back forced me to pen a few lines.
Now, who on this earth is crying that Mammootty should continue acting till he dies? If at all he wants to, why is it that he gets into crassy, loud and meaningless stuff like this one? I heard someone from the audience commenting that this was like watching a Tamizh movie. I would not agree with him since I personally feel Tamizh films have achieved a kind of class in the past 5 years whereas it has been a journey downhill as far as quality of films made in Kerala is concerned.
Had this one been released 25 years ago in Tamil, probably, it would have been entertaining! It is sad and disheartening to note that such pedestrian fare is being welcomed by the audience in Kerala. There is not even a single redeeming factor about this movie. Routine camerawork, jarring background score, elementary special effects, confused editing, lackluster script and shoddy direction- you name it, they have it! The less said about the performances the better! The gags don’t make you laugh. You feel sorry for Salim Kumar, Biju Kuttan, Harishree Ashokan and Suraaj Venjarammoodu. The women are mere props with nothing significant to offer towards the story line. Rajan P Dev is as loud as ever, Janardhanan looks dull and uninspired. Siddique is the only actor who passes muster.
You feel like slapping the 50+ Mammootty straight on his face for having even attempted something as senseless as this one! If these are the kind of lead roles coming your way, Mr. Mammootty, we are way too better off watching you play extended guest appearances like the one in Kadha Parayumbol.
Please don’t even bother to take a look at the posters!!!!
It has been almost a year since Malayalam Cinema had a great festival collection at the box office. Last Vishu had Sathyan Anthicaud’s Vinodayathra lapping up the moolah- Mohanlal’s Chota Mumbai and Mammootty’s Big B did decent business. Come Onam, there was nothing much to cheer at the box office. The only X’mas release that could make an impact was Katha Parayumbol.
After all this, the eyes were on Vishu 2008- Dileep teaming up with Lal Jose after “Chandupottu” for “Mulla”; Mohanlal- Meera Jasmine- Sathyan Anthicaud teaming up for “Innathe Chinthavishayam” after that hugely successful “Rasathanthram” and Mammootty- Anvar Rasheed coming together for “Annan Thambi” after the record breaking “Rajamanickam”.
Well wishers of Malayalam Cinema and hardcore fans were looking forward to April 2008. Mulla was out towards end of March, Innathe Chinthavishayam in time for Vishu and Annan Thambi immediately after that. The movies are out and so are the results. While I am typing this Mulla has already shifted out of the release centers, Innathe Chinthavishayam has been universally panned and is finding the going tough and Annan Thambi is managing after a mammoth opening collection- mainly benefiting out of lack of competition. I have not seen any of the movies but what I have read and heard of them one thing is sure- the lead actors, the highly paid directors and the money rich producers in Malayalam Cinema share one thing in common- that is complacency! It is as if everyone that matters has fallen into the trip of complacency and no one is bothered about trying something good, different or appealing!
To say the least, the Vishu releases and their box office performance have been anything but appalling and if this is the way, the masters of Malayalam Cinema are planning to make movies in future, all I can say is, the future is bleak for the industry and for genuine lovers of Malayalam Cinema like yours faithfully…
Rising food prices, rising inflation, inability to reach a consensus on the nuclear agreement, unpopular next generation and increasing popularity of the opposition party- none of these are reasons to cheer for the lady who runs the country! With the general elections coming up in the next one year or so, it is really time for the UPA to pull up its socks.
But, unfortunately, it does not know where to start. In spite of having the three best economists on board (Singh, PC and Ahluwalia) the government has not been able to wield the magic wand (Courtesy: Mr Sibal) on inflation and rising food prices. Karat is not saleable as far as nuclear alliance is concerned and the next generation’s Harijan hugging photographs have had no impact on his falling popularity. It remains to be seen how UPA is going to face the music in a few months from now and what is going to come out of the election results!
We can keep our fingers crossed while it is definitely sleepless nights at 10, Janpath…
The hype and hoopla around IPL has been going around for quite sometime and all those days, I thought that this was going to be a major flop. OK, the guys involved in the business where the mega richies of India- Mukesh Ambani, Vijay Mallya, Shah Rukh Khan, Preity and Ness Wadia, India Cements group etc. But, the thought of having round the clock cricket with teams in the nature of English football clubs and players being drawn from all over the world did not sound a hugely successful idea to me!
IPL has finally kicked off and I have had to eat humble pie- thanks to the huge media hype, excellent public support and fabulous sponsorship money that the whole idea is generating! But, with all this has emerged something else- high voltage drama on the ground! How else would you describe Harbhajan slapping Sreesanth on his face and Ganguly fighting with the umpire over a catch! The BCCI has risen to the occasion and has put bans and fines in its place but what has left me wondering is why the players did not react so violently when such incidents took place on international platforms!
Take the Harbhajan- Sreesanth episode for instance- when Mumbai Indians lost out to Punjab Kings, Sreesanth apparently commented to Harbhajan that it was “hard luck”. Now there is nothing offensive about that comment and there is no need why Bhajji reacted so violently to it. It is not that Bhajji has not been subject to such comments or even worse comments on international platforms- Andrew Symonds would know. But never has he bothered to raise his hand on international matches!
Bad umpiring has a history that is as old as cricket itself. Dada has been subject to bad umpiring decisions before like many of his team members but never before has one seen Dada making such frantic appeals to the umpire to consult the third umpire! Why is it that so much of drama is taking place in the IPL?
The answer is very simple- it is all about money, honey! T- 20 and IPL they say has revolutionized cricket. I would like to reserve my comments on that but the one single revolution that this whole exercise has brought forth is that it has reduced the sport to a mere money making mechanism and has raised the sportsmen to a level from where if they look the sport itself looks too trivial to them!
Yes, the Indian cricketers have definitely and completely lost that spirit to play for one’s country. All that matters to them is money, endorsements and the luxurious life that comes with it! Just like how the sport of cricket has had a major face lift- high society socialites and celebrities cheering the sportsmen and cameras permanently affixed on the posteriors of scantily clad cheer leaders! Honestly I do not have an idea which direction this whole sport is heading to!
Talk about revolutions…
Finally, that day did come! The day that all of us have been looking forward to, for the past six months! It finally did come on 1 May 2008, Thursday. The day my new project went live in office. I have been working on this one from September 2007 and even undertook a trip to Canada in November 2007 for learning the process.
From December 2007, I have been spending my energy on setting a team up in Kochi to replicate the process. I have been helped by eminent team members in all my endeavors in this regard and effectively supervised by some great senior colleagues. It definitely was a red letter day for all of us when the process went live from my organization and at the end of day 1; we received encouraging responses from the senior management as well as the client.
It’s been just 2 days and we have seen only the tip of the iceberg. We have 88 days more to set things right within which time we have to meet all specifications laid down by our customer. It definitely is not going to be easy but the confidence that we have gained out of our performance on the first 2 days is motivation enough to keep us going! After a lull, my professional life has entered yet another extremely “live”ly phase and I am keeping my fingers crossed!
Wish me luck, guyz!!!
Yash Raj Films’ “Tashan” is the directorial debut of Vijay Krishna Acharya, the scriptwriter of the “Dhoom” series. It stars Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Anil Kapoor in lead roles.
Tashan is the story of Pooja Singh (Kareena Kapoor) who works as an assistant to Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor) a don from Uttar Pradesh who literally rules over Mumbai. Bhaiyyaji wants to learn English to impress his foreign clients and Pooja hires Jimmy Cliff (Saif Ali Khan), an accent trainer cum Call centre employee to train Bhaiyyaji. Bhaiyyaji makes bhajji of English while Jimmy falls head over heels in love with Pooja. Pooja owes Bhaiyyaji millions and Jimmy decides to rob Bhaiyyaji of his money. Pooja disappears with the money, Jimmy is caught and Bhaiyyaji arranges for Bachchan Pandey (Akshay Kumar) to get Pooja and his money back.
By this time one would understand what the movie has in store for you. Yes, you guessed it right. The threesome land up together and from there on confusion ensues since all the three men fall for Pooja and all of them want them. In her place, Pooja plays around with all of them leaving the viewer confused as to where this whole thing is heading. A couple of flashbacks later, it is revealed that Pooja has an axe to grind against Bhaiyyaji and with the help of the two other men, she succeeds in her mission.
With someone like Vijay Krishna Acharya at the helm of affairs, the last thing that you expect Tashan to be is logical! Like his Dhoom series, the script here also defies logic but there is a limit up to which one can take cinematic liberties and unfortunately for Acharya, he crosses those limits! It is as if Yash Raj and Acharya had decided whom to cast in their next project and then created characters around them, rather than working on a plot and casting actors accordingly!
Thus, you have Anil Kapoor mimicking Amitabh Bachchan of the 70’s and 80’s, Saif Ali Khan playing the phirangi, upmarket, modern dude and Kareena Kapoor playing the bitchy, unapologetic and immoral girl of today- things that suit of each of these actors like second skin! If at all there is someone who puts in efforts to make this fare enjoyable, it is the immensely bankable Akshay Kumar. He is in his elements as the crotch- scratching villager, Bachchan Pandey. The actor has worked hard on his looks and his accent and displays an honesty and sincerity which is lacking in the rest of the cast. This is good follow up to the string of hits that he has had in 2007!
Technically, Tashan scores very high marks! Anayanka Bose’s photography is brilliant, Peter Hein’s action choreography is in true- Hollywood ishtyle and Aki Narula has a field day dressing up the stars. Kareena’s size zero figure and itsy bitsy clothes allure the front benchers. She has been made to parade in the tiniest of bikinis for 10 seconds though one wonders whether it was necessary for the actor to stoop to this level especially after the immense popularity that she is enjoying thanks to her riveting performance in “Jab We Met”. Music by Vishal Shekhar is enjoyable and Sukhvinder Singh sounds good rendering “Dil Haara” and “Dil Dance Maare”. Editing could have been crisper. Art Director scores while choreographer (Vaibhavi Merchant) fails to impress.
To conclude, “Tashan” as its name signifies is full on style and attitude. If you don’t look beyond these two, Tashan could be entertaining enough for you!
No, it is not because I have caught up with another of his masterpiece movies on any of the satellite channels, it is because I have read for the first time a novel (in fact, two) of his- the highly acclaimed “Rathinirvedham” and the fabulous “Manju kaalam notta Kuthira” “Rathinirvedham” first published in 1970 is a work that has stood the test of time and many would agree with me on this. A highly acclaimed novel that was later made into an equally acclaimed movie, Rathinirvedham has the writer focusing on a 17 year old teenager and his wet dreams! The diva of his dreams is his next door neighbor, the young, attractive and sexy Radhuvechi. Radhuvechi is married to a soldier and after a few days of marriage, her husband has returned to the borders. Pappu, our teenage hero is mad about her and dreams about sleeping with her all the time. How he finally manages to seduce Radhuvechi and what happens from there on forms the rest of the story! A brief outline of the story might sound like the many teenage erotic novels and short stories that one might have come across but what sets this one apart is the sheer class and identifiablity that Padmarajan lends to it. The setting of the story in an old Nair tharavaadu complete with the parambu, sarpakavu et al makes the journey easy for the writer. The snakes have been used as symbolically to convey eroticism in the novel what with the opening sequence itself describing Radhuvechi and Pappu witnessing two snakes in the act! The characters are very few and almost all the time the focus is on the two protagonists. The characterization is brilliant and the narrative style adds to the attraction of the plot. Rathinirvedham is truly a classic since it has stood the test of times and is as popular as when it was first published even after 38 years of the first edition. Add to it, the fact that the book was first published when its author was barely 25 is immense proof of the powerhouse of talent that Padmarajan was! Manjukaalam notta Kuthira (MNK) on the other hand deals with grown up people- a married couple on the verge of divorce, their daughter who is all out to unite them and an engineer who lands up in the middle of this disjointed family form the crux of MNK. This one is set somewhere in Mysore and starts with Prashanth, an architect landing up to renovate the old bungalow that belongs to Khan Sahib the protagonist. Khan Sahib is a rich businessman who is now leading a retired life. He has his set of friends and spends his evenings listening to music. He is helped out by Sarah, his caretaker who takes a bit too much care of him. Khan Sahib is charged up about his daughter’s wedding and wants his bungalow to be renovated before the wedding. Prashanth is the man on the job and the first assignment that Khan Sahib gives him is to renovate the stable so that it can house the new race horse that he has procured- Julie. The job is done and Julie is brought in. Along with Julie comes in Ms. Urmila Khan, Khan Sahib’s wife. Things are not really good with the two of them and they have been living separately. The only reason Urmila lands up is because their daughter would not get married unless she sees her parents together. The daughter lands up in the bungalow and along with her lands Sukanya, Prashanth’s assistant and the Architect on the job. The rest of the story focuses on the family and how Prashanth and Sukanya observe and comment on the inter relationships within the 3 family members. MNK has the kind of plot that could easily make a pulp fiction but trust Padmarajan to lend it a charm that is so characteristic of him. The plot unfolds in layers with the author explaining very clearly each and every character as they are introduced and establishing them very clearly in the minds of the readers. All the characters are modern, fiercely independent and highly unapologetic of their ways. It is here that one realizes the maturity that the writer has gained especially when compared to Rathinirvedham. Of course, MNK was first published in 1990, 20 years after Rathinirvedham. If snakes were symbolic of eroticism in the former, it is the horse that symbolizes it in the latter. Urmila’s passion for horse racing is what separates her from Khan Sahib in the first place and to have her back in his life what Khan Sahib resorts to is to presenting her with one! Padmarajan also tries to focus on how relationships get affected in modern day marriages where the husband and wife do not have enough time to spend with each other and what effect it has on the children.
What struck me most about MNK were the shades of the characters and the very simple narrative style. It is to Padmarajan’s credit that he could make a mundane plot feel extremely interesting! This definitely is a good read from start to finish!
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