Ta Ra RAM Pum

Udit and Deepa Narayan in concert...

2010-01-03T16:40:00.000+05:30

JT PAC gave me one more opportunity to cheer- Udit and Deepa Narayan in concert along with Rachna Chopra and Shashi Suman. Being the Bollywood fan that I am, I had a blast at the concert. Udit made a dramatic entry crooning his first hit "Papa Kehte Hain" from QSQT and followed it with one superhit after another- Tere Naam (Tere Naam), Ruk Jaa (Papa Kehte Hain), Nazar Nazar (Fida), Jadoo Teri Nazar (Darr), National Award Winning O Mitwah (Lagaan), Pehla Nasha (Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander), Khaike Paan (Don), Aye Ajnabee (Dil Se), Mein Nikla (Gadar- Ek Prem Katha), Chand Chupa (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam), Kab Tak Jawaani (Mujhse Shaadi Karogi) and finished it up with Chilambolikkatte (CID Moosa- Malayalam).

He was ably supported by Deepa Narayan, his wife and a singer herself who started with Its Rocking (Kya Love Story Hain) and joined Udit to croon Sahana (Sivaji- Tamil), Punidhu Punidhu (Mungaru Male- Kannada), Rama Chelakamma (Telugu) and moved on to Hindi duets like Humko Humi se (Mohabbatein), Lal Dupatta, Kaho Naa Pyar Hai, Bole Choodiyaan (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghum), Koi Mil Gayaa (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) and finished it off with Dekho Dekho (Om Shanti Om).

Rachna Chopra was in retro mood and tried doing an Asha Bhonsle with a fair amount of success. She belted out numbers like Chura Liya (Yaadon Ki Baraat), Yeh Mera Dil (Don), Raat Baaki (Namak Halaal) and Shaam hai (Don- The Chase Begins). She was joined by Shashi Suman to sing the foot tapping Beedi Jalai Le (Omkara) and from there Shashi took over to Mitwah (Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna), Teri Diwani (Kailash Kher) and joined Deepa to sing Teri Ore (Singh is King) and Udit to sing the title track of Partner.

The orchestra was just perfect and the excellent acoustics at JT PAC complemented the singers and the orchestra. Add to it, the excellent crowd support to the foot tapping numbers, this one turned out to be a memorable evening not just for the audience but also for the performers :-)

Hamlet: the play by Rajat Kapoor

2010-01-03T15:50:00.000+05:30

It was not with much expectations that I went to the Fine Arts Hall, Kochi with 2 colleagues of mine to take a dekho at Rajat Kapoor's play (Dil Chahta Hai fame) "Hamlet" in English and Gibberish. But I came out laughing and I kept laughing at the jokes for the next 3 days. I was narrating the jokes to everyone I met for the next 3 days and kept on laughing with them.

Who would have thought that the biggest Shakespearean tragedy could be turned into a rib tickling comedy, that too of the below the belt kind, by an Indian stage person? Rajat Kapoor does the unthinkable and he does it in style without compromising on the characteristics of any of his lead players- thus, Hamlet is his undecided, spineless self; Ophelia dies professing her love for Hamlet; Gertrude is Hamlet's mother who cheats on his father and Cladius is the scheming uncle who takes over the throne from King Hamlet and plots to get Prince Hamlet too killed.

The best thing in the play is the Gibberish and also the immediate connection that the actors establish with the audience. They even bring references to Kochi, Kerala, Fine Arts Hall, the food and the traffic into their dialogues and make sure they don't slip or move away from the main plot at any point of time. With its English and Gibberish dialogues, this one is more of a talkathlon for each of its actors who have the audience in splits everytime they utter a dialogue.

This is good time pass and a very good way of spreading awareness about a timeless classic which no one will otherwise bother to read or listen to. Even the bard will smile in his grave in appreciation of Kapoor's talent...

Book Review: The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay

2010-01-03T15:35:00.000+05:30

All is not lost with Indian English authors- that is what Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi tries to tell us through his brilliantly drafted "The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay" (LFB). Loosely based on the Jessica Lal murder, LFB is a candid look at the underbelly of Mumbai's high society life through the eyes of a photographer, Karan.

Mr. Shanghvi has a unique way with words- his prose has a lyrical quality to it that flows uninterruptedly like a water stream and takes you, the reader, along with it. His characters are all very well etched out and he brings out their emotions very passionately.

Be it his protagonist, Karan or the gay piano player, Samir, or his actress girl friend Zaira, or Karan's own girlfriend- Rhea- all of them are created in flesh and blood and you start owning them with all their minuses and short comings.

The relationships are unexplained but you can feel the togetherness between Samir and Zaira, Karan and Zaira or Karan and Rhea and you end choked up with emotions when these characters go through tough times. The best part of the narrative is how Bombay itself becomes a character in the book- be it the narrow bylanes of Chor Bazaar or the cozy interiors of Samir's palatial house or the Sewri seaside- Shanghvi's narrative is poetic enough for you to paint a beautiful picture in your minds!

Imaginative writing rooted in realism that reflects today's society and youth- that in a nutshell is what "The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay" is. Need I say more?

Book Review: My Friend Sancho

2010-01-03T15:27:00.000+05:30

What is it with these popular bloggers that one fine morning they get up and decide they are going to be writers? Don't publishers learn from one such debacle? These are the questions that keep coming back to your mind as you glance through Amit Varma's (India Uncut fame!) "My Friend Sancho".

The good thing about Sancho is that you don't have to read the entire book to know what is happening. All you need to glance through is the last 10 pages of this 217 page punishment to understand what it is all about. The narrative moves around in circles and not even once manages to find its centre. This could have well been another post on Mr. Varma's celebrated blog. Spare the book reading public please...

Oh Shit, Not Again!

2010-01-03T15:10:00.000+05:30

It indeed was very thoughtful on the part of Mandar Kokate to name his first (and hopefully, only) book "Oh Shit, Not Again!" for that's precisely what you feel when you have been through this apology for a novel once.

Published by some non entity based in Pune and about a group of horny friends out to have some fun, the book does not give any insights into friendship or provide any moment of fun. Instead it leaves you feeling idiotic at having bought this one and frustrated for having read through the entire stuff. The less said about its pointless narrative, the better.

Time to get environment friendly guys, crap of this kind should not be published. Let us save Paper and also some currency! Do not even recommend this to your worst enemy!!!

Book Review: 2 States- the story of My Marriage

2010-01-03T15:04:00.000+05:30

With the recent brouhaha that Mr. Chetan Bhagat has been creating all over the media for not being creditted for 3 Idiots, we have to understand one thing- Mr. Bhagat has a lot of time at his disposal after quitting his high paying job at an Investment bank which he uses either in picking up fights with Bollywood or writing books like "2 States- The Story of My Marriage"

Now don't get me wrong- 2 States is not half bad. The book has its few moments especially where Bhagat chooses to take potshots at the Punjabi and Tamil culture with intelligent 3rd party insights into most of their time barred rituals! But, havent we seen and read similar stuff in all his earlier works? If 3 mistakes of my Life was about Gujju culture, Five Point Someone and One Night@ the call centre were about the youth of today.

2 States also starts from the IIM and then meanders meaninglessly between Chennai, Pondicherry and Punjab and after an extended climax, finally ends in the wedding of its 2 protagonists- Krish and Ananya.

There definitely are laugh out loud moments in the narrative just like Bhagat's earlier outings but just when we thought Bhagat had matured a little bit with 3 Mistakes of My Life comes this one which sounds and feels so much like it was written by someone totally new to the craft. Recommended only for strong CB fans (and I used to be one of them till very recently!)

Zenith of Cinematic Brilliance!

2010-01-03T14:41:00.000+05:30

How else can one describe James Cameron's "Avatar" which is even beyond what a common man can dream? At the core, "Avatar" is just another sci- fi movie that Hollywood churns out with a certain regularity- It talks about a different planet, a different race of people, a different set of flora and fauna and finally, about the American attitude of invading everyone and everything.

What makes it different from Independence Day or Jurassic Park is the sheer vision of that one person- James Cameron and his bold experiment that has costed close to 2000 crores of Indian Rupees- money enough to feed the entire population of India for one year!

Its only when you sit through the movie with your 3D glasses on that you realize that not a single penny has gone waste, for such is the sheer brilliance with which Avatar has been made. Avatar unfolds in AD 2154 when the world is facing an energy crisis and American scientists have discovered a rare metal called "Unobtanium" on planet Pandora that is inhabited by Navis- blue colored, tailed and angular faced huge creatures. The mineral can be excavated only if the Navis leave their village and with this end in view, they create Avatars of 2 human beings- a lady scientist (played brilliantly by Sigourney Weaver) and a wheel chair bound Army man. The Avatars are released into Pandora and they take only little time to get close to the Navis- so close that they become one among the Navis and start opposing the plan to vacate the Navis from their village.

All hell breaks lose and it is for the Navis and the Avatars to fight the humans who are armed with Robots, Missiles and Warplanes. Fight they do, with their bows and arrows and also with the help of those unexplainable creatures that walk the Pandora. The movie ends with the human race conceding defeat and leaving Pandora for good.

The basic premise is the good winning over evil story that is part of all religious textbooks and mythology known to mankind. But the CGI enabled visuals of Pandora that Cameron creates need to be seen to be believed. He takes the audience with him to Pandora and gives them that one cinematic experience that is likely to last beyond his lifetime. And the best part is the human angle and personal traits that he gives to each of his characters so that when they play out before you, you start relating to the mind of the character and not over his/ her cartoonish looks.

Cameron deserves a tight hug for having come out with something like "Avatar"- every moment of his 12 year toil was worth it and you realize that as you leave the theatres in awe of the sheer brilliance of James Cameron!

Aall Izz Well...

2010-01-03T14:29:00.000+05:30

Bollywood has this unique ability to connect Indians all over the world and Indians all over the world have just one sentence to utter when asked about Bollywood these days- "Aall Izz Well"- thanks to the historic success of Raj Kumar Hirani's "3 Idiots".

The success does not really come as a surprise considering the track record of Raj Hirani as a film maker and Aamir Khan as the actor. With 3 Idiots, Aamir Khan has turned out to be the Santa Claus of Bollywood who brings that one brilliant film at the end of every year that becomes the face of Bollywood for that year- he did that with Ghajini in 2008 and Taare Zameen Par in 2007 and he does that again in style with 3 Idiots in 2009!

3 Idiots is not just unspoilt Bollywood entertainment at its best, it is also a statement against many ills that is plaguing the society these days- our Education System that focusses so much on grades and not on knowledge, the priority that money and material comforts have over a meaningful life and the unnecessary pressure that parents put on their children to see them become successful professionals in life without considering the interest of the child itself. As with Hirani's Munnabhai series, 3 Idiots never gets into the idealistic mode to drive home its point and that is where its success and acceptability lies.

Hirani with the backing of a successful producer like Vidhu Vinod Chopra takes his basic premise from Chetan Bhagat's best selling novel and turns it round into a cohesive and enjoyable script (Co writer: Abhijat Joshi) with enjoyable sequences, witty oneliners and brilliant character sketches. He does not get it 100% right but the minor flaws are more than made up his excellent cast- Boman Irani breathes life even into a caricature, US based actor Omi makes the cliche'- ridden Chatur Ramalingam look real, Television star Mona Singh puts in a delightful cameo, Pareekshit Sahani is adequate, Sharman Joshi makes good use of the most well written and layered character in the script, Aamir Khan is all over the place with his excellent comic timing and endearing screen presence and the leading lady, Kareena Kapoor lights up the screen and comes out with a solid performance even in a role that seems to be a last minute addition to the script.

Shantanu Moitra- Swanand Kirkire team deliver a couple of hummable songs- All Izz well has become the new national anthem and Zoobi Zoobi is a peppy romantic number that gets a boost with the electrifying chemistry that Aamir and Kareena share on screen.

The few scenes that stand out are the suicide of the brilliant student on campus, Omi's felicitation of the Director played by Boman Irani and the friends' visit to Sharman Joshi's house. On the flip side, Hirani seems to have not gotten over his Munnabhai hangover- old men and hospital seem to be present in all his films and the delivery scene on the ping pong table is pushing things a bit too far!

Hirani, Chopra and Khan have very little to be worried about though- 3 Idiots has clicked with all sections of the audience and is on its way to be the highest grosser in the History of Indian Cinema. If there is anyone who does not say "All Izz Well", it is Mr. Bhagat who has cut a sorry figure in the media. As they say, the arguement continues...

Bachchan is one brilliant Bachcha...

2010-01-03T13:56:00.000+05:30

There are actors and then there is Amitabh Bachchan- India's answer to Clint Eastwood and Ben Kingsley. Mr. Bachchan's talent has been showcased in many directors in many landmark movies of the past. But, R Balki very skilfully brings out the bachcha in Mr. Bachchan through his 2nd directorial venture- "Paa", a sensitive take on Progeria, a rare medical condition, that thankfully does not rely on melodrama.

Paa is the story of Auro (Amitabh Bachchan), a progeria affected 13 year old being brought by his single gynaecologist mother Vidya (Vidya Balan) and feisty grandmother whom he fondly calls "Bum" (Arundhathi Nag). The media starts stalking him when he wins a prize in a school competition presided over by Amol Apte, the young MP (Amitabh Bachchan). Amol takes an instant liking for Auro only to find out later than Auro is his own son who was conceived by Vidya during their student days together in the UK.

Auro's condition worsens and he manages to unite his parents on his deathbed. That is where "Paa" ends. There is nothing new in the storyline except the Progeria angle but the treatment of the narrative is light and entertaining. There are not many cry out loud moments, instead Auro's character is established through a set of humurous incidents and witty one liners that appeals to one and all- notable among those are his telephone conversation with his friend where the friend discusses his dad and his verbal exchange with his paternal grandfather (Paresh Rawal) on the hospital bed.

R Balki comes up with this novel approach to family movies which is enjoyable without slipping into melodrama and manages to succeed with Paa. He is ably supported by P C Sreeram (Camera), Anil Naid (Editing), Aki Narula and Sabyasachi Mukherji (Styling & Costumes) and the brilliant Iliayaraaja (Music score).

He manages to extract brilliant performances from his cast- Arundhathi Nag shines in the role of the grandmother, Abhishek Bachchan is adequately subdued as Amol and Vidya Balan digs her teeth deep into the author backed role that has come her way since "Parineeta".

At the heart of "Paa", however, is the great Amitabh Bachchan who scales even greater heights with his performance and proves to one and all that he is irreplaceable in the history of Indian cinema. "Paa" explores the mother- son bonding more than the father- son bonding and thus, does not justify its title. Also, the much winded media bashing sequences mar the flow of the otherwise brisk narrative. These are but minor glitches in an otherwise enjoyable film- Go for it with your entire family, you will come out in awe of Amitabh Bachchan's performance and Vidya Balan's beauty :-)

Noble Intention, Good Execution

2010-01-03T12:26:00.000+05:30

Its sad that not many looked beyond a backless Kareena on Kurbaan's posters. Probably, thats where such a well made movie failed to click with the audience- it gave out wrong messages of what kind of movie it was. If you watch "Kurbaan" (which is incidentally on Tata Sky these days), I am sure you will come out feeling happy that there are filmmakers in Bollywood who make serious, issue based films very well.

Kurbaan helmed by debutante Renzil D'silva deals with a set of Muslims in USA who want to teach America a lesson, following 9/11 and their invasions to Iraq and Afghanisthan. Ehsaan Khan (Saif Ali Khan) belongs to this group and wants a reentry to the USA. He befriends and falls in love with Avantika Ahuja (Kareena Kapoor), an unsuspecting Psychology professor in a Delhi University who was teaching in the US earlier. They get married and Avantika is asked to come back to US. She takes Ehsaan with him and Ehsaan tricks Avantika to taking a rented apartment in a Muslim dominated region that has Bhaijaan (Om Puri) and his wife, Aaapa (Kirron Kher) among its other residents. Avantika suspects something fishy here and her fears are confirmed when she learns that her rebellious neighbour, Salma (Nauheed Cyrusi) has been killed by her husband. She confronts Ehsaan only to learn that he is also part of the group and is left with no choice since she is pregnant and her lonely father (Aakash Khurana) in Delhi is also under their custody.

She learns about the plan to bomb an aircraft that has Salma's reporter friend Rihana (Dia Mirza) is traveling in, but is not able to do anything on time. Her voice message on Rihana's phone reaches her boyfriend Riyaz (Vivek Oberoi) who joins the gang only to bust their plans. Does Ehsaan find out about Avantika's intentions" Are Avantika and Riyaz successful in busting the plans of the gang? This is what Kurbaan tries to answer in its concluding reels.

"Kurbaan" does not belong to the entertaining Bollywood film type, something its producers, Dharma Productions are renowned for. Instead it is a hard hitting and realistic film that does not move away from its focus at any point of time. Renzil and Anurag Kashyap have scripted Kurbaan very well with poignant dialogues and excellent character sketches. Renzil also manages to extract excellent performances from his cast. It is heartening to see Om Puri play a character that does justice to his talent. Kirron Kher is adequately subdued and not her boisterous self (thankfully!). Vivek Oberoi gets to play an author backed role after ages and he makes full use of the opportunity. Saif Ali Khan plays Ehsaan very intelligently. Layers are peeled off the character as the narrative progresses and this has been done to excellent effect. The strongest performance comes from the leading lady- Kareena Kapoor looks bewitching on screen especially in the initial reels- she enacts all emotions of Avantika brilliantly- be it her love for Ehsaan, shock when she finds out the truth, her earnestness in helping out Riyaz or her helplessness when she learns about the plans of the terror group. She even dares to go where no commercial Hindi film heroine has gone before with the aesthetically shot love making scene that is extremely integral to the script.

Karan Johar, Renzil D'silva, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor can definitly be proud of "Kurbaan"- it is a strong statement against Terrorism- a well intentioned movie that has also been made brilliantly!

Don't bother about these Khannas...

2010-01-03T12:00:00.004+05:30

As I was watching "Main Aur Mrs Khanna" on Tata Sky, I was thanking my stars- not for having been able to watch this movie but for not being able to catch this one at a Bangalore multiplex since that would have amounted to embarrassment in addition to loss of money!

Why would anybody make a movie like this one is something that I have not been able to figure out ever since. What could have easily ended as a 30 minute episode in a serial is stretched to almost 2 hours and when you have non actors like Sohail Khan, Yash Tonk and Bappi Lahiri (spare the thought!) playing prominent roles, it becomes a test of your endurance. Salman Khan sleep walks through the entire movie and does not make one sincere effort to emote. Kareena Kapoor looks ravishing on screen but appears to be confused with what she is doing. To top it all, you have an embarrassing special appearance by Preity Zinta which is simply not happening.

The only merit in this movie is the fairly hummable "Alvida" song- everything else is dull, drab and unimpressive! Visit a temple rather than watching this movie- you will get some peace of mind!

Ajab Santhoshi ka Ghazab Comedy!

2010-01-03T11:53:00.000+05:30

Raj Kumar Santhoshi is often remembered for his hard hitting and realistic dramas like Ghayal, Ghatak, Damini, Lajja, Pukaar, Khakhee and Halla Bol. Most of us often forget that it is the same Santhoshi who gave us that cult comedy of the early 90's- "Andaaz Apna Apna" that can make you fall of the chair laughing even if you are watching it the 25th time.

Its probably to remind us this fact that Santhoshi has come up with something as refreshing and hilarious as "Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani'. With the extremely talented Ranbir Kapoor and the extremely beautiful Katrina Kaif, Santhoshi delivers a beautiful romantic comedy and how! The setting is Ootty where you bump into Sid (Ranbir Kapoor) who along with his friends has formed Happy Club and his only intention is to help others and make them happy. He bumps into Jennifer and falls head over heels in love with her. Trouble comes in the form of Rahul (Upen Patel) who Jennifer is in love with. She befriends Prem and his clubmates and seeks their help to unite with Rahul. What happens later forms the rest of the story.

APKGK does not have much of a storyline but it is the treatment that makes it stand out. The slapstick comedy has been woven very well into the narrative. The conflicts between Prem and his father (Darshan Jariwala) has been brought out very well. The don angle (Zakir Hussain) reminds you of Shakti Kapoor in Andaz Apna Apna and Santhoshi uses Salman Khan's guest appearance very cleverly. The final action sequences are also peppered with excellent comedy.

Pritam's musical score is average and only "Prem Ki Naiyya" is impressive. Thiru's camera work is brilliant. Ranbir and Katrina have been clothed very well and look ravishing on screen. Katrina Kaif displays very good comic timing, looks like she has benefitted from the company of Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal. Darshan Jariwala, Smita Jaykar, Zakir Hussain, Govind Namdeo, Mohan Ram and even Upen Patel play the fools perfectly and add to the charm of the film.

But, it is Ranbir Kapoor who has a good time playing Prem. His charming screen presence, impeccable comic timing and natural performance need to be seen to be believed- its such a great departure from his earlier outing and Ranbir proves beyond doubts that he is the Actor to look forward to.

Kudos to Raj Kumar Santhoshi for having come up with a feel good, slapstick comedy with the promising youngsters of Bollywood. Its no surprise that "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani" has the Tauranis laughing all the way to the bank!

Magic that fails to enchant...

2010-01-03T11:23:00.000+05:30

The story of Aladin and the Magic Lamp from the Arabian Nights has inspired quite a lot of filmmakers who have come out with their own versions in many languages. It is one of the most used and abused Fairy tales that exist but Sujoy Ghosh (Jhankar Beats, Home Delivery) deserves kudos for taking this one and turning it completely around to give us something as different as "Aladin".

Aladin deals with the sufferings of its lead player (Riteish Deshmukh, his best performance ever!) who is bullied by all and sundry because of his name. He hates his name and hates the sight of lamps but he has to accept the lamp that is presented to him as a birthday gift by the most beautiful girl in college (Jacqueline Fernandez, heavenly in looks and confident in performance). Before he can say 1-2-3, out comes a Genie (Amitabh Bachchan) who can fulfill 3 wishes for Aladin and has to go on retirement. Aladin wants the girl to fall for him but none of the Genie's tricks would work. In the meantime, we have the evil Ringmaster (Sanjay Dutt) who wants to usurp the lamp and the Genie to become the most powerful man on the earth. Will Aladin be able to propose his love? Will Ringmaster be successful? Will the Genie be able to save both Aladin and the world? These are the questions that Sujoy Ghosh tries to answer in the concluding reels of his magnum opus.

The good thing about "Aladin" is that it has its heart in the right place. Add to it the marvelous special effects and you end up feeling you are watching one from the Harry Potter franchise. Riteish and Jacqueline are good. Sanjay Dutt lends an evilish tinge to Ring Master and Amitabh Bachchan is deliciously over the top playing the Genie. These actors are so much in control that you can comfortably ignore the irritating Saahil Khan and the awfully miscast Ratna Pathak Shah in a role that smells so much of Juhi Chawla.

Then, where does it go wrong? Its the script that pulls Aladin down. Sujoy tasted success with his maiden venture "Jhankar Beats" thanks to the uber cool and lazy script. The writing style suited something like Jhankaar Beats but you cannot use the same medicine always. "Home Delivery" was a confused piece of work and "Aladin' also suffers from the same syndrome. When one sets out to retell a Fairy tale with a top star like Amitabh Bachchan and at such huge a budget, there should not be any room for complacency. It is here that Sujoy fails miserably. His casual script and lack lustre direction take Aladin a few notches lower than where it would have otherwise been.

Its time Sujoy got out of his complacent mood and start working hard on his script and direction. Better luck next time!

Wake up to the next superstar!

2010-01-03T11:08:00.000+05:30

Coming of age stories are such a rarity in mainstream Bollywood and that probably, is the first reason anyone would fine "Wake Up Sid" cute and entertaining. Debutant Director Ayan Mukherji does a brilliant job with establishing his lead characters clearly in the first few reels itself- thus you have the rich, spoilt and happy go lucky Siddharth (Ranbir Kapoor) whose only aim in life is to have fun. He ignores his studies, roams around with his friends and finally fails in his exams. This is too much to handle for his businessman father (Anupam Kher) who has had a rags-to-riches past and his affectionate, uneducated mother (Supriya Pathak Kapur). Disillusioned with his son's ways, the father asks Sid to leave the house.

Sid takes shelter with Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma), who he had earlier bumped into at a party. Aisha hails from Kolkata and has come down to Mumbai to pursue her dreams of working with "Mumbai Beat"- an upmarket magazine. She is very clear about what she wants in life and is very methodical and practical- totally opposite to what Sid is. Though she is charmed by Sid, she finds it difficult to adjust to his ways and finally becomes instrumental in bringing down a positive change in his attitude.

It is a very simple story that relies primarily on its 2 protagonists- Sid and Aisha played brilliantly by Ranbir and Konkona. Ranbir lends his character a natural charm and lights up the screen with his presence. He portrays the playfulness, innocence, disillusionment and realization of Sid very effectively and is the strongest link in this movie. Konkona successfully plays a perfect foil to Ranbir and ends up being Aisha on screen. Anupam Kher and Supriya Pathak are good in their respective parts and Rahul Khanna ends up playing a useless cameo like in his earlier outing. Namit Das and Shikha Talsania who play Sid's friends, are extremely impressive.

Anil Mehta's camera captures Mumbai like never before and anybody who watches the movie is likely to end up falling in love with the city. Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy's compositions stand out especially "Bawra" and "Kya Kahoon". Wake Up Sid is quite a departure from the kind of movies that Dharma Productions have made till date and Karan Johar should be congratulated for making an enjoyable movie on a serious theme.

The real hero here is undoubtedly Ayan Mukherji who comes up with a strong script and has learnt his basics of direction very well. Ayan appears to be in complete control over his script, cast and crew and deserves recognition for having come out with a clean, entertaining film. This is one story teller Bollywood can really look forward to...

Aah- the- One!

2010-01-03T10:50:00.000+05:30

Fresh from the super duper success of "Ayan", Suriya Shivakumar scores again with K S Ravikumar's "Aadhavan". As is the case with most KS Ravikumar films, Aadhavan also offers nothing new in terms of storyline. However, the director's racy treatment, excellent performance from an ensemble cast and the supersonic speed at which the narrative progresses more than makes up for the flaws in the story line.

Aadhavan is the story of a contract killer who is hired to kill a Supreme court judge. The killer disguises himself as helper to the chief cook and gets into the family and befriends each and every family member. Whether the killer manages to succeed in his objective or not forms the rest of the story.

Suriya Shivakumar is in fine form playing the title role. He is growing younger with time and has an on screen charisma that attracts people across ages. Nayanthara looks good since she is fully clothed and does justice to her miniscule role. The late actor Murali is adequate as the judge and veteran Padmabhushan B Saroja Devi shines in the role of the grandmother. But, it is Vaigaippuyal Vadivelu who literally runs the show. His comic timing and dialogues are perfect and he is a RIOT in the movie!

Add to it a couple of hummable songs composed by Harris Jayaraj and excellent camerawork, "Aadhavan" is good enough for a weekend with the entire family :-)

He is not that much like you...

2010-01-03T10:21:00.000+05:30

"Unnaipol Oruvan" has been in the news ever since it was announced thanks to the coming together of Kamalhassan and Mohanlal- 2 of the greatest actors of Indian Cinema; Sruthi Hassan's debut as a Music Director and also because it was a remake of the critically and commercially successful "A Wednesday"- A Bollywood film directed by debutante Neeraj Pandey.

Unnaipol Oruvan remains extremely faithful to its Hindi original and scores because of that. The story that deals with how a frustrated common man drives the Police department crazy on a Wednesday and finally manages to kill 4 cruel terrorists is definitely thought provoking and something every common man would have thought about doing at least once.

Add to it, solid performances from an ensemble cast and a technically perfect film, you would not have any reason to complain, save one- Kamal Hassan does not pass off as a common man as much as Naseeruddin Shah did in the Hindi original. His accented English is irksome and he brings in unnecessary heroism in his body language and diction that takes away the simplicity and identifiability from the principal character.

However, this small glitch is more than compensated by the rest of the cast. Anusha Ayyer as the cigar smoking journalist is pitch perfect, Ganesh Venkatraman is a revalation and veteran Lakshmi is completely at ease portraying the Chief Secretary. But, if there is one actor who elevates the movie to another level, it is Lt. Col. Padmashree Bharath Mohanlal who plays IG Nambiar- a soft spoken, duty bound police officer who is out to nab the character played by Kamal Hassan. It is a strong role performed with grit and determination and you can only come out in awe of the great actor that Mohanlal is.

Shruthi Hassan's background score is OK but she scores very well with the promotional video- the song has been sung and shot very well! Chakri Tolati makes a confident debut as a Director but he needs another film to prove his calibre considering how faithful Unnaipol Oruvan is to its original. Camera, Editing, Sound and Art Direction are all done very well and contributes to the overall impact that movie leaves on you.

Its probably the first time that an actor marches over Kamal Hassan in terms of performance- "Unnaipol Oruvan" is a must watch just to see Mohanlal in action, even if you have seen "A Wednesday" 10 times. Strongly recommended!!!

A Bridge of Contention!

2010-01-02T18:35:00.000+05:30

I have always been quite vocal about how big a fan I am of Director K G George. Ditto is the reason why I did not hesitate to grab Panchavadippalam when I saw the VCD on sale at a second hand books shop in Kochi.

I remember vaguely having seen Panchavadippalam as a kid. Though I enjoyed the comedy, I was not old enough to enjoy the satire that this one is- and that too easily the best satire ever made in Malayalam Cinema. Panchavadippalam is a cartoonish satire that attempts to bring to light the corrupt way of functioning of the local bodies in the state and how they use politics and party to further their personal agenda. It also skilfully shows how benefits extended by the Government end up in the hands of the non deserving and mocks the bureaucracy for its indifferent attitude to the common man.

The story creditted to cartoonist Yesudasan unfolds in a small village that has Dushassanakurup (Bharath Gopi) as the Panchayath President and Ishak Tharakan (Tilakan) as the leader of opposition. Mandodariamma (Sreevidya), the better half of the President literally rules the Panchayath and the President is always mocked by others for this. We have Panchayath members like Rahel (Sukumari), Shikhandi Pilla (Nedumudi Venu) and Barabos (Innocent) who will switch sides to derive benefits. Add to it the local tea vendor (K P Ummar), the local prostitute Poothana (Shubha), Rahel's husband Aabel Mappilla (Jagathy Sreekumar), the conman swami Sheershasananada (V D Rajappan) and the representative of the common man, the paralyzed Kathavarayan (Sreenivasan) whose only interest in life is to listen to speeches by political leaders.

The Panchayath President is losing his hold over the panchayath and to better his reputation, Shikhandi Pilla creates stories that the Panchavadippalam is in trouble. Steps are taken to reconstruct the bridge and along with it for some Maramath works at the residence of the Panchayath President, Shikhandi Pillai and Rahel. There is a big fight between the ruling party and opposition on who gets the contract for reconstruction and finally all differences are settled. Jeemoothavahanan (Venu Nagavally) wins the contract to reconstruct the bridge and he gets engaged to Panchali, the President's daughter. The bridge is inaugurated on their wedding day and collapses as soon as the villagers try crossing the bridge. In the bargain, the paralyzed Kathavarayan ends up losing his life.

With a tight script by K G George, witty one liners by Yesudasan and an excellent performance by an ensemble cast, Panchavadippalam succeeds in driving its point very well. Its been close to 25 years since the movie had a theatrical release but the issues are still relevant. The sequencing, scenes and dialogues need to be seen to be believed and there is no way you can control your laughter as Panchavadippalam unfolds before you.

Its easily the best political satire ever made in Malayalam Cinema and you would not know what you are missing until you watch this one...

Not quite Heavenly...

2010-01-02T18:10:00.000+05:30

The media has been going ga ga over the Land Mafia that is gripping the Kerala soils for quite sometime. That someone could convert this issue into a script for a commercial movie featuring one of the biggest stars of Malayalam Cinema was not quite imaginable. James Albert has done just that with "Ividam Swargamaanu" featuring Mohanlal and directed by Roshan Andrews.

Ividam Swargamaanu is about Mathews (Mohanlal), a successful agriculturist who owns a farm of his own that grows cereals, vegetables and rears cows. He is supported by his parents (Thilakan and Kaviyoor Ponnamma), aunt (Sukumaari), a trusted friend (Sankar) and a dimwitted Assistant (Anoop Chandran). All is well with Mathews till real estate supremo Aluva Chandi (Lalu Alex) sets his eyes on Mathew's property. Chandi wants to buy the property and sell it to a Marvaadi. With this end in view, he unleashes propogation across the village that he is going to construct a township on Mathew's land. Mathew refuses to sell the land to Chandi and the entire village turns against him.

Chandi subjects Mathew and his family to extreme troubles- he registers a case against him for environmental pollution, works behind the curtains to slam a huge penalty notice from SFC through fake documentation and turns the entire village against him. Not to lose hope, Mathew fights against Chandi and everyone else who plots against him and finally, emerges victorious.

At the core, Ividam Swargamaanu is a victory of good over evil and tackles a lot of topical issues in the bargain. However, it does not quite measure up as a feature film- the characters are not well etched out and there are too many to count. New characters emerge every 15 minutes and finally you end up with a feeling that you are in the middle of a crowd and half the crowd is unknown to you. The pacing of the film is very lethargic. Though the makers show Mohanlal as a common man, there are not enough scenes/ dialogues that bring out the emotional upheaval that the character is going through. Casting is not good enough with both Lakshmi Rai and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy cutting sorry figures. The only actor who manages to shine is Lalu Alex. It has been a long time since Lalu Alex played an author backed role and the talented actor makes good use of the opportunity. Jagathy Sreekumar and Manian pilla Raju are impressive but the same cannot be said about the others and that includes Tilakan, Kaviyoor Ponnamma and Sukumari too. Priyanka Nair shines brightly in a brief role.

The songless film suffers on the Editing front as well. The film seems to have been made in a hurry and the Art department has not taken enough efforts to ensure that there is cohesiveness and connection between the backgrounds. The scenes make it very clear that the farm and the house are 2 separate locations though they are supposed to be in the same premises as per script. There are a lot of such minor and not so minor glitches here and there that takes away from the movie significantly.

Ividam Swargamaanu is also a tad too long and as an audience you feel the lag while sitting through the movie. Even Mohanlal appears ill at ease and artificial in some key sequences and that probably is the weakest link in this Roshan Andrews- James Albert outing. Though the intention is noble, the execution of Ividam Swargamaanu falls way short of expectations...

These Bluffmasters are FUN

2010-01-02T17:53:00.000+05:30

Meaningful and logical comedies are rare to the extent of becoming non existent in Malayalam Cinema. Our comedies are mostly slapstick and rely a lot on double inneundoes to make the audience laugh. It is in the middle of all this that acclaimed Adman turned director VK Prakash has come up with "Gulumaal- the Escape" that has been inspired by Rohan Sippy's "Bluffmaster" starring Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra.

Gulumaal is about Ravi Varma (Kunchacko Boban) who wants to earn some quick bucks to get his father (Nedumudi Venu) out of the financial mess that he has been in. He befriends Jerry (Jayasuriya), a habitual fraudster and together they hatch a plan to sell a fraudulent painting to a rich businessman (Devan), who is a connossieur of Fine Arts. Whether they succeed with the plan or not forms the rest of the plot.

In the middle of all this, we have Inspector Shambu (Suraj Venjarammoodu) who is out to book Ravi and Jerry. His attempts at nabbing the protagonists also contribute to evoking some laughs. The cops have been treated like cartoon characters and they should appeal to the young audience especially.

There is another track involving Jerry's family- his mother and younger brother who along with Jerry cannot see his sister (Mithra Kurien) eye to eye since they all believe that she was the reason why their father passed away.

The narrative goes through a lot of interesting incidents and culminates in a climax that is entertaining and unpredictable. Thanks to a strong storyline and an entertaining script (Y V Rajesh), Gulumaal manages to hold your interest till the end. Fowzia Fathima's frames and Mahesh Narayanan's editing are add- ons. V K Prakash manages to extract believable performances from the entire cast- this is a worthy comeback for Kunchacko Boban who plays his part very well. Mithra Kurien is promising. Salim Kumar, Manian pillai Raju, Devan and Nedumudi Venu are adequate. It is Jayasuriya who carries the entire film on his shoulders and puts in an extremely reliable performance. He literally lives as the fraudster who cares only for money. The only missing link in an otherwise complete script is the characterization of Jerry. No explanation is offered as to why Jerry turns out to conning people in spite of having been born into a respectable family.

Gulumaal is definitely worth a dekho with the entire family- you will enjoy this one!

In Full Bloom!

2010-01-02T17:31:00.000+05:30

Among the current crop of filmmakers, Lal Jose, in my opinion, is the most talented. He is a master when it comes to making entertaining films based on simple themes and without compromising on the aesthetics of film making as an art. No wonder then that someone like M T Vasudevan Nair trusted Lal Jose with "Neelathamara"- a simple story of love, hope and redemption that is being remade after 30 odd years.

The best thing of Neelathamara is definitely its old world charm and the feeling of nostalgia it evokes in you. I would not be surprised if you tell me that you felt like being part of the story and the characters. Neelathamara does not narrate a story as such, it is a journey into the lives of few individuals and narrates few key events from their lives.

It is all about Kunjimaalu (Archana Kavi), the new maid servant at Malootty Amma's (Sreedevi Unni) palatial house who falls for the charms of her employer's son, Haridas (Kailash) and falls hopelessly in love with him. Haridas exploits her feelings for him and ends up marrying Ratnam (Samvrutha Sunil). Kunjimaalu endures this silently but when Ratnam finds out about her feelings for Haridas, she asks Kunjimaalu to leave the house.

Years later, they all meet only to discover that Haridas is dead, Ratnam is re married, Kunjimaalu is happily married to her cousin, Appukuttan (Suresh) and Malootty Amma is in the last stages of her life. They all sympathise with each other, accept each other as they are and bear no ill feelings to anybody. Neelathamara blooms in the temple pond after a very long time and signifies that all is well that ends well.

Neelathamara blooms slowly and the viewer has to be patient enough to enjoy every small nuances associated with the story. Newcomers Kailash and Archana Kavi play their parts skilfully and can give any veteran a run for his/ her money. Sreedevi Unni is a complete natural. Samvrutha Sunil is the surprise package of the movie. Suresh has very little to do and the scriptwriter in MT comes to the forefront through the characterization of Sharathe Ammini (Reema Kallingal, extremely HOT). Only the discerning viewer can understand the subtle hints given by the scriptwriter about what Ammini goes through and what causes her tragic demise.

Vijay Ulaganathan's camera captures the beauty of Valluvanad and the simplicity of the setting captivatingly. Renjan Abraham does a fine job with his scissors and the end product is as fluid as a well written poem. Gokul Das recreates the ambience of the 70's extremely well and Cuckoo Parameswaran deserves kudos for her job with the costumes. Melody king Vidyasagar resurfaces with all his might here and the entire state is going ga ga over "Anuraga vilochananayi". The other tracks are also equally mesmerizing and Vayalar Sharath proves his pedigree with the lyrics.

To sum up, Neelathamara is like a painting or a poetry. It takes its time to bloom. If you have the patience to get sucked into the experience, you will come out enchanted!

Murder at Midnight

2010-01-02T17:12:00.000+05:30

Just when I thought Renjith was incapable of experiementing any further, comes up "Paleri Manikkam- Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha"- that smashes away all theories of how a Mega Star movie in Malayalam should look. Easily the best movie made since "Classmates" (though the two are not relatable), Paleri Manikkam is that rare movie where everything has fallen rightly into place- be it performances, script, direction, Art, Sound, Camera, Editing or Music. This one is as close to perfection as it can get.

Haridas (Mammootty) carries eerie memories of the night he was born in Paleri, a small hamlet in the Northern part of Kerala. The night he was born witnessed 2 deaths- a brutal murder of Manikkam, a 16 year old housewife, the tragic drowning death of the temple priest and also of the elopement of the Velichapaadu at the local temple. Haridas is not ready to believe that the Manikkam murder mystery was solved properly and hence, 52 years later, he lands in Kerala with his criminologist girl friend Sarayu (Gowri Munjal, the only weak link in an otherwise perfect scenario) to find out what actually happened on that fateful night.

Hari and Sarayu land in Paleri with all police records and from there on, it is an unstoppable journey into the past where Manikkam, Cheeru, Pongan, Velayudhan, Kunjikkannan, Othenan, Adhikari and the local barber come into life. Hari goes through the crime records, meets all living souls who remember something or the other about the Manikkam Murder and tries to piece together the mystery like a Jigsaw puzzle. We are also introduced to Ahmad Haji and Khaled (both played by Mammootty)- the former being a rich landlord who manages to sleep with every woman he wants to and the latter being his Aligarh University educated son.

The best part of Paleri Manikkam is its intelligent storyline (T P Rajeevan is the story writer) that has been translated into a perfect script and has been captured on screen flawlessly. Renjith is definitely a strong contender for all major awards this year at both State and National levels. Manoj Pillai's camera and Vijay Sankar's Editing are near flawless. The camera captures the lush greenery of Paleri in the same spirit as it captures the interiors of Cheeru's imporverished home. Most of the story happens during nights and the lighting used gives a natural feel to all those scenes. Art Direction is authentic and so are the Make up and costumes.

Casting is another factor that works in Paleri's favor- majority of the supporting cast are either novices or amateur drama artistes. They dont act, all of them just live their parts. Among the others, Siddique is as natural as it gets and Sreenivasan playing the ageing barber leaves a strong impression. T Damodaran, the legendary scriptwriter, plays Hamza, the local communist leader very well. New comer Mythili impresses as Manikkam though she has very little on screen time. Shwetha Menon puts in the best performance in her career so far. She is smoking HOT and effectively portrays the sensuality and helplessness of Cheeru. But, it is Mammotty who has a field day portraying 3 different characters- he not only looks different playing 3 characters, he also changes his looks, diction and body language to suit the milieu of each of the 3 characters. This is easily the actor's best performance in recent times and he should rightfully collect all major awards this year! I would not be surprised if Mammootty brings home a 4th National Award this year...

Paleri Manikkam is a treat for all those of you who love serious, meaningful, different and well made cinema. Don't miss it!!!

Ten to Tango...

2010-01-02T16:30:00.000+05:30

Malayalam cinema of the 80's were known for their bold themes and experiments- thanks to stalwarts like Padmarajan, Bharathan, Mohan and K G George. Many ardent fans of Malayalam Cinema still refer to the 80's as the Golden Era and keep on ruing and crying about the sorry state of affairs in the industry today.

There is no dearth of talented filmmakers here but none of them are ready to push the envelope further. Instead, they all follow the tried and tested commercial potboiler route and end up making movies that have no stuff and are carbon copies of their own earlier creations.

Renjith has not been much different, but once in a while he comes up with worthy experiments. Kerala Cafe is another such experiment from Renjith that does not fall flat. This Renjith project showcases 10 short films by 10 different directors- all of them dealing with a common theme- "Yathra" or journey. Renjith has chosen his partners well- some established, some relative new comers and some rank new comers and the cast is also ensemble and eclectic. "Kerala Cafe" is a railway platform coffee shop in one of the busiest railway stations in Kerala and the lead characters in all stories either start from the cafe or end at the cafe. The connection with the cafe is jarring and not well established in all cases but works well most of the time. Here is a look at what the 10 stories have to ofer us:

Nostalgia by M Padmakumar features Dileep, Navya Nair, Sudheesh, Babu Namboodhiri and Sreelatha Namboodiri in the lead. It shows the twin faced, hypocritic NRI Malayalee who longs for his motherland while in the Emirates but hates, curses and poo- poohs everything after he lands here. It also shows how money minded the society has become and how we give false hopes to others to get things done. An above average effort
Island Express by newcomer Sankar Ramakrishnan takes us back to the days of Peruman Tragedy when the train fell into the Ashtamudi lake in the late 80's. It shows a bunch of people gathering at the accident site to pay tribute to their lost ones. A noble thought but the story suffers from poor execution and too many characters. Needed more screen time and hence, none of the actors- Sukumari, Manian Pilla Raju, Rehman, Jayasuriya or Prithviraj impress
Lalitham Hiranmayam by Shaji Kailas is the weakest of the lot with a story line as old as the hills, highly predictable climax and amateurish performances by Suresh Gopi, Jyothirmayee and Dhanya Mary
Mrutyunjayam by Uday Anandhan stands out because it absolutely lacks any connection with the central theme. It only leaves you confused as to why it is there in the first place. A stunning Reema Kallingal makes a fleeting appearance and Shanu Fazil seems to have come a long way since his listless debut in "Kaiyethum Doorathu". Boring fare!
Right Time by Anjali Menon is my pick of the lot. Starring Jagathy Sreekumar and Nithya, this one is a simple story and makes a dig at horny men who ogle at unknown women while traveling. The underlying humous is pleasant and this one shines in the midst of heavy duty tracks
Aviramam by B Unnikrishnan is the most predictable of the lot. It lacks novelty and plays out lazily though Siddique and Sweta Menon put in their best efforts to salvage it. Lacks depth like the filmmaker's earlier outings
Off Season by Syamaprasad is plain irritating. It is high time the director got rid of Joshua Newton- their previous outing together was unimpressive and so is this time. Suraj Venjarammoodu grates your nerves with his oft repeated Thiruvananthapuram accent and though it tries to speak about a global issue, the narrative goes haywire. Totally unimpressive...
Bridge by Anwar Rasheed is reassuring especially considering his last attempt. The director skilfully tells us 2 stories within a very short time frame and manages to do justice to all characters. The way he draws parallels between the pet dog and the have not's in the society needs to be seen to be believed. Supported by strong performances by Salim Kumar, Kalpana and Kozhikode Santhadevi, Bridge is easily the crowd favorite among all
Magal by Revathy draws on female trafficking and handles the issue sensitively. Getting Sreenath and Sona Nair to play the smooth talking agents is a battle half won. The other artistes from Tamil Nadu also contribute generously to the script and let Revathy drive the point home very well
Puram Kazhchakal by Lal Jose is definitely not outstanding but can be considered an honest effort. It showcases the great performer that Mammootty is and Sreenivasan plays perfect foil to Mammootty. The final scene will definitely leave a lump in your throat.

That sums up "Kerala Cafe" which needs to be lauded considering the fact that someone is being bold enough to experiment in the current scenario. The shoe string budget on which the movie has been made should definitely help. The movie lacks polish as a whole but is still watchable for the sincerity of its makers and the 3 odd stories that really stand out!

George of the Jungle!

2010-01-02T15:59:00.000+05:30

Much has been written, said and discussed about the Magnum opus of Malayalam Cinema- Sree Gokulam Movies' "Pazhassiraja" written by veteran Gnanapeeth Award winner M T Vasudevan Nair and directed by Hariharan. If you ask me whether they deliver, my answer would be a big YES!

Comparisons to "Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha"- the landmark movie that brought the MT- Hariharan- Mammootty trio together earlier are natural but in my opinion it is not fair to compare Pazhassiraja to Veeragatha mainly because if the earlier film narrated the story of a character, Pazhassiraja is more like a chapter from the Indian freedom struggle.

That more or less explains the prominence that characters like Edachena Kunkan (Sharathkumar, looking like a beefcake and performing like a dream), Kaitheri Ambu (Suresh Krishna- a revelation here) and Thalakkal Chandhu (the ever dependable Manoj K Jayan delivers yet another punch) get along with the great Pazhassi himself.

Unfortunately for me, I missed the first half hour of th movie so I cannot comment on how it started. The movie is reported to have been made on a budget of 30 crores- too high by any standards for Malayalam Cinema- but the good thing is that it shows- the art team has recreated huge sets within the forests, the weapons and clothes are as authentic as they can get, the re recording is superb (Thanks to Maestro Ilaiyaraaja) and the sound design by Academy Award Winner Resul Pookutty makes that BIG difference.

The story is known to almost everyone in Kerala and MT weaves the story line into a cohesive script with ample scope for heroism, punchy dialogues, well choreographed action sequences and scenes that raise the patriotic spirit of the viewers. Ramnath Shetty's camera deserves special mention. Sreekar Prasad's editing is slick and the 3 songs blend well with the narrative. Special kudos to Ilaiyaraja, ONV team to have come up with a beautifully composed Daf Muttu song!

The entire cast delivers well and not just the lead players. Devan, Suman, Nedumudi Venu, Jagadeesh, Jagathy Sreekumar, Tilakan, Kanihaa and Padmapriya have all done well in their respective roles. At the end of the day, the movie belongs to director Hariharan who has mobilized all resources properly and correctly to deliver what can easily be called "The biggest movie ever in the history of Malayalam Cinema". The ringing cash registers are proof enough!

A message loud and clear...

2010-01-02T14:51:00.001+05:30

While I sat through "Loud Speaker", I realized the potential of a director like Jayaraj, who of late, has been making a mess of his career by directing meaningless potboilers like Of the People, By the People, Rain Rain Come Again etc. The flash of intelligence is visible once in a while when he helms projects like Daivanamathil, Makalkku, Kannaki and the like, but after a long time, Jayaraj finds his footing with "Loud Speaker"- an age old story of bonding between 2 unlikely souls which has been narrated differently and nicely.

Loud Speaker is the story of Mike Philippose (Mammootty) who hails from the hills, talks loudly, does not wear slippers and is a complete village simpleton. He comes into the city to donate one of his kidneys to Menon (Sasikumar), a retired and lonely bureaucrat so that Mike can pay off his debts and recover his land. The operation forces him to stay with Menon in his high rise apartment and the rest of the story deals with how Mike befriends everybody in the apartment complex- the young and the old, the men and the women and even the suspecting nurse played by Gracey Singh.

The idea is nothing new and very little attention has been paid to the supporting characters so much so that some tracks are plain irritating like the Jagathy- Suraj track. The Kalpana- Bheeman Raghu domestic issue is also not thought provoking and the Janardhanan track was dealt with completely by Jayaraj in a separate movie earlier. Gracey Singh and her character appear to be totally out of place so much that you end up feeling this could have been a last minute addition.

In spite of a lot of shortcomings, Loud Speaker works due to the inherent charm that Mammootty brings into his performance and the brooding intensity with Sasikumar portrays Menon- a complete foil to the lead role. The 2 actors are so likeable and so natural in their performances and their visit to Valluvanaadu evokes nostalgia in the viewers.

Jayaraj makes use of the Anil Panachooran- Bijibal team's music very well. The Christmas Carol is everyday stuff and you cannot help liking "Munnazhi muthumaayi" but the icing on the cake is the remixed version of "Alliyambal" that has been well picturized and well cinematographed.

The climax is predictable but Jayaraj also manages to end Loud Speaker on a very positive note. This is a very simple tale of friendship that purports to tell us that not all hope is lost and that there are likeable and nice people around. In this age of terrorism and communalism outside and meaningless commercial potboilers in Malayalam Cinema, Jayaraj needs to be appreciated to have come out with something soothing and refreshing. Just for Jayaraj's guts, Mammootty's performance and Sasikumar's silver screen outing, "Loud Speaker" should be seen...

I deserve something good...

2010-01-02T14:29:00.000+05:30

I don’t know whether my Boss would agree, but of late, I have been feeling that I am doing nothing much other than going to work, coming back, going out for movies during weekend and blogging! I am kind of stuck in a rut and there is nothing much exciting happening in life- the kind that is different from normal and that leaves you re energized and rejuvenated.

I have been thinking of doing many things but considering the work- life schedule on hand would not be able to do all those things that I want to. But, the following are some things that I would really like to do in the next few months:

• Read a couple of good books- light, frothy and refreshing and of a modern, contemporary kind

• Watch a couple of good movies- the kind that I have already seen, the kind that leaves me wanting for more every time I finish watching them

• Take a trip down Kanniyakumari with a couple of close friends and sneak out some time on the beach watching the sun setting, all by myself 

• Learn French- a little bit to read and talk. It will help at work, no doubt, it will also provide me with a challenge of trying to learn something totally new, something that I have not done in ages!

• Learn driving and get a 4 wheeler license. That will put things in order at home besides making me self driven (literally, of course!)

• Just sit at home, all alone, catch up with some sleep and sleep for long hours without being disturbed, dreamily while it is raining outside…

May be not all of them make sense, but I am sure these will take me out of the rut that I think I am stuck in and I could be more energetic in life if I do at least one of those…Not sure when I am going to get time, next 3 months at work are going to be hectic but December 2009…well, I am keeping my fingers crossed

Oh Darling, Yeh Hai India!

2010-01-02T14:27:00.002+05:30

These were the lines that came to my mind when I boarded the Jet Airways flight from Toronto yesterday afternoon after a 3 week stint in Canada. The good thing about a Jet Airways flight is that the moment you enter one, you feel you are home irrespective of which airport in the world you are in! There is lots of noise, people are here, there and everywhere, they sit everywhere other than the seat allotted to them, make unreasonable demands of the cabin crew and most importantly, you will have at least 20 families traveling with young kids who will do anything but sleep on the flight!

I have often wondered whether there will be any other set of people who make it a point to take that long flight home every 2 years for a vacation without even caring about how their infant kids will feel! There cannot be another set of kids in the world, who are as irritant and hyper active as Indian kids especially if they are in the middle of a crowd. Worse is when Indian families are traveling in groups- the men discuss the situation in Silicon Valley and the Indian economy; the women discuss almost everything under the sun and it is up to the fellow passengers and the Cabin Crew to take care of the kids who will be all around the place, crying, smiling at passers by or worse, even snatching stuff from others!

After a fairly sleep deprived night, this is the kind of chaos that I got into when I boarded the flight. The flight from Toronto to Brussels was unbearable to say the least. If all those 40 odd kids were not enough, the young girl sitting next to me was looking at me as though I was a professional rapist; the gentleman sitting behind me did not like the idea of me pushing back my seat and the gentleman sitting in front of me was getting disturbed because I was tapping my feet! Can it get any worse than that? The only reason I could survive the flight was the hot, fresh and tasty food and the excellent in flight entertainment!

I think it is high time we learn a thing or two about etiquette in public places. One can not really blame the kids when their parents itself forget the basic rules of etiquette. You might be interested in making use of every penny you spent in buying the tickets but what you need to remember is that others have also spent money on their tickets and they deserve as much of privacy and space as you do! I am hoping things will get better by the time I board my next international flight of Jet Airways…

Festivals: How Important are they?

2010-01-02T14:26:00.000+05:30

This festival season I was more or less out of India- I left home on the evening of Janmashtami, boarded my flight to Canada on Independence Day, celebrated my 30th Birthday and Onam in Canada and am back in time for Ashtami Rohini (11 September!).

I personally did not give much importance to what I was missing since the call was taken more for work than anything else but all these came into the limelight when our client from Canada came visiting India during Onam and saw all festivities associated with it. The good soul that he is, he was worried and unhappy that I missed out on all this fun and probably, this whole visit of mine could have been scheduled differently.

On my side, I had a good time at Halifax, there is no denying that! As for missing festivals, whenever I encounter these scenarios, the one thing that comes to my mind is what my ex- Boss used to tell me- “What is there in festivals? If you have money, every day is a festival. If you don’t, you don’t care whether it is a festival or not.”

That might probably be a cruelly practical way of looking at things but considering the fact that I need a job to survive and that I am quite happy with my work and pay, I should say that is how I would like to look at things. My manthra in life is very simple- “Enjoy your work, make enough money to enjoy your time off from work. If you are not happy with work, don’t sit and whine, move out as early as you can and find out something that will keep you happy (hopefully!)

I am not sure how many will agree to me, but this is how I am and this is how I see myself to be long into the future, as well 

How Airports change...

2010-01-02T14:25:00.002+05:30

As I type this down sitting in the Security Area of the Chatrapathi Sivaji Domestic Terminal at Mumbai, I am just thinking how things have changed in Indian airports. I remember the Mumbai airport from my first trip to North America which was a little more than 5 years back (time flies and how!). That was the time I got my first taste of Mumbai airport and to be honest with you, it left a bad after taste!

It was crowded, dirty, could not handle all those flights or passengers, with either check in or security check rarely being completed on time. People were shouting at each other and every single passenger was complaining!

Cut out to Kochi International Airport in the later part of 2004 and earlier part of 2005 (during my stint in the Middle East), it was as if the same story was being repeated. With almost a dozen flights to various countries in the Middle East, all scheduled to leave within a time span of an hour or a little more than that, mornings would be absolute chaos at Kochi International Airport. No one would know what to do and where to go and everybody including the station crew and the passengers would be equally confused and irritated. Not a single flight used to leave Kochi Airport on time then…

Bangalore- November 2007- my first trip to Canada. If I call that experience a nightmare, I would be making an understatement! By this time the HAL Airport was operating at much in excess of its original capacity- leave alone some place to sit and relax, there was no place to even stand in the airport- thanks to the international services by British Airways and Lufthansa and the multitude of techies who used to take these flights every single day!

And how things have changed…today Mumbai International Airport is as good as the ones in Paris or Frankfurt or Brussels. Mumbai Domestic Airport could give any airport in any country a run for its money- not only in terms of ambience, space or aesthetics but also in terms of cleanliness- a trait that India has always trailed in. Cut to Bangalore, the new Airport is an Engineering marvel and a traveler’s delight. Very Modern construction and attention to even minute details make this airport truly international- its unique ambience and ability to handle crowds is really being spoken about.

Things have not changed significantly in Kochi but the introduction of the new check in hall at the International terminal has ensured that things are managed much better than what they used to be. With the kind of money the airport is making and with the kind of land it already possesses, there is no need for us to be surprised if the CIAL goes ahead with its multifarious development plans. The Golf track is already under progress and so is the Go karting track! Construction is in progress and there are plans to construct a 5 star hotel within the airport itself…

India is now the service center for the world and considering the number of Indian travelers per day, it is only logical that our airports are renovated and we rise to the occasion to cash in on the kind of money being spent by Indian companies on travel. Even the so called Economic Recession has affected only the short visits of the honchos high up the ladder. Go to any of the big international airports in the country and you will still see a young Indian techie beaming with pride at his/ her folks, all set to embark on his/ her first international trip!

It is reassuring to know that there is some work happening in this direction- There is frantic reconstruction happening at Delhi, which has also to do with the proposed Common Wealth Games next year and the Hyderabad Airport is every South Indian’s pride. Airports are what any tourist would see of any country and a well managed and well maintained airport always sends out positive vibes about the country to all the visitors. (KL Airport, anyone?). Things definitely are moving in the right direction and the day is not far away when Mumbai/ Delhi/ Bangalore/ Chennai/ Hyderabad airports will be spoken about in the same manner as, lets say, Paris/ Frankfurt/ Zurich/ London/ Brussels. Let us keep our fingers crossed and feel happy at what we have achieved and look hopefully into the future…

Airports, Festivals, India and myself

2010-01-02T14:23:00.000+05:30

These posts were typed out on my laptop while I was waiting for my flight out of Mumbai 4 months back. I am posting these just because I had drafted them completely. They are coming out too late but please bear with me :-)

"The Hangover" leaves you with a good one

2010-01-02T14:21:00.000+05:30

No one can match upto Hollywood when it comes to making adult comedies, or below the belt comedies to be specific. I have always been a sucker for these (I still remember how I laughed out loud watching “There’s something about Mary) considering the fact that good ones in this genre happen once in a while and after catching “The Hangover” I must tell you that this is one of the best that I have ever seen.

It all happens when four friends embark on a journey to Las Vegas to celebrate the bachelor’s party of one of them who is getting married the next evening. They check into a Hotel, get onto the terrace of the hotel, raise a toast for their friend and gulp down their first shot for the evening. The next morning when they get up, the prospective groom is missing, there is a baby in their closet and a Royal Bengal Tiger in the washroom and worse- none of them remember any incidents from the previous evening!

They have just few hours at hand and they need to decode what happened the previous night, most importantly, they need to find their friend who is getting married that evening. What ensues is a hilarious ride when they find out many funny things- one of them has lost one tooth of his and has got married to a stripper; the Tiger was stolen from Mike Tyson’s house and they have to pay a whopping 80 grands to a Chinese bi sexual who they cheated the previous night at the Casino!!!

Hilarious circumstances and dialogues appear one after the other and the 100 minute film is a laugh out loud caper that will have you in splits. The jokes are crude and sexist, but then you don’t expect a story revolved around a Bachelor’s party to sound like a bible session, do you? If your idea of entertainment is having pure fun and if you are the kind you enjoy non- veg jokes, “The Hangover” is the best bet to spend a lazy weekend afternoon. Go for it, if you have your male friends for company, you will have a blast 

"Sarvam" is awful!

2010-01-02T14:18:00.000+05:30

I was really looking forward to catching Sarvam at theatres. Though Vishnuvardhan, the director disappointed with his last outing, I thought there was something to look forward to in this modern love story starring Arya and Trisha together for the first time. Add to it, this was supposed to be Indrajith’s return to Tamil Cinema plus you were getting to watch J D Chakravarthi in a significant role after ages!

Fortunately or unfortunately, I could not catch this one in theatres, something I was really unhappy about till I caught “Sarvam” finally as an in flight movie. At the very outset, let me tell you Sarvam is a movie that fails on all counts but two- Nirav Shah’s cinematography and Anu Vardhan’s costumes.

The movie begins with a happy go lucky, young, dashing architect (Arya) falling in love with a paediatrician (Trisha) at first sight. He literally chases her until she finally falls in love with him and they decide to get married. However, Trisha gets killed in a freak car accident and her heart is transplanted to a young boy, who is about to be murdered by a man (JD Chakravarthy) since the boy’s father (Indrajith) had accidentally killed his own son.

It is here that the script falters big time. To start with, the characterization of J D Chakravarthi is quite weak, so much so that as an audience you feel like giving a smack right across his face, when he keeps on saying- “My son passed away!”. It is so surprising that Indrajith does not really approach the Police to help him out of his predicament. The suspension of logic reaches its peak when Arya decides to protect the kid since the kid’s heart belongs to his departed love. By this time, if you start pulling your hair, no body will blame you.

The director literally drags the script and the lead players into the thick forests of Munnar in the second half and from there on, more than the characters; it is the script that gets lost to the point of no return. If there is one thing that remains consistent through the movie (apart from the pathetic script, that is), it is Nirav Shah’s cinematography which spells magic on screen. The romantic track of Arya and Trisha have been filmed in bright, vibrant colors and the green tone of agony that Shah lends to the second half of the film comes out a winner. Anu Vardhan clothes Trisha and Arya in the best of costumes. Trisha looks like a goddess on screen though she has very little to do in terms of acting. Arya is his dashing best, a far cry from his aghori avtar in Naan Kadavul!

Art Direction is good to one’s eyes but the whitish hospital interiors and the colorful children’s ward look too good to be true. Editor seems to be on vacation. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is just mediocre and there is no magic as far as re- recording is concerned.

Couple of things that stand out- Arya’s sincere approach towards an awfully written character and the repeated references to Ilaiyaraja’s romantic numbers. It gets more entertaining when Arya and the kid fight over the Maestro and A R Rahman! Prathap Pothan puts in an interesting cameo as the psychiatrist who is half mad!

To sum up, Sarvam is a typical example of body beautiful, soul zero! It’s time Vishnuvardhan moved back into stories of substance- like his earlier outings- Arinthum Ariyamalum and Pattiyal.

Its been ages...

2010-01-02T14:14:00.000+05:30

Gosh, Its been like 4 months since I posted anything on my blog...this probably has been my longest absence from the wired world. I had made it a point that I would start 2010 by finishing my backlog of emails and blogging and I have been quite successful with what I planned. So here I am folks, after what one may call a hibernation more than a sabbatical...

My last post had to do with losing YSR and look at what all has happened in Andhra Pradesh in 4 months' time. Yours faithfully had a fleeting visit to Hyderabad and before the Telangana issue blew out of proportion, was lucky enough to board a flight home..

KCR's hunger strikes, PC's declaration of Telangana state creation followed by hartals, bandhs, demonstration, violence, destruction of public property and en masse resignation of Congress MLA's has made Andhra Pradesh living hell. The funniest thing is that in the middle of all this, the 84 year old Governor could find time to vent out his carnal desires that has cost him his position...thats a long thread to discuss and will continue for quite sometime in future as well.

For the time being, let me go back to what all I had in store for the blog. I have forgotten half the movies I saw, have no clue about the new restaurants that I checked out and only faintly remember the books I read but let me recollect whatever I can for the benefit of the readers. So, here I go with my nonstop, nonsense...

YSR: Untimely, Unfortunate!

2009-09-04T00:38:00.000+05:30

Now, this has come out as one piece of really shocking news for me- Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, the charismatic AP Chief Minister is no more and that too, due to a chopper accident!

A big loss to the people of Andhra Pradesh, YSR's death is truly a bolt in the blue for INC as it is losing one of its senior most and highly respected leaders down south! 4 time Member of Parliament, YSR took over Andhra Pradesh from N Chandrababu Naidu in the 2004 Assembly Elections. He won the 2009 Assembly Elections again and brought INC successfully back to power. He also won 33 Lok Sabha seats in 2009 which was quite an achievement!

The INC will have to do a lot of ground work before finding out a successor to YSR and I cannot think of anyone who can really match upto him! The opposition parties may find it easier next time but all will definitely miss YSR in the political circles. May his departed soul Rest in Peace!

Three- O Celebrations!

2009-09-04T00:30:00.000+05:30

Considering the fact that I was few continents away from home for my big 30th Birthday and the amount of work on hand to be completed, I thought this day was going to be a low key affair. But, thanks to my good friends in Halifax, I had a blast- the kind of Birthday I have not celebrated in decades!

To start with, had a great lunch at Economy Shoe Shop- now don't mistake it for a place that sells shoes. It is one of the oldest Taverns in Halifax, has a very unique feel to it, is done up differently and most importantly, serves delicious food. I had a ball munching into my Club Veggie Wrap and Roasted Potatoes under comfortably warm sunshine!

Had more fun when I was back in office. A delicious chocolate cake was arranged specially for me (with a Birthday Message written across it) and I had close to 30 people singing "Happy Birthday" to me!!! I am so so happy that this Birthday has turned out magical for me. I hope the year ahead is also as special! Thanks to all good friends in Halifax who made this happen. Needless to say, I am on Clouds NINETY NINE before I board the flight home tomorrow :-)

Rajan P Dev and Murali

2009-09-03T05:59:00.001+05:30

2 talented actors that Malayalam Cinema lost to the 2009 Monsoons...2 who can never be replaced. This post is my way of paying tribute to the 2 actors who I have enjoyed watching on screen!

Murali was not just a cinema actor- he was also an intellectual who believed strongly in the leftist ideals and tried to apply them to his life. A stage actor, director and an articulate writer, Murali handled his different roles with his ease and played all of them extremely well! Murali came into limelight during the mid- 80's with one great performance after the other- in Hariharan's "Panchagni" and Lenin Rajendran's "Meenamasathile Sooryan". It did not take Malayalam Cinema long to recognize his talent and soon he became a part and parcel of Malayalam Cinema slipping in and out of a variety of characters and leaving his stamp behind on each of them. He particularly shined in roles scripted by Lohitadas (Aadharam, Maalayogam, Kaarunyam, Bharatham, Thoovalkottaram, Amaram, Venkalam, Chamayam, Valayam- to name a few) and Cherian Kalpakavadi (Lal Salaam, Aardhram, Ulladakkam). He was accepted as villain, supporting actor as well as a lead actor though he was not at all the conventional hero. He won Kerala State Awards for Best Actor 4 times (Aadharam, Kaanakkinavu, Thalolam, Neythukaran) and twice for the Best Supporting Actor (Amaram, Veeralippattu/ Pranayakaalam). He also won the coveted National Award for Best Actor in 2001 for Priyanandan's "Neythukaran". He was also the Chairman of the Sangeetha Nataka Academy and authored 5 books in total. He also won widespread acclaim for his stage production "Lanka Lakshmy". He had an unsuccessful stint with politics too when he contested for the Alappuzha Loksabha Constituency in 1999. Murali will be remembered for his powerhouse performances. He was truly an actor who could rise above the script and bring out the finer nuances of the character through his performance!

Rajan P Dev took Kerala by storm as Kochuvava, the protagonist in one of the most successful stage plays in Kerala history- SL Puram Sadanandan's "Kattukuthira". Unfortunately, he could not play the role in the film adaptation but he more than made up for it through a stellar performance in Thambi Kannamthanam's Mohanlal starrer "Indrajaalam" which was his first major role in Malayalam Cinema. It was one of those rare villain characters who outlived and outperformed the hero in spite of having a talented actor like Mohanlal playing the hero. Rajan has not had to look back ever since. Powerful characters followed one after the other- most of them were villainous roles but later Rajan made a clever and successful move to performing character roles and comedy roles as well. He even ended up playing titular roles like Pallivathukkal Thommichan and Thommanum Makkalum- the latter where his role was even more important than that of Mammootty's. He made a successful move to Tamil and Telugu Cinema and played menacing villain roles with great ease. Unfortunately for Rajan, his performances were not properly awarded though many of his characters are well etched out in the minds of movie goers (Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans, Ekalavyan, Commissioner, Sphadikam, Aniyan Bava Chettan Bava, The King, Junior Mandrake, Dada Saheb, Karumadikuttan, Sethuramaiyer CBI, Bharath Chandran IPS, Chandu Pottu, Chota Mumbai, Roudhram etc)

With the demise of these 2 great actors, Malayalam Cinema stands to lose yet again. Rajan P Dev and Murali along with Bharath Gopi and Oduvil Unnikrishnan in recent times are losses that have malnourished Malayalam Cinema of some of its best character actors! Even when we say that these are actors who cannot be replaced, we are still hoping and looking forward to a brand new set of talented actors coming up and taking their positions, at least partially. As the saying goes, the show must go on...

Exciting times at JTPAC

2009-09-01T22:06:00.000+05:30

For Art connossieurs in and around Ernakulam, it is an exciting time since JTPAC has come up with a wonderful array of programmes that promise to be a true treat-

Vineeth and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy perform on 5 September, Udit Narayan sings on 19 September, its Sivamani's percussion on 3 October and Mohanlal and Mukesh perform "Chayamukhi" on 17 October 2009. What more does a true lover of art need?

Personally, I am going to miss Vineeth and Lakshmi since I am on air on 5 September! But I definitely am going to be there for all the other three! (hopefully nothing else crops up!) Shall write about what I thought about those after I attend the performances :-)

Label me "Technologically Challenged"...

2009-09-01T21:25:00.000+05:30

I started blogging looking at blogs of some of my friends and cousins and take inspiration from other blogs even when it comes to stuff like Layout, Page Elements etc being the "Technologically Challenged" person that I have always been!

To be fair to myself, I have been able to recreate most of the stuff that I have seen on other blogs within my own but I have been a miserable failure when it comes to "Labelling" of posts. I have seen fellow bloggers using "Labels" to astounding effect. I recently started trying but within 5 posts realized that labelling is not my cup of tea. None of my labels repeat and most of the time I end up posting without adding labels even though labelling is at the back of my mind.

After a lot of thinking and re thinking, I have decided that my blog and posts look good enough without the labels! I dont think I will ever understand this whole funda of labelling and have decided to stay away from it...forever.

East is East, West is West!

2009-08-31T21:54:00.000+05:30

"East is East, West is West and Never the Twain shall meet" or so went Sir Rudyard Kipling's saying. All those of you who have worked closely with folks in the West may agree that Sir Kipling was right in whatever he said!

Well, I have been working very closely with friends on the other side of the globe for the past 4 years and from the interactions and the visits, I have concluded that there are differences between East and West, some of those kind which will never ever be bridged.

When I started off in this industry and during my initial interactions with the Westerners (for ease of description!), I have often wondered why they are so particular about time and so paranoid about small things. For example, if you tell them that it is raining heavily, the immediate next question would be whether there is a flood threat; if you tell them that there has been a minor bomb blast, the immediate next question will be whether you will shut down or if you tell them that 3 of your team members are sick, the immediate next question will be whether there is a pandemic Flu threat and if yes, what was the back up plan!

I used to get amused, surprised and sometimes highly irritated when I had to respond to these queries and put my friends at ease. 6 visits to North America later, I should say, I understand and appreciate the concerns of my friends. Imagine life in a part of the world where the weather could change next minute. It will be bright sunshine all around and in just half hour, your street could be flooding. In the early winter, you go out for a movie with family and the running time of the movie could be just enough for the parking lot to be covered with snow. It will be time to take out your showel (if you have one safely in the boot, that is!) and shove your way out of the parking lot! When you are born into a part of the World where this is the way of lif e and have grown up experiencing this and much worse stuff, how will you end up not being paranoid? And if all this was not enough, there was the big 9/11. The earlier instances are where nature plays spoilsport and these are stuff that happens when fellow human beings play spoilsport!!!

From what I have seen of the World, I think I can safely conclude that we, as Indians are quite a spoilt lot. We take almost everything for granted- weather, people, time, the list is endless. We dont care about what time of the day we get up, how late we turn up for appointments and how casually we treat others- especially subordinates at work and women folk at home. We do things the way we feel like doing and we want everything and everyone else to change according to our whims and fancies. Else, we sit and whine, shout or complain but not take that one single step to put things straight. I say "WE" because I realize, rather shamefully, that I too am no different from many of my friends...

One visit to the West and if you stay long enough to see how seasons and weather change circumstances, you will clearly understand how easy life is in our part of the globe and what are the additional challenges our friends in the West have to encounter besides the ones at work!

I am not saying that we also need to have the kind of variations in Weather that the West experiences but it defnitely is high time we analyzed and understood the difficulties of being in a part of the World where anything could be a threat to things as simple as your daily routine/ schedule. Let us understand the importance of time, what people mean to us and how we should take independent charge of our life and decisions, just the way friends on the other part of the Globe do!

Let us change our attitude, the way we look at things and see how things improve all around us. It is not a big task, but I bet the results will give you a pleasant surprise! Do TRY IT :-)

Aye- O, Three- O!

2009-08-30T07:48:00.000+05:30

I am not the kind that enjoys celebrating Birthdays. Come August and I start getting irritated for little things considering the fact that I would be turning an year older the next month. The irritance stays with me almost till end of September and then I start moving on consoling myself that getting older is a bitter fact in life!

Not this time though! For a change I am eagerly looking forward to my Birthday this time and not without a valid reason- come next week and I turn 30!!!!3 decades old, that is!

I was not old enough to understand the significance of completing 1 decade when I turned 10, I was quite irritated with myself when I turned 20 since that marked the end of Teenage but this time around, I am feeling happy and proud at turning 30 and I have my own reasons for it!

30's in my opinion is the best time in any person's life- a decade where many things happen, many things fall into place, many changes take place and you become important to many people so much so that people start treating you for what you are...

I have seen this happening to friends, cousins and many other acquaintances. You turn 30 and suddenly you are mature enough in the eyes of all- your younger siblings, cousins and friends look upto you and the older folks in your family always ask you for an opinion on all stuff- important or otherwise.

On the personal front, you pretty much complete your studies whatever your branch of study be, you would have kind of stabilized on your work front and will be on a high acceleration path to success, glory and hardwork! You will be married or about to be married or start giving a serious thought to marriage, you would have even had a kid or a two. Later during your 30's, you start thinking about an alternate career, taking off time to learn things which you always wanted to learn, start reading serious stuff and start looking at life from a totally different point of view.

You also start looking at yourself with a new set of eyes- you start taking care of your appearance, you start watching your weight and appearance, develop a style of your own, start acquiring interest in classy stuff, buy your own house and car, participate in decision making both at home and work, get closer to friends and their families and pretty much create a world of your own- and if you are lucky enough, end up creating a very happy World around yourself...

That is what I am looking at when I turn 30. I might not do everything that I have written above. I have my reservations about many of those stuff though that's what people generally end up doing in their 30's. Whatever I end up doing, all I am looking at is being successful, happy, rich and creating a world around myself I would be happy being part of...

Just 4 more days and its Aye- O, Three- O for me. I am entering the world of Fun n Flirty 30 (though I always had my own reasons to believe that I was both Fun and Flirty!) and hence, please join me in wishing Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Free Dinners...

2009-08-30T07:34:00.000+05:30

The guys at the Hotel that we have been put up at are being very kind these days. Probably because we are stay in guests for as long as 22 days, they have provided us each with Gift Coupons worth a dinner for 2 at the Restaurant for as much as CAD 75. Great, isnt it?

Thats what we thought when we redeemed the first coupon last Sunday for a lentil soup and a delicious Orecchiette Pasta (With sautéed wild mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh grated Grana Padano cheese, fresh herbs and extra virgin olive oil) for myself and Acadian Seafood Chowder (a rich soup full of shrimps) and Atlantic Salmon for my friend. We were filled up to the brim and had a tough time walking back to the room while thanking the generosity of the Hotel authorities.

Today was the day scheduled for the second coupon. My other friend went ahead with his Acadian Seafood Chowder and Nova Scotia Arctic Char. Being the vegetarian, I had to satisfy myself with French Fries (no veg soup was on the menu for the day) and Vegetable Fried Rice (which was made to my order, a decision I regretted while I was eating what was served in that name!)

To be fair to the restaurant, the complimentary bread and butter were delicious! Anyways, there ends my series of Free dinners at this Hotel- I was excited when I received the coupons, ecstasic when I had my first dinner and am detached from the whole thing after the second dinner. As I realize now, free dinners are good once in a while but not all of them need to be to your liking...

Feeling Light...

2009-08-30T07:23:00.000+05:30

Saturdays in Halifax are for shopping and when you have malls like Mic Mac, why worry? The mall is supposed to open at 9.30 AM and there we were, the 3 of us waiting at the entrance of the mall at 9.20 AM itself. The objective was to finish shopping by noon, grab some lunch and head back to the hotel. We did meet all objectives- we shopped, had lunch at 2 and were back in the hotel by 4 PM!

Thanks to all the "Back to School" and "Clearance" sale, all of us felt much lighter at the end of the enterprise- the wallets were empty by the time we were back and as one of the friends remarked, if we had walked this walk in the straight direction, we could have crossed the Atlantic!

The best thing about shopping in a mall, beside spending money, is of course the kind of calories you burn walking, walking and walking. The bigger the mall, the better. The more the clearance sale, the better!

Well, that was my learning for the day from Mic Mac and for those who are interested I cancelled quite a few things off my list- Stuff for my mom and sis, shirts and trousers for myself, DVD's, the works. The food was fabulous (my all time favorite Falafal wrap with some boiled potatoes and a Dairy Queen Honey Caramel Milk Shake!), had a taste of rain in Halifax (while running towards the Bus back to the Hotel) and is still enjoying the "High" looking at all the shopping bags scattered around me while I am typing this away...

Chopsticks...

2009-08-29T06:36:00.000+05:30

BTW, I ate at the Japanese Grill using chopsticks and did that successfully for the first time in my life :-)

So what if they were joined at the top?

Thrills at the "Grill" continue...

2009-08-29T06:09:00.001+05:30

If it was Mongolian Grill yesterday, it was Japanese Grill today:-) I cannot tell you how much fun I am having with the sheer variety of food that I am eating these days!

I was on a business dinner tonight and my good friends at Halifax took me to The Hamachi Grill at the Waterfront, Halifax. The menu looked like Greek and Latin to me but the charming waitress was kind enough to explain the whole procedure. We were sitting at a rectangular table with one end open and we had a hot plate right in the middle of us. Initially it felt we were attending some sort of a conference but when the chef came in with his stuff only we realized that we were in for a treat.

There is something called "Teppanyaki" where the chef prepares whatever we order right in front of us on the grill table. Since the grill table used is common for both meat and veggie, I chose to eat Flat Grill Udon Noodle Fry- Veggie which was awesome. Fresh Garden Salad and Veggie Spring Rolls were also provided. I summed up my supper with delicious Japanese Ice Cream in Ginger Flavor and needless to say, I was overwhelmed with the sheer magical taste of the food!

It was not just the taste of food that was magic but the entire art of Teppanyaki cooking that made it even more interesting. You could ask for Seafood, Pork, Beef, Chicken or Veggie Teppanyaki and it would be served to you with Soup, Salad, Steamed Rice or Japanese Fried Rice.

The chef started out with the preparation of Japanese Fried Rice. He had a bowl of steamed rice with him and added a bowl of fresh cut veggies to it. It was mixed very well and then he added Japanese wine and sauces to it. The wine added to the plate will be lighted with fire for a brief minute and then it gets mixed with the rest of the contents.

Once the rice and the vegetables were cooked well, he pushed the mixture aside and started working with the eggs. His juggling act with his head, knives and his chef hat provided for some laughs! I never knew that you had to learn so much to be a Japanese chef! The eggs were thrown into the air and made to fall on the sharp edge of the knife and they were broken effortlessly. All eggs were scrambled with consummate ease and these were mixed with the Rice and Veggies. The Japanese Fried Rice was done and he arranged it in heart shape on the grill table for all of us to see. The rice was served straight onto your table in bowls accompanied by sauces.

Next was the turn of the veggies- Onions, Mushrooms, Carrots, Baby Corn were all mixed up. The Onion Rings were arranged one on top of the other to make a volcano and Japanese wine was poured inside the pieces. Once it was lit up, it looked like the volcano was in action- giving out fire and smoke! The veggies were also mixed and cooked together and served onto the plates.

Later he brought in Salmon, Scallops and Shrimps and the steps were repeated with Chicken and Pork as well. While there is no doubt that the food grilled right in front of your eyes add to the excitement and that they are served piping hot, the only drawback I found with the food is that you are served the rice first, then the veggies, then the seafood and then the meat!

You need to gulp a lot of water (soda/ alcohol for those who are interested) while taking this food lest it should leave a burning sensation in your stomach. It is rich in calories and you eat it boiling hot but have no questions on the taste! It will help if you down an Ice Cream or some green tea to ensure that the food gets digested properly.

That said, being at the Japanese Grill was an awesome culinary experience that tantalized my taste buds and had me craving for more! Dont leave an opportunity if it comes your way sometime soon :-)

Vietnam is not just about war!

2009-08-28T08:05:00.000+05:30

And I found that out when I ventured into Star Anise, the Vietnamese Restaurant on Barrington Street, Halifax. I was on supper break from work (working evenings these days!) and had to grab a quick bite. There were no counters open in the Food Court and I had no choice but to visit a restaurant. Thats when I came across this one, the menu was quite economical and the place looked pretty neat and comfy.

5 minutes later, there I was looking for options for vegetarians and I finally zeroed in on Veggie Spring Roll and Fried Tofu with Vermicelli. In Oriental food, it often becomes difficult for veggies to make people understand that you do not eat meat or fish. Convincing the waiter here, thankfully, was an easy task and he said he would not mix fish or chicken stock to my dish.

The Spring Roll was awesome and went off quite well with the Hot Chilly Sauce. The Vermicelli made of rice was very close to "Sevai" (a Tamil Nadu Breakfast dish) and it was garnished nicely with lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, carrot and cucumber. Tofu was cripsy hot and made for a good bite while tucking in the Vermicelli with the veggies. I washed down the food with a glass of Mango Juice and was happy that I chose Vietnamese food and nothing else.

So, friends- there are good things about Vietnam and the food definitely is one of them! Now you know, ryt?

Mongolian Grill :-)

2009-08-28T07:57:00.000+05:30

I had my first encounter with Mongolian Grilled Food while I was on a business visit to Fargo, ND. Hu Hot looked and seemed quite strange to me when I got in but the flavour and taste of the Mongolian Grill was so good that I ended up eating 2 meals instead of one!

The reason why I went back to 2006 August (when I went into Hu Hot) was due to the second encounter that I had with Mongolian food at Halifax. At the outset, let me tell you that the food was not as good as what it was first time (Probably having good eating partners also helps. B and S enjoy food but not the company that I had this time!).

The very concept of Mongolian Grill is very simple and unique- you will have 3 counters- one for veggies, one for meat and fish and a third one for noodles, rice, oils and sauces. You will be given a bowl to pick your stuff. You can go to the counters and fill up your bowl with whatever you need. You will be billed based on the weight of your bowl and the entire contents of your bowl is emptied on a huge circular Tava (Hot Plate in English, I suppose). The cook mixes the contents of your bowl well and it is cooked in the oils and sauces you selected. The food is then provided to you steaming hot!

Now, here is the catch! You should know what goes with what and what are the ingredients of the various sauces and oils. Being the Vegetarian that I am, I tried my luck with all kinds of veggies first- Broccoli, Beans, Carrot, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Spring Onion, Green Pepper, Hot Pepper, Cauli Flower, Black Olives, Pineapple, Mushroom and Alfalfa Sprouts.

Then I went into the Sauce and Oils bar and added Hot sauce, Ginger, Garlic, Honey Garlic, Mustard, Teriyaki, Black Bean and Honey Garlic- well a little bit of everything. I added my share of Noodles and topped it off with some Hot Chilly Sauce, Salt and Pepper! I should say the final outcome was quite tasty and the best thing is that it is served piping hot! Whenever you visit a Mongolian Grill, the one thing you have to remember is to add adequate sauces and oils to your selection so that whatever you select gets cooked well!

I would not say that I will enjoy Mongolian Grill daily. But this is definitely an option that a foodie can try! Do not hesitate to check into one as and when you come across one next time :-)

The Art of Making Presentations

2009-08-26T22:31:00.000+05:30

This probably is the first time I am writing about something other than movies, food, politics, sports or travel! One of the reasons is that many a times my friends and readers of this blog have asked me why I am not writing anything related to work. The second and the most important reason is that I have been working on some slides for the past one week or so and I felt if everyone would take care of some points while putting their slides together, things will become easier and better for all.

I do not claim to be an authority in making presentations but I think keeping the following points in mind will help:

A PPT is different from a Word document. One should not write long sentences and paragraphs on slides. Brief pointers would suffice. Grammar is not important
To the maximum extent possible, follow the six by six rule. 6 words in every bullet point and 6 bullet points on every slide (Thanks to my ex Boss for this idea! It makes the slides look sexy ;-))
Include only relevant points on your slide. Points that are outside of the scope of the presentation overcrowd the presentation and make it dull
Do not read out the slides to the audience. The audience can read the contents of the slides. Focus on explaining the contents of the slide in your own language. You can skip points that are self explanatory
You should always be comfortable with the slides. You should be aware of what is the contents of each slide. You should not start speaking about slide 17 when you are on slide 7
Arrange your slides in logical order. The contents of the slide should not confuse the audience
Always make sure you hold the audience's interest. Maintain a comfortable posture, keep good eye contact, prompt the audience to join the discussion and always be open for questions
Do not hesitate to use a White Board or Chart Board to explain your points if you feel that would make a better impact
Be cheerful and look confident while presenting your slides
If you feel entertaining a question would deviate from the subject of your slide, you can decide to take it offline with the permission of the audience
Do not try to beautify your slides unnecessarily by adding background images etc. The contents of the slide should be clear and nothing should drive away the focus of the audience from the contents
Last but not the least, circulate the slides to the audience after you are done with the presentation

These are some points that I felt we need to be careful about. If any of you feel something can be added to the list above, please dont hesitate to use the comments link below :-)

Happy Presentations!

The Magic of Maggi Noodles!

2009-08-25T21:30:00.000+05:30

Maggi Noodles is something that I have always been a fan of, so much so that Maggi is what I call Noodles, even when I visit restaurants. A dish which I don't care who or how made, something that I can eat even as a 2 AM snack- that is the extent of endearance I have for Maggi Noodles.

I have always been particular about eating Noodles with vegetables added- Potato, Beans, Carrot, Cauliflower, Capsicum, the works...I would never eat Noodles bare (just the noodles and the taste maker was a strict no- no for me!). Probably, that was the reason I used to get fussy when I see people carrying packets of Noodles while they travel abroad for short visits. I would often wonder how could anyone eat just the Noodles that too microwaved (No oil, you see!)

But I was in for a pleasant surprise when I decided to go with a pack of Noodles a couple of days back. It was so yummy, and I have finished 6 packs in less than 48 hours!!! Noodles get cooked well in microwave and veggies or no veggies, Maggi is magical! Try it out if you have not before and I am telling this out of my own experience- YOU WILL LOVE IT!

Hurricane passing off as Heavy Rain!

2009-08-25T21:20:00.000+05:30

It was with bated breath that I was waiting for Hurricane Bill to strike in Halifax primarily because I had not seen one. I had no idea how much damage a Hurricane would cause and I suppose my excitement had gotten over my good sense since I was really waiting for a Hurricane, of all the things!

So, here I was up early on Sunday morning and watching through the window how and when Bill was actually gonna hit. BTW, I am in a harbor facing room (well, sort of!) and can see the backwaters at a distance. The effect that something like a Hurricane will have can be quite well assessed sitting on a height and staring at the water through a window. The morning was supposed to be sunny but I got up to find heavy rains lashing the city. I was up from about 8 AM in the morn and the heavy rains were continuing, so much so that none of us ventured out even to get some food. It rained till about 3 PM and things started getting better thereafter!

Bill was not supposed to hit Halifax till about 9 PM and I was waiting for night fall thinking that the heavy rains were a good pre cursor to the violent Hurricane I was about to witness at night. Unfortunately, the euphoria turned out to be short lived. It was bright and sunny by 5 in the evening and the night turned out to be a very normal Summer night for the city!

The next morning when I enquired with my good friends in Halifax, I was informed that the Heavy Rains were all that the city had of Hurricane Bill! What an Anti- climax!

I would not pine for another Hurricane anytime hearing stories about the damage that the previous one created but would be lying if I tell you that I was not disappointed with Bill especially after the many stories that I had heard! Heck, I cannot even hope for Better Luck Next Time...

Oberoi Restaurant- Kochi

2009-08-23T23:30:00.000+05:30

Oberoi Bar on MG Road, Kochi is apparently one of the oldest in the city and most of the Kochiites will remember the old building adjacent to Seematti and bang opposite Chennai Silks near to the Northend of MG Road. The news here is that the same group has started a restaurant on the meeting point of Veekshanam Road with Chittoor Road in the same premise where Alappatt's Only Veg Restaurant used to function earlier.

I dont think it has been a very long time since the restaurant opened, at least not to my knowledge and when the restaurant came to my notice, me and a friend of mine decided to check it out. We went to the place for dinner on a Saturday evening. The Air conditioned dining hall was quite crowded and the Menu Card looked like it was quite easy on our purse. We ordered for Kerala Parotta with Vegetable Curry and the dishes were served quite fast.

The Parottas were delicious and quite filling, but the Vegetable curry left a lot to desire. Apparently, one of the chefs was off on that particular day (as our ill luck would have it!) and there was a big struggle in the see through Kitchen to prepare and deliver dishes on time.

The restaurant also has a juice corner that serves fresh Fruit Juices and scores moderately on the neatness aspect and lay out. I would recommend the restaurant for a quick byte but it would not be advisable to choose Oberoi if your idea is to relax comfortably and eat with a large group in tow!

25 years of Sobhana!

2009-08-23T23:19:00.000+05:30

I have been having a "Sobhana fixation" ever since I saw her in "April 18"- her debut Malayalam movie as a leading lady; which was released way back in 1984 (I would have been 5 years old then!). The one remarkable scene in that movie is where Sobhana asks her husband Balachandra Menon to adjust the pleets of her sari and he stoops down at her legs and does the job. Menon plays the Sub Inspector of Police in the movie and he says- "No other person will get this kind of luck!" While the sequence was playing in the theatre, my father asked me- "Haven't you seen this happening at our place too?" That probably is the reason why I remember this scene so emphatically.

Over the years, I have seen April 18 umpteen number of times and for a teenager of 14 years, I felt that Sobhana did justice to her debut role. It was followed by impressive performances in Balu Mahendra's "Yathra" and I V Sasi's "Kanamarayathu" (for which she won her first Kerala State Award for Best Actress!). The best thing about Sobhana is and has always been the fact that she can be paired up with any actor and put in any kind of role- she will emerge victorious. At the same time, she could play the love interest of Mammootty, Mohanlal, Rehman, Balachandra Menon, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Manoj K Jayan, Rajanikanth, Kamal Hassan, Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Sathyaraj, the list is endless...

Though she has flirted with movies in languages other than Malayalam, her strong foothold has always remained in the Malayalam film industry which recognized her abundant talent by providing her with roles of substance one after the other. April 18, Yathra and Kaanamarayathu were followed by memorable performances in Vaasthu Haara, Ananatharam, Ennale, Pappayude Swantham Appoos, Meleparambil Aanveedu, Mazhayethum Mumbe, Minnaminunginum Minnukettu, Sindhoora Rekha, Hitler, Kaliyoonjal, Magalkku, Agni Sakshi and many more.

She also holds the record for having done the maximum number of lead roles opposite both Mammootty (~60 films) and Mohanlal (~30 films). Her pairing with Jayaram is considered the best and the 8 films they did together have all been winners at the Box Office. She has also worked with directors of all genre, moving in and out of films with commendable ease. Her association with directors like Balachandra Menon (April 18), I V Sasi (Kaanamarayathu), Joshi (Mambazhakkalam), Fazil (Manichithrathaazhu), Sathyan Anthicaud (Sasneham), Jayaraj (Makalkku), Priyadarshan (Thenmavin Kombathu), Sibi Malayil (Sindhoora Rekha), Syamaprasad (Agni Saakshi), Kamal (Mazhayethum Mumbe), Bharathan (Chilambu), Padmarajan (Ennale), Mohan (Pakshe), G Aravindan (Vaasthu Haara), Adoor Gopalakrishnan (Anantharam), Thulasidas (Minnaminunginum Minnukettu), Anil Babu (Kaliyoonjal), Siddique (Hitler), Manirathnam (Dalapathy), K Balachander (Rudhra Veena), Revathy Menon (Mitr- My Friend), Pamela Rooks (Dance Like a Man) have all been equally successful.

One of the few actors who could balance mainstream cinema equally with serious cinema, Sobhana's career touched a peak when she bagged all awards in town for her wonderful performance in Fazil's Manichithrathaazhu (1993) including the coveted National Award. The role was later attempted by accomplished actors like Soundarya, Jothika and Vidya Balan in other languages but none of them could match up with Sobhana. She won nation wide recognition once again for her performance as the lonely housewife in Silicon Valley in Revathy Menon's sensitive Mitr- My Friend (2001). Over the years, there have been many performances of hers that are considered classics!

25 years later, Sobhana still continues to enthuse us and picks up those stray roles in films that come her way. Appearances in "Mere Baap Pehle Aap" and "Sagar Alias Jackie Reloaded" may not justify her talent or screen presence but her dance performances always draw full audiences regardless of which city in India she performs in. Her ballet "Maya Raavan" was acclaimed by critics and commoners alike and the talented lady is working on her second ballet rumuored to be based on the life of Lord Krishna. Her fans still tune into Vanitha Rathnam 3 on Amrita Television- a show that she judges and keep looking forward to those odd films of hers, expecting yet another of those power house performances!

Lasting for 25 years as a leading lady and still commanding respect from generations of film lovers is no mean feat and Sobhana, having achieved that, is truly continuing the legacy of her aunts- the timeless Travancore Sisters (Lalitha, Padmini, Ragini). Lets hope that we get to see the beautiful Sobhana more often on screen tackling one challenging roles after another...

Sounding a bit too silly...

2009-08-23T04:17:00.000+05:30

I have very rarely been about intelligence and philosophy but today I think I have started sounding downright silly, what after 17 posts on a single day. I think it is time I stopped posting for the day and probably for the week!

I have made good my absence from blogosphere for more than a month and it is time for me to move on with aspects of my visit to NA. Shall log in from NA if I come across something good enough to post. Else, my next post will smell of the soil of Kochi. Till the time I log in next, it is TA TA to everyone!

My New Pair of Glasses!

2009-08-23T04:13:00.000+05:30

That is my proud possession now and probably for many more days to come. Many of my colleagues had wanted me to replace the old pair of glasses that had started looking quite dated. The frame had lost its sheen and the lens had all kinds of scratches on them. My face had expanded thanks to the pounds I had added to my frame and my pair of glasses looked like they were having a tough time balancing on my face and nose without breaking!

I myself had been considering replacement of glasses but the fact that all I wanted was an anti glare coating on a plain glass kinda stopped me from spending money on a new pair- until I heard about Titan Eye + opening at Kochi, that is. I decided that it was time for me to change my pair of glasses and reserved a substantial portion of my annual bonus to acquire my priced possession.

K, my friend, helped me in choosing the right frame and I had it customized for the breadth of my face (not something to be very proud of, anyways!). I could not help feeling happy when I wore it for the first time and I had many (unlikely) people coming up to me and telling me that the new pair looked good on my face! I am extra careful this time and am pampering my pair of glasses by cleaning them twice daily!

Whether or not it has improved my vision, my new Titan Eye + has definitely improved others' vision of myself and that's satisfaction enough for now :-)

Naturals Unisex Salon- Is it worth the hype?

2009-08-23T03:56:00.000+05:30

Kochi has not had too many Unisex salons (the only ones that come to my mind are Ole and Olee) and that was reason enough for the hype that surrounded the opening of a branch of "Naturals" Unisex salon right on KP Vallon Road, Kadavanthra.

I stayed away for almost an year from visiting Naturals- there were many other places offering decent hair cuts and coloring. This time around I thought I would try out Naturals and I had my friend, K for company. It had been a while since I subjected myself to a Pedicure and with the monsoons in Kochi, my feet were something that I was not feeling very proud about. Decided to go for one at the Naturals along with a hair cut and hair color.

My hair had not grown long enough to warrant a cut but the stylists at Naturals trimmed it and I thought I looked better. I chose light brown for my hair color this time but the coloring was done in a rush. When I washed it off, I found that the grey hair on my scalp had turned greyer!!!

However, the Pedicure was the best that I have ever had (I have had it only twice before though). They had Pedi Counter just for people with bad feet days like yours faithfully and the guy at the salon did a good job and my feet looked like they had never touched the ground before :-)

It is another story that I had to shell out a little more than a grand to get these stuff done. I did love the ambience, the personalized care and the service but I don't think the rates justify the services provided. I would say it is not very different from other salons that I have visited in the city. The only high point is your chance meeting with the local celebrities who may hop in anytime and trust your stylist to leave you in the lurch as soon as he spots a celebrity type!

To sum up, was it an enjoyable experience at Naturals? Definitely yes. Is it good value for money? Definitely not. Is it worth all the hype and hooplah? Not really.

Not convinced? Check it out yourself!

Eating out after a Night Show

2009-08-23T03:32:00.001+05:30

There are a couple of restaurants that I visit along with my friends everytime we are back from a night show at the movies (9 PM to 11.30 PM show). I dont think I have written about these quick byte places before and I would be unfair if I dont write about them considering the frequency at which I visit them. So, here we go:

Canopy: The Coffee Shop of Abad Hotels on M G Road, Kochi is a good place to grab a quick byte. The best part of Canopy is that they serve all kinds of food- you get a variety of dosas, the customary Kerala Paratha, the rich Battura, quick n tasty chats or the anytime burgers and sandwiches. The pastry shop is equally tasty and sell a variety of nice pastries. Coffee, Tea and shakes are also worth a try. The simple, understated ambience and the classy crowd that frequents the place makes it a diner's paradise especially during late nights
The Mando: 24 hour Coffee Shop at the International Hotel, Veekshanam Road, Ernakulam, the good thing about Mando is again its simple and sophisticated ambience, the high emphasis on cleanliness and a fairly good variety of food that is made available. The huge parking space helps and so does the fact that the Coffee Shop serves Beer that will keep the drinkers happy!
Ceylon Bake House/ Bake House Inn: Anybody who has eaten from one of these restaurants will vouch for the fact that they serve the best Porottas, Appams and Idiappams in town. Not to miss the hot and spicy Biriyanis that come in a variety. Their Egg Roast and Egg Masala are famous all over and the fact that these restaurants are open till way past Midnight helps

These are the few options we have explored. If any of you feel anything further can be added to the list, do let me know. For all those who are new to the city, you now know where to head to if you are hungry after watching a night show, Right?

The New Look...

2009-08-23T03:21:00.001+05:30

I always look out for new things in life and that kinda explains the new look of my blog. Spent almost half an hour in deciding how it should look from now on. Hope others also like it.

It is so easy to change the look of stuff like this. How I wish I could change my look as often as I change the look of my blog ;-)

Confessions of a Shopaholic!

2009-08-23T02:05:00.001+05:30

This could well be taken as my "Honest Mumbling #3". I know that "Confessions of a Shopaholic" is the name of a recent chick flick that was panned by everyone that saw it. But here I am talking about myself and this quirky addiction of mine- that to shop till I drop or till my Credit Card sees red.

The funniest part is that I was not like this before. When I say before, it would be 6 years back. Though I used to enjoy going out just at the drop of a hat, my idea of fun was not getting in and out of shops...not till my stint at Bangalore started.

I moved to Bangalore in 2004 since I landed a new job there and from there on started my days of travel which is yet to stop. My first trip abroad was to the United States of America in July 2004 for a 3 month stint and it was in connection with this trip that I did my first round of massive shopping which became characteristic of me as I progressed. Well, that was a 3 month stint and the shopping thankfully was only in India and did not continue in the US. I came back and in almost 4 months time was all ready to pack to Kuwait which beckoned me with another opportunity.

I was not sure how long the stint would last and hence, I ended up doing another round of massive shopping. Thankfully, I was at my best behaviour while I was in Kuwait...till Dubai happened. I was asked to fly to Dubai for a 3 week assignment and I had planned a vacation immediately after that- my first vacation after I landed in Sheikh's land and I had plans to buy gifts for all my immediate family members. What better place to shop than Dubai when you are planning gifts for everyone- so I started- from Deira City Centre to Wafi Mall to Ibn Bathootha Mall to Lulu Hyper Market to Gold Souk- I was here, there and everywhere (thankfully Mall of the Emirates was under construction then!) and bought and packed everything that I thought was attractive to my eyes.

The one month vacation in India passed in a jiffy and it was time for me to return- not to Kuwait but to Bahrain for a week's training. Seef Mall and Al Ahli Mall followed and I ended up swiping my card at quite a few outlets. My stint at Middle East did not last too long after that and I was back home by late 2005.

When I joined my current employer in quiet Kochi I thought I would get better. Little did I realize that my next trip to USA with my then boss, a self proclaimed shopaholic, would change my life. We were in Fargo, ND, USA and our day did not end without a visit to West Acres, the biggest mall in the city. I wanted everything I could land my eyes on and soon I was packing stuff to such an extent that I became the laughing stock at Airport on my way back home.

What started there has continued ever since. My fetish for books, DVD's and branded clothes continue and I dread going out even in Kochi since I find it difficult to keep a tab on myself. Bangalore is even worse and everytime I visit Bangalore I have to visit at least one of the malls in the city. In spite of multiple visits to Halifax, NS, I find myself to be the first one to rush to a shop in any of the local malls trying to buy one thing or another. I am not sure where I am going and how all this is going to end up. For the time being, I continue with my habit and spending money continues to give me a high. These days I manage to restrict my spending at most to movies, eating out, books and CD's- I hope to have a decent collection of books and movies by the time I retire. Quite a noble idea, what say?

Missing out on the fun!

2009-08-23T01:49:00.002+05:30

There have been so many things happening at home, at work and in life in general. Not that I am complaining but I am also missing out on a lot of things and would have to do a lot of catching up after I am back in India.

I missed out watching Jayasuriya's first big hit "Ivar Vivahitharayaal" in theatres, I took a flight to North America the day Vishal Bharadwaj's "Kaminey" was released (Its a big hit back home, it seems. Hope I get to watch it in a theatre after I get back!). The hugely awaited "Kanthasaamy" has released back home to mixed responses and I just cannot wait to catch it in theatres at least for the foot tapping songs.

I could not make it to Pankaj Udhas's concert in JTPAC since I was held up with some work. Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia's flute recital would have ended few hours back and I am sitting here in North America. Vineeth and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy are scheduled to present Bharatham at JTPAC on 5 September and I don't land in Kochi till the morning of 6 September- all this at JTPAC are being missed in addition to Usha Uthup, Avial, Taufik Qureshi and Ganesh- Kumaresh that I have already missed :-(

I missed out on the "Cheedai" and "Appam" that mom would have made on Sree Krishna Jayanthi and am going to miss out on the "Modhakam" that she would make tomorrow to celebrate Vinayaka Chathurthy. All I can do is to remember the taste of the delicious Paal Payasam that ma would make for every birthday of mine when I turn an year older in a couple of week's time. The big onam celebration at office is on 31 August which again I am going to miss. I am also missing out on the family get together at Hyderabad during Onam 2009 to celebrate the arrival of my cousin's twins into the family- Vibhas and Bhuvan!

I miss out on a friend's wedding right on my Birthday and also missed out on my Aunt's short visit home after what might be an year. I missed out the spectacular Athachamayam at my hometown in connection with Onam and also on all the shopping that we would do on MG Road, Kochi just before Onam! I also missed out the celebrations associated with my friend's father turning 60 and all festivities on India's 63rd birthday. I might also miss out on meeting a whole lot of old friends who come home for the big family festival- Onam...

Not that I am unduly worried even though that is a very long list. This is how life treats you. Sometimes you have everything you ever wanted, sometimes you don't get anything that you want and sometimes you get things that you never asked for...If I say I am not enjoying my stint in NA, I would be lying and I suppose that is what compensates for all that I am missing. At the end of the day, hits and misses are all that life is made of, right?

My First Encounter with a Hurricane!

2009-08-23T01:43:00.002+05:30

It could be tomorrow- at least that is what the forecasts say. Halifax does not look like it is going to get a hurricane anytime soon- it is all bright and sunny around. But the weather in North America could change the next second- something I have learnt out of my 6 visits to this massive continent in the last few years.

I am not taking chances and am making sure I am indoors- more out of the curiosity to see what happens during a hurricane rather than out of fright. I come from the land of violent monsoons and have seen trees getting uprooted in the wind but a hurricane on the Atlantic coast of North America need not be the same as monsoon rains on the coast of Arabian Sea in India. I hope it does not wreak havoc and damage all around but I am keeping my fingers crossed to see what it would look like!

Do pray for all Halegonians and I shall definitely write about what I saw. Till then, it is waiting time for Hurricane Bill to strike :-(

Delicious Thai Dinner in North America!

2009-08-23T01:36:00.002+05:30

Does that sound like it is not possible? All you need to do is to check into Chabaa Restaurant and you will understand what I mean! I am in Halifax for a business visit and my good friends here took me and my friends to Chabaa for a Thai Dinner. To say the food was delicious, would be an understatement!

We started off with fabulous spring rolls and followed it up with Vegetable Noodles and Vegetable Fried Rice (that's what I ate!). Ginger Chicken, Spicy Pork and Squid were ordered as side dishes along with delicious Vegetable Curry cooked in a gravy of coconut milk and nuts. The rice noodles which is a Thai speciality was awesome to say the least and had the right quantity of vegetables cooked in stock. The Fried Rice with generous dose of Tofu further accentuated the taste. I was overwhelmed with the delicious food on offer and all of us ate to the content of our heart and tummy.

Washed it down with some hot, steaming coffee and all of us agreed that this was the best Thai food one could ever have!

Serene and Beautiful Yercaud!

2009-08-23T01:07:00.002+05:30

We had been planning a reunion of school friends for a very long time- some married, some still enjoying their bachelorhood! We planned and planned and planned for close to 3 months and finally what started as a plan with 8 of us ended up with just 3 of us bachelors. The 3 of us were determined that we will somehow make this happen and thus we went ahead with the plan zeroing in on a place that was sort of equi distant from both Kochi and Bangalore.

That is when I heard about Yercaud through a couple of friends- a hill station just 45 minutes drive away from Salem and I thought- that sounds like the perfect place. We sprung into action and on a cool Saturday morning found ourselves packed into a car to Yercaud from Salem Railway Station where we met. The fact that we had a 4th member in the team (a friend's friend- of the opposite sex ;-)) added to the pleasure though none of us had any ulterior motives. We had reservations at Grange Resorts and the car drove us right to the resort which thankfully was located away from the bustling small town of Yercaud.

The resort was just right for us and we checked into the rooms. The rooms were large and comfortable and the complimentary breakfast was delicious(Idli, Bread Omlette and Uppma). We checked in at around 6 AM on a Saturday morning and it was foggy all around. By around 11 AM, we decided to start our sight seeing. There are 4 view points on the Shevaroy hills of the Eastern Ghats and they are curiously named Lady's Seat, Gents' Seat, Kids' Seat and Pagoda Point! The view from all four points are equally magnificent and you can see the entire city of Salem below and the winding mountain road you take to reach Yercaud.

The Shevaroy cave temple is another attraction and the beautiful Yercaud lake offers ample opportunity for boating. You can cycle around the lake or take a ride on the horse. The Anna Park on the lakeside has a mini zoo and we saw a beautiful peacock with its feathers fully hoisted shaking its booty and taking pride in its appearance. The mini aquarium is another attraction around the lake and a bumpy ride on the All Terrain Vehicle promises a wee bit of adventure for those who love it!

The weather was cool and pleasant throughout though we were right in the peak of summer and it offered a good getaway for us from the sveltering heat of Kochi. Yercaud is aptly referred to as the "poor man's Ootty" and a trip to Yercaud is not very heavy on your purse. We spent the entire weekend for a little over 2 grands and the resort as well as the restaurants in the town offered high quality food and services at affordable cost. More than anything else, it is the serenity and purity of Yercaud that attracts you the most. It is not fully exploited commercially yet and that is the biggest plus of Yercaud.

Yercaud is also considered a great place for honey mooning- thanks to the resorts that are located over vast expanse of land and a variety of spots that are empty throughout the day. The weather also adds to its charm.

If you are looking for a quick getaway at an affordable price, you know where to head to. Even if you do not opt for Grange Resorts, make sure you check into the boutique inside the resort that offers a variety of attractive stuff at reasonable prices. Your wife/ GF will love it for sure ;-)

Daddy Fools Around...

2009-08-23T00:49:00.003+05:30

Ad- men turned movie directors often end up with films that look uber cool but make no sense whatsoever. The situation is the same with debutant director Aashiq Abu who has helmed "Daddy Cool"- the only thing catchy about the movie is its title!

Its a kiddie movie no doubt but that does not allow a director to play around with characters and making real stuff sound and look like a video game. He loses the confidence of the grown up's alright but the silly climax of Daddy Cool is the kind even 6 year old's will have troubles accepting!

On a positive note are Mammootty's youthful looks, Master Dhananjay's smart performance, Sameer Thahir's camera work coupled with the Art Direction and Costumes. The kind of money that has been spent in accentuating the coolth of the movie does not justify the apology for a script. Add to it Daniel Balaji's eccentric performance, Richa Pallod's struggle with lip synching and an ever expanding Biju Menon- this Daddy ain't cool Mr. Abu!

Govind Padmasoorya's confidence might earn him more offers and the title graphics are the best seen in Malayalam cinema till date. That more than sums up "Daddy Fool!"

Teenage Troubles

2009-08-23T00:28:00.002+05:30

My earliest memory of "Kaanamarayathu" is watching it at Shenoys theatre as a 5 year old along with my grandma and aunt and singing along with Krishnachandran that iconic "Oru Madhurakkinavin" while Rahman was cavorting on screen wearing his brief :-) As I sat through the timeless classic on VCD almost 25 years later, I could understand clearly what Malayalam Cinema of today is lacking- a scriptwriter like Padmarajan and an maverick director like I V Sasi (who is now past his prime!)

Kaanamarayathu has a plethora of star actors each contributing significantly to the plot and ending up putting a wonderful performance- right from Mammootty who plays the uber cool Roy to Rahman's energetic youth to Sobhana's spirited Sherlie to Seema's mature doctor to Unnimary's playful housewife to Lalu Alex's concerned older brother to Bahadur's witty office boy- its a pleasure watching these actors perform characters that have been very well etched out!

Padmarajan has always been a master with his dialogues and you see his brilliance and naturalism all over the script of Kaanamarayathu. Add to it, I V Sasi's skilful direction, Syam's melodious music (Janaki and Krishnachandran are the singers), Ajayan Vincent's meticulous camera work and some razor sharp editing- no wonder Kaanamarayathu ended up a blockbuster that still lingers on in the minds of the movie goers.

Catch it on DVD/ VCD if you have not seen it before and you will see flashes of brilliant acting by Sobhana- you realize its no surprise she went on to become an iconic actress...

Bhai- Bhai Whine, Pa- Ma Shine!

2009-08-23T00:11:00.002+05:30

If you want to know how much it helps to have talented actors on board, you should definitely watch Onir's "Sorry Bhai!". The title sounds youthful and the story line is bold and very much belongs to the new generation but surprisingly its the 2 senior actors that score- Shabana Azmi and Boman Irani playing a couple the 2nd time after the hugely successful "Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd"

Sorry Bhai! is about Harsh (Sanjay Suri), Siddharth (Sharman Joshi) and Aaliyah (Chitrangada Singh). Harsh and Aaliyah are engaged and want to get married in Mauritius where they met and it is upto Harsh's younger brother Siddharth to bring his parents Gayatri and Naveen to the wedding venue. Naveen is cool about it and takes an instant liking for Aaliyah but Gayatri is furious that her son could do something like this. Harsh is busy with work and this makes life difficult for Aaliyah who is trying to reconcile with his parents. Enter Siddharth into Aaliyah's life and all hell breaks loose when Aaliyah and Siddharth fall hopelessly in love with each other.

It is to Onir's credit that he makes his actors deliver good performances and makes the whole plot looks convincing. Shabana and Boman support Onir in his endeavors and constantly rise above the script, delivering their dialogues with charm, wit and intelligence. Sanjay Suri is adequate as the ambitious Harsh and Sharman Joshi looks confused enough to play Siddharth. The sad part is with the characterization of Aaliyah who is made to look like a whore and Chithrangada Singh just fails to deliver. Onir also messes up with the confrontation scene between the brothers and it is so surprisingly low on drama that it looks unreal!

Sachin Kumar's camera captures the beauty of Maldives very well and the selection of white background and costumes while depicting characters with grey shades, is a good directorial touch. The best part of "Sorry Bhai!" is that its fast and does not waste much time in establishing its characters. This is modern, youthful, intelligent multiplex cinema that is further enhanced by the presence of talented actors like Shabana and Boman! Dont miss it on DVD or Satellite TV. It is worth your time :-)

Season of Boredom!

2009-08-22T23:55:00.002+05:30

Pseudo intellectualism is so deeply ingrained in the average Malayalee psyche that our film makers these days create mediocre stuff (or even worse than that) and go singing around as if these are the best films anybody could make! We saw that happening with T V Chandran's lazily made "Vilaapangalkkappuram" and now it is the turn of Syamaprasad with the supposedly bold, youthful and different "Hruthu".

Honestly, I have always been a fan of Syamaprasad ever since his DD days- I thought his Uyirthezhunelppu and Maranam Durbalam are the best to have come out on Indian television. Though he messed up with his debut feature film "Kallu Kondoru Pennu", he more than made it up with "Agni Saakshi", "Akale" and the brilliant "Ore Kadal". Unfortunately, Hruthu scores few notches lower than even "Kallu Kondoru Pennu" and a fair share of the blame should go to the scriptwriter Joshua Newton!

Newton's distorted view of today's youth and the IT industry is where the problem is. One of his lead characters is gay and the scriptwriter finds it disturbing to disclose it. Even more worrisome is the way he slots the character as a villain- It is as if he is trying to proclaim that a person with a different sexual orientation cannot be normal! And the biggest blooper of it all is that the character's sexual orientation has nothing to do with the plot on hand!

He goes all wrong with the characterization of pretty much everyone- Varsha (an undeniably hot Rima Kallingal) is a compulsive flirt and hence has to join "gay" Sunny (Asif Ali, loud!) as an antagonist in the eyes of the pure and virtuous Sharath (Nishan, wooden). Jaya Menon who plays Zarina, the head of the IT company that the three friends work for, needs to tone down. She is loud, clumsy and irritatingly over the top. The only actor who displays some flair for the art is director MG Sasi who plays Sharath's older brother- the revolutionary Hari.

Rahul Raj's songs are mediocre- "Koo Koo Theevandi" is easily the pick of the lot. Editing is lazy but camerawork is impressive. Cuckoo Parameswaran scores with the costumes yet again- they are so trendy, so today and wearable! Hruthu also feels painfully long even at under 120 minutes- some amount of trimming might help but I would still rate this one as Syamaprasad's worst till date!

Face (of) the Future!

2009-08-22T23:39:00.005+05:30

After 7 years of struggle for the right role and the right film, "Puthiya Mugham" could well be Prithviraaj's ticket to superstardom in Malayalam cinema. Puthiya Mugham is not great cinema, it is downright escapist and has hardly anything new to offer in terms of content, but it is the vision of a new director and the novelty with which Prithviraaj has been presented that makes it a winner.

Puthiya Mugham starts off as a regular college film with the customary College group dance, ragging of first year students, one way love, a priest- principal who handles rogues with ease et al but gets into serious business the moment Prithviraaj and Bala come face to face over a trivial issue born out of proportion by Bala's trusted friend on campus.

I am not sure whether Diphan- Sindhuraj duo did this on purpose but the message that the film tries to drive home is very relevant in today's times- that the youth of today do not need anything significant to get an adrenalin rush! The entire plot of Puthiya Mugham rests on an issue that could have been resolved across a table but does not get resolved because the protagonists want to run a show of one upmanship that finally ends with the death of one of them!

Prithviraaj looks dashing and carries off his role with panache. He struggles with the mridangam though! He even exposes his much written over torso and scores some extra points with the show. Bala grinds his teeth deep into his first well written role in Malayalam. The dubbing artiste is a bit loud but Bala more than makes up for that with his performance. Priyamani is adequate as Anjana while the rotund Meera Nandan needs to watch her weight! The guy who plays Bala's friend is a revelation not only in acting but also with his agility during the dance number. The rest of the cast with the exception of Jagadeesh put up a good show.

It is good to see Deepak Dev in action after a long time- "Picha vacha" and "Kottum Kottum" are good numbers. The costumer messes up with Prithviraaj and Priyamani during the song sequence shot in Malaysia so much so that you dont even care for the lyrics. The technicians do a good job though the backdrop of the Picha vacha song is a bit too over the top! The action sequences are the best that Malayalam cinema has seen in recent times though they smell a bit too much of Anniyan, Ghajini and Ayan!

To sum up, Puthiya Mugham is very high on paisa vasool entertainment and will definitely end up as Prithviraaj's biggest hit till date! Debutant director Diphan has had a good start and let's hope he continues making good entertainers in future too...

Lousy Love: Yesterday, Today

2009-08-22T23:17:00.003+05:30

Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met loudly proclaimed the arrival of a director to look forward to- Imtiaz Ali- who knew the pulse of today's youth too well and who made movies without any pretensions whatsoever. His journey to fame was a quick one and suddenly the whole of Bollywood wanted to work with him. But, Imtiaz Ali is no Karan Johar to keep his identity intact, a fact that you realize as you sit through the tiresome "Love Aaj Kal"

The good thing about his last 2 outings was that they had Imtiaz Ali written all over them. Sadly, Love Aaj Kal has every other director's name written all over it but Imtiaz Ali's. Throughout the movie, you get a sense of deja vu, a "been there, seen that" kind of feel and it reminds you of the escapist romances of the 80's and the 90's- the kind that were helmed by directors ranging from Rahul Rawail to Raj Kanwar to Yash Chopra to Adi Chopra to Kunal Kohli to Karan Johar to Siddharth Anand!

A tiny spark of Imtiaz's intelligence can be sensed in the scene where Saif and Deepika chat over phone after they part where Deepika tells Saif that she never used to get drunk but did not mind Saif doing naughty things to her since that's the only time he would do something! Making Saif play the young Rishi Kapoor in the flashback scene is another winner (you can see Saif struggling with his Punjabi, measuring upto the talented Rishi Kapoor is no mean task!). But at the end of the exasperating double love stories, all you end up with is double disappointment. As you see Deepika Padukone confronting Rahul Khanna (who looks surprisingly out of place) with her love for Saif Ali Khan, you cannot help but hooting since it is the most poorly conceived and directed sequence and the one that purports to be the most important.

The whole San Fransisco episode serves to add to your irritation and that was a track that could have been easily avoided. Even the dialogues get preachy after a point, which is so uncharacteristic of Imtiaz! The film also suffers from lack of "real" actors- Saif Ali Khan tries hard but ends up repeating his "Hum Tum" act, sans either the vibrance or the vigour. Deepika Padukone needs to start all over again- she is the biggest disappointment here. Even an actor of Rishi Kapoor's stature struggles with his ill written role and fails to make an impact. Newcomer Giselle Monteiro who plays Harleen Kaur has screen presence and Neetu Singh Kapoor appears in the climax as a whiff of fresh air and justifies sitting through this moronic 2 hours 20 minute no- show.

Pritham is surprisingly off key with the songs- Chor Bazaari is innovative and has been picturized very well. Twist and Aahun are ho hum and there is no comparison to that winner of a sound track in Jab We Met. Ali also gets his song placement totally wrong- they serve as speed breakers in the narration which is not right in the first place.

The only person who does not disappoint is probably Nataraja Subramanian whose camera captures London, Delhi and San Fransisco like never before. But good camerawork cannot definitely save a film that is bad on all other counts! Saif and Dinesh would have earned enough thanks to the pre release hype that LAK created but it is a fact that the film fails to live upto the expectations it created...

Ghosts must be crazy...

2009-08-22T23:05:00.002+05:30

...or so you should believe if you want to make some sense out of Jhony Antony's Mammootty starrer "Ee Pattanathil Bhootham". Honestly, the film which did not work for most people I knew, did work fairly well for me because I am a sucker for fantasies. Once in a while it helps if a movie can transport you to another world where you look at things with the amusement you would normally associate to a 8- year old kid!

It has an exasperating first half, no doubt and features a 50- something 3- time national award winning iconic superstar attempting something very juvenile, something that he has not had to do even in the earliest part of his career, but if you discount all that, you will be in for a fairly enjoyable second half. The mimic in Mammootty comes alive when he dubs for the Bhootham and when the Bhootham tries to explain the difference between a Bhootham and a Pretham to the surprised superhero Jimmy (played again by Mammootty), it starts making sense to you as well. The climax where the Bhootham says he is too young to marry Kavya Madhavan brings a chuckle though its the scriptwriter duo trying to make a dig at Mammootty who refuses to be paired with leading ladies who have crossed 30.

Unfortunately for the film, the circus camp which the premise is based on does not provide a backdrop that is entertaining enough and the graphic shots that show Mammootty driving the bike is utterly kiddish- the kind even kids would refuse to accept. The supporting cast does not have much to do but all are good at their respective places. The bhootham Mammootty being captured inside the bottle and turning the vile wizard into a hippopottamus at the circus are good tricks but to what extent Bhootham will work with kids of this generation generously fed on a diet of GI Joe's and Transformers remain to be seen...

If you still have that child in you, Ee Pattanathil Bhootham might amuse you in parts. Others can safely stay away...

I am back!

2009-08-22T22:33:00.001+05:30

This kind of regular absence from the blogging world and then coming back with some sort of vengeance is getting tiresome even for me...but what to do? Have been busy with many things for the past month and half that included a weekend trip with friends, close relatives on visit, my PC and the internet on strike and the preparations associated with a business trip to North America.

It took me some time to recollect myself and here I am, back in the wired world after what seems to me like ages...Hopefully, I will be more regular going forward...

Honest Mumbling # 2

2009-07-09T20:14:00.002+05:30

I am in the mood for honesty and here comes another little known fact about myself. I really dont know how anyone reading this would react but I am very serious when I say that I love to take bath. I can bathe innumerable number of times a day and the sheer joy of getting drenched and wet gives me a high.

Its not just bathing, even now when I see torrential rains outside, I find it difficult to control my instinct to get drenched! As a school kid, I used to be home alone most evenings- my sister would be in the creche and ma and pa would be at work- and I used to be out at the first drop of rain. I used to enjoy getting drenched so much that I used to climb the terrace to get drenched in the rain in all its splendor and glory. After all this, I used to get into the shower to have another round of getting drenched with clean water and by the time, ma was home, I would be dry, fresh and presentable again.

My fetish for taking bath continues even to this date and the only thing I am particular about is cold water- no matter how freezing the temperature outside is. This habit of mine is the only thing that helps me get over the Kochi summers- No one shouts at me when I bath 3- 4 times a day in the scorching summer!

My fetish extends to my toileteries as well. The very thought of using a new soap bar or a new shampoo drives me crazy and on such days, I keep bathing forever till my mom or sis start pounding on my bathroom door. I also love the bath I take after the customary oil massage once every month and also after my visit to the Saloon every month for hair cut.

This might sound very very odd and strange but I must tell you this is true. All my friends who know me from my CA days would vouch for this since I used to take an hour to finish my bath and it is not without reason. Gosh! I have written so much about taking bath that I should get into the shower now. Where's my towel?

Dinner at Times Square

2009-07-09T20:06:00.002+05:30

The title might sound exciting but the dinner was not. The Times Square in question is a supposedly 3 star Hotel on Club Road, Ernakulam. While I abstain from questioning its star rating, let me tell you that the food was way below standard and the empty restaurant on a Sunday evening tells me that I can rightfully say so.

We, a group of 5 ventured into the restaurant a few minutes past 9 PM and found just one table occupied in the entire restaurant. We were already quite hungry and did not want to start looking for another option. Also, none of us had been to this one earlier. So, we decided we will go ahead and see what Times Square has in store for us. We were in for major disappointment.

Tomato Soup tasted sweet and the Chicken stock in the soup my friends ordered gave out a stale taste. Crispy Fried Vegetables had only cabbage with a trace of Capsicum. Paneer Butter Masala had very little Butter and I had to really hunt for the Paneer cubes in the gravy. Dal Fry had more vegetables than Dal itself. The saving grace was the fresh n fluffy Kerala Paratha which tasted good.

The Cool Bloom I ordered for dessert was supposed to have lime and mint but tasted more like Pista Milk shake- I did not create a ruckus because it tasted just fine. Pineapple Smoothie had too much of ice cream and the Fruit Salad had just a couple of fruits- Sour Grapes and over ripe Pineapples. All this at the cost of little over a grand and we left blaming it all on our "Time". This Times Square is squarely avoidable...

The Song that's rocking the nation...

2009-07-09T20:01:00.002+05:30

...has to be the one from Kaminey- Dhan Te Nan. The magical combo of Gulzar and Vishal Bharadwaj is back and from the looks of it "Dhan Te Nan" is going to rock the nation just like "Beedi Jalai Le" did 3 years back!

With Sukhwinder Singh and Vishal Dadlani behind the microphone and a winner of a video in hand, this single song has contributed significantly towards making "Kaminey" the most anticipated release of the year in Bollywood. Shahid Kapur and Priyanka Chopra are on a roll and Vishal Bharadwaj has an impeccable track record- Maqbool, Omkara, Blue Umbrella, Makdee- Dont you smell a winner here? I am all eyes for Kaminey when they are gonna be out in August 2009. Till then, I am rocking to "Than De Nan"...

Budget time in India!

2009-07-09T19:26:00.003+05:30

After the Interim Budget, the General Elections, the resounding victory of the UPA and the promising cabinet that took charge, all eyes were on Mamta Banerjee and Pranab Mukherji. The reason- Railway Budget and Union Budget for 2009. The budget is out, the analysis is done and the general verdict is out. Mamta is largely a winner and Pranab did not deliver it fully! I too echo the sentiments of the majority of the country and here are some points that I thought was worth highlighting in the 2 budgets:

Railway Budget 2009:

Introduction of non stop trains from 12 metros
Proposal to introduce double decker trains
Proposal to upgrade the Railway Hospital at Trivandrum to a Medical College
Introduction of new trains and extension of some trains within Kerala- a state that is often neglected at Railway Budgets
Introduction of Rs.25passes for the under privilaged
"Yuva" trains
No changes in Freight and Passenger fares
Reduction of Tatkal rates and the period
50 Railway stations to be upgraded to international standards
375 Adarsh stations

Announcement of Welfare schemes of railway employees and the special privilages extended to Kolkata and West Bengal might have brought frown to few faces but there is no denying the fact that Mamta has put in deep thoughts into the budget and made it highly populist and user friendly. The budget proposals, now doubt, are shining and what remains for all of us to see is whether the proposals are actually implemented and whether they achieve what is expected of them. Only time can tell...

Union Budget 2009:

On a positive note...

Abolition of Fringe Benefit Tax
No changes to Tax Rates
Abolition of Surcharge for Personal tax payers
10A, 10B tax holidays extended by another year (STPI, FTZ etc)
MAT Credit set off period extended from 7 to 10 years
Personal Tax- Increase of taxation slabs for all classes of assessees
General Focus on Rural Development
LLP's to be assessed in the same manner as Partnerships

On a not so positive note...

MAT increased to 15% from 10%
Surcharge stays on for Corporate Tax
More services brought under Service Tax Net (as usual)
Increased tax on Set top Boxes making it dearer (Its already very costly!)
Not much incentives for the Industrial sector considering the tough times we are in
Special aids extended to West Bengal and Sri Lankan Tamils making it look like favor returned to allies rather than contributing towards the nation or the general public

However, I need to confess that I am still very hopeful of the UPA government under the leadership of Dr Manmohan Singh with stalwarts like P Chidambaram, Pranab Mukherji, AK Antony, SM Krishna and many more. I am hoping that the economy picks up soon and moves in the right direction. Its tough times all around and only the fittest can survive. Lets hope the Union Government is fit enough to lead us out into better times...

Wimbledon 2009

2009-07-09T19:12:00.004+05:30

If in the Men's category, it was more about Roger Federer outdoing Pete Sampras in a tough battle with Andy Roddick, it was the sibling rivalry in action in the Ladies' Category with the younger sister, Serena marching over the older sister, Venus in a not so difficult match. All eyes in the country were on Leander Paes and Cara Black, the Mixed Doubles jodi that had to succumb to Mark Knowles and Anna Lena in the finals- quite disappointing for us Indians! The highlight of Wimbledon 2009 was of course the men's finals which seemed never ending at one point of time and at the end of which not only did Federer walk away with the trophy but also created a World Record in the process- that of 15 Grand Slam titles outdoing Pete Sampras! There were quite a few surprises in the greatest Tennis tournament this time as well- Rafael Nadal pulling out owing to ill health, Soderling- finalist of French Open 2009- failing to make it to even the quarter finals, Dinara Safina- reigning French Open champion losing out in the Semi Finals, Andy Murray failing at the Semi Finals and many others who could not grab the limelight this time around- Wilfred Tsonga, Djokovic, Hewitt, Azarenka, Dementiva,...the list is endless. But, that at the end of the day is how things end up in the Sports world! Wimbledon 2009 will be remembered for Federer though...he is in fine form and looks like he is all set to lift the US Open as well...

The Greatest Tennis Player ever!

2009-07-09T19:04:00.002+05:30

I always thought so about Roger Federer and look at how he has proved it to the entire world. The king of Grass has won the kingdom of Grass once again and this time along it comes with the World Record of 15 Grand Slam titles- can you believe it?

Winner of Australian Open in 2004, 2006 and 2007; US Open in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008; Wimbledon in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and his lone French Open title earlier this year- that sums up the 15 Grand Slams with which he has outperformed another great Tennis star- Pete Sampras!

When the entire world thought that Federer was good only on grass turf, he proved them wrong with a clean win at the French Open earlier this year with which ironically, he equalled Pete's world record. And now with Wimbledon, he has done it! Later this year, the talented and immensely in form Federer could lift his 6th consecutive US Open title and go on to pick up his 16th- till that happens, let us keep our fingers crossed and raise a toast for the phenomenon that is Federer :-)

Meanderings of a Messed up Mind...

2009-07-09T18:19:00.002+05:30

15 minutes into Bhramaram, you slowly start realizing that this time around Blessy has worked towards showcasing Mohanlal the actor in a plot that does ample justice to his unquestionable talent and screen presence. The script relies totally and completely on his leading man and every other character is seen through the eyes of Sivankutty, the battered soul played soul stirringly by the Super Star.

I had heard that Blessy was basing "Bhramaram" on a premise similar to Bharathan's skilfully directed "Thaazhvaram" and I was hoping that it should not be the case since I knew very clearly that Blessy would not be able to do justice to a similar script. But, thankfully, Bhramaram is quite a different ball game altogether and Blessy, the director, scores a few notches higher than Blessy, the writer here.

Blessy's linear narrative style and the contrasting life styles of the 3 main players provide many layers of contradiction within the movie- allowing cameraman Ajayan Vincent to clearly bring out his talent with the lens. The initial 30 minutes of indoor drama within Unni Pillai's modern apartment suffocates not only Unni Pillai and his wife (Suresh Menon and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy) but also the audience. Cut it to the lush greenery and bright exteriors of a silent hamlet somewhere in Idukki district that forms the backdrop of Sivankutty's blessed family life and you realize that Blessy, thankfully, is in his elements here compared to his earlier outing.

While Blessy's choice of the 3 main actors is good- with Suresh Menon getting a chance to play something different from his comic persona that has been done to death on television and the hugely talented but neglected V G Muralikrishnan coming back into the limelight- he falters in the casting of Bhoomika Chawla who looks completely out of place amongst the rustic folk on the hills. Blessy's husband- wife duo always indulge in touchy- feely romance and I dont think a couple in real life would do such things in the presence of their kid daughter. The weakest link in the film is the casting and performance of the child artiste who plays Mohanlal's kid. Sobha Mohan's theatrical outburst at the wedding should not be reason enough for a 3 year old kid to start believing that her father is a murderer! On the other hand, the sprightly Nivedita scores as Suresh Menon's smart daughter. However, Blessy the writer can be a little more careful when he writes dialogues for his child characters in future- all his kids, right from Sanusha in Kazhcha to the child artiste in this one- mouth dialogues that are unbecoming and unnatural for real kids their age.

There is no point in discussing the limited screen time given to other actors- Lakshmi Gopalaswamy (who looks stunning as the upper middle class house wife), KPAC Lalitha, E A Rajendran, Fathima Babu or even Bhumika herself- the focus here is on the meanderings of Mohanlal's disturbed mind which has been brought out quite well.

Not that the film is free from flaws- the track involving the neighbouring Inspector and his wife could have easily been avoided, the lorry driver gazing and commenting on Mohanlal's genitals was crude, the journey to Mohanlal's place could have been cut short- all through one feels the absence of a talented editor with razor sharp scissors. Vinod Shankar is simply not good enough. Mohan Sithara's music is pedestrian but Anil Panachooran's lyrics endear the 2 songs to one and all. All other technical departments have done their job well.

This is easily Blessy's best till date but a little more care on scripting and direction would have made "Bhramaram" a classic. It falls short on certain parameters but there is no denying that it is a refreshingly good watch. Grab your tickets now!

Pai Dosa@ Kochi

2009-07-05T15:05:00.002+05:30

If you are a lover of Dosas and if you love varieties in Dosas in particular, you should never miss a chance to visit the Pai Dosa on MG Road (between Shenoys and Padma cinemas, on Pai Dosa Lane to be precise).

Dosas of different varieties are made hot and fresh to you based on your order and you have 36 mouth watering varieties of dosas to choose from. Apart from the regular Ghee Roast, Thattu Dosa, Masala Dosa, Paper Roast, Paper Masala, Uthappam, Onion Oothappam and Vegetable Oothappam, you also have Lasoon Dosa, Lasoon Masala, Chutney Dosa, Chutney Masala, Podi Dosa, Podi Masala, Kancheepuram Dosa, Kancheepuram Masala and many more...

If you feel Dosa could get better with addition of Egg, you can choose from Egg Dosa, Egg Masala, Duck Egg Roast, Kada Egg Dosa and more such varieties. Every variety of Dosa is served with yummy coconut- red chilly chutney, hot sambhar and pickle. A generous sprinkling of Pepper powder will be added to your Dosa if you like.

Grab a couple of dosas and wash them down with coffee, tea or lime juice. You will go home with the satisfaction of having had a yummy, hot and fresh meal at a price that will go very easy on your wallet (A dosa meal for 2 will cost you around 60 bucks!). So, what are you waiting for?

The King of Pop is no more...

2009-07-05T14:50:00.002+05:30

Anything connected with Hollywood or English music is generally not my cup of tea. That said, I make it a point to understand what exactly is going on in the West and generally respect pioneers in any field of activity there. And thats precisely the reason why I thought I should write a few lines about Michael Jackson- the iconic King of Pop whose fall from superstardom to disgrace is fodder enough to write 500 page novels!

My earliest memory of Michael Jackson was his poster adorning the walls of my father's cousin (in his 20's then) as early as mid- to- late 1980's. It might not sound like a big deal for anyone but the fact is that this cousin of mine was a resident of the then small town of Aluva in Ernakulam District and you do not generally expect a 20 something Tam- Brahm from a town like that to adore MJ at those times. That precisely tells us the kind of influence that MJ and his music had on us, ordinary souls.

And this could be the reason I remember only 2 of his albums- "BAD" and "DANGEROUS" which were out almost at that time. There is no denying the fact that he was a big influence on Indian youth. The hysteria that his concert in Mumbai created a decade ago is testimony to that. Look at the number of mainstream Indian dancers who were influenced by his style- Prabhudeva, Javed Jaffery, Govinda- the trend continues even to this date. It was not uncommon to see Bollywood songs choreographed and picturized a-la Jackson style in the 80's and the 90's.

While the entire world acknowledges the magnificent talent that was MJ, the controversies in his personal life brought its fair share of disgrace too- the multiple cosmetic surgeries he underwent, constant use of drugs and most importantly, sexual abuse of children which he used to indulge in filled up newspapers and tabloids like anything. MJ had this knack of creating controversies one after the other- when you thought it was all over, he would come up with something new (Remember how he was holding his kid on the balcony of his room in a Hotel!). All through his career, he did live his life king size and made significant contributions to charity- something which no one can forget.

MJ had hit rock bottom with all controversies in his personal and professional lives and kinda withdrew from public attention after the not so good performance of his album "Invincibles" in the early part of this decade. The star singer was in the midst of collecting himself and giving his life and career another shot with a planned European tour in the latter part of this year when this catastrophe took place. While the entire World is creating controversies on what could have been the exact cause of MJ's death, for music lovers across the world, the iconic crotch grabbing superstar would not appear on stage once again, singing "Just Beat It" anymore...

MJ will always be remembered for having carved a niche for himself through his unique singing style and for inspiring generations of music lovers, musicians and dancers. The king of music and controversies has left for his heavenly abode and while we settle down to that fact, we also realize that the void that he has left is something that cannot be filled by anyone else. Yes, there just cannot be another MJ...

###$%^^&&((&*(^))T%((^%%(%$!

2009-07-05T14:39:00.002+05:30

All of us swear or use bad words at some point of time in our lives with a certain regularity and thats the reason why I have left the Title of this post open for people to fill up the way they want to after watching "Kambakkht Ishq". This is the most crude, sexist, irksome, tiresome, disappointing, irritating, sleazy, pointless, embarrassing movie to have come out of Bollywood ever.

"Pammal K Sambantham"- the original Tamil movie that this one is based on is easily Kamal Hassan's worst ever. Why would anyone want to remake that scrap is the first question. And if it all Sabir Khan decided to should he have made it this way so much so that the original feels as if it is worthy of an oscar in comparison?

Sajid Nadiadwala would have figured in the prayers of millions had he spent 60 crores on feeding the poor than making this movie. And Kareena Kapoor stoops to levels that no mainstream actress has in the history of Hollywood. She looks undeniably HOT but need not have taken additional efforts to expose her plunging neckline and hemline. Amrita Arora, on the other hand, leaves very little to the audience's imagination. I dont think her husband would have seen anything in her that the audience of this movie has not. Aftab Shivadasani maintains one expression throughout- I did not understand whether it was disinterest, disappointment or helplessness- Neither would have helped anyways!

Kirron Kher, Boman Irani and Javed Jaffrey add to your irritation- the gags are the kind that have been around ever since Bollywood! Brandon Routh puts in a harmless special appearance. But you get puzzled when you see Denise Richards falling for a stuntman in Hollywood to produce "golden babies" or when Sylvester Stallone lands up in a lowly boulevard to save our damsel in distress.

There is not even a single scene that justifies spending money on "Kambhakth Ishq'. The "Bebo main Bebo" song passes muster and Kareena's clothes (some of them) are attractive. You just need to tune into a sattelite channel to catch those. As for Akshay Kumar, his career is fast heading towards South Pole and if he does not take care, he will end up with the same fate as Govinda's.

My recommendation to you- Stay as far away from a cinema screening this humbug as possible!

Remembering Lohithadas!

2009-07-04T15:23:00.003+05:30

28 June 2009 will remain a dark day in the history of Malayalam Cinema for having lost one of its most talented scenarists- A K Lohithadas- at the tender age of 54. Considered by many as the heir of stalwarts like P Padmarajan and M T Vasudevan Nair, A K Lohithadas started his career in Malayalam cinema with a bang- the skilfully written and emotionally moving "Thaniyaavarthanam" which won the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Story in 1987. Mammootty's moving portrayal of the troubled Balan Maash who is stamped as mentally ill by his family and villagers by blindly giving into the belief that every man in his family will have to succumb to mental illness following a curse disturbed the audience to no end and to this date is considered one of the best characters that Mamootty has enacted in his 30 odd year long career.

Thaniyavarthanam also paved way for a successful scriptwriter- director duo- Sibi Malayil- Lohitadas who went on to give us one masterpiece after another- Ezhuthappurangal (Suhasini won a State Award for Best Actress), Kireedom (Mohanlal won a special jury award at the National Level), Mudra, His Highness Abdullah (Nedumudi Venu won a National Award for Best Supporting Actor), Bharatham (Mohanlal's first Best Actor Honour at the National level), Kamaladalam, Chenkol (sequel to Kireedom) and Dhanam (the weakest of the lot). Lohithadas successfully teamed up with other directors also like Sathyan Anthicaud (Sasneham, Veendum Chila Veettukaryangal, Thoovalkottaram, Kudumba Puranam), Bharathan (Amaram, Venkalam), I V Sasi (Mukthi), Cochin Haneef (Vaalsalyam) and Joshi (Kauravar, Mahayaanam).

He also helped out debutant directors like George Kithu (Aadharam), M A Venu (Chakoram) and Sundar Das (Sallapam) and made a huge impact with his directorial debut "Bhoothakkanadi" in 1997 which also won him the Best Debutant Director award at the National level. Unfortunately, from there on started his journey downhill which was characterised by mediocre to poor scripts, box office failures and unnecessary controversies. His subsequent outings like Karunyam, Ormacheppu, Kanmadam, Joker, Kasthooriman, Chakram, Nivedyam, Arayannangalude Veedu expected with mediocre to poor response at the box office. The ones that made fair amount of money were Joker, Kasthooriman and Karunyam.

The superstars who had won multiple awards playing his characters started avoiding him and his unwillingness to write for other directors landed him in trouble. The positive contribution that he made to Malayalam Cinema during his last 10 years were the few talented actresses that he discovered/ re discovered- Manju Warrier (Sallapam), Lakshmy Gopalaswamy (Arayannangalude Veedu), Samyuktha Varma (Veendum Chila Veetukaryangal), Maanya (Joker), Meera Jasmine (Kasthooriman) and Bhama (Nivedyam).

While the Malayalam Film Industry acknowledged his talent to spot talent, this also brought with it fair share of controversies- the major one involving Lohitadas and his favourite protege- Meera Jasmine. The actress even walked out of her family and Lohitadas was blamed for all issues in her personal life- so much so that the duo decided not to work together after the debacle of "Kasthooriman" (Tamil) which also pushed Lohithadas into financial troubles from which he could not free himself until his death.

His untimely death did come as a shock for multitudes of his fans who were still positive that Lohitadas could weave magic once again with his pen and scores of artistes who wanted to associate with him one way or the other.

There is no doubt that Lohitadas has left a void in Malayalam Cinema that is hard to fill. He will be remembered through the scores of timeless characters that he created and Balan Maash, Vidyadharan (Bhoothakkanadi), Achooti (Amaram), Bappootti (Aadharam), Gopinathan (Bharatham), Abdullah (His Highness Abdullah), Sethumadhavan (Kireedom), Rajalakshmy (Ezhuthappurangal) and many more will continue to haunt us for a very long time to come.

May his soul Rest in Peace!

A treat for Veggies!

2009-07-04T15:14:00.002+05:30

Mint Masala surprisingly has not been reviewed kindly here but my first visit to the restaurant at Bashyam Circle, Sadashiv Nagar, Bangalore left me wanting for more. I tried out their Weekday Vegetarian Lunch Buffet moderately priced at Rs.225/- net aur main ungliyaan chaatthe reh gaya...

It all started with a yummy Banana Shake and Talumein Soup. Aloo Bajji, Soya Bean fritters and Barbacued and spiced Paneer formed the starters. The Papdi Chaat was the major attraction at the Salad Bar along with the Customary Green Salad and yummy Tossed Salad. Dahi Vada was a tad too sweet (probably the weakest link on the spread) but was more than compensated by the presence of yummy Singapore Noodles and spicy Biriyani. The Bhindi- Aloo curry was sumptous and the Gobi- Mutter curry in rich Pudina gravy was new to me. The Fetuccine was average at best and the curd rice and mixed raitha were good.

Gulab Jamun, Rajbhog, Vannila Cake and yummy Ice cream were waiting for us at the dessert counter and we had a gala time binging on them with a generous dose of hot chocolate syrup all over them. The rotis and kulchas are provided at your table on request and the ambience and service are average.

I particularly liked the frames adorning the wall- with pepper, cloves, cinnamon and the like neatly arranged within the frame. The variety of saunf (after mint) provided eases you out after the heavy meal though Mint Masala can restrict the amount of rose essence that they add to your finger bowl- the strong aroma almost gives you a headache!

That said a sumptuous 100% vegetarian lunch spread at an economic price should be attractive enough for any veggie foodie and if you are attracted, dont hesitate to step in...

Dining at Level 13!

2009-07-04T15:01:00.002+05:30

A Breezy evening on a weekend is the right time to enjoy a sumptuous dinner on the 13th Floor of Barton Centre on MG Road, Bangalore. The restaurant in question is Ebony- its a unique experience in Fine dining.

The Cool Bangalore breeze blowing onto your face and the lights on top of the UB City gleaming at you from a distance, the maddening rush on MG Road below you feel is happening at another end of the globe for the serenity and calm that you experience at Level 13 on MG Road is uncomparable to anything else (in spite of having a noisy pub next door, I dont know how they do it!). Add to it, wide array of dishes to choose from and you are in for a treat!

We started off with mocktails, fried baby corns and roasted papads (papads are on the house). The list of mocktails was quite alluring and all of them were equally exotic. The baby corn dish was rightly spiced up and the hot, crispy papads on a chilly evening just added to the pleasure.

Time for main course- it was Subz ki Biriyani, Egg Pad Thai and the traditional Rotis for us with a Rajasthani style Mixed Vegetable Curry. The Biriyani was served with Vegetable Raita with a generous sprinkling of Chaat Masala and Mirchi ka Ras- a dark brown gravy with a whole lot of green chillies. To be very honest, it tasted like manna. The Pad Thai serving was quite generous with Vegetables and Rice Noodles neatly filled into an Egg Wrap. I cannot describe enough of its taste. We had yummy chilly pickle to go with the above. The rotis were soft and fresh and the Mixed Vegetable Curry was lip smacking to say the least.

We would have loved to take a generous go at the Dessert menu. Though all of us had the right bend of mind, none of us had enough space in our over sized tummies to take it. We ended up buying a Lemon cream cake (well, sort of, forgot its exact name) and shared it among all of us- It had rich cream with a squeezing of Lemon Juice and crushed cookies mixed with strawberry cream- Mix it all up and give it a try- you will land up straight away in heaven!

Food and ambience at Ebony scores very high on my rating. Considering the fact that you dont get to see many such places in Bangalore I would call Ebony good value for money. A decent meal for 2 would cost you between 1- 1.5 K. Strongly recommended especially for dinner and make sure you spend considerable time at the restaurant. Start early and come back late :-)

Noble Interiors beyond Glossy Exteriors

2009-07-04T14:41:00.003+05:30

I personally think it is time we moved over the whole 9/11 debacle. Come to think of it, its been almost 8 years now and construction is fast progressing at the site right in the heart of New York. Every one has moved on and are trying to forget (if not forgive) what happened in the past. But our movie makers on this side of the globe are yet to get over the ill treatment meted out to Muslims in the US post 9/11. Lets hope this is the last one on the subject...

That said, New York is not half bad. It is quite watchable though the first half is comparatively dull and highly wordy, some of the scenes do not work (especially the reaction of the entire cast to the twin towers being bombed, thats a real spoiler!) and the lead cast does not exactly comprise of the best of actors.

John Abraham with his lethal torso and boyish grin is appealing but he has never been much of an actor and in spite of graphic scenes that show him being tortured by FBI for no rhyme or reason, your heart does not quite go out to him, thanks to his limited acting talent. Katrina Kaif looks fetching and that is no news! This is her best performance till date but she fails to look convincing as the mother of a 4- year old.

Irrfan Khan is a solid performer who has the ability to rise above any script and here also he does the same. If there is one actor who is likely to benefit immensely from this enterprise, it ought to be the blue eyed Neil Nithin Mukesh. He slips into the fresh, naive, innocent Omar in the first half like a glove and brings out the helplessness in the second half very clearly.

Another interesting performance is of John's assistant who was similarly harrassed by FBI and his rendition of his sufferings to Katrina will touch everyone's heart. The guy is definitely someone to watch out for!

I agree that Kabir Khan's intentions behind putting together something like New York is noble and this is much better than his previous outing "Kabul Express" which ended up being a documentary. However, Kabir fails to strike the right balance between glossiness and realism and ends up alienating the characters from the audience to a great extent. John and Neil do not make good classmates- the former easily looks a decade older than the latter! If he had chosen more talented actors instead of John and Katrina, may be the film would have ended up looking better.

Pritam's music is pedestrian and there are sequences you feel could have been trimmed down (Rameshwar S Bhagat is the editor). Aseem Mishra is successful in giving a glossy look to the film and Rocky S needs to be creditted to make his actors wear clothes that are really "wearable" (quite opposed to Yash Raj Culture). Technically, New York is as good as any other Yash Raj production but while walking out of the cinema hall, you cannot help but feeling that Kabir Khan did not use the potential of his script to the fullest...That said, New York is definitely a one time see...

Colonial Cousins @ JTPAC

2009-07-04T14:23:00.002+05:30

I have been unpardonably late in coming up with this post considering the fact that I ended up taking 3 weeks to post what I thought about the Colonial Cousins' concert at JTPAC, Tripunithura.

And let me tell you in the first instance itself that for me, the concert was nothing more than average. Probably, I expected lot more from the talented duo. Probably, my expectations soared higher when I saw JTPAC jam packed for the first time. Probably, my energy levels started increasing when the otherwise emotionless crowd starting clapping, hooting and howling to the music of Colonial Cousins. And worst thing, probably (well, not really), I did not enjoy Hariharan's characteristic tampering of songs when he rendered them on stage.

I am not a great expert of any of the music forms- Carnatic, Hindustani, Ghazal, Fusion or Rock- forms that Hariharan claims to be an expert on. But I did feel that in many places while Hariharan added his own to the songs, his singing went off key and off pitch with the sangathis and the swara sthanam's moving totally out of control. The good thing was that the concert ended on a peak. Hariharan and Leslie started with their little known songs and kept the best for the last. They did a good job reproducing their best songs and the audience went home happy.

I was particularly happy with their rendition of "Krishna Nee Begana, Oho Kaizala and Something in the way you smile". Hariharan added his share of popular film songs as well- the opening lines of "Kallai Mattum" was particularly engrossing and so was the high energy "Chappa Chappa" which he chose to end the concert with. The classic "Uyirae" and the lilting "Walking in the Moonlight" did suffer partially from the Hariharan- on- stage syndrome. Leslie was comparatively better and used his guitar much more than his vocals. Stephen Devassy on his synthesizer contributed significantly to the duo and the rest of the crew were good enough.

I dont know how many of those who were present at the concert would agree when I say that the performance was at best mediocre, but I would still vote the Subramaniam's higher than the Colonial Cousins...

Try "Loony Life"...

2009-06-14T23:20:00.002+05:30

Jaate Jaate let me tell you something if you are interested in reading "howlarious" stuff- Try reading Jaya Madhavan's column- Loony Life on the Indian Express Magazine- "I witness" every Sunday. The lady is hilarious to the core and I bet you will gather enough energy to last all through the week if the first thing you do on a Sunday morning is to read her column. Here is a sample for you...

Haath ki Safaai...

2009-06-14T23:06:00.002+05:30

Its a bit too late to analyze the results of the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections but what tempts me to write this piece is the extent of excitement and happiness that I felt when I saw the composition of the cabinet this time. Let me declare that I have never been a great supporter of Congress or UPA. Like any other Political Party in India, they have also been into vote bank politics, dynasty politics, caste politics, corruption and every other vice that you would associate a Political Party with. But this time around, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh have provided reassurance to the youth of the country that the future of the country is in safe hands at least for the next 5 years. If you are not sure, sample this:

Our Prime Minister undoubtedly is the most educated Prime Minister in the World. With his expertise of Economy and Finance, he is just what the doctor prescribed in tough times like this!
Our Finance Minister is another veteran- a leader with a clean image who is going strong in spite of being septugenerian. He has an able assistant in the ministry and with a brainy Planning Commission Deputy Chairman to his aide, I am sure the Union Budget that is going to be out in a few days will have a lot of things for the common man to cheer about
Look at the young blood that has been infused into the various ministries- Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Milind Deora, Agatha Sangma, Kumari Shelja, Dayanidhi Maran, Napoleon, the list is endless. It helps that none of them are Cabinet Ministers, they are either MoS or ministers with independent charge. A good training ground to take on higher responsibilites next time
Just take a glance at the mix of youth and experience in the various ministries- SM Krishna- Shashi Tharoor, Pranab Mukherjee- Mullappally Ramachandran, Sharad Pawar- K V Thomas- almost all ministries that matter have been handed over to able duo. This is more than encouraging!
The share of the supporting parties in the Cabinet have come down. Agreed, the Centre did bow down to a certain extent to the demands of DMK Supremo but if people like Dayanidhi being back in the ministry, I dont think there is any reason to complain
Purists may scoff at the extent of 2nd generation representation in the Lok Sabha, but I personally feel this is the way since all these young turks not only boast of pedigree, they also boast of good education, modern outlook and most importantly, they need not lay their hands on the Khajaana since all of them have seen money from ever since they can remember
I personally liked the portfolios handed over to A K Antony, Pranab Mukherjee and S M Krishna- they definitely are the best men for their respective jobs.

On the flip side, you have Deedi not getting along well with her deputies, Veerappa Moily being in the cabinet and playing vote bank, caste and gender politics when it came to electing the Speaker of the house, but when I look at the larger picture, I feel this government is going to stay put for the next 5 years and if they can meet the mighty expectations of a billion people and bring the economy back on track, its going to be "Haath Ki Safaai" in 2014...

Multiplexes v Producers- The Stalemate Ends...

2009-06-14T22:57:00.003+05:30

A genuine lover of Bollywood like me had a tough time all through this summer. The reason was not just the sweltering heat, it was also the famine that we experienced across cinema halls for the past 2 months. Thanks to the Multiplexes v Producers stalemate that extended well over 60 days, there was an absolutely dry spell across the country. Even music channels failed miserably in attracting audiences and all those reality shows of getting gorgeous or vying for a hunk's attention did not reflect in TRP's. Many Singleplexes closed down for renovation and Multiplexes were relying on IPL 2 and re run of hits from the past 2 years which are anyways all over sattelite channels during weekends. The producers and multiplexes finally reached an amicable settlement- as opposed to 50% during the first 3 weeks which was the original demand, now it stands reduced to 50%, 45% and 40% during the first 3 weeks, it seems. I am not too sure about the statistics and I really dont care how they share the profits. I am looking at this issue purely from the point of view of a fan of Bollywood- Look at what the viewer has lost! Last summer we had a plethora of releases (so what if most of them were substandard, at least we had something to watch!) and this summer we had nothing, absolutely nothing. Summers are considered to be the season of blockbusters in Bollywood. Did the learned producers and distributors failed to understand that? Look at the kind of money that they locked up in the name of profit sharing. Could they not have arrived at a consensus much earlier? Most importantly, how are all these biggies going to be released now? What is the strategy and how are they planning to prevent movies eating into each other's business? With the skyrocketing ticket charges, they obviously cannot expect the viewer to shell money on everything that releases. That leaves the choice with the audience and now its time to see which of those biggies is going to earn the big bucks at the box office window! My take on the whole issue is that the parties involved should have considered the trade in general and the hapless audience in particular. With tough times all around, the audience would have definitely flocked to theatres to watch entertaining cinema. With the entire vacation period left unexploited, I am sure many of the moneybags in the industry are going to turn paupers when their holed up movies see the light of the day. Lets hope that this is the first and the last time something like this happens to the industry... And dont miss to catch New York, Kambhakht Ishq and Love Aaj Kal in the theatres- all 3 of them look promising :-)

A Tribute to Kamala Das

2009-06-14T22:12:00.003+05:30

I know I am no one in particular to write about Kamala Das but then everyone who has read her prose or poetry would definitely have something to say about her for that is the kind of impression her writings leave on the reader. I dont remember another writer who was equally adept at writing in English as well as her mother tongue (an Indian language, in this case, Malayalam). Her prose and poetry in both the languages conveyed to the reader her deep knowledge, understanding and the vast vocabulary of hers in both the languages.

The language apart, another aspect that characterized her writing is the free spiritedness of her prose and poetry. "My Story" and "Summer in Calcutta" are classic examples. She never succumbed to the fake morality that is so characteristic of Malayalees and never shied away from putting her honest thoughts into words . Probably, the first writer in Malayalam to write so descriptively about the physicality and sexual desires of human beings, she never considered anything taboo but never compromised on class. Her writings had not even a tinge of vulgarity which is commendable. If she came across as the fiery feminist in some of her writings, she was also the calm, home loving, conventional woman lost in nostalgia as is evident from "Neermathalam Pootha Kaalam". Be it Novel, Column, Poetry, Articles or Short Stories, Kamala left a strong mark on whatever form of writing she attempted.

The numerous awards and accolades that came her way stand testimony to this. Her association with "Pambaram" was a rude shock to the self imposed custodians of morality in Kerala and her unsuccessful foray into Politics took many by surprise. During her sunset days, she suddenly declared her decision to convert to Islam and became Kamala Suraiyya overnight. Behind that tough exterior of a strong, self willed woman, there existed a gentle heart that craved for love, recognition and happiness! Love was all that she stood for and she could never hate anyone- even those who strongly opposed her writings. Her cordial relationship with all of her contemporaries in the field of literature proves this.

Kamala might have left for the heavenly abode but her writings will remain well etched in the minds of all her readers. The celebrated writer who almost won the Nobel Prize for Literature is not among us any more but through "Baalyakaalasmaranakal", "Nashtapetta Neelambari" and many other works, she will remain in our hearts forever. Here is a salute to the woman who lived her life on her own terms. Kamala will continue to inspire many generations of writers through her literature...

Friends, Weddings and Child Births!

2009-06-14T18:48:00.002+05:30

Weekends are turning out to be busier than ever as I and a friend of mine realized yesterday evening. Every weekend we are either smiling and getting introduced to a friend's wife at their wedding or listening patiently to another friend's experience either in person or over e mail on how difficult it is to change nappies and how irritated you feel when your slumber is disturbed right in the middle of the night with the shrill cries of your offspring! And that is not all, we do have a third category of friends- the ones who are waiting for their wives to get into the labor room and finish off that ritual- that one thing that they are all waiting for with bated breath- the arrival of their first offspring!

And here we are, the 2 of us, 18 going on 30's still wandering around the city and hitting its hip and happening joints, catching up with books and movies, discussing sports and politics and many other unprintable things with complete disregard for the families' pleas to get booked, hooked and finally (over) cooked!!! The only solace is that we are not alone, we have half a dozen more in our category- the big difference is that they want to get married and are desperately trying to find a girl of their choice but we have no such intentions as yet :-)

All said and done, it is good to share some one else's happiness and sorrows as soon as that person is interested in the kind of life he is living. I would not say that in my opinion, that is the best way to live one's life yet, I am yet to get bored with my bachelor status. In fact I love everything associated with it- the freedom of speech, action, decision making, enjoying without any bounds, not being have to be nice to all and sundry, you know, the works...These are all too important for me for the time being to make a compromise and settle into matrimony! I am a good listener to all stories that my friends have to tell me about wedding and the life after. I contribute to the multiple e mails to the group from members announcing either their wedding or the arrival of their first, second or nth offspring. I congratulate them on the occassion and make it a point to comment on the photographs. I attend all functions I am invited to but when it comes to my own life, I am yet to show the green signal! In fact, I am still showing RED and am nowhere close to even AMBER...

Onto the Sports Arena!

2009-06-14T18:30:00.003+05:30

This summer has been celebration time for all genuine lovers of sports- IPL 2, followed by Rolland Garros and now onto IPL T/20 World Cup- there has been enough to lap up for the genuine sports enthusiast! IPL 2 started slow but started getting better and better as it progressed. By the time of semi- finals, it had seen quite a few ups and downs. Chennai and Delhi which were considered the super contenders for the title had to bow down and the inevitable finals had Hyderabad pitted against Bangalore! The stakes were high for Bangalore but in the end Gilchrist lead his team to victory while bagging the "Man of the Series" himself. Till IPL 2 happened, T/20 was considered the "young" thing but Gilly, Hayden, Sachin and Kumble proved that wrong and how- probably this was the biggest lesson that IPL 2 taught us!

Rolland Garros was not free of surprises either. All eyes were on Rafa to lift the trophy for the consecutive 5th time and create a world record of sorts but it was another gentlman who equalled another record- of winning 14 grand slam titles just like Pete Sampras and the man in question was Roger Federer who finally lifted the French Open Title that has been eluding him ever since he jumped into the international arena! Soderling who upset Rafa tried his best to match Federer's skills with the racket but had to bow down to the king himself! The competition in the category of the fairer sex was also as intense and finally, Dinara Safina had to bow down to Svetlana Kuznestova who lifted her first French Open Trophy! Sania Mirza did very little to make us Indians proud but that was more or less compensated by Leander Paes who lifted the doubles trophy- exciting times those were...

And now the focus is completely on ICC T/20 World Cup on at England- Whether or not India will make it past the Super Eight will be decided tonight when they meet the hosts. India is definitely not playing the champions game this time- sample that difficult win over Bangladesh and that pitiable show opposite the West Indies. South Africa is in crackling form and so are the Lankans! Pakistan did the unimaginable by scoring over the Kiwis- only time can tell who will make it to the Semis.

I am looking at SA, Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies in the Semis. That would make the Semis and the Finals interesting! If it is WI v SA in the finals, I really dont care who wins at the end out of the 2 deserving teams that have not made any big news for quite sometime now. Lets keep our fingers crossed...

Crying Foul while Playing the Fool...

2009-06-14T18:16:00.002+05:30

I am still wondering how T V Chandran had the gumption to claim that the Kerala State Film Award Jury was afraid of Adoor Gopalakrishnan. They should ideally be afraid of Chandran himself and the kind of movies he is churning out (2 movies of T V Chandran were in the race for the awards this year!). The only reason I thought of catching "Vilaapangalkkappuram" in a theatre was because I did not have anything else in particular to do and while sitting through this movie (which felt painfully long even at 100 odd minutes), I thought I could have spent the time on sleep rather than this moronic work of art! The communal and political exploitation of a rape victim has been the favorite theme for Indian filmmakers ever since the parallel cinema movement started in India (20 years before yours faithfully was born!) and it is high time our filmmakers moved over the Godhra riots of 2002 (I am not commenting on the social responsibilities of a film maker and all that crap. To me, cinema is either good or bad and in this case, it is unpardonably bad!) The problem with Vilaapangalkkappuram is its incohesive script and characters that lack a rooting or a graph. What was the point in bringing in Biju Menon- how does he contribute to the larger picture? And what is a talented actor like Suhasini Manirathnam doing- mouthing the same dialogues and wearing the same expression over and over again? My heart went out to Thilakan who puts in the worst performance of his career. As for others- Rosilin, M R Gopakumar, Nandu, Sudheesh, V K Sreeraman, Zeenath, Praveena- well they all come and go! I did not particularly like Priyanka Nair's performance either- she was behaving like a psychopath in the climax and I dont understand how that character could muster enough courage to leave the hospital and have faith in the character played by Tilakan especially after the trauma that she has gone through... Chandran has always been a strong feminist and has made much better films in the past- Mangamma, Alicinte Anveshanam, Susanna, Paadam Onnu Oru Vilaapam- where his ladies played strong, deep rooted characters. In comparison, Vilaapangalkkappuram is nothing but a few shots stitched together in the name of cinema that causes embarrassment to everyone associated with it including the hapless viewer who thinks about giving it a try!

Kerala State Film Awards 2008

2009-06-14T18:06:00.004+05:30

With much fanfare, the Kerala State Film Awards for 2008 have been announced and thankfully, there have not been many controversies. T V Chandran did cry foul and veteran actor Thilakan joined him but considering the kind of accolades Adoor Gopalakrishnan has been receiving from all over the world, we will have to conclude that Chandran has been hit by pangs of jealousy and Thilakan is getting slightly senile as testified by fellow actors of the Malayalam Film Industry. As usual, most of the awards went to movies that the public has not yet seen- Oru Pennum Randu Aanum, Bhoomi Malayalam, Vilaapangalkkappuram and Bioscope bagged most of the 29 awards and none of them has had a theatrical release (Except Vilaapangalkkappuram that was released a couple of weeks after the awards were announced) Since I am not a privilaged movie goer I have not had a chance to take a peek at any of the movies listed above but I am particularly aghast at a couple of awards- the most prominent being awarding "Innathe Chinthavishayam" as the most popular film with aesthetic appeal. Now, this is one movie that made its scriptwriter- director Sathyan Anthicaud quite unpopular and look at those badly shot song sequences and preachy dialogues- you call that aesthetic appeal? The State Award Jury seems to be particularly kind to Anthicaud this honor coming in consecution to the highly undeserving best scriptwriter award for "Vinodayathra" (Its heart was in the right place but its script was all over the place!) I was shell shocked to know that Shankar Mahadevan won the best male playback singer award for "Kalyana Kacheri" from Maadambi- that badly written, badly shot and awfully sung song up for an award- give me a break!!! Thankfully, Lal and Anoop Menon bagged well deserved awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively. Its such a great feeling to know that the jury did not get carried away by the clout of Mohanlal and Mamootty who have been churning out mediocre to bad performances with a certain regularity over the past few years... It is difficult to rate the jury as good, bad or average considering the fact that most of the awards went to films that the public had not seen. If it was not for those couple of awards that went to undeserving hands, I would have called it fairly "fair" this time around...

Visit to Naalambalam

2009-06-07T22:32:00.003+05:30

Those of you who know me personally would agree that I am not the temple visiting type or the conventionally pious type though I have always had deep faith in God! Part of it has also to do with the course I studied and the long and untimely working hours associated with it as well as the current job. My sojourns outside India also added its share of fuel to the fire.

So when the extended family declared that we had to take this trip to 4 major temples in Central Kerala I was quite happy to be part of the group. For once, it had been a really long time since I visited any temple and the 4 temples we had zeroed in on were very famous and ones I had visited as a kid!

Off we were on a Sunday morning- 9 of us barely fitting into a Tavera which was air conditioned just for name's sake braving the burning summer heat and our first destination was Kodungalloor after the beautiful journey via Vyppeen and Paravoor covering the Goshree bridges. I had plans of visiting Kodungalloor ever since I was down with a bout of Chicken Pox. It is generally considered to be auspicious and good for one's health to visit the Kodungalloor Bhagavathi after you are cured of Chicken Pox. Well, Chicken Pox was a good 2 years earlier, but better late than never.

Or, so I thought but Bhagavathi was not kind enough. We were encountered by long queues outside the temple at 8 in the morning. Apparently, someone had made the temple surroundings Ashudham and there was a cleaning up pooja in progress. Since we had in our plan to visit 3 more temples, we decided to meet Bhagavathi sometime in future or rather Bhagavathi decided we were not worthy of a darshan this time!

We were luckier with our next destinations though. The second in row was the only temple in India dedicated to Bharatha- one of the 4 brothers in the Ramayana situated in the holy town of Irinjalakuda in Thrissur District- the imposing architectural marvel that is Koodalmanickyam. Renowned all over Kerala and among Malayalees all over the world for the massive Temple pond and the majestic Koothambalam, Koodalmanickyam temple is enchanting to say the least.

The temple situated in a huge plot has lots of open area, the neatly done Pradakshina vazhi and a lot of Upa moorthies around the sanctum sanctorum. The Kuleepani Theertham or the temple pond is believed to have the presence of River Ganga and mythology has it that a group of sages had offered prayers to River Ganga to absorb the land on which their Yaagashaala stood and this became the Temple pond. The many fishes in the pond are considered to be incarnations of the Devas and the pond is not used for bathing. Its crystal clear water shines in the bright sunlight and the sight of the beautiful fishes is soothing :-)

Unfortunately for us the pradakshina vazhi around the Theertham was closed and hence we could not make that pradakshinam which we all wanted to make. The darshanam of Lord Bharatha was grand since there was not much crowd in the temple and all of us felt happy visiting the temple after donkey's years!

After grabbing a quick bite (Masala Dosa, Vada, Kaapi- typical South Indian breakfast!) at Hotel Woodlands near the Temple Nada, off we were to visit my namesake- Lord Ram at Thriprayar. A temple that is fairly crowded almost throughout the year is located on the banks of Thriprayar and is always buzzing with activity- Vedi Vazhipaadu being one of the most important! After the customary darshan at the temple which lasted for a little less than 30 seconds thanks to the crowd, off we were to see the thoni in which the deity is taken around in the river during the festival season! After a highly satisfying visit and darshan at Triprayar, our next destination was the most frequented temple of Kerala.

Yes, you guessed it right! We were to visit Unni Kannan at Sree Krishna Temple, Guruvayoor. This is one temple that needs no introduction to South Indians. The massive temple is one of the most famous pilgrimage spots in South India and is inundated with devotees throughout the year. The number of hotels in Guruvayoor is evidence enough (It is another thing that none of them serve forget good, even decent food. Our experience at lunch was horrendous to say the least!) for the kind of money that the town generates thanks to the Lord.

With the vaastha we had at the temple and due to grandma's inability to spend long hours in the queue (due to her old age!), we were fortunate to get special entry to the temple. As usual, the temple was teeming with devotees and looked more like a railway platform. The mid summer mid day heat was unbearable and people were sweating like anything! The 20- odd second darshanam however was truly worth all the wait. Unni Kannan was done up beautifully in sandalwood paste and you could feel the divinity in the sanctum sanctorum. We bought Paalpayasam, Malaru and Sugar from the Vazhipaadu counter considering the sweet tooth that we share with the lord himself and off we were in about an hour's time after completing the Thulabharam for my cousin sister!

The final destination was my grandma's ancestral home at Ponnani in Malappuram District. Grandma, Ma and Uncle were ecstasic on meeting their cousins and after exchanging the customary pleasantries (which include the usual high voltage drama- tears, reunion, talking of old times, very, very Bollywood!), all of them became those wild kids of the post and the wild kids of today (yours faithfully including) had a blast listening to them. My grand aunt who I thought was ailing looked pretty hearty and healthy to me and spend some moments with her as well as around the sprawling house.

It was close to pack up time when we decided to visit the nearest Thrikkavu Bhagavathy Temple- the small, divine and fabulous temple close home. The Bhagavathy in the sanctum sanctorum looked celestial, the Saraswathy Mandapam providing the rightly peaceful atmosphere. The daily visitors were involved in lighting the chuttuvilakku and making thechi poo garlands for the deity- the sight of the unspoilt Kerala villagers gave me a high! It was with this feeling of happiness that we ventured on to the Azhimugham or the beach near the fisherman's village. Arabian Sea was not particularly furious but not really peaceful either- after almost half an hour of playing around at the beach we were back home for an early dinner of hot Kozhukkattas with Chutney, Puli Inchi, Poricha Kuzhambu and Pazhani Panchamrutham to add further to the taste!

By the time we were back home, hardly any of us could breathe. The long day and the long journey had taken its complete toll on us and the heavy rains on the way back had made navigation difficult briefly but all of us were happy- after all it was a family reunion after a very long time and a very productive, pious and enjoyable trip with one's clan!

Here is looking forward to some more of these :-)