Book Review: You are Here

Till I read Meenakshy Reddy Madhavan’s “You are Here” (yes, the much hyped and universally panned first outing of the blogger turned author), I thought people could think only from their heads or hearts. Now, I realize people can also think from their sex organs and when they do that, their life goes the Arshi way- Arshi, the protagonist of “You are Here”.

The book is more like a dairy of a sexually perverted girl whose problems you fail to understand. And if you want to do something challenging, please read this book and try to take count of the number of boyfriends Arshi has had in her twenty- something life. I bet you will fail!

Meenakshi was and still is one of my favorite bloggers- for an Indian woman to come out in the open about her sexual escapades is a bold thing and what impressed me was that Meenakshi was totally unapologetic about the whole stuff. It really is heartening to note that the Indian woman of the 21st century is being bold enough to break the shackles of sexual oppression and discrimination that they have been facing ever since history began.

That does not mean that Meenakshi keeps on writing about sex and sexual encounters. If you play around a point beyond tolerance limits, it leads to irritation and tastelessness, and that is what happens with anyone who reads “You are Here”. I agree that the gen next in India is pushing the limits as far as sexuality is concerned but I don’t think anyone’s life should revolve around their sex life. I mean, there are many more things in life. If Arshi was the only character behaving weird I would have rated her oversexed, but considering the number of characters that go the Arshi way, I would suggest Meenakshi visits a doctor soon or at least, abstain from writing something of this nature for the poor readers’ sake…

A Thousand Stupid Sins

While talking on Ghajini, how can its original hero, Suriya Shivakumar be left far behind? After almost an year, Suriya has come back to the silver screen with Gautam Vasudev Menon’s “Vaaranam Aayiram” and half way through the movie, you realize Suriya was better off staying away from the screen, leading a happy life with wife Jothika and his cute kid daughter!

My problem with Vaaranam Aayiram is that it purports to show unrealistic things in a realistic set up. A question that haunts me till date on this movie and something for which I am yet to get an answer is- How old was Suriya in the movie when his father passes away, assuming that his father passes away in 2008. My calculation is that he should have been on the wrong side of 30’s since as a teenager, he is shown dancing in front of a theatre playing Kamal Hassan’s “Sathya” which was released more than 20 years ago. If that was the case, why should he be singing “En Iniya Ponnilavae” when asked to sing a romantic song? I am not complaining about the evergreen Ilaiyaraaja melody when compared to the original songs in the movie. Not that they are not good, they are too many and too lengthy.

This supposed take on a son’s relationship with his father has hardly any well written scenes or moments between the father and the son. You do not feel for Suriya when he receives a message while on a war plane that he has lost his father and when he is trying to recollect fond memories of his father. And while a son is remembering his father, is it necessary to show the romance between the father and the mother, something that had taken place even before the son was born? That song “Mundinam Paathenae” is melodious, but both Suriya and Simran have been made to look their worst.

The most stupid scene in this morbid drama takes place at the US embassy when Suriya declares to the authorities that he wants to go to the US to bring back his girl and the authorities immediately stamp the visa. How I wish getting to the US was as easy! This whole Oklahoma thing happened not so long ago and hence, Sameera Reddy’s character and costumes look totally out of place considering the fact that chronologically, the sequence of events should have taken place in mid- 90’s. There are no answers to questions like how did Suriya make enough money to travel to US, what did he do in the US for 90 days, blah blah blah.

I did not quite understand the emotions that Suriya shares with the gentleman in Delhi whose kid was kidnapped when he is not able to understand what his own parents are going through when they realize that he is addicted to drugs. Also which parents would send their drug addict son on a round trip of the country when he should ideally be put in an asylum? It is also quite ironical that Suriya looks most handsome while depicting the drug addict. The character also has a sister who is very comfortably relegated to the background.

Divya Spandana looks good but plays a very badly written character that has no graph and emerges suddenly out of nowhere. Divya’s trip to the Airforce academy to meet Suriya is another example of a totally unlikely sequence in the movie. Their song together has been sung remarkably well by Sudha Raghunathan (though I cannot remember the lines).

One feels sorry for Suriya who has spent his precious time and energy on a movie like this. Gautam and Suriya, unfortunately for both of you, your “Forrest Gump” this is not! The only other performance that stays with you is of Simran who firmly takes the bold step ahead to play older sister, auntie, mummy kind of roles in future, a far cry from those GLAMOUROUS outings of the past, the ones which her ardent fans (like yours faithfully) would cherish for a long time to come…

Gautam deserves a pat on his shoulder for introducing those evergreen romantic melodies of Ilaiyaraaja to an entirely new generation and for telling them in no uncertain terms that all you require to woo a girl is to sing one of those songs…but that is hardly any solace for the director- actor duo of Gautam and Suriya and also for the unsuspecting audience who is still looking forward to Gautam to give us one more of those precious things of the past (read minnale, kakka kakka, vettaiyaadu vilaiyaadu).

I am keeping my fingers crossed…

Violent Vendetta

The problem with a remake is that you always end up comparing it with the original even when the remake is as effective as Aamir Khan’s latest outing “Ghajini”. Ghajini is not a bad film. In fact, it is a pretty good movie and will definitely appeal to viewers who have not seen its Tamil original. The problem with Ghajini is that with the same director ( A R Murugadoss), the same heroine (Asin who impresses with her excellent Hindi) and the same villain (Prathap Singh Rawat, not even half as menacing)as the Tamil original, the movie ends up being more or less a translation of the original. Aamir Khan has worked hard on his body. However, it is to Suriya Shivakumar’s credit that even an actor as talented as Aamir is not able to add much value to the character when compared to the original.

Additions, there are. In the form of music director A R Rahman who surprisingly fares way below expectations. Of the five odd songs, only “Guzaarish” is impressive, that too because of Prasoon Joshi’s lyrics. Jiah Khan who plays the second lead does not come anywhere near Nayanthara. To add to her woes, her only song has been brutally chopped off at the editing table. Ravi K Chandran uses excellent color schemes and lenses. The movie is really a virtual treat! Editing could have been sharper especially during the climax which is way too lengthy! Aamir and Asin in spite of being good individually, do not generate enough on screen chemistry for the viewer to feel that Aamir’s character could go to any extent to seek revenge for her brutal murder. This remains a major drawback of the movie. Also on the flip side is the heavy overdose of violence, something that was kept under control in the Tamil original. The movie also gives a chance for Riyaz Khan to get to Bollywood. The actor impresses in spite of getting very little screen time.

To sum up, Ghajini can at most be rated as average considering the pre release hype it generated and also the presence of stalwarts like Aamir, Asin and Rahman. I do agree that the movie is a major money spinner all over the world. But I would recommend the Tamil original over this one…

Signature Style

It was with great relief that I sat through "Kaiyoppu" for the second time. Films that depict common man and his problems have become such a rarity in Malayalam Cinema. Kaiyoppu and Ore Kadal are the kind of movies that makes the audience feel that not all is lost for genuine movie lovers in Kerala!

What is fascinating about Kaiyoppu is the skill with which the scenarist links the problems of the protagonist and his small group of friends to the one big problem that the nation is facing these days! If you are not conversant with modern English literature and are not a book lover, you will probably not understand the passion that the lead characters share for literature. References to modern stalwarts like Isadora Duncan and Umberto Yaco are in plenty and the script writer also leaves no chance to pooh- pooh the psyche of the average Malayalee who is moving away from the realities of life!

Jaffer Idukki's characterization proves a winner. Mukesh and Neena Kurup share a delightful chemistry and appear to be rejoicing at the opportunity to play characters that are real and identifiable. Mammootty adds another golden feather to his already overcrowded cap with his subtle portrayal of Balachandran- his helplessness and goodness have been very well expressed by the gifted actor. However, it is Khushboo who lingers in the heart of the viewers with her mature, good looks and effortless performance. Vimmy Mariam George does a good job with the dubbing.

And this is one movie where all technical departments have worked well together- Manoj Pillay's camera, Beena Paul Venugopal's editing, Vidyasagar's background score, Saburam's Art Direction- everything is first rate! Renjith deserves a special pat on his shoulders for bringing alive that forgotten Talat Mahmood melody- "Jalte Hain Jiske Liye"- which has been soulfully rendered by Gayathri. Watch out for the song picturization- you can watch it over and over again- just like the short movie which leaves a poignant message behind!

Lollypop sucks!

Commercial Malayalam Cinema is undoubtedly at its worst phase these days- a film like "Lollypop" is an example. A straight lift out of Indra Kumar's "ISHQ" (1997), the only difference the scriptwriter has made is that the lead characters are siblings and cousins instead of plain friends. The villain here is another youngster and not the parents as in the original. But, while the original provided wholesome entertainment, the duplicate only tests your patience!

Lack of originality in script, repeated comic sequences and dialogues that irritate, boring songs and dull song picturizations, overacting by most of the cast (Salim Kumar and Jayasurya are the saving grace), shoddy editing, tacky art direction and outrageous props- these are only some of the drawbacks of this listless enterprise. One can only feel sorry for the young brigade of Malayalam Cinema- if these are the kind of scripts that the youngsters are going to choose, this industry will be ruled by the 2 mighty superstars till they die. Shift your attention across the border guys- let us look forward to the theatrical release of Abhiyum Naanum, Villu and the like- they will definitely entertain us better!

Eating ahead...

The first time I traveled to North America was way back in 2004! (4 years is history for a 29 year old, right?). I had a lot of my friends warning me that as a vegetarian traveling to the west, I will find it really difficult to survive. I was mentally prepared for the worst but I was in for a pleasant surprise when I landed in Syracuse, NY, USA. Wherever I went, I had soups, salads, pizzas, burgers and wraps (all vegetarian) readily available to be consumed. Not only that I had quite a variety to choose from, everything that I ate was really tasty! As if all this was not enough, there were those universally liked french fries and onion rings- the kind that you will never get to eat back home!

Ever since, I have been excited at the prospect of visiting a new country- apart from meeting new people, experiencing a new way of life and visiting new places, eating new kind of food has also fascinated me. I am one of those few people in my office who does not bother to carry any food stuff on my visits to NA. I have always been the "take life as it comes" kind and the back up plan on my mind was a diet of cookies, biscuits, ice creams and toast that where available in plenty everywhere I went around in NA.

When I was asked to travel to Halifax during Nov 07, I was as excited as traveling to any other city in NA. But, only when I landed here did I realize that I was right in the middle of a city full of restaurants. What more could a foodie like me ask for?

That is the reason why I thought I should post something about the kind of food that I ate in Halifax, now that I am on my third visit to the city. I have survived mostly on the food courts of the Scotia Square Mall, thanks to its proximity to my work place and the hotel I stay in. I would not call it a real big mall because it has more of office spaces than shops and most of its shops are of the boutique kind. But, it does boast about a fairly good food court and you have quite a lot of options to choose from. My favorites have been the following:

• The Dill Pickle- Run by a very amiable Lebanese family, this is your essential soup, salades, sandwiches place. However, it is the hot, fresh and tasty breakfast that attracted me to this one. Sample their Omlette, Home fries and Toast combo or the scrambled vegetable wrap. They are awesome!
• Ray's Lebanese Cuisine- Falafals, Fatayars, Potatoes, Stirred Vegetables, Lentils and Rice- that more or less sums up their vegetarian menu. However, the food at Ray's has that quality that keeps you calling back for more
• Mama Grati's- The sheer variety of coffee that they serve is more than enough for this one to be on your list of favorites. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the sight of all those out of the world salads make your mouth water! Their selection of soups is extremely good as well- hot, spicy (!) and very, very tasty!!!
• Taste of India- Last but not the least comes home food so far away from home. I would not call this Indian food at its best but it is definitely the best Indian food that you can get in Halifax. It is quite homely except for the fact that you see the same spread day after day. Still, I would not mind tasting the dal, chana masala and mixed vegetable curry with the yellow rice at least twice a week!

Right across Scotia Square Mall is the Barrington Place shops that houses 2 of my favorite restaurants- Sam's Macchiato- that serves wonderful coffee and excellent omlettes and egg-o- renos and located immediately next door is Boston Pizza- I can go on and on and on about Boston. I have not eaten such tasty pizzas in any other place. Rich crust, lots of cheese and a generous dose of veggie toppings served hot for you- do you really want anything more? Plus, their garlic bread basket and sweet potato fries taste fantastic! For an Indian traveler, Boston Pizza is not really cheap- but who cares for the couple of extra dollars you shell out when you get such heavenly pizzas served by celestial beauties? (added attraction!)

Well, I am not including the McDonald's- Subway group in here- they would be the favorites of any traveler to the West- thanks to their standardized menu, easy on the pocket rates and universal availability. Now, let me take you to the few restaurants that I visited along with the client and that left a lasting impression on me:

1. Great Wall- This is Chinese at its North American Chinese best! Hot Spring rolls, choice of veggie soups and that wonderful vermicelli dish cooked with all vegetables- though the choice is limited, they are enough to make any vegetarian go ga- ga over the food! I keep visiting this place just for the spring rolls- they are awesome
2. Baan Thai- You talk about Chinese food and how can Thailand be left behind? Honestly, I never had the guts to try out Thai food before since I was not sure whether they really offered anything vegetarian! But, my visit to Baan Thai changed all those misconceptions- more spring rolls and vegetable noodles and fried rice make it a safe option for all vegetarians. They are extremely tasty as well!
3. McKelvie's- Primarily a seafood joint, the reason why McKelvie's figures on my list of favorites is because of the variety of pastas they serve- you can ask them to make any kind of pasta available on the menu without the meat and let me tell you, all of them taste fabulous! And if that was not enough, the excellent ambience and the old world charm about the whole place add to its value. And they serve fabulous spring rolls too :-)
4. OCarroll's Restaurant and Irish Pub- This one is a favorite not because of the food but because of the ambience and the wonderful Irish live music that plays on and on and on. That said, the veggie burger rich in cereals is quite a treat, the sweet potato fries and nachos are absolutely stunning starters and the pizzas and the pastas are fresh and tasty! Those martinis have wicked names that stay in your minds for a long period of time...

Any prospective visitors to Halifax- now you know where to eat especially if you are a veggie. That said, I will have to confess that while I am typing this out from Halifax, I am really looking forward to the "puttu- kadala" that my dear mommie will cook for breakfast (hopefully!) this Sunday morning when I am back home- sweet- home!

So, from one foodie to another, it is bon appetit till I discuss food next time on this blog ;-)

Eating my way to glory :-)

The one good thing that comes with traveling is the chance to try out different kinds of cuisine. I stayed away from the blogosphere for quite a long period of time and that had to do with a lot of travel- one week in Bangalore and three weeks at Halifax, Canada (from where I am writing this incidentally).

Bangalore has always been a foodie's paradise- I have visited a lot of other Indian cities but the sheer number and variety of restaurants you have in Bangalore is quite uncomparable to any other city and it is not just that- all these restaurants serve tasty food- be it North Indian, Gujju, Maharashtrian, Andhra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Chinese, Italian, Continental or any other kind of cuisine. I often feel the kind of Andhra meals served in Bangalore would even put restaurants in Hyderabad to shame! I look forward to my visits to the Garden city to check out new restaurants and thanks to my extended family that shares the same interests, I often end up at interesting places!

This time around, I had the chance to eat at the following restaurants, none of which I had visited previously:

1. Beijing Bytes on New BEL Road, Bangalore- This one is for the connosieurs of Chinese and Thai food. The dumblings, momoyas, noodles and rice items you get here are fabulous! Soups are hot and tasty and you have quite a lot to choose from be it soups, starters, main course or desserts. I would not call this one authentic chinese, it is quite in the Indian- chinese mould just like any other Chinese restaurant in the country. But the nice ambience and the reasonable rates make it attractive along with the tasty food they serve
2. Banjara Restuarant, Cunningham Road- This is easily one of the best North Indian joints I have ever been to. They do serve you South Indian, Chinese and Continental stuff as well but the North Indian fare you have is absolutely mouth watering. We started off with a plate of vegetarian Kebabs (I dont eat non vegetarian, by the way) and followed it up with some pulao, Indian bread and rice khichdi. I have never eaten khichdi as tasty as that before in my life. It was absolutely stunning and tasted like heaven. This restaurant is worth a try for its khichdi and deserves a mention for having turned out everyday stuff like Khichdi into something so unique and tasty!
3. Sukh Sagar, Majestic- I had never really wanted to taste Gujarati Thali since I thought they always made sweet stuff. It was my aunt who prompted me to try the Thali at Sukh Sagar, opp. Majestic theatre at Bangalore and boy- o- boy, it was outstanding! The thali priced at Rs. 115/- is quite wholesome and extremely filling. They serve dahi vada, dal, a few vegetable curries, a chilly curry, jal jeera, kheer and papad apart from rice and phulkas. This is purely a place for eaters and I found the food to be quite authentic- there was this huge gujarati family ungly- chatting their way to glory which told me that even they were relishing the food. This is a strictly vegetarian joint (Gujarati, you know!) and highly recommended if you are really hungry and dont want to end up spending too much of money!
4. Lalith Mahal Palace, Mysore- This one is not as much about its food as it is about the kind of ambience in which you sit and eat. This is a palace converted to a heritage hotel and managed by the Karnataka Tourism Development Corporation. The building is on top of a hill and looks majestic! The interior decor has been preserved very well and the huge dining hall is very well arranged. With this kind of an ambience, anything you eat is going to be liked by you. I would not call the food outstanding or anything, but it definitely is not bad. The variety is mind blowing- right from the soups to the desserts. There is a lot to choose from and it is good value for money! Recommended after a long trek in and around Mysore- relax, refresh and restart!
5. Citrus- Hotel Leela Palace- Anyone who has seen the magnificient Hotel Leela Palace would definitely have cherished a dream to eat and stay at the mansion. I too did and though I could not fulfill my dream of spending a night at the Leela, I did get a chance to eat at one of the restaurants at Leela, thanks to a client visit at office. So, there we were, 5 of us at the Citrus (the restaurant that serves continental food- there are restaurants that specialize in Indian and Chinese besides a well stocked and highly attractive bar!) chatting and eating in between. Customary to the Leela, the food is extremely expensive but the way you are pampered leaves you yearning for more. The menu is attractive and has got a wide variety on it. The service is impeccable. The food is made hot and fresh just for you in the open kitchen- in case you wanted to see it being made. There are the hotel singing duo who come to every table and sing your favorite song! Isnt that enough? Do you really care whether the food is tasty? If you still do, let me tell you that the food is out of the world- everything right from the starters to the aromatic and spicy Biriyani (yes, we had biriyani and they brought it for us from the Indian restaurant right across) to the hot and fresh gulab jamuns were delicious...

All of you who do not know me personally would have understood by now, how big a foodie I am. This is not it, guys. I do have to list out a few more outstanding restaurants I visited while in Halifax. Keep waiting :-)

Experience at the Casino!

Till last night, all I knew about a Casino was what I had read or seen in movies. I finally managed to get into a Casino and it was at Halifax, Canada. This was my third trip to the city and in spite of having a Casino next door, I never had the guts to visit the place till yesterday and when I finally did, what an experience it was! We (me along with 4 colleagues) had to take a long pedway from the hotel we were put up to the Casino. It was freezing cold outside but I did not affect us at all, thanks to the pedway. We handed over out jackets at the counter and were about to take the escalator down to the casino when 2 of my friends were stopped by the guard asking for an identity proof. Only then did we realize that no one under 19 was allowed entry and the guards could ask for identity proof from people who they thought were under 25. None of us were under 25 but two of my friends who always used to pride upon the fact that they never looked as old as they actually were, had to eat humble pie. One of them had his driving license that helped him and the other had to rush back to the hotel to collect his passport to show his age. The other 3 were let in and when we landed into the casino, we were literally stunned to see the new world around us. There were poker tables, gaming machines, slot machines and many more of these items which we had not even heard of. All of us were at a total loss as to where to start and what to do. Finally we decided to take the safest route! We started observing other people playing the various games. None of the board games made any sense to us and they were betting on big money, which unfortunately we did not have. Finally, we decided to try our luck at the slot machines. I deposited 5 Canadian dollars and started trying my luck and bingo! I did turn out to be quite lucky :-) At one point of time, I earned upto 200 dollars. I even encashed my money and thought it was time to leave the place but the lure of the casino and the many slotting machines available therein was so strong that I decided I should take more chances! It did excite me beyond all means but unfortunately mine was not a wise decision from the monetary point of view. I tried all kinds of slot machines and finally ended up losing all money except 12 dollars which was my net gain from the casino (a friend of mine lost 10 dollars and another lost 5 dollars!) We spent close to 2 hours at the casino and were really amused at the kind of money people were spending on betting and gambling. I am not going into the moralistic side of things but I would really want to remark that it was a totally different world out there and I enjoyed it beyond means (though it did not really help me financially). The visit to the Casino would definitely be an experience to cherish for a very long time... If you want to know more about the casino I visited, here you go

Book Review: The Zoya Factor

I cannot help but thanking Chetan Bhagat for having made that pioneering move. Till he and his "Five point someone" happened, Indo Anglian writing was all about serious stuff- the suffering during partition and its aftermath, the travails of individuals trapped in the highly rigid caste system existing in India, India before and after independence, the effect of poverty and unemployment over Indian youth, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the works...not that I am against any of these nor do I think these are topics that should not be discussed. Unfortunately, there were no writers who could look at the positive and lighter side of Indian life and modern India in particular (R K Narayan was an exception and a very strong one at that) That was when Chetan Bhagat happened and the rest, as they say, is history. Agreed, every third book published these days in India is about college life or life at work. But, Chetan could at least prompt someone like Anuja Chauhan, an advertising executive, to come up with something refreshingly different like "The Zoya Factor". Ms. Chauhan belongs to the Gen X and that she declares loudly with her book. The fact that it takes on something like cricket- a game that is hugely reverred in the country- itself is half the battle won and then it goes on to describe the game, not the one that is played on the field, but the games that take place behind the scenes. The sportsmen are depicted as human beings- with their struggles, insecurities, superstitions, romance et al- and successfully so- probably Anuja's experience in the advertising industry would have come in handy. However, it is the characterization of Zoya (born at the time when India won the cricket world cup in 1983, by the way), her extended family and the normal people who she meets at work that works- you really feel you are right in the middle of Delhi's upper middle class bhaisaabs and behenjis. Zoya has been depicted as a darling- the kind anybody would fall in love with and when the Indian skipper Nikhil Khoda decides that she is the one for him, it does not come across as unbelievable! Add to it, characters like Monita (Zoya's friend at work and her bodyguard during the ICC World cup- the sequences involving her son Armaan are simply hilarious), Zoravar (Zoya's soldier brother), Ritu (cricketer Nivi's girl friend and a former beauty queen) and cricketers Harvinder, Shivnath, Nivi and of course, Zahid Pathan (they all resemble current Indian cricketers one way or the other)! It is also to Anuja's credit that she keeps her writing very simple- short sentences, attractive use of phrases, falling back heavily on her advertising past (yeh to bada toyenge! is a good example :-))- that even at 509 pages, you feel as if Zoya Factor moves at break neck speed. The chapters have also been very well separated from each other keeping the momentum going. The author also makes generous digs at the media overhype for cricket and the kind of unimaginable sums of money that the cricketers pocket through ad revenues. However, the game is never shown at a totally bad light altogether. We all know that BCCI sucks and the politics within one of the world's richest sports organizations is better left undiscussed. While Anuja takes this part head on, she also stays clear from the betting controversies that marred the reputation of the sport in the last decade! To sum up, "The Zoya Factor" is a great read- it is humurous and entertaining and does justify all the positive feedback it has been receiving all through! Grab a copy fast...

Family values

It is to Blessy's credit that his actors end up looking exactly as characters on screen, even though they are the mega stars of Malayalam Cinema. After creating picture perfect families in Kazhcha and Thanmathra (I still do not agree with the casting of Meera Vasudev), Blessy does it once again with "Palunku". Lakshmi Sharma is a refreshing change and she performs as if she has lived her entire life in the hillocks of Idukki. Baby Nazria and Baby Niveditha are charming. Mammootty has always scored when he plays the illiterate villager, it is no different this time. His performance during the climax tugs at your heartstrings.

However, everything is not hunky- dory in this enterprise. The film works till Monichan, the protagonist moves to the city with family from his village, but during the second half, the script loses most of it's steam. The sequences are disjointed, you are confused whether Soman Pillai (played by Jagathy Sreekumar to perfection) is a villain or not, you wonder about the poet (Thambi Antony, overboard) who makes an appearance out of nowhere and you feel irritated with the teacher (Nedumudi Venu) who talks and moves around in a vague manner.

There is no clarity as to how Monichan's daughter would have fallen into Asalappan's trap! It is quite unconvincing considering the fact that the girl is even shown avoiding a teenage boy who winks at her in an earlier part of the film. What works to the film's advantage is the characterization and performances of Mammootty and Lakshmi Sharma. Together, they elevate the film to a totally different level and you end up forgetting most of its short comings.

Cinematography is another big- plus for Palunku and the minimalistic Art direction supports the narrative. Mohan Sithara's music is soothing. Blessy could have focussed a little more on the script and avoided some of the gaping short comings.

To sum up, Palunku is good cinema which could have been great, had Blessy been more careful. Definitely, a one time watch!

Mediocrity mars the beauty

The one thing that stands out in "Yaaradi Nee Mohini" is the fact that Nayanthara is fully clothed throughout the movie. In spite of being regarded as the "sex- goddess" south of the Vindhyas, the makers have taken special care to see to it that the actor does not even expose her thighs, forget other parts of her body! To add to it, Nayan does get a few chances to show off her talent that was hidden behind her bootilicious body all through these years. Good for the actor! Everything else in "Yaaradi..." brings a sense of deja vu to the audience. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen this story of "good for nothing son reformed by a good looking girl"- even Dhanush has done it before! In spite of that, what makes the movie bearable is the depiction of Nayanthara's joint family in the second half. Sukumari is first rate, K Vishwanath puts in a soulful performance and the young actor who plays Nayan's younger sister is someone to watch out for. She is quite a discovery and the picturization of the remix song "Palakkaattu pakkathile" is ample evidence for her talent. Yuvan keeps it simple this time. Udit Narayan does not seem to get his Tamil right, but "Engayeo Partha" is still worth a listen. The "Venmegam" song has been picturized well too. The Australia sequence could have been avoided as it does not serve any purpose. Yaaradi will also be remembered as Raghuvaran's last performance. Unfortunately, his character does not have enough meat to justify the talent of the late actor. Dhanush does a good job as usual, his confidence levels seem to increase and that shows up on screen. Karthik Kumar gets to do much more than he has done in the past. His unconventional looks and acting style can take him places if he is careful about the roles he chooses. To sum up, Yaaradi Nee Mohini is a good watch for a lazy Saturday afternoon. It has nothing new in it and belongs to the "watch it- forget it" category.

Clash of the Titans

In spite of the multiple issues plaguing the industry, there is one good thing about the actors and technicians in Kerala- they do come together for a cause and how? A mammoth film like "Twenty 20" would definitely not be possible in any other film industry. The extent of hardwork, planning and cooperation that has gone into the making of this historic movie does show in each and every scene. Joshy (the director); Sibi- Udayan (the scriptwriters) and Dileep- Anoop (the producers) deserve special mention for having worked so hard on a quality product. Lets face it- Twenty 20 is definitely not world class cinema, no one expected it to be one in the first place, after all it was planned as a fund raising initiative. It has all the popular names of the industry- from Madhu to Madhu Warrier and Bindu Panikker to Sindhu Menon but the 5 superstars of Malayalam Cinema make it work wonders! You have it give it to the script writers for creating characters that fit all the actors like gloves and for coming up with confrontational scenes and dialogues- the clashes between Mammootty and Mohanlal in the apartment and the consequent appearance of Suresh Gopi set the spirits soaring high in the hearts of the fan club members! The superstars play to the gallery like never before and the healthy competitive spirit only serves to enhance the quality of their performances. Mammootty as the brainy advocate, Mohanlal as the rich rogue with a heart of gold, Suresh Gopi as the tough cop with a sharp tongue, Jayaram as the friendly medical professor, Dileep as the happy- go- lucky medical student, Indrajith as the vile villain, Madhu as the retired justice, Salim Kumar as the idiotic cop- the list of impressive performances is never ending! Honestly, it is after a while that the industry is witnessing a movie that works in every department. It is unfortunate that ladies and the young brigade have very little to do. Nayanthara and Bhavana show off quite a lot of their skin while Prithiviraaj, Jayasurya, Kunchacko Boban and Manikuttan have been relegated to glorified extras. This gaping inequality apart, Twenty 20 is a winner all the way! Dont miss it, there definitely cannot be another one of its kind!

Gay Abandon, Chick scores!

Homosexuality has never looked so cool before- kudos to Karan, John and Abhishek for that! This one is no "Brokeback Mountain" or the very Indian "Mango Souffle" for that matter, but it does show homosexuality in a positive light in the middle of all those gags which is quite progressive for Bollywood!

Well, a male nurse (Abhishek Bachchan, his best performance in recent times) and a fashion photographer (John Abraham- women turning naughty and men going envious at the very sight of his lethal torso and almost every part of his well toned body) meet at Miami coincidentally. Both of them need a place to live and they land up with a Parsi middle- aged lady (Sushmita Mukherji on silver screen after a very long time). When she refuses to accept them as PG's in her niece's apartment (Priyanka Chopra looking absolutely delicious), the guys have to pretend as gays!

Things are fine till both the guys realize that they are slowly but surely falling for the sexy niece and things take a not so good turn when the girl in question falls for her sophisticated, rich, widower boss (suitably underplayed by Bobby Deol). The rest of the movie takes this rectangular love story forward and the best man wins in the end!

Dostana is not really a story driven movie. It is a film that has been made for the audiences to have a good time while watching it. So, you have John Abraham dropping off almost every piece of clothing (male sexuality sells and how); Shilpa Shetty (isn't she getting a tad too old for item numbers?) gyrating on the beaches of Miami; Priyanka Chopra roaming around wearing hot pants if not her golden swimsuit and Abhishek Bachchan walking around wrapped in cool clothes, coolers on his eyes and a cool smirk on his lips! win Boman Irani who does a Meryl Streep (Devil wears Prada) style entry and a loud and boisterous Kirron Kher- you pretty much have everything that Dostana boasts about.

Vishal- Sekhar, unfortunately are not in the best of form here and it is the song picturizations that work more than the songs themselves. Farah Khan's mindblowing choreography makes "Desi Girl" unforgettable; Manish Malhotra and Aki Narula provide the best of clothes to the lead cast(Abhishek's light shirts with matching dupattas are cases in point); Anayanka Bose does a great job with his lenses and Tarun Mansukhani proves that he is someone to look out for!

Dostana is extremely enjoyable as long as it lasts, which is very good for a mainstream Bollywood movie and it touches its highest point during the sequence of Abhishek and Priyanka at the amusement park running through the photographs- one of the most romantic scenes that I have seen in the last decade- Dostana is a must see at least for that one scene!

Bond at his worst!

I have never been much of a Hollywood person- regular readers of this blog might have guessed that by now. But, I do make it a point to watch James Bond, Indiana Jones and the like because they take you to a world that Indian movies very rarely do. I always keep track of the who the latest Bond is and which female actor was lucky enough to be his lady love. When I saw Daniel Criag playing the secret agent for the first time in Casino Royale, I thought he was quite an antithesis of what all the earlier Bond men looked like. I did like him in the movie and I thought he would be a welcome change! Not until I caught "Quantum of Solace" in theatres. Honestly, I did not understand what was unfolding in front of me. There were car chases, boat chases, jaw dropping stunt sequences et al but where was the story line and what was the director trying to explain? Bond never introduces himself as Bond, never asks for a martini and does not even have a decent car or gadget or girl to accompany him (Bond girl, Olga Kurilonka from Ukraine is wooden. Hard core Bond fans would not even accept her as one- what is she compared to Halle Berry or Ursula Andersen?). It is good to note that the Bond girl does have a story of her own but Olga does suffer from a very weak characterization. The villain looks gay (!) and lacks completely in personality, so much so that we can call him the weakest link in this drama. Daniel Craig himself looks lost and confused in the middle of all the mayhem happening around him. Time for a stirred Martini, my friend! The only positive thing in this enterprise is the extra screen time given to M, played brilliantly by Dame Jodi Dench. Everything else, including Craig himself, seems a farce! Not recommended even for hard core fans...

Laughter sans Logic!

If you are a fan of "Golmaal- Fun Unlimited" and if you have seen "Golmaal Returns"- you will wonder why I was looking for logic in the first place. Well, my answer to that is, I have not seen Golmaal in full and I did not think it was funny from whatever I saw of it.

I was not particularly keen on watching the sequel either but chose to watch it because there was nothing else in theatres and the tickets for "Fashion" were sold out. I would not say it was a totally wrong decision because sitting in the plush multiplex at Bangalore and enjoying a plethora of stars moving around at a hand's distance (front row seat, you know!) was definitely not bad! To add to it, some of the gags did work for me, some were OK but there were quite a few that were borrowed from the badly made Priyadarshan films of the 80's which was irritating!

Let me not get into the story line which is oh so thin that it will not be visible to the naked eye. It is a script that centers around situations and characters and tries to draw a cohesive storyline around it but fails miserably. The saving grace of course is Tusshar Kapoor (and you read that right!) who makes his presence felt on screen after the prequel. Shreyas Talpade is an enjoyable addition to the group. Arshad Warsi as the laughing cop pulls off quite a few scenes. But, it is Ajay Devgan who kinda irritates. There is nothing wrong in his acting; he pulls off the comic scenes pretty well too. But, when an actor who is in his 40's and who looks as old tries to pass off as a cool dude, it really irritates. Scary hair and gawdy clothes aside, Devgan is passable.

The less said about the ladies the better- Amrita Arora is decent compared to her other outings, Celina Jaitley grates on your nerves, Anjana Sukhani walks around a couple of times wearing skimpy outfits and smiling at Tusshar and then there's Kareena Kapoor- what a waste of talent and star power! She is all over the promos but you don't get to see her as much in the movie. "Tu saala kaam se gaya" does not appear in the movie at all while the "meeeow" song appears during the end credits.

Pritam has done a good job with his music and Nataraja Subramanian's camera work is extra ordinary especially during the song sequences. The whole "Thaa kar de" song is picturized in the same style as "Thee Thee" song from Sivaji (Tamil). Editing is good for a comedy and the movie unfolds very fast! The references to Balaji Telefilms and Ekta Kapoor is in good taste. Mukesh Tiwari and Ashwani Kalsekhar score better than the lead cast in their brief appearance towards the climax.

The last 5 minutes more or less summarize the extent of seriousness with which the movie was made. But, if the public is happy, is there any cause for worry?

I am back!

I cannot believe that it has been more than a month since I updated my blog. Thanks a lot for all the regular readers who sent me e mails, SMS and comments on why I was not appearing on the blogosphere at all. It was some urgent personal and professional commitments that kept me busy over the last few weekends and here I am typing my way to glory sitting at my hotel room in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (Yes guys, again!)

Quite a lot of water has flown under the Marthandavarma bridge since my last post. On the personal front, I traveled a lot- Guruvayoor, Bangalore and the ultimate of all oor's- Halifax! On the entertainment front, Dostana, Golmaal Returns, Fashion and 20/20 made money. India rocked in the one dayers against England and sent them home empty handed. I finished 2 widely reviewed books (keep your fingers crossed for which ones they are!) and if all that was not enough, there was the 26 November Mumbai blasts- active topic of discussion all over the world!

Well, I am starting off this evening and I don't know how much of what I think I should post will actually get posted. But, I am going to unplug myself over the rest of the week (hopefully) and hope you fellas agree with my thoughts :-)

Busy Weekends ahead...

I am not sure when I will be able to put up another post on this blog of mine (BTW, this is my 150th post in 2008- 150 over a 10 month period which averages to 15 per month- not bad for someone like me I suppose)

I generally update my blog during weekends (as anyone might have guessed from all those dates) but the next 2 weekends are gonna be busy since I will be traveling out of my hometown to attend a wedding and an engagement (well, I am at that stage in life where everyone around me is getting married and if I say I am busy over a weekend, it will definitely have to do with someone's marriage!)

To start with, my father's first cousin (the last among all his first cousins) is getting married next Sunday at Guruvayoor. There are reasons galore to attend this one- the wedding is at the temple town of Guruvayoor which I dont remember when I visited last; it is the last wedding in a generation and third and most important, the entire family will be attending it (my father has a massive set of cousins- they are in hundreds, you know!)

The week after that a very close relative of ours is getting engaged at Palakkad! The guy who is getting engaged is a dentist by profession and is of the same age as I (a point that many are going to reiterate at the engagement, but I am simply not interested!). I am very fond of this guy and that is the reason why I am planning to attend the function. The travel, the food and the meet and greet sessions at both these functions are definitely going to take their toll on me and so I am not expecting myself to post anything on to the blog for the rest of October! Hopefully, I will have quite a few interesting stories to post in November and yes, I will definitely write about Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan's "You are Here" which is what I am reading right now!

Ciou and lets catch up in November (or rather, as early as I can!)

Looking forward to Toronto!

I am likely to visit Canada for the third time; probably later this month or in early November. It is another work related trip and it will be to the same city of Halifax. Visiting any city thrice over a period of one year would not be an exciting idea for anyone more so when the city is as small as Halifax! However, I am looking forward to my trip to Canada this time around because if I am lucky I might be able to spend a weekend at Toronto, a city which I have not explored beyond its airport!

Well, V, a good friend and school mate of mine has landed in Toronto for a good 6 month stay (work related, need I say) and if I am lucky enough to take a break at Toronto on my way back, I will have V for company to explore the city. I am particularly excited about visiting the Niagra falls and the CN Tower. Add to that the many malls, museums and the artificial beach; traveling around in subways a la New York and opportunities to shop and dine- there are reasons galore to visit Toronto.

It remains to be seen whether my travel takes place as planned, whether I get permission to break my trip at Toronto for 3 days and most importantly, whether V would be free to accompany me on my tour of the city- I really want this to happen but all I can do for the time being is keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best!!!

Staying over at a friend's!

I have always thought of myself as a friendly person. I would not say I keep in touch with every acquaintance in life regularly, but I do have my set of all time friends with whom I frequently keep in touch. We speak over the phone quite regularly, meet up whenever we can, go out for movies or dinners over weekends, wish each other on birthdays, chat on the internet whenever we can catch up, so on and so forth.

Only yesterday did I realize that in spite of having been friendly with some of the guys for a little more than 25 years, I have never really stayed over at a friend's place. The reason why I thought about this was because of two recent incidents- After our get together at M's place on Sunday, V decided to stay over at M's since it was too late for him to get back home; and yesterday a friend of my sister stayed over at our place! One thing is that I have never really had to stay over at a friend's- the only time I remember having done something like this was when I was in school. I had gone to a temple festival and stayed back till a little past midnight listening to the Ganamela which was quite a craze in those days. I was about to cycle back home and my friend's parents insisted that I should not be going back all alone. I had no other go but to stay over at my friend's that night. Not that it was tough, but somehow I have never really given myself a chance to do that again!

Another surprising factor is that I have never had a friend staying over at my place either. Worse, I have never invited anyone till date for spending the night at my place! It was and is still common for friends to sleep over at other's place but somehow it has never happened with me. May be it has all to do with the fact that I am very private when it comes to certain things and would always like my space to be strictly "mine". Not that I am worried! All that matters is that I still have a few good friends and either of us are not bothered about whether or not we have stayed over at each other's place...

Get togethers galore!

The feeling that you get when you meet up with old friends is beyond description. Of late, I have been experiencing this quite frequently and am enjoying it completely! Right now, I have 2 gangs that are expanding. One is the set of school friends I have in and around Kochi. We were all together in school and have literally grown up together. We are in professions as varied as Animation to Accounting to Aeronautics- but our alma mater runs as a common thread connecting us all. I would be wrong if I say that we had been completely out of touch at one point of time, but that said, there was a certain distance that had crept up, largely due to everyone being busy with their own respective professions. It all bounced back to old days when K returned to Kochi. K, an aeronautical engineering and an aviation management graduate works for a famous IT company at Kochi. He was instrumental in bringing all of us back together and thats when I realized that we have quite a big group over here- M, an accountant who works for a telecom company; P, a practizing criminal lawyer; G, who works for a machine tool manufacturing company; M2 who works for an engineering company and visitors from other cities like S, G2 and V who work for IT companies in Bangalore and G3 who works as an animator in Mumbai! As they say, the more the merrier. We are an enthusiastic bunch now and make it a point to meet up at least once every month for dinner! With the visitors from other cities, it becomes even more fun as we experienced recently at one of our do's. We would solely miss the overpowering presence of D though, who has recently moved to Muscat.

That is not all my dear readers. I have one more group which is my college group. We bonded with each other over some interesting and some not-so-interesting accounting and business topics while in college. The group is no less strong than the previous one. The active members apart from yours faithfully are- M who works for a yarn company; K who works for a stock broker: J who works for a housing finance company; V- the HR guy and A- the cartoonist. At least 3 of us meet up once in 2 weeks or we keep dropping at each other's homes if not to catch a movie, then to go out for dinner. Things got bigger last Friday when we all decided to meet up at M's place (his parents were away) and we had S1, S2, S3 and C for company- 4 girls who studied with us- 2 of them with their kids and 2 of them with their respective husbands- and all of us together had a whale of a time- thanks to M whose wonderful idea it was! I was meeting the girls after almost a decade and it was nice and sportive of their husbands either to accompany them and join the merriment or to allow them to attend these parties. The point is that we had a great time and we parted that night promising everyone else that we would have more such events in future as well. Here is looking forward to more ...after all, these get togethers refresh and re energize me like nothing else :-)