Of Farewell Lunches...Part 4

This is going to be my last post for the day! For starters, I have written so much over the last 4 hour window (this is my 15th) and I have been writing so much about food that I just have to stop this and gobble down my lunch (No one can make cabbage thoran like ma does!) but here is a quickie on the quick lunch that B had thrown for all of us. Like I said earlier, B and R were leaving Kochi and S (of the opposite sex, sillies!) was flying out to US of A. This was kind of the last get together of the BRASS and we had lot more people joining in to make it more merrier.

The venue was the restaurant at Avenue Center, Panampilly Nagar, Kochi and it was meant to be another quick lunch on a working day. All of us gathered pretty much in time since we had to finish it fast and get back to work and that was the precise reason why I loved this one. The lunch buffet spread was the ideal one that you could have on a working day. There were not too many dishes to choose from but all of them that were laid out were equally good. Hot Tava Parathas with spicy mixed vegetable curry, choice of soups as usual and among half a dozen veg and non veg dishes were lemon rice- not a common sight on buffet but a very good alternative to pulao and biriyani especially on a working lunch! The salad bar was kinda mini but again whatever was on offer was good!

I generally dont fancy a mini dessert bar even if it means I have to feel drowsy at work. That probably was the only minus in an otherwise quick and tasty lunch! Avenue Center is another moderately priced restaurant and the ambience is good! The huge plasma TV in one corner of the restaurant and the greenery outside the big glass panes make you feel much better :-)

I have heard great things about the dinner buffet at this place. Shall post on that after I dine at the restaurant. Till then, thanks to B, for having hosted that good and quick one :-)

Of Farewell Lunches...Part 3

Well, chronologically speaking, this is not the 3rd lunch that we had. But I have to write a long story about the 3rd and the 6th lunches because they were done almost in the same fashion and we had some moist eyes during the gathering- due to losing out on the august company of R and B.

Here I am talking about the lunch hosted by a newly joined S (Big Boss, he is!) basically to get together once again before we bade farewell to B and R. The venue was the coffee shop at Harbor View Residency, Near Kochi Shipyard which according to a friend of mine is on the way to Willingdon Island! Though the hotel has been around for quite sometime, it was my first visit to this one!

It was a working day and we were looking at a working lunch! We were supposed to take a quick bite at the buffet and head straight back to work. However, we ended up waiting for sometime for all of us to gather and we used the time to check out the lounge bar and disc that was launched recently. The place did live up to its name (GLOW!) and all those lights were glowing at us with the music. It looked real cool and is on my radar for a visit with my friends on a Saturday evening :-)

Within half hour, all of us gathered at the lobby and off we were to Two Trees, the strangely named (or so I thought) coffee shop of the hotel! Till I visited the place I had never thought that the attic could serve as a good coffee shop and here we were, right in the middle of the hotel with corridors at 7 levels around us. 2 Miniature trees were also planted inside the coffee shop which thus lived up to its name. Thanks to the layout, the air conditioner was not really cooling it and the tables were quite narrow for the big group that we were. The restaurant was not brighly lit and I did not really fancy the idea of sitting under a tree while eating a 4- course lunch!

But all those apprehensions kinda melted away thanks to the wonderful array of dishes that were on offer! A couple of kadai dishes fresh from the stove along with soft and fluffy appams- vegetable stew for the conventional and gobi manchurian for starters- a fairly well stocked salad bar with my favorite egg salad and I completely fell for the place! At a moderate price of 254 bucks net per person, this coffee shop truly deserves a second visit!

There was one more reason to cheer- the dessert section which had my favorite payasam along with gulab jamun and ice cream- Need I say more???

Of Farewell Lunches...Part 2

February 12 happens to be B's birthday and we decided to make it special for her. We had also planned to buy something special for R who was hosting a lunch for all of us over the weekend. So, off we were to the HiDesign store in Kochi to select something special for R. Select we did, a beautiful laptop bag made of brown leather and the good thing was that it was portable! The other S had treated B to a pedicure (Ladies matter, this) and we decided to gift B with her favorite brand of clothing. B did select something of her choice (her choice is always elegant, btw!) and I also selected something for myself and off we were to eat at the restaurant of Hotel Gokulam Park Inn, Kaloor, Kochi.

Considering the fact that this happened just a few days after our lunch at Bubble, I was comparing this one with Gateway all along which is just not the right thing to do. Taj group is the ultimate in luxury and the others are just trying (though sometimes I feel they are trying in vain!). Having said that the lunch was quite enjoyable and presented a decent spread at a decent price. Choice of 2 soups, North Indian and South Indian bread, Rice, Pasta, Noodles, 4 Non Veg dishes and 6 Veg dishes and a fairly decent salad bar sounded exciting and the food was quite tasty! The reason why I suppose it did not appeal as much was because the dining area was kinda full and there were big groups making a lot of noise. Service was interrupted as a result but there were no major issues.

However, we were in for some disappointment at the dessert section. I was not sure whether it was due to the considerable crowd in attendance for lunch but I personally did not find anything much exciting at the dessert section. A cake and a tart are all I remember as of now, but that said the meal was good enough to deserve a moderate rating!

Of Farewell Lunches...Part 1

Well, for all those of you who did not know till now, I am a self confessed foodaholic and nothing, I repeat nothing, gives me the kind of high that good food gives. Those of you who have seen me in person and have had that rare chance to eat out with me will more than agree...

And today I am feeling bored and lazy and hungry and the only thing that I can think about is the series of lunches that we had which served as farewell to B and R. The occassion was definitely not worth celebrating because we were losing B and R to another branch of our office, but if I look at the "eating" part in isolation, let me tell you, the food was worth another round of celebration!

So, here I go giving out my opinion on the buffet spreads of some of the better hotels in the city and considering the fact that I am a foodaholic, I would request you to take my opinion with a pinch of salt because I cannot be over analytical and over critical when it comes to matters of the stomach ;-)

The first session that we had was at the Bubble Cafe, Coffee Shop at the Gateway Hotels, Marine Drive, Ernakulam. I had fallen for the food at the Taj Group ever since I started auditing those hotels 8 years ago. The sheer variety of food on offer and the authenticity with which the various kinds of cuisine is cooked and presented makes your mouth water. For the average Indian, there can not be a bigger luxury than eating at the Taj and the hotel leaves no stone unturned in making you feel like a king. At 500 bucks plus tax, the lavish buffet comprises of 2 welcome drinks, 2 soups, a chaat counter, a salad bar, an Indian bread corner, 3 starters, 4 of the rice/ noodles variety, half a dozen non- vegetarian dishes and at least a dozen vegetarian dishes with curd vada, pickle, fried stuff and many many more to go with the main course. The 3 hour window (12 noon to 3 PM) might not be sufficient for a lover of food and the fact that I had skipped breakfast (I always try to make most of the occassion, you know!) helped me gobble down quite a bit! And listen, I have not even started talking desserts yet- ice creams, cakes, tarts, pastries, fresh cut fruits, payasams and Indian sweets- the very arrangement of the dessert table makes you go weak on your knees...add to it the decor- the wide glass panes all around you and even on top, the huge umbrella that protects you from sunshine, the friendly butlers who make sure you enjoy your meal and the privacy that each group gets thanks to the excellent layout of the dining area just adds to the pleasure of eating at the Bubble Cafe!

It is not possible to describe in words how much I enjoyed this lunch and how full I was at the end of it all. I could not eat dinner that night or breakfast the next day morning. And who paid the bill? ha ha, not me, sillies. It was S of the opposite sex who graciously paid the bill- she was treating us for having been the proud owner of a brand new i10 and also for having pocketed a good sum of bonus for her exemplary performance at work! It was also her way of saying good bye to B and R and as for me, well like I always say, I was and still am plain lucky to be part of this group!

Wanna read more on food, go to part 2 :-)

BRASS diluted...

I did not realize till now that if you join the first names of the 5 of us it would end up as BRASS! Not bad, eh? But let me tell you that the group was as good as GOLD or even PLATINUM in our office! Those wonderful times that we have had together over lunches, coffees and dinners are irreplacebale. I dont have the audacity to call them my friends- all of them being senior to me both in terms of age (I can see someone squirming) and also in terms of experience! But, the fact that they took me under their wings, believed in me and walked me through all the challenges I faced at work itself speaks volumes about them

And that is why I feel sad today because B and R have moved to our Bangalore Office and before you start laughing out on what remains let me tell you that we have added M and another S to the group- that makes it MASSS- which is quite apt considering the massive support that we are to each other and our massive acceptability (!) in office. BRASS has moved over to MASSS and one of the S's is in US till end of April! I am not sure whether days in future will be as interesting as the days in the past. But am hopeful even though I will definitely miss B and R and am eagerly looking forward to having S back in office...

Office, Office!

It has been a while since I wrote about my work life. Well, it is not that things have changed much for me. My project remains the same, but thanks to the multiple trips to Canada, the number of processes and teams have increased. 4 processes in progress- 1 in steady state, 2 completing transition soon and 1 that has just been transitioned, but there is enough to look forward to in the next 4- 5 months- additional volumes for the 4th process and a 5th process being transitioned. There is so much of discussions, analysis and planning being done to make sure that things remain under control!

Not that the last year and half with the new project was easy! Lots of discussions, negotiations, challenges, gaping differences between expectations and actual performance. But almost an year later, things are looking better and brighter! Discussions, suggestions, arguements, talking through issues and challenges and general improvement in performance- finally, everything has fallen into place and now the team that I am part of is in expansion mode! There is happiness all around, accolades coming from all directions and lots of hope for the team, not to forget the high degree of expectations from everyone...

But the last one year has brought about a significant level of increase in confidence and with a hardworking, focussed and wonderful set of people working together, today I can confidently say that anything is achievable...

As a team, we say- WE ARE READY FOR MORE :-)

Sucker Alias Yuckie Overloaded...

The entire Malayalam Film Industry is passing through a scary phase of creative menopause and it is getting only murkier! How else would you describe the sudden interest in making non descript sequels to well made films of the 80's and the 90's? A better option would be to make no movies at all and let the theatres in Kerala screen excellent movies from across the state border. If you dont agree, please go and watch Sagar Alias Jackie Reloaded (or whatever!)

There is a limit to testing audience's patience and how could a veteran scriptwriter like S N Swamy do this to us? Even the ever dependable Jagathy Sreekumar irritates and it is completely uncool watching Bhavana drool over an ageing, out of shape Mohanlal! Are we saying that family packs are better than six and eight packs? Oh, Jesus!

Having Sobhana and K B Ganesh Kumar is a relief and probably the only justification to have endured this cinematic torture! Get a DVD of Irupatham Noottandu and watch it 25 times over but stay as far away as possible from theatres screening the sequel...

Rotten Chillies!

There is no hope in Malayalam Cine World these days- the veterans are past their prime and the youngsters simply refuse to come up with something interesting! The audience are fed with rehash of old films which are unbearable to say the least! In spite of all this, sometimes when you see the posters/ promos of an upcoming Mammootty/ Mohanlal film, you start hoping with all your heart that this movie could be the proverbial saviour of the industry!

It is this hope that drives me to watch inanities like "Red Chillies". The disappointment, despair, disillusionment and dejection that I experienced while I sat through this apology for a movie cannot be described in words. I dont understand what A K Sajan is creditted with- A script? That is the last thing that you would find in this listless enterprise! Shaji Kailas apparently does not direct anymore, he conceives shots- but Mr. Kailas needs to understand that it does not help if all you have in a movie is a series of freeze frames of an ageing, out of shape star draped in suits and accessorized with cool shades and with jarring music ringing loud in the background!

And those 9 bimbettes in the movie- are you still interested? Gimme a break...

Silk loses Sheen...

It was difficult to catch "Kanchivaram" in a theatre but Priyadarshan had spoken so much about it that I had made up my mind to watch it with a live audience. The audience (totalling to max 20) were anything but live and I would not blame them completely for what Priyadarshan ends up delivering is a pseudo- intellectual movie and a Shyam Benegal or a Govind Nihlani would have made this one truly intellectual!

The problem with Priyan is that he tries too hard to make it different from his normal film making styles and he fails miserably. It is good to have innovative lighting techniques, unique camera angles, beautiful set designs and picture postcard frames- but the damage that these do to Kanchivaram is that they take the authenticity out of the narrative. At no point of time you feel for Vedangam (Prakash Raj mostly under control but goes overboard at least in a couple of scenes) or his poor, non descript existence. You fail to empathise with him when he declares that he would wrap his daughter in a silk saree when he marries her off. The characters and the situations get alienated from the audience, precisely because Priyadarshan is more interested in technique than the soul of his script!

Shriya Reddy puts in an interesting cameo and manages to connect with the audience. M G Sreekumar's background score is pedestrian. The film scores high technically but feels a tad too long even at a running time of just 112 minutes. The script has in it to be a classic but Priyadarshan fails miserably in making one!

Gods must be Happy!

It is for no reason that Bala is considered one of the best directors in Tamil today- and he reiterates this fact categorically with "Naan Kadavul". This is the kind of movie that many directors would have dreamt of making but very few would have the guts to make.

Naan Kadavul delves deep into the psyche of aghori sanyasis through its protagonist Rudhran (Arya) who was abandoned as a teenager in the holy city of Varanasi by his father following an astrologer's advice. More than a decade later, the father resurfaces in Varanasi and manages to find out his son who is an Aghori now. Rudhran's guru convinces him to go to his native and his family is totally shattered to find out that Rudhran literally lives on alcohol and marijuana. This takes him to a set of sanyasis who make a living out of begging afoot a hill top temple along with a group of beggars controlled by the cruel Thandavan. In comes Hamsavalli (Pooja), a blind singer and takes over the narrative thereafter.

There is nothing much in terms of story value to "Naan Kadavul" but it is the treatment that makes a difference. Bala's expertise as a story teller comes to the fore while depicting the lives of the group of beggars- even in the face of adversities and abject poverty, the gentle humor in their lives and their very zest to live has been brought out beautifully. Hamsavalli is a well etched out character and the range of emotions that she goes through has been brought out very well by Pooja, indeed an award winning effort! Jayamohan's dialogues are sharp, Suresh Urs does a good job with his pair of scissors and Arthur Wilson's camera adds to the authenticity of Krishna Moorthy's designs.

Arya needs to be congratulated for taking up a completely unconventional role and breathing fire into it. In addition to acting prowess, Naan Kadavul is a good showcase for Arya's well toned body and the actor does not hesitate to drop even the last piece of clothing for the sake of authenticity. I dont think any other conventional leading man would have taken such a big risk, that too barely half a dozen movies into a very promising career!

Maestro Ilaiyaraaja's background score adds to the mysticism of Varanasi and among the songs, Madhu Balakrishnan's soulful rendering of "Pichai Pathiram" and Vijay Prakash's high octave vocals to "Om Shivoham" stand out! If you are a serious movie buff, you will definitely come out of this cinema chanting "Jai Bholenath"

A "Bhandarkar" Mal- function

Anything in excess is dangerous- everyone in the world understand that probably with the exception of National Award winning director Madhur Bhandarkar who is on an expose- spree. After bar girls (Chandni Bar); politics (Satta); celebrities (Page 3); corporate affairs (Corporate) and under belly of the city (Traffic Signal), Bhandarkar has this time focussed on the big bad world of modelling and fashion!

Nothing wrong but what is new here except the ambience? It is still the same homosexuality, moral compromise, cut throat competition, drugs and alcohol and dishonesty on offer! All this would have been passe had the ambience been believable. To start with Meghna Mathur's overnight rise to stardom is not quite digestible, add to it the badly choreographed fashion shows and the outrageous costumes that would not be welcomed even by the fashion unconscious! Arbaaz Khan playing the sauve fashion magazine owner does not help. He, in fact, needs a great deal of help in the acting department. Kangana Ranaut is caught in the rut- she repeats her "Gangster" act of drugs, alcohol and self- pity for the nth time. Harsh Chhaya fails miserably in enacting the gay designer.

On the positive side are Salim Sulaiman's music ("Mar jaava" and "Jalwa" stand out! ), Mugdha Ghodse's confident debut, Sameer Soni's gay designer who appears real and Kitu Gidwani and Suchitra Pillai putting in credible performances. Priyanka Chopra is adequate but I would not say that it is an award winning performance. Bhandarkar promotes men's fairness cremes though unintentionally. How would you otherwise describe Priyanka Chopra's sudden pangs of guilt after having slept with a black escort?

For the record, there are non entities like Arjan Bajwa and Rohit Roy and veterans like Raj Babbar and Kiran Juneja who end up being non entities! A host of designers turning in guest appearances along with Karan Johar, Ranvir Shoerey and Konkona Sen Sharma dont help either...

Chandni Chowk to Chaos

When Binod Pradhan's camera zooms in on the topography of Dilli and takes you through the twists and turns in the narrow gallis of Chandni Chowk (masterfully recreated in Rajasthan, thanks to Samir Chand's award worthy set design), you almost end up feeling the aroma of hot jalebis and samosas titillating your taste buds!

The feeling gets even more accentuated as Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra introduces us to his characters one after the other- the ever graceful Waheeda Rehman playing the dadi- ma; the simpleton Gobar played skilfully by Atul Kulkarni; the jalebi wala Mamdu immortalized by Deepak Dobriyal; the friendly Ali chacha with his betel box (Rishi Kapoor on his way to become the most revered character actors of this decade!); the innocent, loud and naive Vimala chachi (Supriya Pathak on the silver screen after a long hiatus); the fiery, low caste scavenger Jalebi (Divya Dutta improving with each film); the corrupt Inspector (Vijay Raaz, his best outing since Monsoon Wedding and Raghu Romeo); the brothers at war who never leave a chance to take a dig at each other (veteran Om Puri and the hugely talented Pavan Malhotra), the flirtatious photographer (Cyrus Sahukar, confident!) and the quiet and self conscious Rama Bua (debutante Aditi Rao Hyder, quite a stunner!)

One does empathise with Abhishek Bachchan's NY returned Roshan (his US accent is jarring!) when he lands right in the middle of this ensemble of characters and takes his time along with the audience to understand and react to each and every one of them. Roshan goes through a range of emotions- bewilderment at how the Dilli traffic stops when a cow is giving birth right in the middle of the road, surprise when the fiery Bittoo (Sonam Kapoor) announces that she will have to sacrifice her ambition and say yes to the groom her father finds for her, confusion when people around him isolate Jalebi because she is from a lower caste and compassion when Mamdu's mithai shop is destroyed as part of the communal riot in his neighbourhood.

All of these sequences drive home the point- quite well, thanks to A R Rahman's scintillating score to Prasoon Joshi's profound poetry. However, Mehra's narrative moves southward during the second half when the Kala Bandar issue becomes a Hindu- Muslim issue causing tensions in the otherwise friendly neighbourhood. From then on, the movie gets preachy to the extent of being boring and you fail to empathise with Roshan when he gets into trouble for no apparent reason! The less said for Roshan's pleasure trip to heaven and his tete- a- tete with his Dadaji (Amitabh Bachchan in an absolutely unnecessary cameo), the better! By the time the end credits roll, you feel you have had enough of it which is sad considering how well Mehra began his ode to his favorite city!!!

Khan(s) and Able

When Manikandan's camera zooms in on the lush green topography of Pollachi and zeroes in on Billu's (Irrfan) carefully constructed house, you settle down in your seat realizing that Priyadarshan is not going to come up with anything innovative this time as regards lighting, camera angles and the like (It is high time Priyadarshan and Sabu Cyril bade each other good bye, they have been showing us the same sets ever since Thenmavin Kombath that was released a good 15 years ago!)

But Priyan does surprise you with his deft handling of the comic sequences- there is not even a hint of slapstick here and that is when you end up standing the first and the best Khan in this enterprise! Om Puri is as loud as he has been in all Priyan films of the past, Sad!

Priyan has been faithful to Sreenivasan's script for Katha Parayumbol and that probably is the reason why he is under control while handling the comic as well as emotional sequences. However, the ace director goes all wrong in a couple of departments- showing off Pollachi as Uttar Pradesh which is a bit too much even for a Cinematic Liberty; casting of Lara Dutta as the village barber's wife- though Lara brings in a certain sincerity to her performance, her style, intelligence and sophistication defeats her; the child artists who have been given so much to mouth that at one point of time you feel like smacking them right across their faces and ask them to just shut up and of course the excessive commerciaization in the form of bringing in 3 leading ladies for item numbers. There is no denying the fact that Kareena, Priyanka and Deepika look hot but the item numbers serve as mere speed breakers in taking the narrative forward!

Shah Rukh Khan is thankfully highly restrained and does a good job with the climax scene where he pours out his emotions for the long lost friend. "Billu" is in the genre of the Hrishikesh Mukherjee brand of "saaf, suthri, paarivarik comedies" of the 70's and there definitely are times when you feel the narrative is just not moving forward! That said, "Billu" is watchable for its noble storyline. It does make an attempt to tell you that there are relationships worth your time in this fast paced world but I would not say it has been completely successful in delivering the message.

The "Zoya" Factor

The most well directed sequence in Zoya Akthar's directorial debut "Luck by Chance" is the one where the principal characters are shown reacting to an article in a filmi periodical speaking about Vikram (Farhan Akthar) ditching his long time struggling girl friend, Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma) in favor of starlet Nikki Walia (Isha Sharvani) to further his filmi career. Watch this one especially for Juhi Chawla's gleeful expression- a 3 second shot that tells us how extremely talented and how disappointedly under utilized an actor she is!

The above mentioned is the best sequence in the film which is peppered with well conceived scenes and very well acted out characters. It is a delight to watch characters and not actors here- that too played by some of the most talented names in Bollywood. Dimple Kapadia is marvelous as yester year star turned star mother Neena Walia! Rishi Kapoor is a delight to watch as producer Romy Rolly and Javed Akthar pens his brutally sarcastic dialogues for Kapoor- listen to how he refers Nikki Walia as a "crocodile wearing a chiffon saree" or how he singles out Farhan Akthar saying "subah se itne chimpanzees dekhe hain, chalo, ek to aadmi mila!" or how he shouts at Anurag Kashyap playing a scenarist saying "Aye Film Institute, mein yeh picture film festivals ke liye nahin bana raha hoon"

Alyy Khan plays the lecherous producer to perfection; Arjun Mathur is promising as Vikram's best friend; Isha Sharvani is surprisingly good as the naive starlet; Sanjay Kapoor adeaquately under plays the director and Farhan Akthar is pitch perfect as the struggling actor who will do anything to achieve stardom!

The film is peppered with special appearances by the biggest and the best of Bollywood! The ones who stand out are of course, Hrithik Roshan who plays his most well etched out character till date- the scheming superstar Zafar Khan; Karan Johar whose single line of dialogue inspires wolf whistles; Kareena Kapoor playing the snooty actress that she has been made out to be; Akshaye Khanna as confused and undecided as ever; Abhishek Bachchan playing the nice- boy to the producer and of course, Shah Rukh Khan who sums up the plot in 2 very well written sentences!

Luck By Chance is also a lesson in Production Design for many- the authentic sets and props add to the script. Cinematography is good and Editing is crisp. Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy's music goes well with the mood of the movie. However, Hrithik's homo erotic look in the circus song could have been avoided. This film is a must watch from the word "go"- the title card design is awesome too!

Honey Irani and Javed Akthar can really be proud of their progenies- Luck by Chance categorically declares the arrival of a talented director and showcases Farhan's acting skills very well. And Did I tell you that this is another golden feather in Konkona Sen Sharma's already overcrowded cap? Need I say more???

Long break...

I think long breaks have become more or less my characteristic as regards updating my blog. I was busy, not that I am claiming I was not. My weekends were filled with activities- watching movies with friends, eating out, lazing around in the city, guests visiting, catching up with periodicals, you know, the works...

However, I have decided to go current with the blog this weekend and hopefully by next weekend I should be through with all those things about which I wanna write. So, here I go...

Rags to Riches...

The entire world these days is talking about “Slumdog Millionaire”, thanks to its excellent performance at the Golden Globes, multitude of film festivals and the astounding number of nominations received at the Oscars!

Had this movie been based in any other country, the people of that country would have felt proud about it, but then India is India and that explains the multitude of negative reviews and remarks Danny Boyle and his crew have been receiving here (I should add that some of the critics and genuine lovers of cinema have been as loyal as I am).

It is coincidental that any movie that highlights poverty in a third world country gets noticed in the West. Our guys behave as if it is only India that is subjected to this. Truth is that even Iran, Iraq, Vietnam and Sri Lanka suffer the same fate! And no one is telling the world something that is not true. Let us accept that we are a poor country and we do have slums, begging, child prostitution, dadagiri and the like just like any other third world country. Rather than fretting and fuming on a British film maker who made a truthful and entertaining film, let us collect ourselves and do something for the betterment of the Society (Amitabh Bachchan, Arindam Choudhary, are you listening?)

Coming back to the movie, “Slumdog…” is about Jamaal Malick (a competent and confident Dev Patel), a slum kid who grows into a chaiwallah at a call center and gets a chance to be on the hot seat of “Kaun Banega Crorepati”. In spite of the hostile behavior and non encouraging remarks of the wily show host (Anil Kapoor, as dependable as ever), Jamal wins a fortune of Rs.10,000,000 at the end of the first day of the shoot. The show host feels the urchin is a fraud and hands him over to the cops (Irrfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla, brilliant performers both) and as they interrogate, Jamaal pours his story out, right from his childhood, thus revealing how or why he could answer all the questions correctly.

Slumdog Millionaire is a roller coaster ride right from the word go. Perfect casting, racy screenplay, apt lines, stunning cinematography, authentic production design and costumes and a killer sound track (I prefer “Ringa Ringa” over the crowd favorite “Jai ho”)- this is one of those rare films where everything falls into place perfectly. The kids who play the protagonists at their young age stay in your hearts with their honest portrayals. Even the oppressive living conditions in the slums have been picturized in a manner that does not evoke apathy- you just end up feeling but natural about the life of the kids. The begging and prostitution mafia have been depicted very honestly and probably this is causing all the furore in the media. That said, Mr. Boyle also makes it very clear that India is a land of extremes- at one end you have the poverty stricken slums and at the other end you have the comforts of a plush office (the call center being a point here) and the Indian equivalent of an American show that makes millionaires out of the more common folks.

Deftly adapted from Vikas Swarup’s “Q & A”, Simon Beaufoy deserves to hold the academy statuette in his hands for his excellent and racy script.At the heart of it, Slumdog Millionaire is very much a Bollywood masala fare- it has it all- separated brothers, love lost and found, people and circumstances acting as villains, journey from penury to prosperity and a rocking item number filmed at a railway station! I am sure Manmohan Desai will be smiling in his grave and so will you while leaving the theatre- provided you keep your prejudice at home!

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!