Nee Thaanae En Ponvasantham

It has been long since I went for a movie on the first day and when I got a chance to watch one I was glad that it was NEPV at Satyam, thanks to Hari for the tickets. This guy GVM can make 10 more romantic movies and still come up with a good script for a romantic movie yet again. Having watched him portray how confused a girl can be in a relationship in VTV  I was wondering what could he do in his next flick, he has impressed coming up with a different approach to relationships in this one. 

I just loved the script for the way it was handled to convey the differences that a relationship can end up in, just because of the high intensity of love that a girl can have and because of the Ego a guy possess. The male ego was conveyed beautifully is a subtle way through the length of the movie. All along it has been the guys going through the pain of love in the screen and it was refreshing to see a girl's perceptive this time around. Samantha has given a commendable performance, one that we will cherish for sometime. I loved her performance in each and every scene of the movie more than her looks and I was damn impressed with her performance in the scene where she gets into her car with a heavy heart in the wee hours after having spent best times of her life with the one she loves.She has portrayed emotions just from her eyes and body language and words seem worthless.

Two other scenes where the director has worked his magic are, the one just before the interval and other is the argument the lead pair has at the Tsunami school sight. The scene just before the interval was a long one and done in a single shot without much camera movement. The lead pair has done a good job in such a long shot, though it would have been better with some close up shots to reveal the pain they go through. The next one at the school sight takes care of that though. The dialogues were so simple and realistic and as always there is lots of English involved and it suited the characters well. I was able to relate to the scene as I have used literally the very same words during an argument :) :) :) 
Nithya : "Varun, Are you asking me to find something for me to be occupied just because you need not feel guilty for not spending time with me :@"
Had a smile hearing this dialogue(not an exact one but something similar)

I guess GVM is damn intelligent to have few women assistants in his team and I am sure they would have helped him shaping up this script. For people complaining about how many times will the lead pair go away and get together yet gain , it can happen and it does happen and happens more in real life to our disliking.As far Santhanam is concerned he was put to use in an optimum level and has managed to get us laughing whenever he comes on the screen.

Coming to the looks of Samantha , she is just gorgeous all through. The nose ring and eye shades was a magical and we (I) can just keeping staring at her pic for 3 hours leave alone the movie :) Special appreciation to the director for continuing his trend of portraying his women with good intellectual brains starting from Reena to Nithya, instead of a charming chatterbox like in so many other movies. 

"Kala rasigan da Gautam...."

I wish I could watch the movie just as I watch Minnalae often, but that is not to be the case and the major reason for that is the pathetic BGM score by the so called Maestro. For all the respect (luv) GVM had for Ilaiyaraja , he has only managed to let him down , and he has let him down big time. Even the songs were not impressive in the movie and the director has failed in choosing the music director for this flick. Had it been ARR the movie would be in a whole different level and he would have got repeat audience for sure. The next big led down is the cinematography. I found it to lack continuity throughout the movie. Somehow the visuals didn't seem to stick to our minds and I found to hard to link the visuals. Too bad the director had to use three different cinematographers and I believe that has spoiled the visuals for him. The other thing that irked me was the voice of the father character. It was a complete mismatch to the Ravi and the audience having heard him before in many movies will find it difficult to connect to character. Having decided to have him to be the decisive factor for the climax of the movie, GVM could have gone with Ravi's original voice or even he himself could have done a far better job. In short GVM has go the execution completely wrong for this wonderful script. 

I personally just loved the movie to the core despite of all this crap .... You will or might feel like hugging your partner when you watch the movie, at least I felt like :) :)  I feel so sad that I will not be able to watch the movie again and I Hope he continues to stick to this genre in the future as well and get the execution right the next time around.

Sundara Pandian

It has been quite a while since I went for a second show, thanks to my age and marriages to most of my friends.... :) The last night's decision to go for one was totally vindicated by the quality of the movie. It is a must watch for someone who can relate to the Madurai life style, others can refrain from the theaters. I am not sure if you guys can really enjoy the movie much. There has been umpteen number of movie based out of Madurai and the list seems to be growing with no halt.


This one starts just like all others with few montage shots of villages and people's lifestyle at a gentle pace with someone narrating about them in a bold heavy voice. And just like any other movie of this genre, we have a happy go lucky protagonist who is a spoilt brat at home and few friends with him always living their life to the fullest ignoring any responsibilities for their age. The characters have you in spilts for almost the entire first half and it has been a while since I laughed this loud hurting my stomach. The last time was when I was watching the great Joey and this time it is the Soori. I hope he gets more opportunities where he travels along with the story and does not get into the idea of doing a track separately. The interesting fact is that most part of the first half is shot in a dabba bus and it somehow does not bore you. I was quite surprised that the director was able to keep his audience occupied throughout the first half which eds with an unusual twist to the story.

The second half is all about family and the director that way ensures a wider audience for his movie. It is all about how the lead pair gets together after many struggles with few twists and turns. One other interesting fact is that the director has managed to pull the script off without any villain. He has built all the characters beautifully and they have in turn have helped him carry forward the story in an interesting way. Special appreciation for keeping them authentic throughout the movie. The Male lead's Dad and the females lead's chitti deserves a special mention and so does the friend who travels with her throughout the story.As for the music is concerned it just helped through and there was nothing that will keep us humming. The photography was good that it has captured the essence of the village and the people there. The shot were they follow the bike riders on a steep road and then show the accident was good. On the whole it is very good movie for which you can take the entire family without any guilt and can enjoy the movie thoroughly.

Last but not the least, It was refreshing to see a girl holding her end of love and being staunch unlike others movies where they throw the guy under the bus. I loved the female lead character and her expressions with the those big cute eyes. It was nice to see a female lead without much make-up and the decision to leave the scar uncovered, and not bothered about how the thilak on her forehead looks was only making her look even more beautiful. Having said this I dont think she can be successful in any other role in a modern look :P

"Madura kara ponnu madura kara ponu thanya"

Sachin who ?????

It was an wonderful evening and I had just returned from school and there was a commotion at my home all glued to the TV set which my dad had bought after a long struggle. Srinath and Banerjee was struggling to get India across the line against England at the Benson and Hedges world cup but failed eventually. That was the first cricket match I ever watched. Never did I know I would turn into an ardent fan of the same sport few years later. Little did I know about Boundary,Sixer and Out and I never understood LBW back then and I have few doubts on that even today ...... :) :) :)

It was 5 A.M, the winter of 1992 and I could still feel the chill of the cement flooring which is my favourite flooring more than the fancy marble and granite ones these days. The lights were on and my entire family was already watching a match between West Indies and India. That was the first and vivid memory of me watching a little fellow walking to the crease to face the mighty pace attack which comprised the likes of Ambrose. The whole crowd made a roaring voice and I was thrilled at the sight of it and woke up to watch this guy. He just scored very little but somehow took a place in my heart for no reason. The other performance that I got to watch was his bowling against Pakistan and few of his strokes against Brandes and this guy had already occupied a considerable part of my thoughts.

It has been 20 years now and he has given me some of the memorable moments of my life. I have always believed that India had a chance no matter what the situation was in the match and was glued to the TV set just to watch this guy bat. I have prayed for the openers to get out to see him bat and that continued till he was promoted to the openers slot. I even hated Kambli for he stole the lime light from Sachin during England's visit scoring back to back 100's. The way he played those straight drives with such command, the way he ran those quick singles with a unique pads from the rest of the lot, the way he shook his shoulders in his interviews and even the way adjusted his abdomen on the crease was awesome to me. I was completely in love with this guy and he was the first one I loved unconditionally. I was not worried about India loosing as long as he scores good and many of my friends shared a similar view except for few patriots..... :) :) :)

It's been an awesome journey and I consider to be lucky being part of his journey all along. Some of the centuries I have loved watching are
134 against Australia helping India qualify for Coca-Cola Cup finals
143 against Australia helping India lift the Coca-Cola Trophy
141 against Pakistan chasing 300 plus at Rawalpindi
175 against Australia chasing 350 odd at Hyd
137 against Srilanka in 1996 world Cup.
111 against SAF in 2012 World Cup.

There have been umpteen other innings which I have admired and adored and I thank god for giving me an opportunity to enjoy this little fellows game right through his peak and also be part his struggle. For me personally it has never been the numbers which has made Sachin an Epitome. His hunger for success and love for the game that helped him come back after major injuries after sacrificing most of his lethal shots like Golf Swing, Straight Drives that caused him a great pain and his ability to score in heaps even after all this. It was the sheer entertainment that he provided all along for each and everyone who loved Indian cricket made him one.

It is the cafeteria at the new facility and there was a whole bunch of fellows consisting of guys from fresher batch, managers, admin staff, guys , girls all were uttering the same prayer and that was for Sachin to score in 100th century. After the 111 he scored against SAF in the world cup round robin matches I was hoping that he would score a century at his home ground and lift the cup, but that was not to be and he had to wait for another day for that milestone. The media then started focusing on this milestone contemplating and describing how great it would be if he gets it at the Mecca of cricket and in the boxing day match against Australia. He had scored pretty decent throughout the season though India had failed pathetically.

He was now playing at the wee end of the innings and there was a maiden over played out against a Bangladeshi bowler. At the other end was Raina who was the leather to all arts of the ground. This little rat took all the time in the world to reach to his personal milestone and finally when he did he just pointed out to the BCCI logo as if he had scored it for the team. That was the first time I hated this hypocrite whom we all have worshiped as a hero all these 20 years. He just proved he was after all a human :( ....... And his decision to give a miss to the function felicitating the Great Wall but attend the one organised by his franchise owners and receive all the buttering from all walks of the celebrity world only made it even worse. I just couldn't buy the doctor appointment as a reason. It was just ridiculous. He was being mean and cheap to his fellow compatriot with whom he had shared many wonderful moments. A sudden change from what I have felt about this guy for almost 20 years, but I am not fickle-minded here. People who is ready to be rational will understand for sure and irrational or rather emotional people will continue hero worship arguing he can be selfish for what he has done for team for 2 decades. All I can do is really have pity on these people and wish they could just analyse and leave their emotions when they do it .....

I wish he plays many more of such innings as he had done before instead of playing for his personal interests. I sincerely wish he does that and bows out as a hero and not as someone who misused his unquestionable reputation compromising teams interests for his own enjoyment of playing the game.

Tonsure

The concept had just always been fascinating to me right from my childhood. Men tonsure mainly for 2 reasons, one when their parents are dead and the other as a sacrifice to god. For women the later is the only reason out here in my part of the world. I have never clearly understood how sacrificing locks of hair can be a sacrifice to god. Nevertheless it does help temple generate income. The only benefit for us is we save time and money  taking care of the hair.

The last time I had tonsured was way back in school and that is when I was forced to do it with no respect to how I felt about. If I remember correctly I had my head shaven for almost every 2 years :( .... I had no clue why I had to do it nor did I get any reason except once when I had done it in Tiruchendur, that one was because my dad had become a diabetic patient and my mom somehow felt offering hair might get down the sugar levels. In fact being a baldy right through my school life had been one of the  factors of me being bullied right through my school life. Even today one of my school friend calls me Mottai :) :) :) It has been ages since and I decided to offer my hair to god in return for a favour that I have been asking him for quite a while. This was the first time that I had taken a decision about tonsuring and having got what I had asked for I held my end of the bargain. I went straight to Tirupati and had my head shaved. It felt so nice when the cold breeze caressed my bald head with ample sandal applied on top of it. Looking at the mirror I have only turned even more terrifying than I was already :)

It actually gave me an opportunity to try different styles of hair do which I would have never done before. Few of my friends even suggested that I try for villain role in the silver screen looking at my photos. Another added advantage that I have is, it is a summer now and I sweat a lot lesser than I usually do and that has saved me from catching cold. I was little embarrassed to say the least with the clean shaven head and I wished to get back my hair at the earliest. I didn't like myself with my head shaven clean.......

In retrospect I only realised that what I did was silly and idiotic. Having been any educated one may be I should have given a little more thought to it than I had done. I have no rights to criticize people doing crazy things in the name of god. What I had done was as stupid as what many do in the name of god. This experience had just thought what a human mind can actually do in dire needs and helped me understand that the stunts people do in the name of god like piercing through their body parts,beating themselves up, walking on a bed of fire is only for them to have a peace of mind and religion has nothing to do with it. As for me I am pretty much sure this will be the last time I am going have my head shaved unless and until I go bald :D :D :D

Grudge

Fate is something that I don’t believe in, but few things happen and you have no logical reasons to conclude on its occurrence. I had one such experience last year on March the 20th and I still have got no answers why it happened and what actually happened!!! The day which started out fine as any normal day would had an abrupt end after 48 hours giving life changing experience not just for me but for many and still continues to haunt me with questions for which I believe I am never going to find answers or rather get.

Going back in time ICC had opened booking for the IND Vs WI match back and I was not sure if I would be here in Chennai to watch the match though that was my last chance to watch a world cup encounter live with Sachin on the Indian team. So I decided against blocking the tickets but little did I know that I will be watching the same match with couple of my best friends that day. It was the day to pick up the tickets booked online and my friend was there at the stadium and fortunately or unfortunately there was this one ticket available on the same stand which is worth 5000 bucks. He had no money with him so he took the pain to request the counter guy to hold the ticket and walked few 100 meters to pick cash from ATM and got the ticket for me.  I know it is big money and many would curse me for spending the money for a match, but then you get to see the players in a close range. :) :) :) Actually I was cursing myself for buying that ticket for different reason altogether at the end ! ! !

The match was a disappointment for me just for the reason that Sachin was dismissed for 2 but never have I seen a standing ovation for a guy scoring just 2 runs midway of the tournament without him announcing his retirement which I doubt if he will ever do now…. J Nevertheless we had our dinner on the way back and just as I was about to hit the bed thinking the day was finally over I got a call from my friend’s mom who had left the match midway claiming that his mom was sick and he had to take her to the hospital. As it turned out it I was able to figure out that it was a complete lie hearing his mom crying over phone asking me where her son was and what actually happened to him. Here started the enthralling events and it had most of us on the brink for the next 48 hours and it never came to a conclusion for almost a fortnight. To me it hasn't concluded even today and will never .......

My friend was engaged only a few weeks back to his sister's daughter who was 10 years younger than him. Yes these crap still keep happening in our part of the world and the worst part of all is she had scored handsomely in her 12th grade board exams, but was forced to join an arts course just for the sake of getting her married to my friend. Absolutely ridiculous and pity factor is everyone in his family were decently educated and most hols government positions. I lost hope of any change happening in the society in this regard after this incident. Inspite of this all I could think was, who was this girl in his life which made him lie to us. As predicted his mobile was switched off. We started to his house and on the way I tried contacting whomever I know trying to narrow down on his location and at that time of the midnight there was very little help and it was driving me crazy. We all met at the road leading to his house and there we got the call from his mom saying he has reached and I could sense there was a secret yet to be known and his attempt asking us to go back only increased the curiosity and we went to his home only to find that he is to be married the next morning to some other girl whom he can’t stand and will even commit suicide if it was ever to happen. We were flabbergasted, dumb stuck, speech less, stunned and what not.  The next 48 hours was the most grueling one I have ever spent and will remain so till I start talking about my own marriage at home which is not too far away :) :) :) 

The thought of my friend having cheated was nothing short of someone running a heated knife right through my heart. It may be dramatic but that’s the way I felt and I am yet to sink in. There were cries all over his home, so called plans and tips to bring them back to their native safely without being caught by goons just like they do in movies. There were calls from people whom we have never met or rather never even know about their existence until that moment black mailing us and threatening us, life was all over the place and we could never figure out what exactly happened that day. It just continued for another 2 weeks before we had this news of the issue coming to an end the way we never wanted it to finish. It was all over now and my friend  whom we all thought was a good decision maker was there sitting silent just a coward girl letting this happen to him and little did we could when someone is that defenseless.

There are these events in life that you wish had never happened and few persons that you wish you had never met and few questions you wish you had an answer to, but then it happens in your life and just stays part of you for the rest of your life. There is nothing much you can do about it. All we can do is, just accept the fact and get along instead of thinking over why it happened and what would the answer!! ! ! I know it is easier said than done for I have not done it and I am sure I will never be able to do it. It has been a year now and the feeling stays the same for me even though many have moved along with the life and have accepted what has actually happened. Though I have tried my best to move along I still hold a huge grudge and have umpteen question that needed answering. I wish I can be like the rest  :) :) :) 

Friends

I know it is too late to talk about this fabulous sitcom but for most part of the last 2 months it has occupied most of my time even when things were getting very busy around. I was completely addictive to it that it made me watch it whenever I lost sleep even at the wee hours. Th first time I got to know about Friends was way back in college and people were going gaga about this. Most of the celebrity's answer to the question "What your favourite TV show" was Friends. So I did give it a try to watch couple of episodes back then and to be honest I didn't understand most part of it. What was even more interesting was the whole crowd was laughing then and there and I looked an idiot watching it :). There ended my quest to watch the famous sitcom. May be had I watched with sub-titles it might have helped a little but I doubt even that as I realise now that most of the jokes are purely timing.

I happened to watch the same sitcom after 6 years in Star World and now for some reason I was able to follow most part of it even without sub-titles !!! I just couldn't resist myself and started downloading the entire seasons going beyond my apprehensions to use Torrent. Now having complete all the seasonit was entirely worth it and I couldn't stop raving about the series. Everything was special in the show, the main 6 characters which are built with wide difference among them,celebrity episodes,equal screen presence for all characters and a practical approach to portray normal people's life in New York city. Who would have imagined A Geek , A Control Freak, A Play Boy, A Spoilt Child, A Weirdo and A Half Gay 6 put together will give us a series that's going to stand class apart from the rest and a trend setter for decades to come. Even the part time characters like Gunther, Janice were equally good and made us laugh enough to remember them :) Of all the celebrity episodes with Clooney,Van Dame,Sean,Bruce I personally liked the thanksgiving episode with Brad Pitt.

As the show progressed I seriously wished I could have such a life just like how those people had. They had their tough times but still managed to stay happy with their friends. And fa relationship is over if there was one fight it was nice to see people fighting and getting back together so often and still have fun keeping all those baggage apart. Among the characters I like Joseph the best. He has you in splits no matter what he does with all his stupidity and happy go lucky approach to his life.My favourites in the show by order will be
Joey
Ross
Rachel
Chandler
Phoebe and for some reason I hate this girl Monica and it only grew during the finals few seasons.

How you dhoing ?? will be the best dialogue of all  :D :D :D :D :D :D I wished that the show never ends just like many and it would be great if they can make a movie with all together for one last time.

One thing you can learn from the show leaving apart all the laughter is

"No one is perfect, but if you can see through all the imperfections of person you are sure to have a great time with them."