பூ Movie - Too long

Tamil cinema sees success in 2 contradicting ways. On one end it is the high budget, corporate funded movies, featuring grand stars; and in the other end is the surprisingly low budget movies, casting mostly new talents.

The best examples of the latter are Anjathey, Chennai 600020, Subramaniyapuram, Kanchivaram, Paruthiveeran, and the likes. Poo is the latest movie which was made to attract such audience once again. I must say that I like all the above movies, but think that Poo failed miserably as a story.

The truth is there is no story. Just the time, moving very slowing; which makes one wonder will something ever happen. But nothing happens until the very end, except for a bad feeling of having wasted some time. Atleast I am happy I didnt go to the theatres.

the end.

Kamal Hassan the best!

I wanted to pen this down for a long time: Kamal is my favorite director as well as actor, who can sing, dance, and do wonders on and off screen. He is also the most handsome actor.

There is no one like Kamal in the tinsel world.

the legend continues...

Kanchivaram - Beautiful attention to details

I saw the movie kanchivaram yesterday. Just beautiful. No kuthu songs, no comedy tracks, just pure story to keep me glued for 2 hours.

The story happens pre-independence continuing a bit post-independence until 1948. The picturization and attention to details makes the journey of PrakashRaj very enjoyable.

The story itself is very touching and focusses on a poor weaver's life, and his dream to weave a silk saree for his daugher, on her wedding.

And the beauty of the story-telling was many things were explained visually.

No need to comment on Prakash Raj's performance. As usual, awesome. The supporting characters including Shriya Reddy and his friend fitted in perfectly. All in all I think it is a very well-made, enjoyable, and to an extend disturbing movie.

the end.

P.S. :Talking about PR's performance, I think one of his best performances (and the one I liked the most), was in the movie Appu. I think it is a brilliant role, and only he could have done that.

Word of thought...

I wonder what Veena's parents mean when they call me mapillai. Is it:

1. "ma"-pillai - meaning Amma pillai

2. ma -"pillai"- meaning big-son a.k.a. son-in-law

3. "ma-pizhlai"- meaning big-mistake.

the end.

Finding Mrs. Me

Finding Mrs. Me

I am just an ordinary guy. My schooling, college, and professional life was somewhat void of one thing - ladies. While I had good friends in school, I was an unofficial member of the "anti-kadalai" gang in college... and was content looking at couples (actually only ladies) from a far distance in the SW firm I worked for. Though I don't take pride in not socializing with them, I thought it was an extra effort to actually maintain some amount of contact with them. Knowing that I was not good in that aspect, there were few concerns that crossed my mind. "Will I get married? Will I find my better half?"  And some other times it was the inquisitiveness to know who it was. "She's there somewhere", Amma would say often. Wish it was cinema where the next frame would be heroine intro. As fate be it, the passive but eternal search for Mrs. Me ended in Cincinnati. There she was waiting all this time for me :- well actually she landed some days before. The wind, the birds, the waves which stopped still after my separation with Amma - resumed. I acknowledge the best relation in this world is a mother. Actually its a mother who makes this world the best place. Either way,I was happy to find traces of Amma in her, in everything. Cinematically speaking she saved me from desperation. Honestly I am too young to be desperate on marriage, or to comment on the long-wait some people have to find the ideal-self. But finding her at the right time saved me from resembling the Chinna Thambi "yenakku kalyanum" guy. Long before I started thinking about the thesis proposal, I actually proposed, and defended successfully. While she could have chosen to say the easy NO, she took the hard YES path. ("S" is hard - see how curvy it is). And she diligently followed it with efforts to convince her parents that I am in fact from the same planet. And finally, in a few days, I will have a new role to play. "With new role comes new responsibility?" NO. I am responsible to the extend of being myself, knowing that someone is there  to take care of things. And I can develop added-irresponsibility. NO more caring about washing dishes, washing clothes, cleaning house, and cooking something edible - the jobs I did since leaving home. After all, its home again.  Hmmm... looking back the things we shared, 2 years didn't look a long time to know each other so well. Probably it was longer than 2 years, much longer. I don't know, but it feels so. And when we feel something we acknowledge it. And when we acknowledge it, we know how important it is. Ofcourse we are important to each other. I wonder why I even brought this sentence. But then, you cannot stop feeling blessed when you know how important you are to the people you love the most.   Goodbye bachelorhood, I am leaving you for good. the beginning... Original Post: http://sites.google.com/site/subrowedsveena101908/finding-mrs-me

Majic Jack

I recommend this product, majic jack, which is an intermediate step between VOIP and internet chat. Technically it is a jack, to be plugged into your computer USB. Any telephone can be plugged into the other end of the jack and used. One great feature is that it autoloads the drivers necessary from the jack itself, so you just have to wait for 5 minutes on a computer with internet connection, and you are ready to go.

It is comparable to traditional VOIP for reasons:

1. You get a US based number

2. Caller ID, Answering Machine, etc.

3. Portable: connect to any computer, anywhere and still use the same number.

However it differs from VOIP in sense:

1. It needs to be plugged into a computer, which means the computer should be ON while using it.

2. Technically its a phone, but practically the computer cannot be ON 24 hrs, so thats a downside. However you can go online and check the messages you missed.

Cost: $20 per year which is lowest possible VOIP connection.

Verdict: I bought one for my mother in India. She uses airtel connection and the connection and call quality is brilliant. I think its a cheap, alternate way to connect to India or other international locations.

the end.

Vaaranam Aiyuram

One of the most awaited movies of the year, VA, is a technically solid, sound, and enjoyable movie. Surya is brilliant. It was unbelievable to see him as a school boy, and an ageing old man, all in the same movie. Due praise to the brain behind it, Gautam Menon.

But I found the movie a confusing mix of too many things. Were they trying to portray the strong yet mostly unnoticed father-son relation?

Were they showing the journey of a young man, and how his father played an important step moulding him along the way. I dont want to confuse more adding the possibilities, but the movie was a heavy mix of many complicated things. There was too much to stuff in the 3 hr long movie, that many relations or scenes were minimal. Like the romance between Surya and Sameera in US was very short lived.

And taking this movie to be a contribution to father-son relation, I am inclined to compare it to Thavamae Thavamirunthu, a technically normal, but high-impact movie. With due respects to VA team and their great efforts, I think it is nowhere close to TT. 

Overall, the outstanding feature of this movie remains Surya's acting, makeup, and possibly the last composition of Harris Jayaraj for Gautam Menon, though the screenplay could have been more comprehendible. 

the end.

Since then...

Welcome Home.
Its been quite long since I blogged.

And a lot has changed since then.

No, I am still in school and in the verge of graduating.

But something more important has happened.

I am no longer a carefree bachelor (actually I have never been).

And it gives me a sense of pride to say that.

Now there is someone else whom I am more than happy to share my journey of life with.

I thank my mother for making it happen.

I thank my recently discovered parents for gifting my wife.

And I am happy God is with me for the most pressing matters in life.

I am happily married ever after...

Dasavatharam - Finally!

Finally last week Dasa was released. How long a wait for Kamal fans worldover, and for Kamal himself. He could have easily done a comedy flick inbetween to keep his presence felt, but for his dedication and hardwork. And with about 2 years of expectations building up, Dasa had to be top notch to really satisfy his fans.

I hope to touch the story line only when needed, but instead think of what really striked or stinked. The problem with the movie (as is the case with most Kamal movies) is it is ahead of its time, and really takes some background work and discussion to understand the storyline fully. Many of the details just go unnoticed. It is definitely Kamal's problem, since a good Prof. is one who not only has knowledge but can get it across to students. The details should be obvious to the audience, who make a decision based on how much they can understand. I didnt understand much after seeing the movie, until I read some reviews and blogs. Probably that was the reason he used K.S. Ravikumar, but one gets the feeling Ravikumar wasn't given the freedom he needed. It was Kamal's movie all the way, with a poor and desperate effort to make it commercial with not-at-all-funny and already-heard-many-times comedy.

Kamal has given some of the best performances. Some characters which leave a lasting impression are Vincent(Dalit), CBI Naidu, Nambi, Fletcher and the Japanese. Ullah, Krishnaveni Patti, George Bush fail to make an impression. Govind was nothing new and Singh was ok. Ullah failed to impress because he looked like an alien, and his makeup - plastic. I read somewhere they used the same makeup man as the Mask. Ullah looks like a character out of the movie.
Krishnaveni Patti's makeup was good, not as striking as Avvai Shanmukhi, and looked a bit odd. She looked more like an Egypitian mummy in motion.

Fletcher was a perfect villan. He looked like an American, spoke like an American and his body language projected him a baddie in every frame. Also the BGM for him was well suited and increased the pace of the scenes. I liked this character the most, followed by Vincent. Naidu's accent resembled Junior Balayya, and provided some comic relief.

Flipsides:
1. Asin as Andal. Very Talkative and the dialogues were repetitive. She had just one dialogue to say - Give back my Perumal. Wish she was given better characterization.
2. It was lame that Asin in the climax suddenly fell in love with Govind. They could have avoided that relation since both of them had different priorities and definitely not Asin since she always differentiated Kamal as Naicker.
3. Govind, Andal and Fletcher jump at the wierdest places and still are in tact. It should have been more realistic.
4. Govind as a Scientist and Nambi as a Priest can fight. Interesting.
5. Govind transported to India in Cargo.
6. Tsunami graphics looked like a toy project out of a home computer.
7. Ullah, Singh, and George Bush were unneeded, except to make perfect 10.
8. George Bush cannot be called a role, it is just an imitation.
9. Jayalalitha footage could have been avoided, it looked cheap.
10. Many a times Govind forgot the vial needs cool temperature. It is surprising it survived the courier delivery and the chase in hot climate.
11. Messy comedy which was frustrating, especially between Kamal and Asin when hiding after the accident and in the hospital with Ullah. The brother-in-law comedy was pathetic, and felt never-ending.
12. Mediocre music, but does not influence the movie.

Great Visuals:
1. Hanu death graphics was very nice and realistic.
2. Fletcher's reaction to vial poison was great.
3. King torturing Nambi and Nambi's reactions when pushing back the idol to its place and when Napolean asked you know what happened to (someone), when he refused to reveal the whereabouts of Sri. Ramanujar, can only be done by Kamal.
4. Japanese guy doing stunts and also a split. Not sure if it was Kamal or dupe, but still great.
5. Vincent's body language was stiff and overconfident. Only Kamal can do it.
6. All in all a great effort by Kamal and team.

The movie is of the highest class in India and is the closest we get to Hollywood movies. It definitely has class and substance, but the screenplay was a bit jarry. Kamal had too many things to concentrate on, and hence has given more importance to his roles, than the flow of the movie. They could have cut down some chases, and explained more concepts.

I feel Kamal tried to infuse 2 concepts:
Events are related - Chaos Theory and
Everything happens for a Reason - Bhagavat Gita.

Kamal once again failed to explain the motive behind the movie - probably a Hollywood style approach, but it doesnt work for us. This will affect the reach of the movie. A simple movie like Avvai Shanmughi is more appreciable than Dasa for a simple reason that we can feel it better. I am not sure why Kamal still turns a deaf-ear to this law, even after so many failures.


the end.

The Strangers - Review

Being a fan of suspense/thriller movies it didn't take much deliberation to watch "The Strangers" in the first week of its release (that too in theaters :)). Also masked killers increased the curiosity about the movie since similar movies were thrilling and entertaining to watch (though quite predictable).

So my expectations were very simplistic when I went in, masked people trying to kill a couple, the movie having the same old suspense seen through the ages, yet would have something new to offer. Also since I read the preview and how only a couple is taunted, I didn't expect a dozen killings before the climax, so not seeing a dozen killings wasn't a disappointment for me from this movie, but more generally as a fan of thriller movies. I think SAW leads in innovative killings and will easily be my all time favorite for its goriness.

But this movie was far from being racy or catchy. Really far. It was dragging from the start till the end. The story was quite simple, 3 masked people (a man in formals and 2 ladies) marked an isolated house and attempted to scare, frustrate and then kill the the couple in it. The location and the atmosphere was well set and the lighting was perfect. But what missed was an equally good gameplay to support the field.

They scared the couple for about an hour, and then killed them in the morning in a very mild manner, by just tying them to a chair and stabbing with a knife. How un-gory. I think this should be the first movie a first-time horror movie watcher should be introduced, for its mildness. The director had a simple one-line story: 3 Masked people... kill a couple, but didnt know how to hold it on for the length of a movie. I think the movie would be better appreciated had it been crisp and shorter by an hour.

It clearly shows that the director was helplessly depending on... well nothing, to increase the length of the movie. I mean, how hard will it be to kill a woman with a broken leg who can barely crawl, when your motive is to kill her and you have an axe in your hand. Well, It takes a whole night! The murderers remove their masks before killing the couple but the director doesn't wish to show their faces to us. All I can infer from that scene is that, they are serial-killer wannabes, and just picked on this random couple since the couple don't recognize them, and will attempt many such murders. So it wont be a surprise if we see a Part -2, since the climax dialogues suggest something like that:
Christian Missionary Boy: Have you sinned?
Lady 1: Sometimes.
Lady 2: It will be a lot easier next time.

Lady 2 suggests that there will be many more of such killings.

Coming back to the movie, I would highly recommend to keep away from it. Not worth the $10 of your money unless you know the director/ believe in charity.

Scene I liked: End credits
Scene I disliked: Everything else.


the end.