World Cup Series -- Team England

It is indeed an irony that England, the ‘birthplace’ of cricket, has not won a world cup. Like everything else in their lives, cricket & cricketers are probably given more credit than they actually deserve. With a victory in the one day series over the Aussies secure in their kitty, the whole of England might have started ‘dreaming’ about the chances of their team winning their first world cup. A dream it would prove out to be for this England team lacks the depth & the firepower to go beyond the ‘Super 8’ stage of the tournament.

Strengths:
1) Andrew Flintoff
2) A fully fit Kevin Pietersen
3) The return of Michael Vaughan to the helm
4) The all-round talent of Paul Collingwood

Weaknesses:
1) Lack of quality fast & spin bowling
2) Limited all-rounders
3) A fickle middle order

Position after Super 8 stage:
8(Eight)

The squad:
Michael Vaughan(Captain), Ed Joyce, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ravi Bopara, Paul Nixon, Jamie Dalrymple, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson, Sajid Mahmood, Jon Lewis, Monty Panesar

Cricket World Cup 2007

With just 16 days to go for the world cup, it is proving highly irresistible for me to not blog something about cricket. Who has the best chance to win this world cup? Will the Aussies do what the Windies of the 70's were not able to achieve? Will the Aussies be able to prove everyone who has been shouting hoarse that their glory days are over wrong? Will Lara or Tendulkar help their team (And themselves, by the way) win the greatest one-day prize? Is the present England team capable of breaking their jinx of never winning a world cup this time? Which of the teams among Sri Lanka or New Zealand the dark horse of this tournament capable of producing some great upsets? Is any other team apart from the 8 top teams capable of making an impact/upset in the tournament? Does the present South African team have the mental edge to go all the way? What should be the expectation from the Indian team with the top order clicking and peaking at the right time?

Whatever the outcome of this tournament, it is going to be a great entertainer. So, lets enjoy the show!

Travel Diary -- Dhyana Lingam

(The road leading to the Dhyana Lingam meditation center)

Had been to Coimbatore this week (Taking a break from my office routine) from 22/Feb to 25/Feb. This vacation turned out to be more of a pilgrimage with me visiting 5 temples in and around CBE in two days time. One of the places I visited is the "Dhyana Lingam" near Velliangiri hills(In the backdrop). It is 30 kms from CBE and we traveled by a car to this place. The last 6 to 7 kms of this travel is on muddy roads and it is indeed a nature lover's delight to be traveling to this place. The serene atmosphere combined with the natural roads, pristine forest make an avid photographer like me jump in joy.

The dhyana lingam shrine, established by Sadhguru, has a meditation center, a small pool located 30 feet below the ground level in which a 660 kg mercury lingam has been consectrated and 3 faces of Lord Shiva representing the 3 phases of man kind. (I would try to find more information on what the exact terms for the 3 faces are and post it here). The pool is around 6 feet deep & anyone could take a dip in the holy water assuming they have a spare set of dress along with them. One can enter into the pool after climbing down some 30 odd steps. The water is supplied from a pipe from the ground. The idol of Shiva immersed in the water is supposed to give the water medicinal properties. As I was not aware of this pool, all that I could end up doing is enter the pool to dip my feet in the holy water.

(Entrance to the meditation center. "Aum" symbol is visible)

The entrance to the meditation center has a large beam that bears the signs of "Aum", the " Crescent" and the "Cross" signifying that the meditation center is beyond all religions, faiths & beliefs. Inside, it has a semicircular dome like structure with a Shiva Lingam in the center. There are small cave like enclosures in the wall. People are recommended to sit in these enclosures and meditate. The peace and serenity that engulfs the whole place is something that can only be experienced and can never be described in words.

There are a lot of volunteers from the "Isha Foundation" who guide the visitors around the place. First time visitors to the place are given a brief introduction about the place and about the decorum that needs to be maintained while in the place. There is also a coffee day inside the building that serves various types of porridge(Kanji in tamil). Given all these positive points, there was something in my mind that kept nagging me and did not allow me getting the peace that I should have taken from this place. Was it the nature of the construction of the building that looked more like a set from a movie (or) is it that photos were prohibited not just inside but also outside the building (or) the fact that most of the volunteers had a clean shaven head with a 2-day old stub of beard that seemed out of place? I would never be able to tell.

All said & done, this a place that needs to be visited for the sheer natural environment in which this meditation center is constructed.

Deepavali -- Movie Review

Introduction: Let me get honest about this. I watched this movie only for two reasons. One is the fact that it had 3 songs that I liked a lot & the other reason is that it had Bhavana!!! (And you obviously know which of these two is the main reason..... :-) ) The fact that the movie was directed by Ezhil, the director who is known for making 'senti' movies like "Thulatha Mannamum Thullum" and "Poovellam Unn Vaasam" did act as a small deterrent. How did this bold venture of mine turn out to be?

Story: The story starts on an interesting note with the hero Billu('Jayam' Ravi) getting thrashed by henchmen of the villain and left to die in the highway. The hero gets hit by a lorry and he is thrown out of the road. He survives the accident and as only heroes can, gets out of the hospital bed to rush towards Bangalore in his bike. In Bangalore, the heroine Susi(Bhavana) is happy singing a song & is getting ready for her betrothal. When Billu enters the scene and asks Susi to come with him, Susi looks bewildered as she doesn't recognize Billu. The story goes on a flashback mode to trace why Susi behaves as though she doesn't know Billu with whom she was in love in Chennai. Whether Billu is able to win the love of Susi forms the rest of the plot.

It seems the producer of the movie Lingusamy(The director of movies like 'Run', 'Anandam' & 'Sandai Kozhi') has ghost directed the movie in many places for there are sudden changes in pace of the movie. After the brisk start to the movie, the movie starts meandering its way. At the point where the audience could not have taken it anymore, an interesting twist happens in the plot that makes us sit up and expect more. This sequence of 'slow' motion type of story & a sudden twist in the script occurs throughout the movie and proves to be the undoing for the film.

Performances: As expected, 'Jayam' Ravi proves his mettle in action & dance sequences. The unexpected thing is his portrayal of a soft lover character with panache. 'Jayam' Ravi proves my expectation wrong with his subdued performance. He really emotes well & handles the role with complete ease. Hats off to him. Bhavana appears in beautiful, jazzy costumes and looks awesome :-) . And regarding her acting, she delivers what is expected of a person from the Malayalam movie industry. A topnotch performance. Then there is some worthy performances from Vijayakumar, Haneefa, Devadarshini & villain(Not sure about his name).

Other aspects: The Yuvan tuned songs "Kadhal Vaithu", "Pogathe" & "Thoduvaen" are worth many a listen. The picturization of the songs is a treat to the eyes with the colors, hues & costumes making the songs a visually satisfying experience. Don't miss out the way in which the camera plays around some middle eastern country fort during the song "Thoduvaen". Yuvan comes of age with a classy background score. Be it the introduction of the hero, the soft & poignant love scenes, the meeting between the hero & the villain, Yuvan comes up with scintillating scores for each of these scenes.

The camera by Vijay Milton has class written all over it. I did not think even for a moment that the Royapuram area around which the movie revolves is actually a set done by Sasikumar. A wonderfully done piece of artwork that would have made the stalwarts like Sabu Cyril & 'Thotta' Tharani happy.

Final Cut: Despite exemplary performances by the actors & the technical crew, this movie fails to create the much needed impact because of a sloppy storyline. If the screenplay had been much more taut, this movie could have gone to become a great box office hit.

Rating: 5/10

PachaiKili MuthuCharam -- Movie Review

Introduction: Gautham is one of those highly rated directors well known for his distinct style of movie making. With all his previous ventures (Minnale, Kaaka Kaaka, Vettayadu Villayaadu) proving to be great grossers, will he prove that he is no ordinary flash-in-the-pan and that he is here to stay & change the way movies are made in tamil?

Story: When the 6-year old son of Venkatesh(Sarath Kumar) and Kalyani(Andrea) is identified with diabetes, the life of Venkatesh takes a turn. With Kalyani very much worried about their son's health and spending most of her time with their son, the marital life of Venkatesh suffers. This is when Geetha(Jyothika), a married woman working in ABN AMRO Bank, enters the life of the hero. With a relationship bordering on extra-marital affairs which both Venkatesh & Geetha realize, the story takes yet another turn when they both decide to spend a day in a beach resort. What happens in the beach resort & the repercussions of all these forms the rest of the story.

Performances: As expected, the best performance comes from Jyothika. Jyothika seems to have all the emotions in her repertoire and it comes of brilliantly on screen. Sarath Kumar shows that emoting comes as naturally as doing the fight sequences. Here he does both with elan. Milind Soman(He plays the villain) does his role to perfection without much ado. Andrea is probably the weakest link among the lead roles and it is one of the sour points of the movie.

Other aspects: One of the first things that needs to be appreciated is the number of close-up shots that the director has used with his lead characters. To be able to use this many close-up shots is to believe in the acting talents of his lead actors and barring Andrea, the others have done justice to Menon's trust on them. The camera by Arvind Krishna is pleasing and allows the movie to smoothly flow. The screenplay is tight enough to maintain the viewer's interest & the only place where the movie disappoints is in the final 20 minutes where the director seems confused on the way he needs to finish the movie. The way the song "Unn Siripinil" is pictured very much similar to the song "Partha Mudhal Naale" from "Vettayadu Villayadu" and could have been avoided.

The music by Harris Jeyaraj is astounding, to say the least. With all the songs hugely popular already, the background music also proves as an asset to the movie. The editing is crisp except for one particular place in the movie where it seemed to have jumped to the next shot without finishing the previous one. Pay good attention to the sets in the background for the song "Kaadhal Konjam". The paintings in the background are so real that it would be easy to assume that the song was taken outside than in a set.

Final Cut: The movie needs to be appreciated for the Hollywood like film-making in general and for usage of the close-up shots in particular. If not for the shoddy finish, this movie would have set a new standard in tamil movie making.

Rating: 6.5/10

Katrin Mozhi -- Song review

Song : Katrin Mozhi
Movie : Mozhi
Singer: Balram
Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Music : Vidyasagar

The song starts with a short, soft & sweet guitar prelude. This guitar piece is instantly catchy and raises your expectation about the song. Then, the voice of Balram starts off beautifully. The resounding voice of balram streams along with the Guitar piece and takes you to another plane. Till the start of the first para, the voice of Balram & the guitar play in such harmony that you are transported to a different world. Just before the first para starts, the guitar gives way to a foot-tapping tabla piece and a mellifluos flute piece. Once the para starts, the tabla takes a secondary role allowing the magnetic voice of Balram to lead the way. The pure tamil lyrics & the excellent pronounciation makes the song even more beautiful. The interlude consists of a piano piece that weaves magic and leaves the listener's spellbound. Like adding another color to an already colorful rangoli, the tabla is added as another layer to the piano. Soon, the tabla paves way for a haunting flute piece. The end of the interlude is followed by the second para with again just the tabla supporting the vocals. As though to signify the importance of silence, the song ends in a perfect way with just the voice of Balram bringing a peace that is too good to be missed.

It would be a gross injustice if a description of this extra-ordinary song is done without a mention of the importance of the lyrics by Vairamuthu. The lyrics are in the same mode as the "Unn samayal arayil" from Dhill except that this talks about the language of language itself. The two lines given below gave me the goose bumps.

"Iyarkayin Mozhigal Purinthuvidil,
Manitharin Mozhigal Thevayillai.

Ithayathin Mozhigal Purinthuvidil,

Manitharku Mozhiye Thevayillai"

A song that should directly enter the realms of all-time hits. A classic indeed!

Mozhi -- The language of 'Love'

I have high expectations on movies that are produced by Prakash Raj. I consider his movies to be slightly different from the normal fare & also because of the high importance that he places on the technical aspects of the film like music, camera, story & screenplay.

The 'supposed' story line of the movie "Mozhi" sounded exciting & the fact that the just released audio of the same movie is getting some pretty good reviews (I am yet to hear the song as I was not able to get hold of the CD) has me eagerly waiting for this movie. Check out this link of the movie for more information.

Besant Nagar beach -- Photos (Take II)

Photo #1

Photo #1: A woman predicting the future for a young man. The eager & anxious look in the face of the young guy and the all knowing posture of the woman forms a real beautiful setting.

Photo #2

Photo #2: The colors captured in the photo speaks a thousand words. You name a color and it is present in this photo.

Photo #3

Photo #3: My most favorite photo in all this. This small kid just came up before me & stood looking at the camera as though he was waiting to be photographed. The kurta that he is wearing gives a 1950's look to the picture. His dark complexion combined with the sepia tone enhances the quality of the picture.

Besant Nagar beach -- Photos

This weekend I had been to Besant Nagar beach & obviously with my camera. Had a rich haul of photos and some of them came really well. One of the best things about digital camera is the 'Sepia' tone photos and the black & white photos that can be taken with them. These photos turn out to be more natural than the conversions that can be done with softwares like Picassa.

Photo #1

Photo #1: The masks that were on sale had a kaleidoscope like colors & it was too good to be missed.

Photo #2

Photo #2: The boy selling the cotton puffs. The pink color of the cotton puffs, the light blue sky & sea all seem neutralized in the sepia tone and gives a surrealistic image of the setting. The briskness of the boy selling the goods is something that would remain in my memory image for quite sometime.

Photo #3

Photo #3: A black & white photo of a battered hand pulled cart. On a buzzing environment like the beach, this dilapidated cart presents quite a stark contrast. The B & W seems to add more meaning to the picture.

Photo #4

Photo #4: A poor old man walking through the crowds asking for help. This again provided a chance to capture the contrast that existed in the environment. With people around having fun in the beach, an old man asking for money gave a sad picture. The two dogs sleeping in the midst of all the commotion is yet another contrast.

(It would be really helpful for me if visitors could post their comments & ratings for the photos. Thanks)