Paruthi Veeran -- Movie Review

What does it take to make a movie that attracts the mass as well as the class audience? A great story? A taut screenplay? Brilliant performances? Technical extravaganza? The movie "Paruthi Veeran" could be one where we could explore all these aspects as I am sure that it will be a huge commercial hit that would be patronized by the art lovers also.

It is the story of a person called Paruthi Veeran(Karthik) and his love for Muthazhagu(Priya Mani) that forms the crux of the movie. Due to the perennial problem of caste, Muthazhagu's father(Played by Ponnvannan) does not approve of his daughter's love with Paruthi Veeran. Whether Paruthi Veeran & Muthazhagu get married forms the rest of the story. The story also takes a detour to explain the reason for the permanent squabbles between Ponnvannan & paruthi Veeran's uncle Sevvazhai(Saravanan). The flashback that comes in the middle of the movie to explain this is a bit confusing and is probably the weakest link of the movie.

The poorly narrated story is compensated with an extraordinary screenplay that keeps the viewer's attention tied to the happenings on the screen & it is no exaggeration that there is not even a single dull moment in the movie. The emotional scenes intertwined with the hilarious scenes involving Karthik, Saravanan & a villager(Played by Kanja Karuppu) kept me totally engrossed in the movie. The movie slowly picks up pace and roars towards an unexpected climax that made me leave the theater with an impact that would take a few days to wear off.

I would have surely believed if somebody had told me that Karthik is acting in his 50th movie & not in his debut movie. So strong is his performance that no words can do justice to his portrayal of Paruthi Veeran. With a strong probability of me sounding cliched, Karthik has not acted but has lived as Paruthi Veeran. His body language, dialogue delivery and dance are of the highest calibre. Karthik will be a welcome addition to the Tamil tinsel world & is sure to give a tough fight for the likes of Surya & Vikram with his histrionic capabilities.

The surprise package of the movie is Priya Mani. I saw her debut film "Kankallal Kaithu Sei" and was left wondering on why the director Ameer had chosen her for his movie. My skepticism about her acting capabilities have been blown away after seeing her portrayal of the character of Muthazhagu. Be it the stubbornness that she shows when her father beats her for roaming with Paruthi Veeran, the soft & tender love for Paruthi Veeran or the courage even in the midst of adversities etches the Muthazhagu character in the minds of the audience. Do not miss out the scene where she expresses her love to Karthik in the open field.

Yuvan Shankar Raaja comes up with his guns blazing in the background scores. I generally consider it blasphemy to compare the background scores of any music director with that of the "One & Only" Illayaraaja but this is probably one movie where I would make an exception. Yuvan would have made his father proud by his background music and songs. The songs "Ayyayo" and "Ariyatha Vayasu" are bound to be in everyone's lips for sometime.

The camera of Ramji drinks in the rustic setting of the village and brings out exceptionally well the finer nuances of a typical village. The close up shots combined with the long shots depicting bareness add a flavor that needs to be savored. The songs have been picturized neatly and the use of the black & white shots during the flashback brings in the much needed authenticity of the period it depicts.

Last Cut: With the small irritant about the story being a bit tough to follow during the flashbacks notwithstanding, this is a movie that is sure to leave its footmarks in the history of Tamil cinema. A not to be missed movie.

Rating: 8/10

The Game -- Book review

Author: Neil Strauss
Year of Publication: 2005

Introduction: I came to know about this book from one of my friends when we were having a general discussion about girls. He recommended me this book as something that deals with seduction of women and the term 'Pickup Artist' represents those people who specialize in doing this. My main motive behind reading this book was more because of my curious nature to find out the techniques that are used in seduction. How useful has this book been? Did it teach me something useful?

The plot: When the author Neil Strauss becomes frustrated by his inability to get a girlfriend for himself, he accidentally comes across a online group consisting of the pickup artists. He learns that a person by the nickname of Mystery is conducting seminars on seduction of women. He decides to enroll for his seminar and christens himself as Style to keep his his real life identity a secret. From that moment on, his life follows a roller coaster pattern with lots of twists & turns. Whether he becomes successful in his quest & the descriptions of his various conquests forms the crux of the plot.

When you care to look beyond the sexciting story, it is a story that talks on being comfortable about oneself. It can be considered as a soul-searching journey in which the author finally finds himself. Is seduction of women & the ways that are suggested in the book the right way to find out about oneself? Does the 'End' justify the 'Means'? The author provides the answers to all these questions by the time he finishes the story.

Narration Style: Making an appealing & riveting film is no different from creating an interesting book. A great film needs a beginning that piques the interest of the viewer, then it needs to build on a story & then finally reaches a crescendo and a conclusion that links any loose ends that might have been created in the process of narration of the story.

The author follows the same pattern described above during the narration of the story. The book starts with a scene describing the author taking Mystery to the mental health center for assistance. Then, the author goes back in time to describe the series of events that led to this state of affairs. Till the last 50 pages, the author concentrates on narrating the past events. In the last 50 pages, the author moves to the present and concentrates on closing the loose threads that he had created. The fact that the story describes the actual events that took place in the author's life makes the job of the author really tough. He has to concentrate on the really significant events so as to ensure that the reader is not lost in his narration of inconsequential events. The author does this with perfection, never letting the reader lose interest.

The only grouch I have regarding the style of writing is the explicit description of some of the sexual encounters. This could have been avoided but again, I should have expected that from a book of this type in the first place.

Bottom line: I would have surely recommended a personal copy of this book if not for the fact that the writing is explicit in some of the places and this book wouldn't sit well in your personal collection. Get a copy from the library/friend, read it in private & return it before your parents catch you reading it. An excellent read for the simple reason that it asks people to explore and dig deep within themselves to find solutions for their shortcomings.

World Cup Series -- Team India

The old warriors Ganguly & Kumble are back in the team. The Indian team now sports a mix of fresh minds & rich experience. Then there is 'Big 3' of Sachin, Ganguly & 'Wall' Dravid combining powers with the swashbuckling Sehwag & the rollicking Dhoni. Is this team capable enough to bring home the world cup? An inexperienced bowling attack combined with the 'Old' warriors who will be prove to be liabilities in fielding will act as the undoing for this otherwise talented team. Expect India to crash out after the 'Super 8' stage.

Strengths:
1) Strong batting lineup
2) Mix of experience & fresh legs
3) The 'Big 3'

Weaknesses:
1) An inexperienced bowling attack that will wither away under pressure
2) Fielding
3) A listless Sehwag & Pathan

Position after Super 8 stage:
5 or 6(Five or six)

The squad:
Rahul Dravid (Captain), Ajit Agarkar, Mahendra Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Uthappa

Expert Speaks: Vamsi's Take

Last Man Standing!

This seems to be story of the upcoming world cup wherein the hype surrounding the "most prestigious one-day tournament on the cricketing calendar" is going to be marred by the ability of each team to stand their best 11 on the field throughout the tour. All the teams are plagued either by injuries, out-of-form players or surprise retirements, which in turn ensured some drastic last minute changes. Most of the teams are now destined to fight for the world cup with either second-rated teams or with overaged individuals, and the selection criteria for each team is not based on talent and form, but rather on lack of options.

It wasn't long ago that team India was run by Greg Chappell's theory of engineering the young blood to take up the mantle and the experience of Dravid and Sachin to guide them through before they move into the realms of retirment. The idea was to ensure that a well-nurtured young team has the potential to sustain injuries and it also improves the fielding department, but that back-fired for a lot of valid reasons. And now, we enter the world cup with a team that is loaded with experienced individuals, most of whom will be playing their last World cup, and most of whom are carrying their injuries with them. But when you compare with the rest of the teams, on paper, India is fielding the best possible 15 in the world.

The story of the Indian team has been revolving a lot around one man, Sourav Chandidas Ganguly. His comeback to the team has been nothing but sensational and it resembles a lot to any popular Bollywood movie theme.... but can he live upto the expectation remains to be seen. An in-form Indian team was drubbed by the WI when we toured them last, and Ganguly wasn't part of that squad. Infact, it has been quite a while since Ganguly toured WI and though the pitches there are said to resemble a lot to the subcontinent batting beauties, it will be a different ball game all together playing in foreign conditions after a long time.

India have no batting worries yet, they have the explosive Robin Uthappa to support the rejuvenated Ganguly, and the middle order has the likes of Dravid, Sachin and Yuvraj. And then you have the maturity of Dhoni to finish things and if he were to show the same kind of consistency that he's shown over the past one year, India will definetely take some effort to beat. And if you are to look for more batting options, bring Sehwag in the middle order, given any signs of form. Ofcourse Dravid would always want Sehwag to feature in the mix of things, but he too cannot overlook his inconsistency with the bat and surely, he will not be missed in the field. An ideal situation would be to have Irfan Pathan fill in the position of number 7 that, from good olden days of cricket, was that of a genuine all-rounder. Pathan can still smack the ball out of the park with the bat, but it is when he bowls should he ensure the ball doesn't end up there too often. Pathan is no Shaun Pollock or Glen Mcgrath to trouble the batsman with his length, and during the early days of his career it was his swing that was doing wonders for him. Now, there is loads of support that can be dumped on Pathan from the captain and coach but getting selected for the world cup itself should act as a morale-booster. But once again it is upto him to come up with the goods when it matters.

A break has certainly done a world of good for Zaheer Khan, but the likes of Kumble, Harbhajan and Agarkar have been pretty ordinary off-late. Agreed that they are world class bowlers in their own ranks but they haven't done enough to trouble the batsman in the recent series. In our backup bowling options, Munaf Patel has the accuracy but lacks the fitness and Sreesanth has been too erratic. The biggest headache is the likeliness of our bowling to wilt under a counter-attack. For now, India has no answer to this.

But here is the interesting part. If you look at the winners of the 1996 world cup, the Srilankan team had a mix of youth and experience - in all departments. Comparing that team with the current Indian team, a similar mix and match of individuals can be found in all aspects and also the pitches are likely to suit the subcontinent teams. If India can go through this two-month period without any injuries, and if the big guns fire, I don't see any reason why India should not bring home the cup, albeit after a quarter century. And most of the big guns, be it batting or bowling, are playing their last world cup, so it doesn't get any bigger than this for all of them.

World Cup Series -- Team Sri Lanka

The Srilankan world cup triumph in 1996 has always been discredited by the fact that two teams (Australia & West Indies) forfeited their league matches because of security reasons. The Lankans, with their present lineup, has a chance to redeem themselves in the world cup stage. With a bowling lineup well suited for the West Indian conditions and an equally talented batting order, expect this team to prove to be a thorn in the ambitions of many a teams. With Jayasuriya regaining his savage 'touch', count this team in the list of teams for the semifinals.

Strengths:
1) An excellent bowling lineup with various options
2) A 'back to his best' Sanath Jayasuriya
3) Astute captaincy of Mahela Jayawardane

Weaknesses:
1) Over dependence on a few key players like Vaas & Muralitharan
2) A suspect middle order

Position after Super 8 stage:
4(Four)

The squad:
Mahela Jayawardene (Captain), Russel Arnold, Marvan Atapattu, Malinga Bandara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Nuwan Kulasekara, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga, Chaminda Vaas

World Cup Series -- Team Australia

With the recent 5 consecutive losses not withstanding, this Aussie team is still the team to beat. The batting order runs deep with batsmen of the caliber of Andrew Symonds coming in at 6 to spice up things. Then there is Michael Hussey, who is touted as the replacement to Michael Bevan, to create havoc among the opposition bowlers. Bowling remains the weakest link to this otherwise 'Near perfect' team. Even with the absence of Brett Lee, the bowling attack is still a formidable one with the great Glenn McGrath leading it from the front. Expect this team in the semifinals.

Strengths:
1) A great allround team
2) Ability to adjust to any condition
3) Their winning habit

Weaknesses:
1) Recent reversals
2) A 'not so formidable' bowling attack

Position after Super 8 stage:
1(One)

The squad:
Ricky Ponting (Captain), Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson

World Cup Series -- Team West Indies

Will the West Indies bring back the cup they used to dominate when the tournament started in the 70's? Is Lara capable enough to add the elusive world cup to his stupendous list of achievements? Does the present team have enough firepower to win this edition of the world cup? Home advantage always plays a great role in converting a formidable team into a unbeatable one and this Windies team would be greatly benefited by the support of the crowds. With a good combination of slow, medium & fast bowling options, this team has the personnel to make it to the semifinals of the tournament.

Strengths:
1) Home conditions
2) Bowling options
3) An improved fielding

Weaknesses:
1) Over dependence on Lara & Gayle
2) A weak middle order
3) Lack of a genuine strike bowler in the class of McGrath or Bond

Position after Super 8 stage:
3(Three)

The squad:

Brian Lara (Captain), Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor

World Cup Series -- Team Pakistan

If there is something that is consistent about any of the Pakistan cricket teams, it is their ability to be consistently inconsistent. With Akthar & Asif found 'unfit' for the world cup, it will be a Herculean task for this team to make it to the semifinals stage. With the services of Abdul Razzaq also being not available, only a miracle would be able to pull this team towards its second world cup triumph. All said & done, expect this team to pull some great upsets during the 'Super 8' stage as they could be monster slayers when they decide to work as a team. (Well, 'assuming' that they decide to work as a team)

Strengths:
1) Their 'Super' sized ego
2) ???? (If you find something else, please let me know)

Weaknesses:
1) Inability to work as a team
2) Absence of Asif, Akthar & Razzaq
3) Shoddy fielding

Position after Super 8 stage:
7(Seven)

The squad:

Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Azhar Mahmood, Danish Kaneria, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Yousuf, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Rao Ifitkhar Anjum, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat, Younis Khan

Expert Speaks: Vamsi's Take

Team Inconsistent!!

Of all the balls bowled by Shoaib Akhtar, two will always be etched in the memory of all cricketing folks around the world. The first one is in the 1999 world cup semi-final against New Zealand where in-set Stephen Flemming is cleaned up by a beauty, sending his off-stump sailing all the way to the keeper. All the players including Flemming himself were stunned by the pace of the delivery, and the chances for New Zealand slowly slippped away in that match. The second one is in the 2003 world cup league match against India, wherein a pumped up Akhtar was given the second over of the match and the third ball disappeared over the fence over third man for six. The momentum given by the Indians, in particular by Sachin, in that over changed the complexion of the match and what should have been a tough chase ended up to be a walk in the park. This is the story of the Pakistan team in all. Though the example quoted above shows matches that are 4 years apart, this team was and is capable of coming up with such a contrasting performance two matches in a row. Who would have thought, that a team ends up in the final of one of the most gripping world cups of recent times, would lose to Bangladesh in the league stage.

The Pakistan teams of 1992 and 1999 were well-balanced, as is always the case with any of their other world cup teams. They always tend to find the right balance of batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders, who can win the match from any situation. But what really worked for them during these two world cups in particular was the build-up leading to it. On both occasions they had good series at home and away and they gelled as a unit by the time the world cup was near. Comparing either of these with the outfit of 2003, the morale of the team was at a low following some disastrous tours prior to the start and some insipid interest of the politicians in playing with the team composition. The result, they crashed out of the world cup without making it to the super sixes. Another important note is the discipline of the team members. Most of the cricketers in the team considered their presence itself in the middle should be reason enough to win the match and never went on to put some effort in actually working towards it. Consistent players end up delivering the goods and are always feared because of their uncanny ability to do their basics right at any given situation, and that comes more out of practice. These were the kind of lessons that the Akhtars, Akrams and Waqars of the 2003 squad realized, albeit too late.

The good part for Pakistan now is that now they have a team that is not only well-balanced, but also has the discipline among its players that was definetely lacking at one point. The team has long realized that even without the services of "superstars", they can still come up with decent and consistent performances as long as the players are willing to take up the responsibility. Inzamam has been able to nurture his young squad with effect for quite sometime now and is also known for shaping up the careers of some promising your players like Imran Farhat, Mohammed Asif and Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan. And then he has the ever-reliable Mohammed Yousuf in the middle order who's been scoring runs by the mountains. The form of the captain himself has been commendable for the past few years now and ofcourse, it is a well known fact that it was the big stage of world cup 1992 that Inzamam powerfully announced his entry into the arena of cricketing greats.

So where does Pakistan stand in its chances of winning its second world cup? Lets verify each department. In batting, they have troubles at the top of their order, but the middle order seems to have settled in quite well with Inzamam, Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf providing them the stability and acceleration. They have a promising wicket-keeper in Kamran Akmal, who's shown the maturity of a middle order batsman but can also use the long handle very well. And then they have the belters - Afridi and Azhar Mehmood. Razzaq could have done some wonders for Pakistan in this department had he not joined the long list of injured players, but then Azhar Mehmood is also known to weild the long handle well. Their inexperienced bowling attack will be put to test in this series, and the doping charges/injuries to both Shoaib and Asif will definetely dent that department. But the conditions under which their back-up bowling has been tested are similar to those that will be found in the WI, and if the nature of the pitches are any close to those found in the sub-continent, their bowling might just click.

Does this mean this team has the ability to go all the way? The answer is a yes and no. This by far forms the beauty of unpredictable teams. Their build up to this year's world cup has been nothing less dramatic. From the brewing politics within the team to doping charges, from forcibly forfeiting test matches to puppet captains, the whole team has been in the hot seat for its histronics off the field than on it. And the prospect of winning against their neighbors has always put the team in a positive note, but unfortunately their last home series against the Indians was another disastrous drubbing that forced some more changes in the team composition. Just said all this, they just might surprise enough teams with consistent performances through the league stage, that might get them a good standing in the super 8. And then, one man's gain has to come at the loss of another, so if the other teams are to lose some ground somewhere during the league stage, Pakistan might just eke itself into the semi-finals. At this stage though, it appears to be a very long shot!!

World Cup Series -- Team South Africa

The proteas have been the "So close yet so far" team for a long time that it is time for them to prove their mettle at the largest showdown in world cricket. Will this team of great talent do what it has not been able to do after coming back to the league in 1992? Will it prove the maxim "The team with the best fielding side wins the world cup" true? Did the coaching talent of Jonty Rhodes help the proteas to go to the next level in fielding? Has the team "exorcised" the ghosts of their 1999 semifinal tie? With the record 436 run chase behind them, I feel that the Proteas have come a long way. With a bit of luck on their side, this South African team has got what is needed for holding aloft the world cup.

Strengths:
1) Meticulously planned approach to the game
2) Fielding
3) An excellent team

Weaknesses:
1) The "Ghost" of their previous world cup losses
2) Lack of spin bowling options
3) An inherent inability to adapt to hitherto unseen situations

Position after Super 8 stage:
2(Two)

The squad:
Graeme Smith(Captain), Loots Bosman, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Roger Telemachus

Expert Speaks: Vamsi's Take

World Number 1!

Hail the new kings of ODI cricket! SA have finally dethroned the Aussies from their number one ranking that they held close to 9 years, and though they weren't the team to give them the shove, they certainly were the team to start the process. The match that was dubbed to be the greatest ever ODI ever played (SA chasing down the Oz's 434) gave a lot of teams the kind of push that they needed to show that the Aussies are fallible as the rest. Some might claim that this particular match might be a blip on the radar, but looking at the SA's performance in ODIs prior to that series and over the past 24 months, they have come a long way to prove their consistency. They whitewashed the Windies in WI, drew the ODI series in India, gave India and NZ a horrible drubbing at home and gave Srilanka a jolt in Srilanka. The only blip in this rejuvenation period was to miss out on the finals berth against SL and Aus in the VB series, but that has happened to the best of teams during their tour Down Under.

Now come the interesting facts about South African cricket. Ever since one can remember, a team of their potential and track record has always been plagued by their ill-luck and their inability to cash in during crucial encounters. Other than a sublime victory over India at Sharjah or winning the ICC knockout trophy in 1998, SA have been known to collapse in multi-nation tournaments except at home. At home though, their record has been sublime. They have given the best of teams a whack in the back in ODIs except ofcourse at the world cup. And coming to world cups, they have a whole different story to tell. Every cricketing fan across the globe remembers the memorable rain-affected clash between England and SA, where the equation of 22 runs remained the same but the balls began shrinking by every rain drop falling on the Sydney Cricket Ground. If it were Gods having fun with the Proteas in 1992, it was a determined and fiery West Indian, who wanted to prove a point or two, took it to them after being in a racial taunt in 1996. Till that point, the West Indies hadn't done anything significant in that world cup, but went on to drown SA with a big score. This by far was the only reasonable and decent exit for the South Africans in world cup cricket. World cup 1999 brought to fore the name that was synonymous with SA cricket for quite sometime to come. 'Zulu' took it upon himself to see SA all the way from the inaugural game against India to the semi-final stage and almost got them through except ofcourse for a mis-judgement in a run with Donald which cost the world cup final berth. What followed next was history, but it would be interesting to notice that SA was by far the only semi-finalist who were able to defeat Pakistan in the league stage, thanks again to Lance Klusener. And then came the curse of the hosts in 2003. SA were well on track to get to Super-six, but then having thought that they had achieved the target they needed against Sri Lanka, Boucher decided to defend the last ball in the rain-affected match - that was by far the heights of mis-communication that can be ever recorded in a one-day game. These near misses might associate this team with 'the chokers' tag, but then are they equipped to finish in style this time around?

In batting, they have the swashbuckling captain to lead them from the front followed by Gibbs, Kallis, Prince, De Villiers and Kemp, everyone of whom is matchwinner in his own right. Then come the reliable Boucher and Shaun Pollock. And if you think the batting ends there, you are in for another surprise. Their recent find Andrew Hall has been playing the ball with the willow of a tail-ender but with the mind of a middle-order batsman. And then, their depth in batting goes all the way till number 9, which gives them enough buffer to pull themselves out of a hole if they find themselves in one. All they need is one top-order batsman to bat through and they will always find support from the tail to bat through the 50 overs. The only fallible point in their batting is their inability to adapt on a spin track against a quality spin team.

Teams like Pakistan, Australia and South Africa have always had reserves in digging up their fast bowlers from all corners of the country and not the itsy-bitsy Venkatesh Prasads and Debashish Mohantys of the Indian team, but genuine quality fast bowlers that can strangle the opposition. They can definetely boast of a quality bowling line up with Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini to lead the pack and Andrew Nel, Jacques Kallis and Andrew Hall to fill in the rest of the overs. The only department that is weak is in spin with the captain providing some part-time off-spin option and Botha coming into play on spin tracks.

And then comes the whole new dimension of modern day cricket, the fielding. This dimension is new in the sense, in prior days, Cricket, the Gentleman's game, was played like one. There would be no indication of dirt or mud on your outfit and throwing yourself around on the field to save a run was not necessary as your favors are bound to be returned by the opposition. Then came in SA in 1991 and along with them came Jonty Rhodes. From that year forth, the department of fielding has never been the same. It was these South Africans who took the concept of fielding to a whole new level and their standards still remain the same. Jonty Rhodes may be long gone into retirement, but his commitment to cricket has brought him back as their fielding coach and that has done the team more good. Any given South African team can easily outscore the opposition by atleast 20-30 runs in fielding alone, which is a great bonus in modern cricket.

This team, like all other South African World cup squads, has the capability to take home the cup, but the closest they have been to the cup is the semi-finals in 1992 and 1999. If they are able to stick to their plans and most importantly, if they are "lucky" this time around, they just might do it. It has been too many near misses to miss out on the ultimate cricketing glory.

World Cup Series -- Team New Zealand

The 'Blacks' from New Zealand recently did something what others have not been able to do in 646 one day internationals. Hand out the Aussies a 10-wicket loss for the first time in their cricketing history. The blacks also humiliated the Aussies by "black washing" them in the Chappell-Hadlee series. Does this all mean that the New Zealander's have the arsenal to take their first world cup? Will they be able to break their jinx of not having played in a world cup final till now? The lack of depth in their bowling will prove to be this team's Achilles heel and would prevent them from going all the way.

Strengths:
1) Captain Stephen Fleming's ability to marshal's his resources brilliantly
2) Shane Bond's pace
3) Their desire to take home the world cup

Weaknesses:
1) Lack of quality spin bowlers
2) Question mark over Jacob Oram's return
3) Ability to handle the pressure at the fag end of the tournament

Position after Super 8 stage:
5 or 6(Five or Six)

The squad:
Stephen Fleming(Captain), Shane Bond, James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Michael Mason, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent

Expert Speaks: Vamsi's Take

License to Thrill!

All it takes for a team to realize that there is no pressure on it whatsoever that its players start playing with their true potential. This lack of pressure can come in two ways, either you have a world class team and there is no chance you can lose, or you are playing against one and the odds are all against you. This was the kind of approach that ensured the Kiwis go on to give the world champions the kind of drubbing they haven't tasted in close to a decade. It is true that the Aussies weren't playing with half their normal side, but then it wasn't the full Australian bowling squad that defeated India and WI in Malaysia and also, it needs a determined effort from the whole team when you are chasing two 300 plus totals in crunch situations. And then you have Bond, who ripped apart the Australian line-up in the first match of the series.

But then, what are New Zealand's chances for the upcoming world cup? The good news part of it for New Zealand ends up with Craig McMillan, who's proven again that a break from cricket can bring out the best in you, and Shane Bond, who's immaculate pace has undone the best of teams. Their team has been one of the worst hit by injuries and surprise retirements. NZ would have loved to have Nathan Astle in their line-up given the state of WI pitches and his retirement couldn't have come at a worst possible juncture for their team, pschologically. But given Astle's recent form, it wouldn't be such a big blow. His retirement might provide a youngster the opportunity to come in and play with the same zeal and enthusiasm that Astle showed in his first tour of WI back in 1996.

NZ team has always comprised of its mix and match of all rounders, Chris Cairns and Chris Harris being two striking names, who could carry their team out of trouble single-handedly. Ever since their retirement, they have been unable to find any suitable replacements. Jacob Oram is one man who has been able to stand up to the opposition and has shown his ability to fight,more out of dogged determination than skill, and surely his experience with the bat and ball will come in handy. But then, he has been on the active injury list for NZ for quite sometime now, and how he shapes up after his break remains to be seen.

NZ have a lot of problems to resolve before the start of this world cup. Their biggest headache will be their inability to adapt on sluggish pitches. Their last two home series have been a great success but it should be realized that NZ has always been a strong team against any opposition at home. Their team has been playing extremely well on bouncy tracks and small grounds and are definetely gonna come a cropper when it comes to playing on slow pitches and against quality spin teams, as Srilanka and India showed them previously. The only area where they have no trouble whatsoever is in the area of fielding. They do not have a stable batting line-up and their bowling starts and ends with Bond. Coming to Bond, who's pace and swing have the knack of troubling the best of batsmen, I cannot remember a single series that has him playing in all the matches in the past 18 months, for he has always attracted injuries on himself. Their spin options end with Daniel Vettori, which is not a bad sign, for they might not need more than one spinner in the team.

Coming to their strengths, which aren't many, with the most experienced captain of three world cups, Stephen Flemming is probably looking at his last world cup as a player and a captain and he would definetely want to finish it on a high, but there aren't many players around him who can carry the burden of the innings under trying conditions. Craig McMillan and Scott Styris can support him in the batting department, and then there is inexperience. Bowling will depend completely on the availability of Shane Bond, and Daniel Vettori has a decent role to play as well. And if Vettori can be used properly in the batting order, he can be a handy batsman in this tournament. Overall, in order for NZ to excel in this world cup, they will certainly have to look towards the senior players to guide the new comers into defining their roles and giving them the freedom and responsibility. But then, when playing quality opposition, experience does come handy in alien conditions.

Finally, if this team starts playing with the confidence of dethroning the Aussies, they might be able to surprise a few teams in the tournament like they did to South Africa last world cup, but sadly that is about all you can expect from New Zealand.

Chennai 600028 -- Music Review

Music by: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Jalsa (Remix) -- A typical club remix song. Sounds like a modified version of "Pushing It Hard" from the movie "Kanda Naal Mudhal". Pronunciations are horrible. Go for the 'Skip' button

Jalsa -- A beautiful start and a much better singing keeps this song afloat. Sings about the importance of friendship or something on those lines. Allow this song to 'Play'

Natpukullae -- Even with the horrendous singing of Yuvan and a small resemblance to one of his previous song, this short song sustains the interest till the end. Allow this song to 'Play'

Ohh oh Ennanamo -- A beautifully done song with layer after layer of embellishments. If you are one of those persons who is very particular about proper pronunciation, Anushka(The singer) would have been banished to hell for life. Allow this song to 'Play'

Saroja -- You will be pardoned if you thought it is a song for a Vijay movie. A typical Shankar Mahadevan Kuthu song. As usual, a couple of lines from an old movie have been added in the middle of the song. Go for the 'Skip' button

Ullae Vaa -- The song starts with a Rap that is more like an English song than a Tamil song. The lyrics of the song seem to want to make use of the world cup fever with liberal use of the names of the Indian cricket team. The tamil rap in the interlude is enjoyable. Rest of the song is eminently forgettable. Go for the 'Skip' button

Unn Paarvai – This song is a tutorial on how to spoil an excellent tune and a nonchalant yet brilliant singing by adding bizarre sounding noises in the background. I have nothing against using computer generated sounds in a song but this takes it to a level where it starts to get on your nerves. If not for Vijay Yesudas, I would have hit the forward button in the first minute of the song itself. Go for the 'Skip' button

Yaaro Yaaro (Friendship) – If the inexplicable sounds were an irritation in the previous song, some kiddish lyrics spoils an otherwise decent song. Notwithstanding the orchestral music in the interlude, this song fails to evoke & sustain the interest. Go for the 'Skip' button

Yaaro Yaaro (Love) – Whenever a song features SPB & Chitra, we have come to expect a scintillating song. This song does not elevate itself to that level, maybe because of a jaded sounding SPB or listless music or some factor which I am unable to fathom. Best song of the album. Allow this song to 'Play'

Last Shout: Not worth buying

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)

Thaamirabharani -- Movie review

Statutory warning: Hari, the director of the movie & Bharath Reddy, the producer of the movie have issued a notice in the interest of the public. The notice says that they cannot be held responsible for any acts of violence that the audience commit after watching this movie.

Trivia: Hari & Bharath Reddy have asked for 'Z Class' security from the 'Films Division of India' (They are 'experienced' in handling these kind of situations & movies) as they perceive a threat to their life's by fans frustrated after watching this movie & wanting to take out their agony on either the director or the producer.

Story: The story is so complex & full of sub-plots that narrating "Mahabharatha" would appear to be child's play. The story is so long winded that at one point in the story, we have a flashback within a flashback!!!!! It is not just the circle that is spinning whenever a flashback begins. It is our heads that is left spinning in all the directions while the story is narrated. If your are one of those guys who decides to ignore the frustration of having such a long story by 'watching' the heroine, you will be even more disappointed at that. The heroine should be some relative of the producer or a popular MLA. There is no other way the girl could have been chosen for the role of a heroine. If a screen test had been taken, she would have failed to qualify even for Doordarshan's serials.

Performance: How do you waste the talent of an accomplished actress like Nathiya? How do you make Vijayakumar all the more irritating in his 'old man from village' role? How do you ineffectively use a performer like Nasser? Watch this movie to get a 'live demo' for doing all the above stated things & more. Then there is Prabhu, Rohini, Nizhalgal Ravi, Manorama making up the long list of people who have 'appeared' on screen at some point in the movie. Special mention is to be made of the hero Vishal. Apparently, someone forgot to tell him that playing a hero is not just about doing well in action & dance routines but also about 'acting'. Please pay particular attention to the climax scene (Assuming you are still alive & sane) where he plays kabbadi exceptionally well. If he had been in the Tamilnadu Kabbadi team, we would have won a gold medal in the just concluded Asian games. Alas! What a waste of talent as Vishal has chosen to do something that he is so inept at doing.

Other aspects: During the times that I remained calm and in my senses, two of the songs sounded decent. Just decent & nothing great. One another song was a blatant lift of the tune of the popular Amman song "Karpura Nayagiye". SHAME ON YOU, YUVAN. The background score was decent & showed Yuvan's growth as a music director. If the BGM's were one step forward in his musical career, the blatant lift is a 5 step fall. The camera & editing were pretty decent considering how lousy the movie turned out to be.

Positives: Thankfully, I am just an amateur movie reviewer. If only I had been a full-time reviewer, I would have resigned my job & gone to the Himalayas for doing penance for being asked to view & review such horrendous & stupid movies.

Final Cut: Do not even venture anywhere near the theaters screening this movie.

Rating: 3/10

Guru (Hindi) -- Movie Review

Introduction: Whenever Tendulkar descends on the field to bat, people expect him to score a century. Anything less than a century does not satiate the audience. Same is the case with the ace director Manirathnam. He is not judged by the general standards that is applicable for the other directors but is judged by the standard that he set for himself in his last venture. Overcoming a benchmark set by your own work is a daunting task for most of the people but Mani is one person who has shown consistently that he can live up to that task exceptionally well. With the 'Guru' movie, did Mani raise the bar once again for himself?

Story: Rumored to be the biopic of Dhirubhai Ambani, the movie is about a young man from Gujarat called Guru(Abhishek Bachan) who has high & lofty business plans. After spending some time earning money in Istanbul, he returns to India to start his own business. With no support forthcoming from his father, he decides to marry Sujatha(Aishwarya Rai) so that he can use the money that Sujatha's father has saved for her. He comes to Bombay with his brother-in-law as the partner & finds a system that is not very conducive for the smooth conducting of business. Nanaji(Mithun Chakravarthi), the editor of the newspaper 'The Independent', takes an instant liking to Guru because of the drive & fire that he exhibits. The story revolves around how Gurubhai becomes a successful industrialist and the problems that he faces during his ascent to the top.

Performances: As Guru, Abhishek Bachan proves that he is indeed a "chip of the old block". Be it showing the anger at not being able to achieve what he wants to do, the subtle but yet deep love that he shows for his wife, the affection that he showers on Vidya Balan (She plays the grand daughter of Nanaji), he elevates himself to be considered as a 'Top Class' actor. Mithun as Nanaji proves why he is so highly rated as an actor. Do watch out for the scene where he lashes out at his employees for printing 'fabricated' news. As is the case with any Mani movie, every character has a well-defined role & they play it out to perfection. Madhavan (as a journalist) and Vidya Balan are two notable performers who get to exhibit their histrionic skills. Also of worthy mention is the person who plays the role of Gurubhai's father. Aishwarya Rai's performance could be considered as the weakest link of all the commendable performances in the movie. It is not that she doesn't act well but it is just that she fails to do justice to such an important role.

Other aspects: The music director, A.R.Rahman, does what he is known to do well to perfection. Be it the lovely "Tere Bina" or the sweet "Barso Re" or the haunting "Jaage Hein", Rahman shows he is a great 'song' composer. Sadly, that is what he proves out to be in this movie as the background music is mesmerizing at places and pathetic at others. The repeated use of the "Tere Bina" tune whenever Aishwarya & Abhishek come together on screen or the use of the "Jaage Hein" tune for any emotion packed scene starts to soon get to your nerves. The BGM in the climax was one place where I was left desiring for a better score.

Rajiv Menon, the noted Ad films maker & the director of two movies, wields the camera with so much panache that you are left spell-bound at his 'creations'. The fields & mountains of Gujarat, the mosques of Istanbul, the streets of Bombay come alive in his camera. The art direction (Not sure on who the art director is) is also a noteworthy aspect of the movie. Vividly creating the India of the 1970's through his art work, the art director plays a hidden but an all important role in making the movie look authentic. The editing by Sreekar Prasad is adequate as the story & screenplay does not offer much scope for the use of the latest editing techniques.

Final Cut: Manirathnam raises the benchmark for himself once again with this movie. An absolute "Must Watch" for any lover of good & 'meaningful' cinema.

Rating: 8/10

Thiruvilayadal Aarambam -- Movie Review

Introduction: I am not known for watching movies that doesn't have a well known director or a star cast on which you can put your hard earned money. 'Thiruvilayadal Aarambam' was an exception for the simple reason that I was hearing some good reviews and Dhanush & Prakash Raj are good actors who can be relied upon to give a decent performance. Did the movie meet my expectations?

Story: Thiru (Dhanush) is a young guy who is in search of a job. He is interested in starting his business for which he seeks the help of his father (played by Mouli). During this time, he falls in love with Guru's (Prakash Raj) sister (Shreya). As is the 'normal' trend, Guru is a rich guy & he doesn't want to marry his sister to a poor guy like Thiru. Whether Thiru is able to win the acceptance of Guru & take his sister's hand with his permission forms the rest of the story.

First Cut: This is 'supposed' to be a comedy movie and it does satisfy that tag to an extent. But, only to an extent. One of its major shortcomings is the lack of a good screenplay. Comedy movies can have the most craziest of stories or even lack a story and still could make for interesting viewing if the screenplay is interesting & fast-paced. This is one area where the director leaves us longing for more. The director seems to have decided in the beginning itself on where the climax should take place and the dialogue for each of the character. When he could not do that with his originally decided story, he invents new situations and adjusts the screenplay to match those situations. This proves to be the undoing for this movie. There are indeed a lot of scenes where the director is able to bring instant laughter with his witty dialogues. Sadly, witty dialogues here & there does not transform a lousy movie into a good watch.

Performances: Sadly, the acting talents of Dhanush & Prakash Raj have been wasted as the screenplay moves from one scene to the next without building up any scope for these people to show their histrionic capabilities. Shreya does what I expected her to do. Look dumb with sub-zero acting skills & bad dialogue synchronization. Also, the low budget of the movie left Shreya with very little to wear on screen :-) . Mouli & Saranya (She plays the mother of Dhanush) just make up the numbers & have very less to do in terms of acting.

Other aspects: Imaan scores two brilliant melodies in "Vizhigalil vizhigalil" & "Kannukul enno". The remixed song "Ennama kannu" is also decent enough. The blatant use of tunes from songs of other movies(instrumental) could have been avoided for it sticks out like a sour thumb. The "Vizhigalil Vizhigalil" song has been picturized beautifully (Especially note the blue tinge that is present throughout this song). Editing is decent enough but there were a few places where the story seems to jump suddenly as if the editor slept while doing his work.

Final Cut: You would be better off watching the comedy clippings when they show it in the TV channels than going for this movie.

Rating: 4/10

Ohhh....... What a score

Just happened to see the scoreboard of the Mumbai (vs) Baroda ranji trophy semifinal match. What interested me in this news is the fact that the score card read 5-0 during Mumbai's second innings. Anyone who follows cricket would understand that it is normal to have a score of five for no loss at the beginning of an innings. The interesting part is that it is actually zero for five wickets. The top 5 batsmen of Mumbai scored a duck!!!! The other fascinating thing is that Mumbai went on to win this match. Is it that the ranji matches have become so competitive or is it because the standards have fallen so much? Knowledgeable folks, please help me out.

Book Exhibition -- My hauls!!!!

There was this book exhibition in Chennai & I happened to go there with my mother. We had a good haul of books from there. Given below is the photo of the books that we got. A book by Balakumaran is missing from this photo as my grandmother immediately started reading it!!! And yeah, I am not sure on when I would get the time to read all this as my project is entering its final phase............

Essentials: Leadership -- Book review

Introduction: This book caught my attention in the British Council Library immediately for the impressive color of the front cover. And once I completed the book, I found out that it is not just the cover that is colorful. Tom Peter's comes up with a short & succinct book on the qualities that is essential for the 'modern' day leader.

Analysis: Whenever someone proposes something that asks people to throw away all their old paradigms & to create new paradigms, the presentation of that idea becomes a challenge in itself. Tom proposes ideas for the 'Chaotic' new world that are sometimes brilliant & sometimes outrageously arrogant. Some of his ideas that immediately caught my attention:

• Hire people who have been doing weird & yet wonderful stuff. Tom even goes to the extent of asking people to not hire 4.0 GPA's for he feels that they would not have had much time to do anything else other than studying!!!! (This irritated me quite a bit............... Some of my friends can easily tell why)
• Women will rule the world. According to Tom, the chaotic new world requires people who can do many things at the same time and women are inherently capable of doing this. (Sorry guys, I am not 'inventing' this on my own)
• Value-added service is no more an additional service but a necessity. It is something that every company should do for its own survival.
  

Writing Style: The author follows a writing style that is informal, free flowing and simply astounding. The "To do" lists at the end of each chapter beautifully summarizes the way leadership has been thinking presently & the way it should be thinking for the changing world.

Book Design: One of the highlights of this book is the beautiful design of the book. The color combinations and the appropriately placed photographs make this book such an interesting read. The small anecdotes at the sides & bottom of the pages along with interesting statistics is another highlight of this book.

Bottom Line: This is an absolute 'Must-read' for all people aspiring to lead a team at some point of time in their career. Buy a book & keep it in your desk as a quick reference.

Being Freddie - My story so far -- Book Review

Introduction: It is an irony that I get to read the autobiography of Flintoff and his accounts of the 2005 Ashes series triumph when the England team led by him just suffered the ignominy of suffering a white wash in their 2006 Ashes series. Andrew Flintoff (popularly known as 'Freddie') should have been eager to capitalize on the popularity of the ashes triumph and seems to have come up with this book for just that purpose.

Narration Style: At the beginning of the book when Freddie says that things like bowling, batting & playing chess came naturally to him, I felt that he was trying to blow his own trumpets a bit too much. As the book progressed, I understood that he was very candid & the initial statements were more of a direct way of putting things across. The frankness with which he admits some of his mistakes on & off the field make Freddie very endearing. If you weren't a big fan of Freddie already, you would surely become one after reading this book. He gives us accounts of his cricket playing days from the age of six and his phenomenal rise till the ashes series where he won the man-of-the-series award in a lively & humorous manner.

Negatives: One of the major problems of the book is the lack of a personal touch. The book, at best, appears to be a tour diary than an autobiography. Freddie never deals with the emotional turmoils that he has surmounted during his off-days & also during the emotionally draining ashes series. I can understand when he doesn't talk about his family to a great extent but what beats me is the lack of description of the inner battles that he has won during his rise to the stature of a superstar in England. His openness and some interesting anecdotes prevent the book from becoming an absolute waste of time.

Bottomline: You would probably be better of reading various cricket news in the net & in the paper than reading this book. They would give you as much or maybe more information about cricket at the highest level than this book.

Trivia: Do not miss out on what Freddie has to say about Ganguly. You can read about it here.