Tendulkar is GREAT but.....

Every aging sports icon has to go through a cruel phase of introspection where he has to answer to himself & his millions of fans on his impending retirement. The icon has to decide to call it quits when the question is still "Why retire now?" and before the question turns into "Why not retire now?" One of the persons who did this to perfection is 'Pistol' Pete Sampras. When the sports fraternity had started writing him off, he showed the world what he is made up of by winning the US Open championship and his record 14th grand slam tournament. Then he coolly bid farewell to the game when at the top of his game. He did not pick up a racquet for close to 3 years and when he finally did pick up a racquet for a seniors tournament, no less a person than John McEnroe wants him to return to his famous hunting ground of Wimbledon.

A similar problem seems to be haunting Sachin Tendulkar these days. Anyone who watched him play Bangladesh even for 10 minutes could clearly tell that there is something terribly wrong with him and his cricket. It is not that I don't recognize the contribution Sachin has made to Indian cricket but to still continue playing when his mind is not there in the game is doing injustice to a prospective younger player aiming for his batting slot. More than injustice to a player, it is a great injustice to the public in a cricket loving nation like India. It is unfair on my part to suggest this but the facts seem to point to only this: Sachin is still playing only for the huge amount of endorsements that he has signed for. When you think that Sachin is worth a staggering $4.6 million annual endorsement money it is easily fathomable to understand the motive behind Sachin wanting to continue playing internationally. Will Sachin prove me wrong in England and make me eat my words? I would be more than happy to do that but the chances of that happening are very slim though right now.

Tim Duncan -- Team Man Extraordinaire

What does it take to be considered as one of the greatest NBA player of the present generation and still be away from the glaring spotlight and frenzy of the media? A humility & humbleness beyond anything that the NBA watching American crowd has ever known to exist. Tim Duncan personifies the word 'Team Player' and even raises the grid a few levels for this term in his own nonchalant way. When flashing dunks and looping throws are the norm of the day, here is a man who plays a selfless game with the disposition of a Buddhist monk. He might (and he is) be considered too boring a player that not many of the Spurs fan buy & wear his numbered jersey. And he doesn't seem to care about it a lot. He is a leader from whom the likes of Kobe, Shaq and others should take tutorials from on a regular basis. As the management gurus would tell, "Point out a mistake and he would look at himself in the mirror. Praise him and he would point out through the windows".

(Right hand corner caption captures the essence perfectly)

And why did I suddenly go raving about Duncan? I found two articles pertaining to Duncan here and here & couldn't help but thinking about his greatness. The chances of the Spurs becoming the champions this year are very high and even higher are the chances that Tim Duncan will be the finals MVP. Mark my words: if that happens, the chances of Duncan talking about how great his team is, his coach Popovich is are really high. And do I expect him to talk about his contributions for the victory? Not a chance. Duncan is beyond all that!!

The Starfish Story

Very frequently I get to hear from people about the futility of someone trying to change the way things are done at office or at home or in the world. I always get to hear these words from those people: "It doesn't make a difference". Whenever this statement comes up, a story that I have read and internalized springs to my mind.

One day a man was walking along the seashore. He noticed that during the night many seashells and starfish had washed upon the beach. Thoroughly enjoying the morning sun and cool sea air, the man walked for miles.

As he strolled along, he noticed a small figure dancing in the distance. It made him chuckle to think of someone celebrating life in such an uninhibited way. As he drew closer, however, it became apparent that the figure was not dancing. Instead, she seemed to be repeatedly performing some ritual.

He drew nearer still and noticed that the small figure was a child. She was methodically picking up starfish and tossing them into the surf. He paused for a moment, puzzled, then asked, "Why are you throwing these starfish?"

"It's high tide," she replied, "If I leave them on the beach, the sun will soon dry them and they will die. I am throwing them into the ocean so they can live." The man considered her actions, impressed with the child's thoughtfulness. Then he motioned up and down the miles of the beach. "There must be thousands of starfish along here," he said, "You cannot possibly make a difference."

The young girl stopped. Her face darkened. She chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip, "You're probably right," she said softly. She looked down at the sand. Then she leaned over, carefully picked up another starfish, pulled back and arched it gently into the sea.

With a tone of gentle defiance, she said, "But I made a difference for that one."

Paradigm Shift

I am presently reading the "The 7 habits of highly effective people" by Stephen Covey and the story reproduced below is one that has greatly impressed me. I don't think the concept of "Paradigm Shift" could have been explained any better than this.

Important note: This story has been taken verbatim from the book and is NOT my own writing.

I remember a mini-Paradigm Shift I experienced one Sunday morning on a subway in New York. People were sitting quietly -- some reading newspapers, some lost in thought, some resting with their eyes closed. It was a calm, peaceful scene.

Then suddenly, a man and his children entered the subway car. The children were so loud and rambunctious that instantly the whole climate changed. The man sat down next to me and closed his eyes, apparently oblivious to the situation. The children were yelling back and forth, throwing things, even grabbing people's papers. It was very disturbing. And yet, the man sitting next to me did nothing.

It was difficult not to feel irritated. I could not believe that he could be so insensitive to let his children run wild like that and do nothing about it, taking no responsibility at all. It was easy to see that everyone else on the subway felt irritated, too. So finally, with what I felt was unusual patience and restraint, I turned to him and said, "Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn't control them a little more?"

The man lifted his gaze as if to come to a consciousness of the situation for the first time and said softly, "Oh, you're right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don't know what to think, and I guess they don't know how to handle it either."

Can you imagine what I felt at that moment? My paradigm shifted. Suddenly I saw things differently; I felt differently, I behaved differently. My irritation vanished. I didn't have to worry about controlling my attitude or my behavior; my heart was filled with the man's pain. Feelings of sympathy and compassion flowed freely. "Your wife just died? Oh, I'm so sorry. Can you tell me about it? What can I do to help?" Everything changed in an instant.

Periyar -- Movie Review

I was eagerly waiting to watch this movie ever since it released for two reasons. First is due to the fact that it is about Periyar E.V.Ramasamy, a known atheist and rational thinking proponent. I am very poor in history & wanted to find out what Periyar's philosophy is and why he is so highly rated & respected. Second is because it is directed by Gnana Rajasekaran, the director of the movie "Bharathi". Though Bharathi was not a great movie, it was a decent attempt in making a biopic of a very popular person in Tamilnadu.

The story of Periyar (1879-1973) starts with E.V.Ramasamy being shown as a person who hates the traditions and the associated superstitious beliefs that were prevalent during his time. He criticizes the orthodox practices of his mother and family. When his father openly condemns him in front of others for a 'perceived' disrespect to the Brahmin's community, he leaves Erode to make his own living. His growth from that stage as a rational thinker to a leader of the people is portrayed in a beautiful albeit slow manner.

Some of the scenes & dialogues are thought provoking and add the necessary spice to an otherwise slow narration of the events. Considering the fact that the director has to deal with narrating the life story of a person who lived for 94 years with a major portion of it spent under the public radar, it is indeed a commendable effort to sustain the interests of the viewer for a 3-hour span. Due to my lack of knowledge about the life of Periyar, I am unable to comment on whether the director covered all the significant events in Periyar's life. The only thing that I could vouch for is that the director did indeed keep me interested throughout and not even once did I feel bored with the proceedings. The music of Vidyasagar and the lyrics of Vairamuthu give able support to the director. Sathyaraj (as Periyar) comes up with a brilliant performance and portrayal of the aging Periyar is exemplary and surely deserves rich accolades (Check out the small peeve I had about Sathyaraj in the negatives)

The negatives of the movie are:

1. There is no mention of the year of the incidents. The director assumes that the viewer is familiar with the dates & years (Which I was not) of those events and hence the narration appears incomplete
2. Only the positive image of Periyar is projected. The balance that comes out of projecting the human frailty of Periyar is missing
3. Some of the events look contrived and seem to be inserted to please Periyar's followers
4. The camera work by Thankar Bachan is atrocious (Or was it the projector at Sree theater or my sullied glasses?). Many of the long shots appeared hazy and out of focus
5. Sathyaraj's acting in the initial stages of the movie(As the middle aged person). He seems to have acted in a lot of action movies these days and his body language reflects that
6. The makeup leaves a lot to be desired. The face of Sathyaraj projects a different age while his hands project a different age (Check it in the photo above). It is applicable for the rest of the cast as well
   

Last Cut: Despite the long list of grievances against the movie, Periyar is a movie that is worth watching for the honest attempt. Go with an open mind regarding the discussions about God and you will enjoy this movie.

Rating: 7/10

P.S: For an entirely different view about this movie, check out my friend's review here. Read the interview of Gnana Rajasekaran here.

Spiderman 3 -- Movie Review

"We have a choice" -- this is one of the dialogues that Spiderman tells in the third edition of the franchise movie "Spiderman". Very true indeed. I had a choice of heeding to the review posted by my friends here or to this one here. I made the 'wrong' choice of still going ahead to watch this movie.

Assume that you are the director of a franchise movie like the Spiderman. What would you do to make the third edition of the movie become a greater grosser than the previous two movies? Elementary, Dr.Watson.

1. Add more villains. More villains equals more stupid fight sequences involving the 'Super Hero' Spiderman
2. Throw in a bit of revenge to add more dramatic action scenes
3. Add some silly tiffs between Spiderman & his love interest so that the 'Super Hero' could show his human side
4. Add oodles of sentiment to make the public sniff and sob during the movie

The director does all this and more. What we get is a English movie that looks more like a Hindi movie (Tamil movies have more 'Logic' these days in their stories) devoid of any logic. The director gets caught in his own web (Pun intended) and struggles to get out of it. The long winded battle between Spidey & the set of villains and himself goes on & on & on............

It is not that the movie doesn't have any worthy scenes or sequences or dialogues. It is just that those are few & far in between that the disappointment of watching this movie cannot be expressed but can only be wished upon others. The hilarious scenes are played out superbly by Tobey McGuire with so much ease that you are left dazed by his performance. Sadly, the above mentioned scenes come when Spidey feels lost in love and you are supposed to empathize with the Hero!!!

Last Cut: Get out of harms way by avoiding this movie at all cost. After all, 'we have a choice'........ Exercise it intelligently

Rating: 4/10

P.S: Spiderman 3 has broken all the box-office records in the USA & internationally. Read about it here.

Ooops.......... Traffic Jam

No graphics here in the adjacent photo. It is just that a Boeing 737 flight that was being taken for aviation academy got stranded midway in the busy Chembur area of Mumbai. It seems it has been lying there for the last 5 days. Now the process of dismantling it & selling the parts has started. It would indeed be a sight to watch a 'Stranded' aircraft in the busy roads of Mumbai. If only I were in Mumbai, I would have surely paid it a visit!!!

You can read more about this news here. I was also able to get a much bigger photo of the aircraft. Check it out as well.

Book not written!!!

How would you feel if someone gives an interview about a book they have written and finally ends up saying that they have not read the book? This is exactly what Steve Harmison does in this interview. It is indeed a well known fact that the tour diaries and other books from popular sports personalities are "Ghost Written" by someone else. Does it mean that the person whose name has been credited with writing it not even read it once before approving for publishing?

The transcript of the interview where Harmison coolly says about not having read the book:
I ask how he came to write the book. "It came about when Marcus went home. He was writing a diary with Justin Langer and, when he went home, they asked me if I'd do it. I thought, 'Yeah, why not? I've not been involved in a book before.'" Did he have to be very disciplined to maintain the diary? "Not really. I've not read the book but what I'm hearing from the feedback of people who've glanced through it is that it's a pretty honest opinion of what happened." (Taken from cricinfo)

It amounts to cheating the public & their fans who dish out the money to buy the book only to find at a later point of time that the 'Popular' star has no clue whatsoever on what has been written in the book. A sad state of affairs indeed in the world of sports.

Movies to wait for

It's a well known fact that I am not a BIG English movie buff but occasionally I do end up watching some movies in the theater. There are a couple of movies that I have planned on watching over the next couple of weeks.

Spiderman 3: The tagline "The greatest battle lies within" is one of the main reasons for me to wait for this movie. Spiderman 2 movie showcased Peter Parker to have the same kind of emotions as human beings (Even while he has extraordinary powers). A similar fare might been in store from this one. It is releasing on 4th May and I am hoping to watch it on 5th May.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Part III: I started watching the "Pirates of the Caribbean Part I" movie last week and was blown over by the taut screenplay and the brilliance of Johnny Depp. (I have not completed the movie yet and have no clue on how the Part II of the movie fared). Something about the way the script was handled combined with the acting prowess of Depp drives me to expect this movie. It is releasing on 24th May here in India.

Remember Woolmer , ICC?

It has been 40 (Yes, it is indeed FORTY) days since Bob Woolmer was found murdered in his hotel room and still there is no news about who the killer(s) might be. Are you kidding me, ICC? With the body of Woolmer allowed to be flown to his country this sunday only, there is a strong suspicion that the arms of the Jamaican police have been twisted by the ICC to not reveal the "Significant developments" till the world cup gets over. The conspiracy theorists have been working overtime coming up with possible & plausible reasons for getting Woolmer eliminated.

Theory #1: The Westindies vs Pakistan world cup match was a 'Fixed' one with Pakistan losing to Westindies being the final outcome that was expected. The unexpected twist in this story happened when Pakistan lost to Ireland. Obviously, no one included Ireland in the 'Betting' game. They are, after all, minnows in the game of betting! Pakistan lost its chance to make it to the 'Super 8' stage and all hell broke loose with the coach coming to know of the conspirators.

Theory #2: The book that Woolmer was writing was too revealing & had too many names. This made the 'Betting' powers unhappy and they decide to eliminate the coach. The fact that the transcript of the book is missing adds the necessary authenticity to this story. The only flaw in this 'proposed' theory is that the they could have got to Woolmer anytime before or after the world cup campaign of Pakistan. No sane thinking murderer (Oops!) would try such a stupid thing in the middle of a world cup.

With the CCTV footage revealing the likely suspect, the chances of the murderer getting exposed real soon has dramatically increased. One word of caution: Do not be surprised if the Jamaican police or the ICC come up with the theory that the likely suspect in the CCTV footage is Bob Woolmer himself and that he might have murdered himself!

The only thing that we can do is to pray for the soul of Woolmer to rest in peace and hope that justice prevails.

Unnale Unnale -- Movie Review

The cinematographer turned director Jeeva impressed me with his first directorial venture '12B' with its amazing screenplay, brilliant photography & interesting music. Even though I didn't get to see his second directorial venture (Ullam Ketkume), the general review that I got was that it was also an interesting movie. This had my expectation soaring and with the music becoming very popular even before the release of the movie, I was very interested in watching this movie.Did the director meet the expectations?

What would happen if a director reads the books "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus", "Why men don't listen and women can't read maps" and decides to make a movie out of them? You would probably end up with something similar to the story of this movie. Men & women, being different from each other, find it tough to get along with each other smoothly and the hero & heroine of the movie are no exceptions to this universal rule. If that is the case, what keeps this whole world running? The director wanted to suggest that it is the ubiquitous "Love" that keeps the world spinning. The way he goes about narrating this had my head spinning for sure!!!

Some of the scenes involving the hero and his two friends(In the first half) are directly taken from the hindi movie "Dil Chaata Hai". Another scene involving the Hero and the second heroine (Which incidentally is the sister of Kajol), according to my friend, is a lift from another hindi movie "Hum Tum". Even with these irritants, the director succeeds in giving a very hilarious and gripping first half. The first half is so slick that before you know it, the interval slide comes up on screen. Then something goes terribly wrong with the movie and the only plausible reason that I could think of is that director must have lost his story and screenplay after completing the movie till this point. With just the theme left, he tries very hard to move the movie to a reasonable conclusion and he fails pathetically in that attempt.

What if the 'Director' Jeeva fails to turn up in this movie? The 'Cinematographer' Jeeva turns up with his entourage and leaves you spellbound by his work. Is Australia really this beautiful? Is it heaven on earth? With his camera work, Jeeva makes everyone believe it is that way. The photography is pleasant and sits nicely in the eyes. Another factor that has helped the movie still stay in the theaters is the music. Harris Jeyaraj has come up with some really good songs & the background score peppered with short & sweet songs are really the assets of this otherwise insipid movie.

A movie review without a mention of the hero & the two heroines and their performances? The characters are wafer thin and the story offers no scope for these people to showcase their histrionic talents (or the lack of it). Tanisha(Sister of Kajol) is probably the only one who has some scope for acting and she has done a decent job. With a strong storyline, she can be expected to go places in the tinsel world.

Last Cut: This is probably one of those movies which had a great start and then failed to capitalize on the raised expectations. It falls so much short on the raised expectations that you leave the movie with a disappointment that takes a few hours to wear off. If you are a person who doesn't worry about the story/screenplay, watch this movie just for the songs & photography.

Rating: 5/10

Photos for FUN!

Photo #1

Photo #1: I used the slow shutter speed to take this photo of water droplets falling from the water pump. The only modification that I have done to the photo is cropping it to show just the relevant details. The glistening blue things are the water droplets!!!

Photo #2

Photo #2: This photo was taken with me lying down in the beach sand with the camera almost touching the ground. The 'Beach' mode in the SCN (scene) selection of the camera was used for getting the appropriate colors of the beach, the sky & sand.

Photo #3

Photo #3: In one of the online photography lessons website they had stressed the importance of making a closeup shot REALLY close. I tried it with the badam tree leaves in my house and the results came out real bad............. This photo is one of the exceptions where I was able to get the focus right where I wanted it.

Photo #4

Photo #4: A closeup shot of the water bottle that hangs from the water pump. Even in this photo, the focus is not where I wanted it to be but still the end effect of the photo was something that pleased me.

A new kind of body armor!!!

A new kind of body armor has been discovered(Ohh yes, it is indeed a discovery). And it has the capability to store videos, songs and a 40 GB hard disk to shoot!!! It is one of the latest innovations of the great "Apple Computers" and is called as the iPod. You would be pardoned if you had started thinking about the possibility of me coming up with yet another 'innovative' baloney. According to this site, it is indeed a fact and a terrific news. The authenticity of the news is anybody's guess though..............

How to talk to anyone -- Book Review

Author: Leil Lowndes
Year of Publication: 2003

This book chose me when I caught its attention while browsing through the books section in Landmark. Two things were salient about this book. One is that it had a topic that has always fascinated me. The other is that when I started flipping the pages, I saw a reference to Dale Carnegie (Author of the biblical book "How to win friends & influence people). The author Leil Lowndes had mentioned that the techniques of Carnegie were applicable for the 1930's but the 21st century required new rules for effective communication. Did the 'New' rules that Ms.Lowndes suggests in this book make more sense than Carnegie's? How effective would these 92 'Tricks' be in the present world?

The book is categorized into 9 different parts with each part dealing with a particular situation like talking in a party, over the phone and various other stuff. This book reeks with insincerity and some of the techniques suggested stink for lack of genuine concern for the other person. The motto of the book seems to be that of getting done the things one wants and stooping down to feigning interest in the other person's hobbies or pretending to share the same values are to be considered as options.

If one could get over the utter lack of sincerity & continue reading, this book does indeed prove to be a worthy read. The witty writing style interspersed with brilliant anecdotes makes for a wonderful read. The fact that the book has 92 little tricks makes it simple for the reader to grasp the crux of the trick. And the best part is the keyword kind of summation that the author has come up for each one of the trick. The keywords being funny yet relevant to the point discussed makes for easy remembrance of the tricks. The small highlighted summary at the end of each trick is also a very effective technique and would come handy when one needs to recap the techniques they have learned.

Bottom Line: Throw away the fact that the tricks suggested in the book are insincere. The techniques suggested, when catalyzed with sincerity and respect for fellow human beings, would create a magical reaction that could produce all the results that you had yearned for & more. Get a copy of the book to keep as a handy reference in your desk. And DO NOT forget to add sincerity to those bag of tricks.

The Shawshank Redemption -- Movie Review

There is no point in following my regular review style of giving a brief gist of the story, the cast, the music & other technical aspects for this movie. After all, this is no ordinary movie and it deserves much more thought process than the regular fare.

There would be very few movies that can instill hope and the courage to keep fighting against all odds as this one. When Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two life sentences for a crime that he has not committed and sent to the Shawshank prison, life takes a dramatic turn for Dufresne. In the prison, he meets 'Red' Redding (Morgan Freeman), a long-timer in the prison. The way, in which Andy changes the prison from a dilapidated, decaying structure into a socialized place is at once endearing & uplifting. His never say die attitude is brought out well in the scene where he starts sending out 2 letters a week to the government instead of the 1 letter a week schedule that he followed for 6 years. And this happens after the Govt. approves of his proposal to get new books for the prison library. The serenity with which Andy moves around the prison unaffected by the surroundings & happenings is a lesson on obtaining peace from inside one's soul.

There are some soul-stirring dialogs that are bound to capture the heart of the viewers. "Salvation lies within", a dialog uttered by the warden is a simple yet powerful statement that encapsulates the teachings of the eastern philosophy. The conviction with which Andy says "Get busy living or get busy dying" is another strong statement whose importance cannot be overstated for it is about the choices that are presented to humans when leading their lives. The best line of the movie is reserved till the climax of the movie. In the letter to ‘Red’ Redding, Andy says “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”. I couldn’t have summarized the movie better than these lines.

Last Cut: I have ordered for a permanent copy of the DVD. The least that you can do is to watch it atleast once.

Rating: 9.5/10

Blood Diamond -- Movie Review

How will a movie be if it portrayed some stark realities of the third world countries? How will it be if it makes you despise an object that people have always cherished & have a desire to possess? "Blood Diamond" does just that and more with a touching story and a gripping narration.

Set in the backdrop of the Sierra Leone's 1999 civil war, the story is about the intertwining of the lives of three people: Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), a smuggler of diamonds, Solomon (Djimon Hounsou), an African fisherman & Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist. When civil war breaks out, Solomon is separated from his family and taken away to work in the diamond fields. Solomon finds a pink diamond and hides it away. How the diamond that he has stashed away near a field helps him to reunite with his family forms the rest of the plot. The story describing the greed for diamonds, the absolute lack of respect for human lives, children being taken away to be trained as terrorists form a gut wrenching and an emotionally disturbing tale.

Hounsou's performance has CLASS written all over it. As a father who is separated from his family, he comes up with a absolutely brilliant portrayal. DiCaprio does whats he does best with simple elan. Be it the cunning vile of the smuggler or the battle hardened nature of the soldier, DiCaprio pulls it off with ease. Jennifer Connelly's performance is decent.

If somebody had told me that the movie was indeed made during the civil war of Sierra Leone, the chances of me believing it are very high. Such is the extraordinary nature of the photography & art direction that they act as great assets to this incredible movie. The background score is impressive with effective usage of African tribal music to add a touch of reality to the proceedings.

Last Cut: Except for minor irritant of the closing 10 minutes of the movie panning out on expected lines, this is an absolute "Must watch" movie. The emotional impact of this movie is something that will linger in your minds for quite sometime.

Rating: 7/10

Malaisaamy -- Movie Preview

Movie name: Malaisaamy
Tag line: The unbearable
Hero: Vijaya T.Rajendar
Heroine: Mumtaj (Who else do you think will agree to act with T.R?)
Supporting Cast: One "Ajakku" second hero, one "Thangachi" for reciting sentimental dialogues, tons of Glycerin
Director, Producer, Light boy, Car driver, Mess boy: T.R

Story: Our hero T.R is sleeping in his bungalow wearing his Adidas shoes and Reebok shirt when he has a weird dream(And yeah, our hero is a very poor guy who has only a Benz car to drive around the city). In his dream, he is transported to the forests of amazon and there he meets his long lost brother(Please see photo below). T.R & his brother had got separated during their childhood days when they had gone to play gilli near the river. The story kick starts from here and it traces T.R's journey to Amazon forest to meet his brother. Mumtaz, sister sentiment & the dummy hero provide the much needed support for our hero. The second hero happens to be a tribal person and he has the uncanny ability to always fall in love with T.R's sister however horrible looking she might be.

The reunion scene between T.R & his brother is supposed to be the highlight of the movie and the following song plays in the background:

(Tune happens to be similar to "Aathi vaasi naane" from KD)

Kaatu Vaasi Naane, Karun Korangu Neeye
Thaadi vechavan naane, enna maranthu ponavan neeye......

There are also the T.R style dialogues which the general public has taken such a liking to. One stolen sample is given below:

En anbu magane Simbu
Nayanthara unna paathu vita oru Ambu
Kaathal epavumme Vambu
Naan solratha nee Nambu
Vanngitharaen unnaku eversilver Sombu

As usual, there is a lot of sister sentiment and hence loads & loads of glycerin to be wasted in production costs. Whether the brother comes back with T.R to the city or whether T.R stays back in the Amazon forests with his brother forms the interesting part of this highly anticipated movie.

Honor Among Thieves -- Book Review

The year is 1993. The Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) just got over with the Americans smirking over their victory & the Iraqis still licking their wounds. It is payback time, feels Saddam. He comes up with a cunning yet daring plan to steal the "American Declaration of Independence". He also has the sarcasm & wit to name it the "Operation Desert Calm".

The story begins in the above said racy fashion and it is an absolute page turner from start to finish. It is a page turner in the beginning because of the simple fact that the racy start builds up momentum to proceed at breakneck speed for most part of the book. It is a page turner during the final stages for the sad fact that you just want to get done with this absolutely hopeless book!!!

What starts off as a Hollywood style Tom cruise movie meanders into a Kollywood style Vijayakanth movie................... Anything & everything that the Hero does turns out to be a success to such an extent that a picnic to the Sun by the Hero has been planned as the plot for the sequel to this novel!!!

I have nothing against the writing style of Jeffrey Archer but it is just that the lack of description of any sort and a wafer thin plot that looks ludicrous at best do not invoke the most favorable reviews. Added to this is the fact that I am big fan of Frederick Forsyth, the master of well researched story telling. Maybe the fact that I look to learn something new from each & every book that I read not being met in this particular novel has caused this sourness.

Bottomline: Read the book till the halfway stage, throw it away, get a ticket to the latest "Gaptun" Vijayakanth movie and watch just the climax. It all would add up to be just the same as reading this novel till the end.

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.