Kungfu Panda

I love this animation movie too much......simple story, good animation and great stunts!....:)

R for Rajni

am a self declared thalaivar fan. I wrote this below article in Aug 08 when Kuselan released.

read on...

There is only one sun...

I will complete the above riddle at the end of this mail. Now, back to what I wanted to write about. After marriage, I was a bit reluctant on bringing out my Super Star mania to her. Well...not that I felt bad about it but its like...you know...hmm...how will a girl look at somebody who adores a cinema star and goes berserk on his new movie release days. Seemed like a hard sell. Anyhow, it eventually needed to come out and it did. Surprisingly, she was cool about it when I told.

Finally D-day arrives. On the day before Kuselan release, I gently tell her that I will be up by 5:30 am next day so that I can drive to Hosur (about 25 km) to catch up with the exclusive fan's show (thanks to naadas!). She does not believe that I will get up and takes it light. Hmm...girls!....:) ....So, next day dawns and I do it for the first time ever in Bangalore...get up by 5:30 am without the alarm...Quickly dress up and get going along with three other friends. First drink of the day is ...he he he....wine in the car.

7 am.

We reach Hosur Raghavendra theatre by 7 am to the sound of Fireworks. The celebrations and hoardings are toned down (since this is not a pucca Rajni movie). Yet, the place wears a festive look. Something strikes me quick. Most of them present are over 30. And well behaved (believe me....I have been to first day shows in Albert theatre in Egmore and the crowds there are really crazy!) The worn steel grille gates could not hold the mad rush of people trying to get inside. The theatre guards start shouting and an aged person (some 40 years old) comes up with something I have never ever heard before.

Guard : deii...#$#%^^..olunga varisaya pongada (hey....#$#$%^....go in a line)

Aged : thambi....naanga kadavule paaka porom....idhu (points to theatre) enga koil...onnum panna maatom!....(bro..we are going to see our God...this theatre is our temple...nothing will happen)

Guard : (gives a puzzled look and moves away)

Aged : (says to the crowd in general) naan inga 25 varushama varen..hmm.. (am coming here for the last 25 years)

The crows jostles and me lands inside the theatre with a big shove! Wheww.....We quickly occupy the wooden seats and wait for the darshan (he he..). No AC in the theatre. No fans where we sat. We sweat and wait......It happens in the sixteenth minute. And everything else is forgotten!....The last 20 minutes of the movie rocks us. We make out of the theatre straight to office.

7 pm.

This is an entirely different world. Forum mall is one of the happening places in Bangalore (bomb or not...:). The crowd is hep; you smell Australian cookies. The might of Indian economy: the rising middle class is amply seen. Am again with a larger group of friends and my wife. The PVR theatre ambience is real good. Once inside the theatre, the crowd dynamics is typically the same for Thalaivar!. The 16th minute...the same excitement!

I witness

Two worlds;
Different types of people;
Same behaviour.

There is one scene in the movie where Vadivelu on seeing Super Star goes wierd and starts acting mad! That was the act of the day and I could fit any fan in that scene and see the same result....:)

As we come out and slowly dissolve into reality, she asks me....'When did you become this big a fan?' Am puzzled for an answer. When? Why? Was it his on screen or off screen presence? Was it his struggles and eventual success? Was it his simplicity? I don't know.

I only know

There is only one sun...
There is only one super star.

Nacho Libre

I always wanted to write about this movie. I watched it in 2006. A tale with funny things happening in an average man's life and a simple message driven home. Jack Black excels in his role as the monk-turned-wrestler and Ana De La Regura (Mexican actress) does her role beautifully.

Watch out for
1) The way Jack Black howls 'Nachooooooooooooo'
2) The lean guy who fights with Jack
3) Chancho - the kid at the monastery
4) And Ana ...sigh....what a beauty!....she will melt your heart! ...:)
5) The songs in the movie are fabulous! Feels like a tamil movie..:)..
6) The song that Jack sings in the end and the letter he writes to Ana...:)
7) The walk that Jack takes Ana and his antics with those pants...:)

There are some fine moments in this feel good movie that will leave you smiling. Catch it up on DVD. Its worth it.

:)

Present Day Problems....Present Day Solutions

Imagine.

Two kids are fighting out. You walk to them and find out that its about having a chocolate. What will you do?

1) You sit down with each one of them separately; find out about their families; find out their lineage. You look at the chocolate; make out the manufacturer's name; trace him down; find out the manufacturing process; see if the above kid's ancestors had a hand in it somewhere. Additionally, you look at neighboring kids; assess their importance. Look at neighboring chocolate manufacturers; assess their importance. With all these mind bewildering data crunched in your skull, you make the all important decision of handing over the chocolate to one kid. In the process, you perennially make enemies with the other kid who will, after 10 long years, still wait with a stone hidden in his pocket to nuke you or the other guy out.

2) You split the chocolate into two and give it to the kids.

What should you do?

Now, all the solutions are not going to be as easy as option 2. Problems are not as simple as a chocolate. But the point to note is that you look at a problem as a present day problem and give a present day solution.

In a way, my analogy to humans as kids stands true if you consider the evolution of universe vis a vis humans. Now, here we are a race who are not the first to arrive in earth; who do not know where we came from; who do not know where we are going to end up. But still in that tiny weeny time in between, what do we do? We focus our energy to wreak havoc. Smell something?

You cannot and never will be able to do justice to any party if you look back at history and try to address grievances. This will result in prejudiced views and the sect powerful in that point of time is going to drive you nuts here. Am not saying that immediate past needs to be ignored. But you cannot keep forever going back.

When you drive a car or a bike, I agree that you do use the rear view mirror. But heyy...you look back for what...say the past 50 feet?...not all the way back from where you started!...Got it?
Saro

Getting Ready...

...for a 1600 mile drive in 10 days.

Muncie, IN - Jersey City, NJ - Buffalo, NY - Muncie, IN

hmmm...the first one is the hardest with 685 miles. Hopefully, I still have that thing in me to drive....:)

I will be meeting a lot of friends. Can't wait...:)

Fooled

Thinking of my teens and follow up years, I clearly see that I got fooled by the sweet nature of girls. I mean, not trying to be finger pointing at the fairer sex, guys tend to fall for that part of the girl which seems like a fairy tale. A smile here...a look there....a small fight....the list goes on. Those small moments take away a guy far more often than a girl.

So, what am I trying to say?

Get fooled, guys. Its sometimes good to have wounds in a battle field than a clean slate.

nooru roova notta paatha, kaadhal varum keluda
ooru poora suthi vandhen...paathedhelaam jaalam da.

:)

Sleep songs

nowadays, i cannot sleep without listening to 'ullathil nalla ullam' from karnan and 'pitchai paathiram' from naan kadavul

The Dark Knight

Its been awhile since I wrote about movies. This short period of solitude has given arise to such an opportunity. Now, to the movie which has been haunting me for quite sometime now. Also, as a statistic, I have now seen this movie more than any other movie in my lifetime yet. Its The Dark Knight. (Virumaandi and The Prestige are a close second).

Am not going to cover anything about the story or the actors. No...am writing more on what struck me after these multitude of viewings. The below thing might make sense only if you have seen the movie once.

1) In the whole movie, there is not even one shot of the Sun nor there is Sunlight shown. Gotham (as in the comics) is always portrayed gloomy with overcast skies.

2) In the climax, after Harvey's death, Gordon and Batman discuss on what will happen. Now that Harvey is dead (that too with a bad reputation of killing cops), Gordon tells Batman that 'people would lose hope', Batman looks up (to Gordon's kid above who is not shown) and says 'They won't'. He means the kid (analogy : young generation) who believes on Batman.

3) Batman and Joker share a lot in common. At least if you look at the way they think: - When Bruce Wayne throws a party, the moment he enters, he throws the question 'Where is Harvey Dent?'. When Joker enters the same party at a later point of time, he throws the same question. - Batman revers Harvey Dent. For Batman, Harvey is the symbol whom he can never be. Joker sees the same (that Dent is the best among Gotham city inmates) but looks at destroying such a symbol.

4) Only in two ways, Batman and Joker differ. First, Batman plays by one rule and Joker never does that. Another is Joker thinks alone and does things whereas Batman keeps consulting with Alfred and Lucius. We have to acknowledge that Joker is far intelligent.

5) In the hospital, Joker tells Harvey that he (Joker) is a guy without plan. He tells him that he is like a dog chasing cars. In a way, Joker plans things right from the start. Everything goes to a plan for him (for e.g., he getting arrested to get Lau and hence the money location). But the thing is that he does not care about the results of how the plans actually go.

6) When Joker escapes from the prison, he is shown sticking out his head outside the police car. Note that he is not driving. This is one of the scenes that shows us that he has police accomplices.

7) In the climax when Batman throws Joker out from the top of the building, you can actually hear Joker laughing. Thats because he is happy that he broke Batman's one rule. Later, Batman catches him and Joker groans....:)

8) Joker predicts way ahead in the movie how Batman will be treated in the end. In the prison interrogation scene, Joker tells the Batman that the people, once they dont have a need for him (Batman), will throw him out like a leper. This happens in the end when even though Batman finds Joker and ends the menace, people still treat him to be a cop killer.

9) What do you think would have happened if the people or prisoners (on two separate boats) pressed the button to blow the other boat? Trying to think like the Joker, my guess is that their own boat would have been blown up!

Why do friends leave me?

Is it because they think I show less interest in them? Have I?

Is it because I pick new friends? Do I?

Kan moodinaal, Irul edhu...neeye therigerai.
(When I close my eyes, I don't see darkness. I see you.)