bollywood, what a hoot!

Even if I had not read the reviews, as soon as I saw Hrithik Roshan land oh-so-accurately on top of the moving train, I would have guessed the tone of the movie. Modern day Fantasy! Hrithik did good though, especially when he was dressed as the old guy. AB Jr, comes flying from underwater, don't ask how he managed to keep the scooter underwater for that long, or even how he was breathin under water. I like him, but he needs some serious toning, at least to correct his posture. His dances would look better, if only he had a better posture. Uday Chopra, was too cheesy, to say the least. And enough said! The second Bips looks good, awesome toning, and that is the extent of her role. Aish, thinner and still beautiful, falls flat on her face in that first confrontation with A. She can't talk sultry, wrong role. All in all, it felt like a well packaged vignette of what Bollywood was and has become. Movie is a hoot, keep your thinking cells at home and just enjoy the visuals!

The trailers were interesting. Babul, a regular mush masala, Kabul express sounds good with 2 of my favorites (Arshad 'circuit' warsi and John Abraham) acting in it and Salaam-e-ishq promises to be exciting, except for the Shirtless Khan factor. Bhagam baag, Priyadarshan with another of his remakes, this time with Govinda featuring with the other regulars, promises to be a fun watch. Can't remember the original mallu movie, though!

Came across this article about suave Clooney wanting to dance around the tress lip-syncing to Hindi lyrics. I think I will like that! Now imagine Garfield with his big grin waiting for his pizza!

really random

The review (rediff) for the new bond movie says it is good. So is it James Bond or James Blond? Or James Bland?

Talking about bland, costco has a new cal style veggie burger out (Dr.Praegger's I think) that is pretty good, unlike the usual suspects. I just add a healthy dose of chaat masala and a healthier dose of red hot chutney or sambal olek to appeal to my taste buds.

SJS and Meera J? Who would have thunk?

George Clooney is back at no.1 acc. to people mag. No surprise there. Just give him a permanent post I say!

Emmitt won. Not really surprised, he seems such a likeable guy! Mario is a great dancer and so was Joey L. Will that erase that saved by the bell scar off his forehead?
I have started hearing carols everywhere. Seems a bit early to me. Is it that time already?

Ants are having a freaking fun season chez moi! Baited breath gets a whole new meaning!

Now when people start talking about sahana and durbar, I actually (sort of) know what they are talking about (an inkling, really). I think.

One more day, by 5 people .. in heaven's author, is one more good read.

For once, I haven't started shopping for the big trip. Yet. Do they still sell those handcuffs or whatchamaycallits for kids? I see it as the only solution.

Next post will be at random.

poll - voting

Under a sage friend's advice, walked up to the poll booth at 6:48AM, and finished my civic duty by 7:05 AM. Was 6th in line and one of the first to come out, since all I did was a straight party vote. That would have been called a breeze, except it was a yucky mucky morning. It still is. Coming out from that place, there was 1 thought uppermost - Hope is what makes the world go around!

Then on to the dental drill for a tiny filling. Why does a "simple filling" take so much effort and pain!

verbosa ponderosa

Political leanings aside, what makes one buy a humv? I was behind one this morn, and gosh, is it ugly! I am sure someone behind me was thinking similar thoughts about my LS400.

Why can't fall colors last the whole of fall? All that magnificence is ephemeral, barely 2 weeks of brilliance and it has already started to die out.
Isn't there something about the bright colors combined with cumulonimbus (courtesy, my daughter) clouds above?

Did I really hear that loud pop early this morning? I was rudely (but luckily) woken up at around 5 by a loud bang. Was it a real noise, a dream or my internal alarm?

You would think that the daylight saving hour would help us get up earlier. But seems to have worked the other way in my household! I think I have finally lost that jetlag! Will have to soon get ready for the real one though!

Last, but the most important, do we have to grow up?

Child labor law

So, Indian govt. finally came around to ban child labor. High time, for sure.

What good does it do, though? So those few kids who could manage to feed themselves will be out on the streets, as the concept of foster care or social services is almost non-existent. A well-meant action falls flat if it is not practical.

How many people are going to heed the law? In a nation where monogamy is the law, but widely ignored, where most politicians are corrupt and where red tapes are millions of miles long, how is this going to change the state of things?

I might seem quite cynical, but without providing some means of support to these kids, there is no point in removing whatever self-support they might have.

Book reco - Arthurian legend

My friend recommended these books to me sometime back. They are about Merlin the magician. They are supposedly some of the best on the topic. I have to agree. The first one, Crystal Cave, is about Merlin's younger years and his growth to become the high king's prophet. The second one, Hollow Hills, is about his helping Arthur to be crowned the high king. Fascinating reading, to say the least. I have yet to read the third in this trilogy, The Last Enchantment, as soon as I can lay my hands on it.

Her tales are very descriptive, and in this trilogy, it helps in bringing these stories to life for the reader. Anyone interested in magic tales, fantasy or just well written fiction, would enjoy this book.

recycling gifts

I came across this article today, about re-gifting.

Sometimes we end up getting duplicate gifts or end up with gifts that are not suited to us at all. I don't see anything wrong in recycling them. The survey says about 78% of pollers have done it.

And then there are the gag gifts which do the rounds, because their usefulness ends right there.

Now, what are the chances you get the same gift that you gave away? Would the same concept as 7 degrees of separation work here?

LRMB

It was a pleasure to watch Munna Bhai and Circuit go at it again. I think sending this movie to the oscars is fully justified. The message conveyed is definitely the need of the day. This is of course too much idealism, impractical for today's world. But, may be this saturation will help a little bit at least.

Arshad Warsi's comic timing is great, as witnessed in some of his recent movies too. To me, he was the best thing in the movie. If I can enjoy a movie inspite of a dopey faced hero, it is all because of this sidekick.

Vidya Balan is beautiful and acts well too. Her "Goodmo...rning Mumbai" has become a rage at home, with my kids trying it out at the top of their voices, every chance they get.

Another important part of the movie is Boman Irani. What an actor! He gets better with every movie, if that's possible.

The songs were enjoyable too. I liked the way they had treated vandemataram.

And no half-baked characters here!

I have always had a soft spot for clean comedies in Hindi, this one is no exception, although I did feel that it was a tad more serious than MB1. Who knows, decades from now, this movie might be as popular as Hrishi da's movies are today!

Gandhigiri zindabad!

Ghajini aunty

A few years back, I met this lady at a party, her husband works with mine. She asked my name and talked to me for some time. Some time later, at another party, she says, "I don't think I have met you before". I didn't think much of it and re-introduced myself. But this repeated everytime I saw her. And she would always, always, walk up to me and say the same thing, ask my name and details. We were invited to her son's wedding reception, and yes, she asked me again. She apologized that her memory was not all that great. Tell me about it! :-)

The weird thing, the conversation was always the same. Asked my name, who was my husband and about my kids, and then, you don't look old enough to have kids, blah blah blah. A sense of deja vu, without really, in her case.

I later, found out that she had this medical condition that made her forget recent events. She remembers other things, older stuff, but not much in her recent past. I wonder how terrible that would be. Then again, may be not.

I met her again a few weeks back and the routine repeated. Since I was more aware of her condition, I indulged her, but didn't engage in a lengthy conversation this time. What's the point?

At the rate that I am losing my memory, I wonder how long will I take to get to her stage.

The dancer moves on

I have long admired Padmini's grace as a dancer. Madurai veeran (Nadagam ellam kanden) still stays fresh in my mind. Marainthirunthu paarkum was one of her best. She recently moved to Chennai, only to move on to better things. It is sad when such a bundle of talent passes away.

pilimpare awards

Missed the beginning half of the show yesterday. But caught last year's comedy man getting his pillim pare award.

Kamal's little girl, Akshara is so beautiful.

Lizzy on screen after a looong time, still looks the same. mostly.

Vikram talked quite a bit. That guy likes to hear his own voice, eh!

Thanga mudiyallai - Namitha's tharuviya tharamattiya, Cheran's new hairstyle.

puriya villai - What was with some of these dancing actresses wearing a long kovanam over their pants?

The kannada actor's (Prem?) tamil, kadichu thuppinaalum, paravayillai, kekka nalla irunthichi. At the other end, Trisha and Asin were pretty, but didn't speak much in the local lingo.

Chimp without moush!

Was there a tremor in Rekha's voice? Still gorgeous though.

Shreya can dance.

Discovered

(Source: Yahoo)

This one has been brought out of hiding! How many more are out there?

Rajini thaatha?

Going thru some spectacular shots of the big wedding on behindwoods.com, came across one that piqued my curiosity.



Is it true?

Remembering them

As a kid, I was heavily influenced by Mrs. Alamelu. She was a strong woman, who inculcated a lot of values and beliefs in me. Her lessons were very interesting, though she mainly taught Hindi, I have had her for Science lessons too, but the best ones were those where she digressed to examples in Hindu mythology or other such. She could sing beautifully, could yell at us if we misbehaved or say a kind word when needed and always motivated her students. She took care of cultural activities too and was a lady of multiple talents. When she decided to move to her village, we felt a keen sense of loss and even though she visited the school once more, we lost her then. A few years later, there was a rumor that she passed away. I hope that was indeed a rumor and she is still spreading sunshine around her.

Mr. A was one of my favorites. He taught French and English and for some reason we had a strong rapport. I kept in touch with him for some time after school years and I do hope to meet him again soon.

Mrs. L was such a sweet lady. Never a harsh word, the strongest reprimand we got was a gentle word to act properly. I owe her my love for English classics, whatever little I have. One more person, I have lost under the wheels of time.

There were the funny ones who (unintentionally) made us enjoy their lectures, the every-angry ones who turned their disappointments on their students and the shy ones who kept to themselves pretty much. Some who inspired and motivated, as they were meant to do.

Today is their day and I salute them.

Book(s) watch

As usual, there are a bunch of books I need to catch up on. Kite Runner is languishing on my nightstand while I try to finish Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson. She is one of my lately discovered writers. Read her which witch? recently. I had bought it for my daughter, but haven't ever heard about it or her, wanted to read it first to see if it was appropriate. Loved it. What's more, I see that she is a contemporary of JKR and shares quite a bit with her (Read here).
Another favorite, Mitch Albom is also out with his latest, for one more day. I have loved his other 2 books and so looking forward to this one too.

Then there is Elizabeth Aston who writes books based on the Darcy's (Jane Austen). Her latest is out, The True Darcy Spirit: A Novel.

Then the master thriller spinner, Baldacci is out (soon to be, rather) with The Collectors, part of the camel club series. A few from my favorite, Nora Roberts, to catch up to.

And then, I feel a distance from Harry Potter that needs to be closed, so got to re-re-read 1/2 blood.

between dance classes, music lessons and soccer practices, I got to squeeze in some soul time.

So little time, so much to do!

Maggie cuts her hair

Anyone who has read "Mill on the Floss" would know what I am refering to.

Tom followed Maggie upstairs into her mother's room, and saw her go at once to a drawer, from which she took out a large pair of scissors.

"What are they for, Maggie?" said Tom, feeling his curiosity awakened.

Maggie answered by seizing her front locks and cutting them straight across the middle of her forehead.

One delicious grinding snip, and then another and another, and the hinder-locks fell heavily on the floor, and Maggie stood cropped in a jagged, uneven
manner

My youngest one has lost her bangs! What can I say!

Ramayana as a history lesson?

Came across this article - NASA Images Find 1,750,000 Year Old Man-Made Bridge.

To believe or not to believe?

There are those who find similarities between the dasavatharam and Darwin's origin of species.

Violence is never the answer

Violence begets violence. Are their problems going to be solved by decimating a few hundred human beings? How many more people need to die in the name of religion?

A possible witness?

Helpline

Words

Came across 2 articles today on one of my favorite topics. Don't ask me why, but words (etymology, usage, etc) have always fascinated me.

One was about new words that were added to the dictionary. Do you know what Mouse potato and soul patch mean? The first one is obvious and the second one denotes the fuzz under the lips that some men wear. (Kind of non-sequitur - Any of you remember that PGW story where Wooster sports a fungal fuzz that Jeeves is so disdainful of? Hilarious, that one!)

The other was about simplying spelling. This one, I don't know if it is a good idea. Learning a new thing is good as long as you don't have to "unlearn" something that is so automatic.

NaRukkunu 4 vaarthai

I came across this post through Ravi's blog

That is a very well written article and true to the last word. A must read for all Indians, especially the bureaucrats!

One of the points, discrimination against the foreign tourist, is a shame to the country. We are known as the land of hospitality, but are we really?

And for day-to-day life, the worst are the powercuts and potholes, to say nothing about potable water, traffic or clean living standards. Such simple things are a big deal for the common man.

I know a lot of people would consider this India-bashing. But these are the things that are glaringly obvious to a visitor. Something that each of us needs to consider.
In order to appreciate something or to get the bigger picture, you need to step out.
Living outside my birth nation, I have to grown to appreciate its finer points as well as to look at it objectively.

How many of us have no problems cleaning the house and throwing the garbage out on the road?

Lost friendships

Ever lose touch with friends and wonder where they are now? We live in such hurried times that we walk away from friends without a glance back. I have been thankful many a times when I have found some of them through the internet or through another mutual friend.

Drifting apart is sad, but a reality of life. Sometimes, we take the effort to reconnect, sometimes easier said than done. There are some friends we can always call after a hiatus and still have that special camaraderie. Friends who don't expect much from you. Who doesn't like them!

Countless times have I tried to find out about this girl I went to school with, but haven't been able to find out what happened to her. Another one, we drifted apart after meeting up again.

My husband seems to be better at keeping in touch with old friends than I am. Is it just a personality trait or plain laziness? I wish I could make that extra bit of effort, but it is oh so easy to drift away.

Out of the blue today, I remembered Sho and her sister Dee. Sho must be around 28 or so, her sister a year or 2 younger. I helped them with homeworks and projects, they moved out of the locality and we lost touch, although I saw them in school occasionally. Wonder what they are up to now?

Super(b)man!

He flies, zooms and rocks! A great movie with awesome special effects! Lois Lane was so-so. Routh as Superman is perfect! I feel a bit disloyal to say this, but he fits the role better than others(incl. the TV ones!). The little kid is cute! Kevin Spacey, needless to say, shines as Lex Luthor. And then our desi dood, Kal Penn as one of his side kicks. And he goes the way that all evil sidekicks go! And while on this topic, check this out. Also, a lil bit of trivia about the forelock of justice.

The trailer for Spidey was intriguing, to say the least! MY

Eeyore, etc

How many of us share his personality? Just wondering.

caught up on some movies over the weekend. Fanaa - could have been better, Phir Hera Pheri - laugh riot, keep your grey cells at home though, Chithiram pesudadi - Good one, Narain's body language needs improvement and there was a lot of needless yelling in the movie.

Krrish - yyess!

Superhero Krrish is out on the streets and the reviews are good. The movie is kid-friendly, which is definitely a rare thing in Indian filmdom. It promises to be cheesier and cornier than koi mil gaya, its prequel. How about that!

Soccer fever

(Yahoo!)

A view from the outside

Came across this website , a log of an American's journey through India. Interesting, to say the least! I haven't read all of it or watched the videos, but will get to them soon.

Back to the blo(g/ck)

Some training and some conferencing and now back to the daily grind.

Family vacation - a short trip away from the family - nice, but 10 more pounds to worry about!

Current read - Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie - Good so far!

A new favorite - Moe's

Cars - A must see movie, esp for the pseudo realistic locales!
Over the Hedge - Another good one, some risque dialogs that swishes over the little bitties' heads. Thankfully :-)

Time to watch something more on my level.

PS: 10 pounds is a lot on the way (hopefully) down.

oppression or democracy

Da Vinci code is banned in TN. Why? It offends some people. Didn't Boys "offend" more people? Doesn't SJS offend more people? Anything for a vote!

All these politicians need a crash course on democracy! Better yet, just a crash! :-)

They need to take care, if this goes on, some higher power might decide that the country needs to be "relieved" of such oppressors and deliver "freedom".

Would that be good or bad? hmm!

Reservation row

I got an email forward of the interview on Devil's Advocate between Karan Thappar and Arjun Singh (You can read it here).

Dumb politicians! They have no vision, only caste based politics is in play. To me, reservation should not be caste based. In fact, there should need be none. There is this quote by Nehru, that Thappar mentions in the interview -

dislike any kind of reservations. If we go in for any kind of reservations on communal and caste basis, we will swamp the bright and able people and remain second-rate or third-rate. The moment we encourage the second-rate, we are lost. This way lies not only folly, but also disaster.

This was after his idea of reservations failed to help the people who needed it most.

Would I want a barely-passed physician/surgeon doing a surgery on me? How many politicians would be willing to do that? If they need to help, they should help the brilliant but economically backward students. A rich sc/st guy's spoilt brat doesn't deserve it!

Would you drive on a bridge knowing that the engineer who built it was not qualified to do so?

I rant on this because I failed to get a seat in maths undergrad even though I had 91% in the subject whereas, my friend who got 70% had no such problems!!! I was lucky to have other options. But how many others lack that advantage!

Let the deserved get it. If we want to eradicate casteism, this is definitely not the right way to go about it.

Provide educational facilities to economically backward kids, provide them a good education until high school. Once they are out of school, it should be each to his/her own, if he/she is smart enough and DESERVES it, provide financial assistance for higher studies. This way, we not only help the ones who deserve it, but we make sure that jobs go to qualified people, improving the whole society eventually. And need I say, no quotas on job postings anywhere. Period!

Happy times are here again?

Seems to be the season for comedies in Tamil. Crazy's Jerry is on its way, while Shankar's house will be coming out with Imsai. I hope this signals a new trend for kollywood. They are any day better than sappy melodramas!

Visitation

I had to go to a visitation yesterday, a close friend's mom passed away. It was only when I saw the body, did I realize that the last time I had seen one at close quarters was my dad's. Till now, I hadn't had the nerve to attend a funeral/visitation - a fear of re-visitation.

There is a smell you can associate with death. And it came back yesterday. I still haven't been able to get rid of it. Time heals, but the scars never go away!

How valid are these exit polls?

IBN live posts the possibility of DMK achieving power (the right word).

Do these exit polls mean anything? Some say not.

I can't believe there are people who think he would be any better. They both belong to the same category, he is more seasoned in corruption, she is more seasoned in arrogance.

As long as the common folks keep running in circles, nothing will be achieved, except more corruption. We need to think out of the box, er, circle!

Disgustedly ranting...

Naushad

One of Hindi cinema's greatest composers passed away. I have grown up listening to and enjoying his songs. He gave some of the best classical numbers in movie music.

His biography

Some of my favorites:

my most absolute favorite of his - madhuban mein radhika naache re and Rafi was superb here.

O Duniya ke rakhwale

Pyar kiya to darna kya

Suhaani raat

mohe bhool gaye saanwariya

aaj ki raat mere

gaaye ja geet milan

Almost all songs in Pakeezah, Ganga Jamuna, and countless others.

Aptronym

What is that, you ask?

Refer here.

Now check this out.

polygraphing campaign promises

I think we need a new rule that all campaign promises should go thru polygraph testing. Where are the color tvs and 2 acre land going to come from? sonnatha thaan seivaara? Enge pochu intha concept last reign timela? Vanthutaangapa!

Thaanga mudiyala! Oru saathaarana clerk postukkey retirement age limit irrukkum bothu, oru oora katti meikkarathukku vendaama? nadakkave rendu aalu help vendirukku!

inge ittaanga antha manchaa colora (RDB)!

ellarum mosam thaan, aana ivanunga worsht of the worshtu!!!

Ithaiyum nambaraanga paaru, athungala sollanum! democracy is not for them. ivanga servilelaavey irunthaachu, maara maataanga!

propaganda vent! :-)

Spring fever

What I like about Spring:

Driving up a just rained road on a hill, surrounded by lush green, roads carpeted with mowed grass.

Driving up through this dense cluster of green, green trees, a moment's vacation during a busy work day.

A carpet of red and green beside the interstate - wild flowers at their best.

The warmth, oh yes, balmy, not too hot and not too cold. I can spend the whole day out there.

Being able to jog outside, listening to birds, and if I am lucky, meet a bunny or two sneaking into someone's garden.

Sighting a crane in the creek. (haven't seen this one yet this year)


What I don't like:

Tornado weather

sneezes, itches and headaches.

Car covered in yellow (thick pollen)

Not exactly Dickensish, as in best of times and worst of times, but close.

Jane Austen

I love Jane Austen novels. I love their spinoffs as much. I have been reading a series by Carrie Bebris, who writes mysteries solved by Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy. There have been 3 so far in this series. All the three were good mysteries. This last one, North By Northanger is based on Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. We see a return of quite a few Austen characters. It has a good flow and is a quick read. If the locale was shifted to modern times, I am sure it would be as good.

Her first 2 were Pride and Prescience and Suspense and Sensibility. I am not sure how many would be in this series as there were only 6 novels written (published) by Jane Austen.

If you like Jane Austen, you might also enjoy the Jane Austen mystery series by Stephanie Barron. What is interesting in her books is that she introduces an historical figure in each of those books. I have seen Kipling, Churchill, Jack London and others featured as characters in her books. And they are good mysteries.

Then there is the Darcy's daughters book series by Elizabeth Aston. I have read 2 of those, and I think the third is out now.


Some interesting links:
Jane Austen: A Love Story


A review of Barron's first mystery

A list of other spinoffs

An austen blog


Who knows, in another 50 years or so, we will have Potter spinoffs!

Amirtham

When I saw a trailer of this movie on Sun TV, I was intrigued by what I saw and was curious enough to rent it over the weekend. There was the Brahmin background and good music.

The direction was shoddy at best. It could have been done better, much better. Navya Nair can act, and can also dance, I discovered. I loved the songs and the rich classical aura in the movie. If the thought is what counts, then yeah, they got that one right.

So, this was Bhavatharini's music, I hear? Loved a lot of it. Especially that small piece on kurai ondrum illai followed by the little alapanai. nice.

A good social message but the chaos was overwhelming. The hero was pathetic. I think I would have been better off watching just the songs (actually just the one where Navya dances) and buying the audio cd. Not that any of this was a surprise when I rented it!

Comeuppance?

Mugglenet.com has this little news blurb today:

Warner Bros. charges Bajaj with copyright violation

Warner Brothers has charged Bajaj Auto Ltd., a motor company located in India, with copyright violations. Jadoo, an Indian television show, has been running ads with a character that bears striking resemblance to our favorite boy wizard. A spokesman for Bajaj had the following to say:

The West feels that anyone in a red bikini is Baywatch and any flying boy is Harry Potter. Our concept of Jadoo is unique and we don't believe it's copied from Harry Potter....We feel the claim is exaggerated.

More here

I have seen this ad on SunTV, and it is very very , I mean very similar. But then these people (WB) need to look at all the movies that are released in the country. It is a way of life, copyright as in right to copy.

...that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet

speed bump

Anybody follow this regularly?



This might come true soon ;-)

A chimp named cheeta

On my morning drive, heard about the chimp that acted in the 30's Tarzan movies celebrating its 74th birthday with a sugar free cake (diabetic). Apparently, he is the oldest known chimp. What caught my attention was its name. Why would they name him so? More here

Need of the hour

Came across this website - http://www.lokparitran.org/

This is definitely something to be encouraged and supported. I don't know how far they have gotten in TN, but every positive step counts. Let's do out bit and get the word out.

An article in the Hindu

frustration of the day

You wait to take a left turn, bearing the barely-healed scar(e)s of a '(left) turn accident', waiting to get in between the bevy of cars on a surprisingly-busy-usually-quiet street and you get honked from behind. That definitely warranted a digit signal that I was not rude enough to demonstrate.

who is he?

Yesterday, while working out at the gym, caught a bit of My name is Earl, the titles mentioned a Vali Chandrasekaran as the writer. Curious, googled the name and found this blog. Same guy, looks like?

The other Chandrasekhar in Hollywood being Jay, the Dukes of Hazzard guy.

Height of a mismatch?

Sims with Chimps!

Ram wins for Jeeva

It is indeed an honor that a newcomer gets an international award. Jeeva won the Best Actor award at the Cyprus International film fest. The movie also won for music (YSR). Read in Tamil here.

The official website has only 2 awards listed, for Jeeva and YSR. Looks like tamilcinema stretched it a bit and gave 2 more to the movie.

That is something really!

Feels good!

A bit of this and that

Watched Sandakkozhi yesterday. Though there were shades of Run here, it was a good entertainer. This is the first Vishal movie I watched and he seems to have what it needs. Fights well, dances well, tall and muscular (not overly so), and seems to be ok with acting too. Meera Jasmine is cute and naughty, very few heroines seem to do well with comedy. This one does. Rajkiran seems to be gaining back a bit of importance in recent films, he gets a good role here. Was Lal the villain or a wannabe comedian?

May be I have learnt to pick good movies, but of late, most of the Tamil movies I have watched have been tolerably good.

---

The bitter half will be talking about all the hard labor of the last few days, when we decided to redo the little one's room. It did come out good, inspite of his complaints of curvy lines. I did what is called color blocking, using purples and pinks to complement Dora stick ons. I love doing up rooms, provided I don't get to do much of the labor ;-)

---

The older one had her annual party, and for once I decided not to bake the cake. That was a good idea considering all that work and exhaustion from painting. And for once, not much leftovers to clean up.

---

Watched sun tv's Friday review of kalabha kaathalan. Arya looks good, no doubt about it. But his voice needs some help. Definitely.

---

If you get a chance to see Bollywood Dreams, do so. They have captured the essence of Bollywood very nicely. And the guys will surely enjoy watching the 2 female leads.

Jeopardy try out

Want to try for Jeopardy?

Now is your chance to try it out. I have been a long time fan of this game show. There have been other game shows, their craze haven't lasted as long as it has been for Jeopardy!

Who knows? May be one of us would get to participate!

ARR on CNN

Yep, this weekend on Talk Asia show.

Talking to Lorraine Hahn of CNN, Rahman said: 'You have like 18 hydraulics moving on stage...in three and a half hours... it's amazing stuff.' The interview will be showcased repeatedly Saturday, Sunday and Monday on CNN's 'Talk Asia' show.

Can we see it here?

Che G's Bro wannabe

Inspite of those warnings about scary eyes, watched Maddy in Thambi yesterday.
Edutha eduppiliye, comedy padamnu therinju pochu. T'ai chi Maddy style was oh so funny! Then those eyes - reminded me of Halloween, when we can buy those plastic eyes to scare people. Direction was quite lacking. Dialogs were so 70s-80s style.
The worst was Pooja trying to be a great dancer. Man, she butchered that wonderful thillana. Thankfully she doesn't exhibit her 'skills' too much, but enough to make real dancers barf! Biju Menon seems to have gained a few pounds since I last saw him.
To cap it all, ending credits are again accompanied by Maddy style T'ai chi! And oh, were they being sponsored by a Shampoo company or what? Sometimes, I felt like I was watching a very looong shampoo ad, what with Maddy flaunting his glorious mane!

Three things to keep you off this movie - Maddy's eyes, his T'ai chi, Pooja's excuse for B'natyam.

Tamil Razzies

Where ever you see, people are giving away movie awards like the candies on I-day. I think we badly need a Tamil equivalent of Razzies. Now, that would have a healthy competition.

Worst actor nomination:
1. SJ Surya (tops my list)
2. Chimpu
3. Dhanush
4. Gabtonne
5. Ravikrishna
6. Sibiraj

Worst actress nomination:
1. Namitha
2. Sonia Agarwal
3. Sa(a)da
4. Ankitha

Worst Movie nomination:
Hard to pick just one here. Suggestions invited.

Pi day

Today is Pi day. Why? 3.14, that's the date. So a good day to celebrate your love for Math. If we can have boss day, secretary's day, even a dog day, we can surely have one math day.

Check the braingle web site or go eat a pi(e)!

The clown and ten

I rented out Shalimar the clown from the library recently.
Don't ask me why I picked this. Probably because there was a part of India in it. And also because it was Rushdie's. I read it through in a very disinterested way. The only thing that I liked about this book was the description of Kashmir, the beauty that was. Rushdie likes to ramble quite a bit. He starts talking about one thing and goes off on a tangent. The book is full of such tangents. I don't think I am going to read any more Rushdie novels unless it comes highly (very highly indeed) reco'd.

Saw Dus on Sony yesterday. It was not a bad movie. Some parts of it were even interesting. I watched it mainly because Abhishek B was in it. 2 things that would have put me off this movie - Drugged Dutt and Eeesha Deol. Could have been better of course. And now I hear, there is going to be a sequel named, guess what, 11. Natural progression!

Seems like the creative heads in Bollywood have stopped adapting from the west and recycling their old stuff. Kabhie Kabhie is probably heading for a remake. Then of course, there is Sholay, Guide and Don.

oru kutti kadi

Jurassic park thamizhla edutha enna paer veppanga?

mahap(b)allipuram

kids and their mother tongue

This post has been inspired by Vikrum's. Ever since I came to this country and observed how parents here try to instill some thing of their roots in their offsprings, I have been affected by this side of parenting. Teaching your kids to speak your language.

To me, it is more to help them be at home when visiting with family and friends. It is also a bit about passing on what (little) I know of my culture. I try to have writing sessions every Saturday in Tamil. It is not too hard to learn to write the alphabets and to read fluently. My problem has always been writing. I cannot write as well as I do in English. So teaching my kids write, in a way helps me too.

I have always encouraged them to learn languages. Both my husband and I are polyglots and would like that for our kids too. It is not just about the mother/father tongue. And learning a new language before they turn 5 helps them speak better in that language.

I remember being shocked at this dad who would not speak to his son if he didn't speak in Bangla. Now, I do that too. May be not at that strict a level. When we lived in Florida, we had quite a few hispanics in our neighborhood. All the kids spoke fluent Spanish. For that matter, most Gujarati kids speak their language quite fluently.

Is it because they hear it more? We try that too. We make it a point to speak only tamil at home. The kids understand quite well, if they have to speak, they stumble, but they try. I am glad for that. In order to learn, you have to be receptive. So, we let them struggle and help if necessary, but I have hope that they will be fluent soon.

Most parents don't want to try. Nothing is easy. Everything takes effort. I remember the early years of struggling to learn Hindi. What does help is to hear it spoken often. They don't have to become scholars in that language, but enough to be comfortable with it. We have boundaries, while at home and with other tamils, speak it. I don't force it, but say that this is the only way they can learn.

When we have the grandparents visiting, their tamil seems to come easier. Watching tamil on TV helps too, unfortunately, there are very few age appropriate programs/movies for them. They might never read and enjoy Ponniyin Selvan in the original form, but if they can share a joke from anantha vikatan with you, that in itself is something. And who knows, may be someday they will want to read Ponniyin Selvan all by themselves.

Dishyoom

Got to see this yesterday night. Jeeva looks promising inspite of his juvenile looks (meesai kooda seriya molaikkalai) and Sandhya seems to have gained a few since Kaathal. Movie is not bad with the shortie Amitabh providing some good laughs. There is only one thing wrong with this movie. Climax - sothapittaanga. It was too funny to see Sandhya's responses using her tears. BTW, when you are lying down, do the tears flow from the center of your eyes or from the outer edges?

Sandhya's mom was too young for that role. She looks prettier too :-)
A nice story, about women using friendship as a shield against falling in love with unsuitable(?) men. Camera was handled well. The best thing about the movie was there were no heavy scenes really, which is quite amazing for a tamil movie.

"Will" Ash star in Hollywood?

Ash is back again in the media, this time with the possibility of a role in a Will Smith starrer sometime end of this year or so. She is one of the few that travelled the distance from B to H. There have been Indians in H and there have been Indians in B who have been known in H, but this will probably be the first(?) time that someone who has established herself in B, moves on to H while managing to have a foot in each wood.

There is talk of AB Jr. linked to her which, I would say, is not a bad choice. Then there is talk of Samyuktha (Prithviraj) in the making, Umrao Jaan, Jodha Akbar with Hrithik. All of them, roles that should make her shine.

Not long ago, when an actress reached 30, she was delegated to sister or (widowed) mother roles. Nice turn, indeed. Talking about 30s, Mrs Nene is promising a return. Going by her performance in the Filmfare awards show, she hasn't lost her touch.

Blank Noise

Came across this blogathon against street harrassment.

Any girl who grew up in India most probably faced it at least once in her lifetime. Did she ask for it? Not everyone is a sado-masochist, thank you.

Can we do anything about it? Not much. Other than wearing protective steel or titanium armor.

A crowded bus needs a big bag, sharp heels and strong elbows if you are a girl. Law of the land.

A thousand Bharathiyaars cannot buy us emancipation.

Altruism, purely human?

Read this study this morning.

Would 3- and 4-year-old chimpanzees find and hand over objects that a familiar human "lost"? The chimps frequently did help out if all that was required was reaching for a dropped object — but not nearly as readily as the toddlers had helped, and not if the aid was more complicated, such as if it required reaching inside a box.

Is that proof that some of us are turning into apes? :-)

Alma's matter

Courtesy: Kaps

more on that.

Avala iva?

Indiaglitz says this one is back in action. She will be on the Natyanjali stage this year. Unfortunately, I can't forget her in kaathal oviyam.

Out of my cocoon

I have been hibernating. Not sure why.
Call me temperamental :-)

Spidey 3 is all black. Is that good or bad? Pink Panther was fun, even though it is not the same as watching Peter Sellers do his magic. My current fascination happens to be Stephen Chow (Chiao) after watching his Kungfu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. But why do his heroines have some kind of disability?

Caught some of Filmfare awards on Saturday. But unfortunately missed out the Will Smith part. No surprises for Best actor, when AB had taken up two slots in the nominations. Would have liked to see Javed Jaffrey get best comedy instead of Akshay Kumar. That guy was funny and did a good job presenting. Why was Tabu looking a little lost (but gorgeous). Rekha was all decked up as usual. Vidya Balan was the best debutante, and she looked good. Aish danced to Kajra re, which won quite a few awards - Gulzar, ShankarEhsanLoy, Alisha. She has lost weight again- Aish not Alisha who has found some. What is this rumor floating around about Ash hitching up with AB Jr?

IMHO, Hemachandra deserved to win SRGMP!

RDB was good, but Aamir needs to act his age! Kunal Kapoor looks cho chweet, tho he too is in his 40s!

For those missing out watching live performances from this year's Natyanjali, check out Kutcheribuzz's site. Wonderful!

Ada kadavule!

For those who can't get enough of the gab-tonne, there is good news. For the rest of us, a few more future movies to avoid.
Be afraid! Be very afraid!