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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Raavanaayana

Last Sunday i took my friends and family to the Tamil movie 'Ravanan'. One of my fav directors in Indian movies Mr.Manirathnam thought of remaking epic "Ramayana' in his own ideas. After he successfully remade 'Godfather' into 'Naayagan' this was a much more historical effort as we all knew the story of Ramayana sice childhood. Movie is a bore apart from the breathtaking visuals. And editing is a mess as the director tries to show Ramayana in a different flow with a bit of flashback. Castingis horrible as Aiswarya Rai was more of a liability to the movie trying very hard to keep up with some solid performance from Vikram (yet again). Prithviraj spoke about the movie in his interviews in the most confident manner but he could not reproduce the same in the screen. His pairing with Mz.Rai was awkward and looked 'cougar' to be true. But his general expressions were stale and cliched. If he wants to be the 'brand ambassador' of malayalam movies (which he claims to be), he is far far away from it. Mohanlal in the movie 'Company' enthralled the audiences with just a 'paper weight' revolving in his hand. As a fellow malayalee i sincerely hope Prithvi brings some substance apart from his handsome looks and those big biceps.

'Usire Poagathu' and 'Veera' these two songs are the highlight in the music dept, otherwise its a forgettable one from ARR. 'Kalvane' song picturization was a clear adaptaion from the 'Ay Hairathe' from Guru with Mz.Rai dragging her across the leading man. Support cast of Prabhu and Karthik were really above the mark and keeps the interest alive with some funny moments. Priyamani was good in her small role where her character is raped yet again. Last time her character was raped in 'ParuthiVeeran' landed her a National Award. Though here she has nothing substantial to do other than just let her 'shoorpanakha' role melt away into oblivion. Locations in this movie is its USP, its totally amazing and can't believe sometimes its near to our house. Gotta add it to our bucket list for sure.

Silver lining of the movie is Mr.ManiRathnam, who had a heart attack during the shoot. But he is back again healthy and fit hope he can forget this movie and try something new other than MeloDrama and IconoClasm. Personal Happiness is i have restrained myself from watching the hindi version. Cheers!!!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

When a dream gets fulfilled..

Chennai for all the things i love about this city there is one thing i hate about. SET TOP BOX. Without this bitch one cannot watch his favourite channels. For me it was ESPN/STAR SPORTS. Missing premier league matches were a big NO for me over the weekends, but my roomies didnt approve of this device. So what do i do? i would visit my buddy and big-bro like Pratheshettan's place near Pondy Bazaar. Much like me he was a big football/movie fanatic and we would spend the weekend nights watching games or movies. And with Ani Chechi (Pratheeshettans wife) in kitchen bringing on some delicious savouries, liverpool beating the hell out of their opponents all iz well. One day after a match Pratheeshettan showed me some of his video and pics collection from his UK onsite tenure. Here he had taken his Dad and Mom for a vacation and with an ever present smile he told me "Once in your life you must take your parents outside the country not for a visit but more for a stay you are gonna love it" (ok this was in malayalam and not the exact words). Before this he would have given me a 100 different lessons for a big bro he is :P , but this one was too good to resist. Out of my curiosity i asked him a few questions about the trip and i had embraced this idea then and there. And once Sreejithettan had brought his parents here and them being near me for about 6 months i had no looking back. The only thing in my mind was that and i had to start with my mom applying for a passport :)

Almost 3 years later now i am lucky enough to bring my parents here during my onsite at Columbus. I must tell you it feels like one of the better things i'll ever do in my life. Everyday is a celeberation with trips and travel. Its more like they are discovering my bachelor life in a whole new dimension (yeah with some loop holes though). I would always thank Pratheeshettan for the Spark and Sreejithettan to make it a dream of sort. Its an overwhelming experience and i encourage you all to do it once in your life.