3 Idiots - Not too close to the script, but pretty decent..

Chetan Bhagat might have had more heartburn than just for not being credited at the beginning of the movie (he apparently took umbrage at being mentioned in the end credits). The essence of "Five Point Someone" novella has been diluted to a big extent in "3 Idiots". However, this movie belongs to the category of films that are to be watched for the director, cast, and marketing blitz.

I can’t comment on the first few minutes (including the ragging scene which is now the raison d’être for someone to slap a notice on the movie producers) which as usual, I missed. Farhan (Madhavan) is the voice over for the narrative sequences in the movie, which chronicles the lives of 3 Idiots (Farhan, Raju-Sharman Joshi and Rancchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad - Aamir) predominantly in their college (ICE and not IIT) and a little bit post their graduation. Professor Viru Sahastrabudhhe (Boman Irani), the head of the college, gives an exaggerated, but likeable, performance as a strict custodian of the exam-cram methodology. Aamir, along with Maddy and Sharman, predictably, tries to foster a feel-good factor and emphasize the importance of seeking knowledge without mugging up the textbooks. Some of the gags in the movie are genuinely funny, the most notable one being the time when Aamir outsmarts a random supervisor who declines to accept his answer sheets. But as many people have noted, majority of the antics are predictable and the cloying goodness is far removed from one what sees in real life. Pia (Kareena), Prof Viru's daughter, comes as a fresh addition to the rather overgrown college-goers.

Rajkumar Hirani has tried real hard to keep the goodness of his reputation intact, while also striving hard to do to justice to the original book. Aamir, quite surprisingly, and Sharman are made to look the part of the college crowd, while Maddy tries to muscle his way in. The song "All Izz Well" looks much better with the visuals, but the other songs are rather insipid. The plot involving Aamir's growing up, his achievements at the end of the movie, and Prof Viru's elder daughter giving birth in the college premises, seem forced and at times impractical. The message of the movie pretty mocks at the mentality of our education system and does succeed to a very small extent. After all the movie is intended to follow the Munnabhai franchise. Watch it for the laughs, Aamir, Kareena and reminiscing college days.

Vettaikkaran - The Vettai has truly begun

Watching a Vijay movie on the 2nd day of release doesn’t equate to the euphoria one feels when watching a Rajini movie even on the 2nd week of its release. However, I went to the movie wanting to experience the hoots and whistles, which duly unfolded when "Ilaya Thalapathi's name" flashed on the screen. The excitement moved up by few notches when Vijay's clear image gradually emerged from his hazy silhouette. And the 7:15 AM start on a Saturday and Rs.100 ticket was money well spent, just for the decibel levels inside the theatre.

The story gains rapid pace as Vijay sets off running behind a corrupt and drunken cop's police vehicle and just as when we think he has given up, we find him resuming the chase with a Stetson hat on a horse - the most widely advertised poster of "Vettaikaran". As expected, he confronts the cop and dishes out a rather short and sans overtly jarring punch dialogues (Compared to his recent duds, he has reduced the punches). He plays the role of "Police" Ravi - a struggling student (he apparently has tried scaling XII exam thrice with no luck) who aspires to emulate his idol Devaraj IPS (Sri Hari) in becoming an upright police aapicer. The introductory song of Vijay received maniacal response from the audience and the peppy number also features his son towards the end. The introduction of Delhi Ganesh as his father in the movie evoked muted peals of laughter, for reasons known to our gang.

After somehow scaling XII, Vijay goes to Chennai to enroll in a college and opts to drive an auto-rickshaw to fund his studies. On his way to Chennai he encounters Susheela (Anushka) and her grandmother (Sukumari), and is bewitched by the heroine's beauty. Now comes the time to expose the scary looking villains one-by-one. Chella (Ravi Shankar) looks really menacing and gets his way with whichever lady he sets his eyes on. Unfortunately, he lusts after Vijay's college mate and so follows the first action sequence between the hero and villain. After being beaten to pulp, the villain's dad (Salim Ghouse - of Vetrivizha and Chinna Kounder fame) takes over spilling evil on screen. What follows is Vettaikaran (Vijay)'s quest for hunting down the Mirugam (Salim Ghouse). There is a clear explanation on these lines to justify the title - "Vettaikaran".

The dialogues are preachy only in places and the punch dialogues seem to have been inserted to spur the massive hysteria he commands with his huge fan base. Vijay Antony has sensed the pulse of what Vijay means to his fans, and the peppy numbers have accentuated the hero's reputation. One should find the costume designer and stylist for Vijay in the pleasant duet - "Chinna Thamirai, and ask in all earnest, the reason for the outrageous makeup.”Puli Urumudhu" and "Karigalan" (He has added some really astounding moves in this song) are the other good numbers. Vijay has managed to carry the movie with his screen-presence, action and dance sequences, and even the lighter moments. Anushka literally dwarfs her co-stars with her height, and hence her contrived dance movements appear magnified. Sayaji Shinde - the bad cop with comic timing, and VM Hanifa and Sathyan - Vijay's sidekicks, and Srinath - the dude from Vijay's college, add to the comedy track.

On pure entertainment quotient - this movie scores over Aadhavan and with Sun Picture's astute marketing should most likely help Vijay lose the bad reputation he has gained at the box office and with the masses too (The email forwards relating to Vettaikaran are testimony to this). Apparently the "Vettai" runs for 2 hr 54 mins, and the second half hurtles towards a predictable and violent climax. The villains and stuntmen in Tamil movies sporting those full white veshtis folded up to their knees, with aruvals and similar hacking weapons appear to be way too menacing for family audiences. Guess its high time the directors and casting group take note of this.

Verdict - Definitely worth watching (Provided one sets aside any positive expectations about the movie, and just goes only with the intention of getting entertained. That means, be ready to suspend your disbelief)

High on Caffeine

High on Caffeine ( HoC ) is probably an apt place to go, when most of the time one feels sleep deprived. And then comes an article in IBN stating that traditionally 93% of us Indians are short on quality snooze. But, HoC is tucked away neatly into the Mitsubishi showroom on LB Road Adyar, opposite Globus. One cant miss the advert board craving for attention, just before the Indian Oil petrol pump.

The western world's influence on Indian coffee shops are quite noticeable, and this one is no exception. The sport bar/coffee theme has been generously borrowed from the quaint one-off sports bars in the US, especially with the motor sport logo graffiti at the entrance. The day I went, there wasnt much crowd to be seen around, and few youngistan junta had plopped onto the generous sized bean-bags, sipping away to glory. There are couple of pool and foose ball tables, nintendo and playstation consoles, few neolithic white/gray leather lined chairs alongwith the centerpiece tables, and ample space. There is also a separate enclosure for the mild-mannered folks who wouldnt prefer the din of people going crazy over sport on the big screen. The biggest USP of this place could be the really good quality giant screen, which incidentally was broadcasting the T20 between India and Srilanka. It was just a happenchance that we dropped into this place, and given the smattering of crowd seen around, looks like word hasnt gone around about this relatively new-in-town coffee abode. We ordered cappuccinos ( the first drink to evaluate if we would return to a coffee shop ) and some kind of cheese loaded crouton type bread which came with few potato chips. The coffee cost Rs.50 while the crouton order cost around Rs.90. HoC lived upto its name with the cappuccino being pretty strong without we asking for it be so, but was little thin in the density aspect. The end result was that it was not too great a serving of the caffeine, but made up for it with the salivating prospect of watching more cricket games at this place. Would surely recommend for sports fans who prefer to see the big and bad games with friends to argue and cheer collectively.

P.S : Few short quips on the movies
Kurbaan - Rensil D'Silva's commendable movie on terrorism and love. Good music score, backed by strong performances from the lead pair and the supporting cast. Good watch, wont be disppointed.

Inglorious Basterds - Slash fest coupled with trigger fest. Oodles of bullet piercing the bodies and generous spurts of blood. Smug and cocky portrayal of a nazi slayer by Brad Pitt. Eli Roth ( "Hostel" director ), in a meaty role that sure looks like tailor made to suit his thought, action and direction of evil. Must see for Tarantino fans.

Vettai - Its in a league of its own, even before the release. Slated for an early morning show at Sathyam this Saturday. Watch out this space for an "objective" review ( trust me on this one ).

Dad's 60th Birthday and Thirukadaiyur

28-29 Nov 2009:

It is dad's 60th birthday and we set out on our way to Thirukadaiyur, which is where Lord Shiva apparently saved Markandeya from Yama's noose of death. The bus journey from Tambaram to Mayiladhurai was agonizing, thanks to the Ultra-Deluxe's (UD)late departure and then the magnificent stink of the pillow covers. We were so relieved to reach Moogambigai Residency in Thirukadayur after hopping onto another transit bus under the cover of early morning rain. I bought the Trichy edition of Hindu, which I spread out on the dining table at the hotel's attached restaurant. I settled for a modest plain dosa, a set of puris and a coffee. It felt good to just read the Sunday Hindu with a cup of coffee with rain splattering outside. Soon after, I flopped onto the hotel bed to snooze for a while even as the rest of the family had their breakfast. We took an auto to go the main Abirami temple to keep up the time with the usual abhishekams and archanais.

The overall experience at the temple could have been better if only the priests and the devotees had showed little more patience and consideration. Everyone seemed to be fighting for vantage spots, while the priests recited the mantras in an seemingly disinterested way and appeared to be too keen on winding up the entire process. We took few photos of dad and mom with their garlands and new attire within the temple premises, which normally is prohibited in majority of the temples. After about 2.5 hrs of activity within Lord Shiva's abode, we proceeded to the nearest hotel for a sumptous lunch ( sumptuous more because of the prolonged gap between breakfast and lunch ). Even though I was full to the brim, I checked out the prasadams after returning to the hotel room and another disappointment was in store. Of late, many temples disperse prasadams more as a rote and show no genuine interest in making the bhojanam tastier. There might be few detractors who might think prasadams are not meant for satisfying the taste buds, but I beg to differ. If someone makes and offers any kind of food in any of the holy places, it is a reflection of the mindset of the people in charge of those places. The heavy lunch ensured that we got decent rest, before we packed our things and headed to the bus stop to take us to Thiruvarur. Bro set on what turned out to be a long journey of close to 13 hours, from Thirukadaiyur to Erode. Man, he has some patience and perseverence, be it at work or travelling:-) The government UD bus back from Thiruvarur to Chennai was very comfortable and we reached Tambaram bus station on time at 4:30 in the morning. For all the humid climate in Chennai, the bus ride was unusually pretty chilly. To drive away those chills we had piping hot coffee at the long standing Bhats hotel in Tambaram junction. But for the hot beverages ( read as coffee, T and masala milk ) the rest of the hotel is in absolute dumps.

Update for 4th Dec - A morning visit to the temple followed up with rava kesari and ven pongal :-). An afternoon siesta, Indian batting collapse of sorts against SL on teletube, and a long drive to Sathyam for Kandaen Kaadhalai. To round it off, 3 aloo parathas and one samosa and then a bite into the butterscoth cake bro got home for dad' s bday. Wasnt that a fruitful day ? ( Had a banana and a guava as well :-))

P.S : I was clueless when my supervisor at work asked about the significance of the temple at Thirukadaiyur, so for ignorants such as truly yours -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirukadaiyur
http://www.pariharam.com/TempleAbiramiAmman,Thirukadaiyur.aspx?