Aadhavan - KSR's Killing Machine

OK, I had to write this. Precious waste of time with "Aadhavan". Thought Surya was done with mundane films after "Vel". Whatever maybe the reason for him choosing this script, still quite unpardonable. The movie might go on to attract A,B and C audiences, but has eroded the stature of Surya to some extent. Every character, except that of Surya and Vadivelu, stood out like a sore thumb - the super artificial Nayantara, the movie storywriter Ramesh Kanna ( guess he lost his marbles for good ), the washed-up Sarojadevi, the jokers aka villains - Shayaji Shinde and Rahul dev, and finally....the super comical Anandbabu ( son of the great Nagesh ). KS Ravikumar sure has joined the league of Perarasu with this flick. The less said about the story, screenplay and direction, the better.

I just cant think of any positives about this movie. 3 of the better songs which sounded good, have been now corrupted with the sorry picturization of the same. The songs were painfully inserted at inopportune moments to provide the so called relief from the hopelessness of the movie. The background score was a scare too. Every movie of KSR now seems to be pre-dated in a regressive manner by a 5 year margin. We sure did laugh at the brainless plot and some genuine comical moments involving Vadivelu, and were really surprised to see one guy sitting ahead of us filming the movie on his mobile. Wonder what he intended to do, given the fact that the movie was dumb and an insult to the audience . The knockout punch was KSR making the depressing appearance and this time, he dragged in the producer for good measure. Please save your money and time, dont watch "Aadhavan". I shudder at the thought of Surya's next flick being wielded by the "Aruvaal and Tata Sumo" friendly Hari. Post this tragedy, we sought the temporary solace of "Amethyst".

Verdict - Must Avoid.

Deepavali - The 2009 experience

I love the smell of the crackers in the early morning fog ( when it used to be the case few years back, even in Chennai ). Deepavali....a festival which used to bring so much joy and festivities, seems to have lost its sheen over the years. While I can understand that people climbing the age ladder are burdened by day-to-day issues, whats wrong with the kids and young adults ? There are tell-tale signs of waning interest among the public - the reduced uptake of crackers, relatively less of the milling crowds in areas other than T.Nagar, families preferring to outsource making of sweets, far fewer exchanges of sweets with friends and families, and the most of all....the near death of sending greeting cards on this auspicious day.

I made all the right noises of making sure that this Deepavali was better than last year, when I burst crackers to my heart's fill with my companion - my neighbour's son who is now into his 2nd year at college. I couldnt even spot him this year, he was busy watching TV :-). My dad, the perfectionist that he is, got lists of crackers and also took a stock-check of last year's remnants. He dutifully gave me the price lists and also ticked the items that I probably should buy ( that was to ensure that I dont go on a spending spree, which I normally do ). Another lazy friend of mine, was given a similar onerous task and we decided to set out on the hunt together. There were very few cracker shops around, and I recommended a factory outlet type pile-up of the "Cock (Seval)" brand. However, one look at the queues at around 7PM and we tucked our tails between our legs and decided to pay them a visit at 10 PM, when there would be less clamouring. What I thought was a smart move, proved to be plain dumb in the end. The smart move was a camouflage for our signs of irritability, impatience, and most of all...plain laziness in doing the simple tasks, while we worried about the bigger tasks on hand. At 10 PM, we scrounged for whatever remained in the cracker shop and I bought exactly 3 packs of crackers worth Rs.231 ( am sure my dad thought that suddenly I had become prudent ) to add to my arsenal from last year, while my comrade bought for Rs.780 to meet his and his little cousins' demands.

On the D-day, I got up late at around 8:30 AM ( my buddy from school said he was supposed to getup at 3:30 AM, and I got to check with him if he really did that ) and was in a state of trance for the whole day from that moment. Who on earth will watch "Revolutionary Road" until 2AM and then read something upto 3 AM on a festive occasion. Well I did :-). I had the perfunctory oil bath, and lo and behold - I had a Van Heusen shirt to go with the brand new lungi, since I couldnt find Louis Phillipe all black trousers in the few shops I checked. I sleepwalked through the lighting of two "sarams" and then hounded back to dig into the most interesting event of the day - the vadais, the suliyums, the idlis and the amazing vegetable sambar and cocounut chutney. Man-o-man, what a relief and I couldnt help but snooze for about an hour or so. I was back again with my laptop and my parents were probably sick of me sitting like a yogi with laptop and "the-quest-for-truth" type expression on my face. Soon enough, I watched "Nadodigal" alongwith my parents and I must say that it was one of best movies propounding "friendship" without any pro-longed monologue on the subject.

The day was drawing to a close after I paid a visit to the neighbourhood temple with my parents. It took quite a bit of effort to coerce my mom to light few sparklers, she seemed to be tired after the last one week's labour in kitchen and was surely worried about something, and missed my brother ( who was helping the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation ). I took few photos of my mom in her new sari and dad, who looked dapper in his corduroy brown pants and the sandalwood coloured shirt. Another Deepavali was over and I got back to the CL20 where Sehwag was providing the missing fireworks.

Pokhran II - questions raised

A real shocker - Pokhran-II in May,1998 may not be what we have been told. The thermonuclear (TN) explosion was supposed to yield around 45KT, but it probably ended up generating a measly 20-25KT. However, the fission device which was supposed to set-off the TN, yielded the desired result and the perfunctory crater; so did the third device - a sub-kiloton device. While the fission device is still capable of causing irreparable damage, the TN device was supposed to be 3 times as potent as the Hiroshima bomb. The implications of this episode, as it unravels, are quite disturbing and leave many unanswered questions :
1) The credibility of former president Mr. APJ is in serious jeopardy. Apparently he was aware of the official post mortem of the TN explosion. So why did he keep mum then, and why does he continue to support R Chidambaram ( the then AEC Chairman ) and the incumbent MK Narayanan ?
2) If the tests didnt do anything to the "White House" ( relax...its the shaft in which the TN device was placed. Wonder why BJP didnt raise a red flag to the American reference in the desi tests ), why didnt we go for further tests without much delay ?
3) If it is really true that the tests fizzled out, then we do not have the minimum nuclear deterrence against a diabolical Pak state and the muslce-flexing Chinese republic. This would also be fodder to the terrorist organizations to mount another offensive, and if we do not have the nuclear werewithal, we cant take the swift and decisive riposte which our home minister has been crying hoarse about.
4) We cant be rushed into signing the CTBT, which is what Mr.Santhanam ( the then project leader of Pokhran-II ) claims as the reason for his disclosure after these many years.
5) Did the BJP government put pressure on the Pokhran project committee to carry out the tests prematurely, to gain political brownie points ?

The more we read in the media about the cover-up, one is inclined to think that we have been fed a false sense of security and pride. If the tests were really botched, then we are in a classic catch-22 - 1) Given the US India nuclear deal, it wont be easy to carry out any more tests 2) On the other hand, we cant sit idle without proving our minimum deterrence both for the Indian public and to the doubting world.

Super mess this. Who and how are they going to clean this up ?

Inspired...

While most, if not all, of us do have the urge to contribute to the society, we sometimes get lost in the madness around us. A poignant reminder about the "power of giving" unravelled on my trip to Bangalore. I was at my very close friend's house visiting his parents and his brothers, when one of the younger brothers - Giri, got a call from a bus driver. A day earlier, the driver had blanked out in the middle of the road while driving the bus - he couldnt see or think clearly. The entire passenger lot just got off the bus, except for Giri who went on and enquired about his health. He took him to a hospital where the driver didnt have enough money to get the necessary tests done. Giri paid for the tests and ensured that the driver was in good hands, before he went back home. While I was at their residence, the driver called Giri to extend his gratitude and wanted to pay back the medical expenses, which the latter politely declined and wished the driver good health.

Many years back, while I was in the US, my brother had saved the life of a total stranger ( Pandian ) who was hit by a speeding vehicle and lay on the roads in rain, struggling for his life. With none coming to his rescue, my bro alighted from his bike and took him an auto to a hospital, checked him in and as movies would have it - the doctor uttered those magic words : "had it been few minutes late, the patient was unlikely to survive." The difference this time was that it was no movie scene. In his quest to save a life, my brother forgot that his cell phone had lost its power, while my parents were frantically trying to reach him. The patient received deep stitches and had to undergo progressive surgery to reduce the injury marks. After recovering, he called and visited our home with his mom. It was a touching moment when his mother thanked my brother for saving her son's life. Since then, Pandian has become a very close friend of our family and visits my parents, even when my brother and me are not around.

These were stirring moments of selfless help that make us admire and appreciate the good samaritan in us, and serve as an inspiration to do our best towards helping people - irrespective of religion, caste and creed.

Ind Vs Pak - Resumption of the battle

I have more important things to do than worry about a cricket match. But I have been doing this mistake for years together now, the heights being watching the Netherlands Vs UAE match hours before my XII grade Maths exam. Today's ODI is being played between the two neighbours after more than year, and hence the heightened sense of tension and an overwhelming desire for an Indian victory. Few of the Pakistani players have made all the right noises, including their captain-Younus Khan, whom I equate to Wasim Akram in the stakes for artificial behavior driven by camera consciousness. The injury to Yuvraj could not have come at a more inopportune time, with Sehwag and Zaheer already nursing their injuries back home. The Centurion brings back good memories for an Indian fan, owing to that spectacular chase against Pak in 2003 world cup; thanks to the superlative batting from Sachin and co against the likes of W&W and Shoaib. Experts say Centurion, with its relatively low bounce and even carry, would suit players like Raina and Yusuf whose suspect technique against short stuff was brutally exposed during the world cup. However, it is no secret that Pak batsman arent too good on seaming or bouncy tracks either. So things are even-stevens with regard to the pitch conditions.

Many encounters between the two sides have been decided by individual heroices, however, the strength of the current Indian team lies in having a cohesive batting unit. Stats do support that theory and Sachin too rightly pointed it out. One can also expect the current team to stand upto the verbal abuse by Afridi and co, with Gambhir and Bhajji leading from the front. The best performances of many new comers have come against India ( remember Franklyn Rose, Jimmy Adams etc ) and hence special attention has to be given to the performances of Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, and Mohammed Aamer. Prior to the last 5-6 years, Pakistan were for most part the favourites. Things have become better since then, with the Indian team growing in confidence with the emergence of some quality players backed by aggressive instincts, while Pakistan team hit new nadirs owing to one controversy or the other. Since Younus and Intikhab have taken over, things are looking better, with the W20 cup being their biggest gain so far. The leak of the India team dossier prepared by Kirsten, on the eve of an important match is yet again a stark reminder of how the feudal BCCI functions.

Cant wait for the 6 PM start, when after the first few overs, the nerves start to settle down. As always, wishing for an Indian victory and better performances from Mr.Nehra ( who grimaces at a misfield off his bowling, as if he is the epitome of modern fielding standards ), Ishant ( he definitely has some injury concern or is on a high most of the time ) and our own RP ( talk about pedestrian fielding standards and inconsistent bowling form ). No wonder, MSD is greying since he took over the captaincy.

Unnaipol Oruvan - The remake

Me and my dad dont agree on things normally, but we agreed that the hindi version - "A Wednesday" was better than the tamil remake - "Unnaipol Oruvan". Naseeruddin Shah is good at underplaying his roles and the "common man" billing fit him to the tee in the movie. The biggest disadvantage the tamil version had to do with the aura surrouding the two super stars - Kamal and Mohanlal. While it was a very subdued performance from the former, the malayalam star played his role with aplomb. Casting of Lakshmi as the chief secretary and the May Madham kid as the IIT dropout with his forced accent was a real letdown. Adding Santhanam Bharathi as one of the mercenaries diluted the seriousness of the context to a certain extent. The two police officers aiding Mohanlal, were too fit to be believed to be from the Tamilnadu police. Kamal for all his creative skills, is often culpable of trying to be too preachy in few of his movies ( his trademark...aaa....aaaaa....was missed in this movie ); luckily in this one he doesnt go over-board on that count.

Shurti Hassan's debut score is pretty average and I believe the rocker image of hers is evident in her music too. Believe Kamal did strain his vocal cords for an operatic segment of the background score.

Strong points : short duration, muted patriotism, no glorification of the superstars, no songs
Weak points : mis-casting, the reason behind Kamal's reason to do what he did in the movie isnt as convincing as one in Hindi, dubbing was out of place in few segments

Still a very good movie, compared to the punch dialogue laden fare from Kollywood.

The wonders of driving on Chennai roads

1. The rip-off that is called the toll – Rs.17 to use the road leading to the toll and the one beyond it is littered with moon craters that need special driving skills, especially if one is driving the Zen.

2. The 3 kings of the road – cab drivers ( tata indicab ) and the shared autos ( the regular autos look less menacing ), and the screaming yellow lorries ( fully loaded dump lorries really make you hold your breath, and if you trail them long enough, they will even take your breath away )

3. Live spitfest – few samaritan bus commuters and drivers, socially aware and environment friendly auto drivers, biker boyz with a hung-up attitude who want to paint the town red.

4. MotoGP wannabes – zipping through crowded roads with helmets resting peacefully on the petrol tanks or slung stylishly by the helmet locks, and a riding posture to remind us of the professional bike racers taking high speed turns.

5. Unofficial Force India F1 circuit breakers – the sparsely seen Mercs and BMWs and the custom made desi brands, who give a run for your money and life too.

Disclaimer : This by no means includes all the straight thinking citizens who also just happen to use the roads for pure travelling reasons and pleasure.