Tamizh Padam

I believe it is the first spoof movie in Tamil (Tamizh) film industry. Having watched grossly shot English spoof movies like Meet the Spartans, Epic Movie etc., Tamizh Padam is a change in the right direction (Welcome relief from the main stream & masala movies!!) :) From the very first scene onwards, the spoofing starts. Blockbuster movies, iconic stills, memorable scenes, heroes, heriones, chartbuster songs, famous directors and what not?.. Everything in Tamil film industry have been spoofed mercilessly...

Some interesting spoofs from the movie..

• Name of the village where the story starts is "Cinema patty"
  
• Film's main characters are named after Boys heroes..
• Lyrics of one entire song in the film is from Tamil songs, which start with non- tamil words like hasile fisile, oh maga seeya etc.
• Some of the movies which are spoofed are Karuthamma , Thalapathy, Boys, Kaakha Kaakha, Naatamai, Vetaiyaadu Vilayaadu, Sivaji, Annamalai etc.. In fact, the list of movies spoofed crossed 40..
• All the cliches like 'becoming rich in one song', 'growing up with rotation of cycle wheel' and whatever you could think of in Tamil film industry, are spoofed aptly.

Rip roaring comedy is sure provided you should be well versed with Tamil films from 80's also. There will be absolutely no time to think over the movie being spoofed, because every scene in the movie spoofs about some famous movie or its scene or characters.

Story of the movie is not the point of discussion. Anyways, it about the hero Shiva who is a police officer ( revealed in later stages for the surprise factor.. but fails miserably fails to do so) and how he deals the society and goondas. The entire story is very predictable yet enjoyable to the core.. Songs are unwanted additions in the movie. Highly recommended for every Tamil cinema watcher.. Two and half hours of ultimate enjoyment..

P.S: Planning to watch the movie again with my friends ( who pestered me so that the spoofs will be explained to them). Happy to do it anyway!! Karumbu thinna koolie venuma??

Makeover to the blog..

Mission Makeover which I was planning for a long time.. finally succeeded. My blog which was so dull, received a much needed face lift. My little and unused brain came up with an idea to change the template, so that it matches my blog title. After searching the internet which is strewn with unusable and weird looking templates, I settled on the current one. I feel that my blog looks cool huh..!!

Netizens out there, I wanna end the post on a sad note by condoling the death of Jyoti Basu, the five time former Chief Minister of West Bengal.

Avatar

Avatar mania had struck the entire world. I didn't wanna be left behind. Failing to get tickets on many occasions did increase my desperation and expectations for the movie. Myself and Balu booked for nite show in Fame Shankar Nag, Bangalore. People were literally flocking to the theatre to see Avatar. Even during a weekday, tickets sale was very high. Nite shows were fully packed with people. It was my first 3D movie.

From the very first scene, James Cameron ties you down to the seat with exotic landscapes of Pandora, an earth like planet in the Alpha Centauri System. Even though set in 2154, the story deals about the human greed, love, affection & betrayal. The plot of the movie is straight as it gets. Save Pandora from human beings (called as Sky people by Navi tribe)!! The main lead, Jake Sully, is played by Sam Worthington,virtually unknown before this film. Jake Sully enjoys his Avatar,(the blue coloured body is the result of Project Avatar) as he his able to use his legs. He is a paraplegic in the real world. He learns their language, customs and hunting ways. By doing so, he naturally develops an affection for the Navi and their way of life. He curses the ruthlessness of the RDA corporation, in obtaining the very costly mineral unobtanium at the cost of Pandora & Navi people. Jake Sully switches side to the Navi tribe, so as to prevent humans destroying their "Home Tree". He fails to win the battle against humans but eventually wins the war with help from other Navi tribes, wild animals etc., The movie is essentially about the will and courageousness of Jake Sully to help Navi and their world from destruction. He goes to the extent of leaving his human body permanently to live in Pandora, which he likes to call his home.

The visual effects are beyond recognition. 3D viewing manages to exceed the expectations. One can't really imagine that the scenes involving the blue coloured Navi tribe are computer generated. It looks so real and amazing. James Cameron has pushed the envelope for CG to the ultimate level. He has co-developed an entirely new camera system for this film. The director, who gave us blockbusters like Titanic, Terminator 2 & True Lies, has made a simple story look awesome and grand in every sense. Kudos to the magic touch of James Francis Cameron. One can only be left spell bound after watching the movie. Must watch for every moviegoer. Once in a lifetime movie!!

Good news is that you can expect sequels to Avatar in the years to come!!

First Live Cricket Match

I had always wanted to see a live cricket match in a crowded and noisy stadium. Seeing a fifty over match was out of the equation. Advent of Twenty - 20 in the cricketing world aided my desire. The Champions League was inaguarated in Bangalore. Only after the starting ceremony, it struck my dumb mind that I have missed out a great chance to relish the opening ceremony of a tournament. Man, I didn't want the opportunity to go waste this time. So, I got a bike from my uncle to commute to the ground. Only the cheapest ticket available on the sale was on my mind. It also helped in keeping my already famished wallet hale and healthy. Reaching the Chinnasamy stadium was a great achievement itself. (My uncle had earlier warned though!!) . The stadium was unbelievably bright in the first impression. Crowd was going berserk. Energy of the crowd rubbed into me. I started to cheer vociferously only to realise later that my voicebox has taken the toll. I forgot the teams which were playing that night (Damn the teams!! I went there to relish the environment and the euphoria of the Indian cricketing crowd!!) . Anyway, the match was between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) vs Otago Volts.

RCB started the innings slowly but didn't lose many wickets. RCB innings reached the peak in the last over when Ross Taylor hit 24 runs. The only disapointment was that I couldn't see Rahul "The Wall" Dravid bat. I was praying that Brendon McCullum would go after the RCB bowlers. Again Lady luck failed me. He miserably gifted his wicket within three balls. Otago Volts batsmen fell like a pack of cards to RCB bowlers especially Anil "The Jumbo" Kumble. The bubbly cheer girls were at their dazzling best at the start of the match and slowly faded away with the match. Colourful is the word that had to be associated with the fireworks. Kudos to the DJ team who kept the entire crowd on their legs. It is because of them, the crowd's energy passed on to the RCB team, who were really mediocre till that match. Whoo.. What an experience was that.. Really looking forward for another match in Bangalore (Bengaluru)!!

Wake Up Sid!!

Bollywood is turning sensible and creative with movies like Wake Up Sid!!. Ranbir Kapoor is Siddarth Mehra aka Sid, a rich, happy go lucky college guy who cares about nothing, has no idea whatsoever or ambition for his future. Konkana Sen Sharma plays the female lead but the pairing doesn't strike any buzz or fizz. Ranbir looks cool wearing all toon printed Tee shirts.

The movie is all about Ranbir waking up to the reality of making one's own career after college. It is a movie with clear idea and definitive screenplay. Ranbir becomes a photographer. (Man, I wanted to be one!!) I really thank the director and screenplay writer for the pragmatism in the movie plot. It is good to see heroes becoming what they want to be throughout the movie, rather becoming mighty successful in a single song. Talking of songs, they are really a plus for this movie. Wake Up Sid and Ikthara have nice tempo and music. On a whole, it is good movie to watch. The wallet factor is always high when you watch the movie on an opening weekend.

Salaam Bombay

Salaam Bombay is a hardhitting movie on the city life of Bombay(now Mumbai!!).This movie was shot entirely in Bombay of the 80's. The plot of the movie revolves around the characters of Krishna alias Chaipau(Teaboy), Baba, Chillum,Sweet Sixteen,Manju etc. Salaam Bombay presents the persistent problems of drug peddling, prostitution, child labour directly and other problems indirectly.The characters are dealing and some are thrusted into dealing with the social evils.The movie also deals about the avarice,affection,attention,friendship and a plethora of human emotions, which are seldom shown in movies. The fact I liked about this movie is that the director had not shied away from depicting these human feelings on the screen,which makes a powerful impression. This made me realise that life is not only about the omnipotent and inexplicable rat race to attain material gain, but also the feelings and emotions for fellow human beings.The characters in the movie do justice to their roles and affect you in one way or the other. Even twenty years after the release, it still holds good for India as a whole(which is a shameful fact). Much acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire doesn't even stand a chance before this one and it is too ideal to happen in this real world. Salaam to Salaam Bombay!!.

The otherside of a boring busride

Let me put this in a nutshell. Even I want to write something on very trivial matters make it look great. After brainstorming on a lot of matters, I suddenly settled to write about the usual and boring bus ride that I take everyday from work to my place. Daily, I catch bus from Indian Express(in Bengaluru!!) to Murugeshpalya aka Kempfort. The whole journey lasts around fourty five to sixty minutes in peak hours. When I boarded the bus at Indian Express, I had a staunch belief that this ride would be no different from others. But I would be proved wrong because I wanted myself to be proved wrong. After making the driver believe that I actually carried a bus pass, I came to stand near seat with three muslim ladies with a small girl child. That particular girl child caught my attention with her inquisitveness. She was very much interested to explore the bus and get to know about more things, for she was around an year old. The mother and aunts of the child tried to restrain her movement. But they failed to do so every single time. Just then a guy with a green Tee-shirt( even, I was wearing one ) boarded the bus and blocked the way of the infant.That guy was smitten by the bee like activeness of the beautiful kid and started playing with the kid. He made the kid stand on the top of the headrest of the seat.To everyone's surprise including me, he even made her to hang on to the handrails(remained me of gymnasts hanging from parallel bars!!), which she did with great ease considering her tender hands.The toddler thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. the girl was all smiles and was very happy. I was very happy for the tiny tot. By this time, the bus had reached Trinity circle. Then a man came and stood beside me. I was really uncomfortable because his both hands were full of colorful and shining rakhis. I am sure that there was atleast 8-10 rakhis. Then, it struck me that it was Rakshabandhan that day and even I had a rakhi tied to my wrist for the first time in my life (Thanks to lil sis Preeti!!). The 'rakhi man', as I thought of calling him, was happily speaking over the cellular.After the rakhi man, my attention was caught by a fair and gorgeous girl with a jet black hair( According to me, it is peculiar for a North Indian!! ), who was fiddling her mobile phone (hmm.. a Nokia !!). Even she looked happy. I started thinking in a queer way. I always wanted to see and experience the life of complete strangers( like these people) from their point of view and see what I can learn from their life. It would be for sure a life changing experience and wondered if something like that could materialize for good. It is much like the concept of time machine which everyone wants to experience but everyone knows that it is unreal. These barrage of thoughts seemed to kindle something inspiring in my mind and I felt it to be something of a much needed change. The seemingly dull bus ride that night made me realise one thing that I would have missed to de-board the bus at Murugeshpalya with all these queer thoughts had not the conductor shouted "Murugeshpalya, Murugeshpalya" standing near me and brought me into the real existence.