Growing up and Growing old

On a cheeky note, we all grow older at the rate of one year per annum but we grow up at different rates...

Case in point, the 25 something crowd of more than 20 guys who happened to be in the theater last night for a show of "Mayakkam Enna". Had gone to watch the evening show with Balaji last night and it was a full house.

Mayakkam Enna (you can watch trailer here) is a movie by Selvaraghavan with his brother Dhanush as the hero. If you thought this was some feel good, masala romance movie that targets the twenty something youth, you may be mistaken.

It is a visceral movie about a group of friends growing up and growing old based on the circumstances they face in life. Some deal with the hand they are dealt with courage and conviction while others simply struggle to pick up the pieces. Selvaraghavan does a fantastic job of creating vivid images of the characters with all their idiosyncrasies and Dhanush stands out as an actor. The heroine steals the show throughout the movie. A first timer to Tamil movies, this girl can act.

It is a treat to watch a heroine in a Tamil movie get a chance to show her acting skills as opposed to just showing herself for a change.

Went to the movie without knowing anything about the movie. Had not heard about the storyline, the cast, nothing. Just that Sangeetha watched it the previous night and said "you will like this movie because there is a lot of good photography in the movie".

Came out loving it. Sad part was that the crowd of guys totally spoiled the movie going experience. They simply could not handle the serious scenes and would start making loud ridiculous comments to the whole theater which was not much different from little kids who act out to crave attention.

Was telling Balaji that one needs to be a husband and or a parent to understand "the growing up" aspect of life and clearly this crowd was not ready for it.

This movie was 80% tragedy, 20% happy go lucky and another bonus 10% if you managed to connect the dots between the two.

A must watch for a mature audience!


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Enthiran - The festival

That was just one of the many videos of the crowd and celebration at a small Theater in San Jose. There are only 200 or so seats in the theater where we watched the movie tonight. (we= me, MIL, San's aunt). San watched the preview show because she could not wait for the 24 hours and I was still sick last night.

Rajni movies are a treat, especially because the audience is so alive! This movie was by far the best Tamizh movie I have seen in a long long time.

Everything about this movie was a notch above my expectations! This team went all out and made a fantastic effort to make a Sci-fi Tamizh movie.

Recently there was a Tamizh Western (comedy). That trailer alone made me squirm. Apparently the movie got okay reviews. Was wondering what a Tamizh Sci-fi would be like. Very happy to realize that this Tamizh Sci-fi absolutely rocked!

All of us got a free poster at the ticket counter. That one goes into the souvenir box for sure. Tonight was a very memorable night.

Thank you Superstar!

If only they had released it on one of the local AMC theaters on the biggest screens with louder sound....

Who knows, maybe they will see how good this movie is and do that ?!




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Tamizh Padam(தமிழ் படம்) - Simply Hilarious

Have been out of blogger for a few days, thanks to a sinus infection that has kept me in bed for the most part of Wednesday to Friday. After spending most of the day today in bed as well, San recommended (and graciously agreed) to send me first to watch "Tamizh Padam", a new release Tamizh movie which is getting rave reviews and word of mouth publicity. It is a spoof of Tamizh movies.

It is a must watch in a Theater for a few reasons.

1. The crowd just gets wild and makes the whole experience worth it.

2. you actually get to laugh out loud (which you may not be able to do if you watch it at home after the kids go to bed)!

This movie works because of its attention to detail. It might end up a big blockbuster, inspite of not having any big name actors and being a spoof, simply because it doesn't spoof some leading actors in a "in the face" kind of way. The spoof is rather on the "over the top" antics, weak story lines, special effects, the whole concept of the indestructible hero and how things work for the hero simply because he is one!

The songs are a laugh riot.

It has been a long long time since I stood up and clapped at the end of a Tamizh movie!

Tamizh Padam, definitely worth watching!



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Neeyum Naanum (you and me)

Watched Abhiyum Naanum on DVD. It was a great movie. Came out teary eyed in a lot of places. First real sappy daddy movie to hit the screens in a long time.

Even the big girls were all wiping their tears, possibly thinking about their dads?!

Most of the things in that movie have happened for real in this house. The girls as much as utter a sound, daddy will be right next to them. The alert level in the house for the girls getting hurt is always at Orange, much like the San Jose Airport since a few weeks after 9/11. Daddy is still designing airbags in his sleep that will make sure that there are no scratches on the kids if they get in an accident.

If this movie captured our past and present very accurately, then it is offering a very scary glimpse of the future for daddy.

There is a lot of growing up to do, for sure.

Just remembered this post and the comments that followed! It is not going to be easy for me to see my girls say bye to me.

Funny thing is they already know that they can live without me but it is me who cannot live without them and this theme came as a self realization way before this movie was made!

Hell, I should have scripted this movie. Okay, just kidding..

Those occasional flashes of truth fade into the background in an instant and we are back to the "my child" obsession.

One thing is for sure. I treat my FIL with a lot of respect. He is the only person who could put things in perspective for me when my kids decide to get married. Not my wife, not my parents, not my kids. Only the FIL can give me advice on what it means to become a FIL myself someday.

Maybe he has no profound wisdom to offer me and will brush it aside with stuff like "achcha baba" or "chalta hai" or some such thing which leaves you staring into space going "what was that?" , or maybe he will take me aside and bare his soul on what he was thinking at my wedding....or maybe he will start a school for prospective FIL's and offer coaching classes?

Only time will tell.

Hopefully by that time, this dad will be wiser. One can always hope, no?


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You dare call me a Servant?!

A cop abuses a witness trying to help identify a perpetrator.

An American of Indian descent who is new to India tells the cop "You are a public servant. How can you do this?"

The cop replies, "You called me a servant? Do I look like a servant to you?" and slaps the guy.

Guy slaps the cop back and ends up in jail.

When his uncle bails him out the cop tells the uncle "inform this kid that this is how things work in India"

This is just one of the scenes that caught my attention early on in "Delhi -6", a really well made movie that shows India for what it is, a place that is defined by a really large mass of people, a tangled web of interactions from every perspective, a potpourri of emotions, something so complex yet simple, something so simple yet complex, an everlasting absurdity of sorts that can be explained one way or another, a place where at times everything goes and at times nothing moves!

The greatness of this movie is the attention to detail. Every little piece of the jigsaw puzzle comes together so smoothly and you come out shaking your head, not because you saw something fantastic, but you saw something that happens for real, something that you know is true, because you have experienced most of these bits and pieces firsthand!

The only surprise is that a kid born and raised in America is even accepted as India's own in the earlier parts of the movie while his religious identity is questioned later because his dad is Hindu and mom is a Muslim. If there is one thing consistant about Bigotry, it is that bigotry is absolute. A real crowd would have equally questioned his "Indian-ness" or "his right to ask questions about things Indian or about India" because he is an American Citizen, but somehow they miss that part and it seemed weird.

But for that small deviation from reality, the movie does a fantastic job of painting the masses in everything from gory red, dove white, purple hues, monkey black, holy green to religious saffron!

The human mind is an amazing thing. The ability to live and let live is a quality of the mind that is not universal. Considering ,my recent frame of mind Delhi-6 offers a rare glimpse into the collective human psyche that makes or breaks a society. It also tells you in the nicest of ways to look for answers within!

Nicely done. Strongly recommended!


ps. Hope this movie wins international recognition for Cinematography. Simply fantastic. The music was great, but the visuals were simply breathtaking!


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By chance, if you are lucky *

You get to watch Luck by chance on DVD.

Maybe my expectations were too high after watching "Rock On"?

Konkona was great, even Isha was tolerable. Farhan was barely making the cut, and the music did not carry the movie.

Somehow my taste in movies has one lowest common denominator. No matter what the genre, the movie should keep moving forward! It should hold my attention. Any movie where I doze off or pull out my phone and have a temptation to check email, has disappointed me.

The first half of this movie was very well made. It was witty, funny, very natural and had everything going for it.

The second half was so predictable and at one point was just suspended .. it was like a feather hovering just before it takes another drop.. except it just hovered there, a little too long!

The last movie we (MIL and me) watched was Spellbound (the Hitchcock 1945 B/W movie) and watching this after that was not a good idea. We both came out saying "hmm.. that guy made a movie for almost 2 hours with 4 main characters and kept us engrossed and here we are dozing off in a 2009 movie".

We are now hoping for Delhi 6 in the coming weeks. We know the music is awesome..hope it moves us as well!


* Ps. I should add that in the second half the senior artists who were playing supporting roles were really showing off their acting talent and by comparison Farhan pales.

Moral of the story, dont have seasoned veterans play your supporting casts when you are making a movie about moviemaking with young leads!

pps. Note to self : going forward, lower expecations a tad before walking into a movie... dont expect much and be surprised!


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Simply in awe

Went and bought the "Delhi 6" CD today.

The music is enthralling!

Dil Gira Dafatan, Rehna Tu and Hey Kaala Kaala Kaala Bandar will now play on infinite loop in the van till they find a worthy replacement and that is going to be a tall order! After Rab Ne played 1000+ songs successfully since its release in the Van we were waiting to see which album will take its place.

The goosebumpology continues..

It is also interesting to note that the last five CD's purchased have all been hindi movie CD's.. (Jaane Tu, Bachnaa aye Haseeno, Rock On, Rab Ne, and now Delhi 6)

Hindi film music is kicking it up a notch, and we are not complaining!


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Edible Hero Worship

San came home after watching the new Rajni movie Kuselan (on opening night) and gave the kids a little treat!




You got that right!

M and M's with Rajni uncle's picture on them! Jr. was giggling away as she ate them. She thought it was hilarious. Considering that she has not seen any pictures printed on an M and M to date, she was surprised that Rajni uncle beat Dora the Explorer when it came to being on the candy.

The little one didn't quite understand what the big deal was, giggled away as well to copy her sister, and ate the candy.

The movie got a "okay movie" remark from San, but the M&M's got rave reviews from Jr.


ps. San corrected to "okay movie".. my original translation to "nice" was not accurate!


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How to make a blockbuster -101

To date, this blogger has not made a movie. His entire videography experience is limited to movie maker clips under ten minutes!

As Confusius once said (he said a lot of things and I am not sure if this is one of those things) "Every ass has a hole!" and along those lines, I have a little primer for how to make a blockbuster movie, purely based on watching movies that went on to become blockbusters or bankbusters.

1. Do not go overboard - on anything. Be it makeup, stunts, dialogues, accents, length of the movie, anything!

2. Do not insult your audience - even if you are doing something that is not normal, make it look possible under the assumptions of the movie. In other words, don't violate the rules of your own movie.

3. Find your target audience - You cannot please every type of audience, even if you are a universal hero! Go right or go left!

4. Screen time - One person showing his face for 80% of the movie, even if the face is disguised brilliantly, severely, grotesquely, is still cloying! Give other people in the movie a chance to participate! It is a movie, not a one man stage show.

5. Movies are expected to have a coherent flowing storyline and relevant dialogues. While they are not a must, they do help. A movie is not just a showcasing of acting talent. If one is capable of multiple disguises, you could technically do 36 five minute skits with 36 different makeups and string it all together and call it a three hour...."talent show"!

Why do I suddenly have the urge to write all this? Well, just came back from watching Dasavatharam, the movie.. sorry.. the Kamal Hasan talent show!

I am upset that he did not play Hilary Clinton or Barak Obama!

Well, maybe in the sequel Beesavadharam, where he plays 20 roles in the same movie, he will consider those two characters!


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A ring of nostalgia

If and when I get to travel down memory lane, it is usually a few years down the past to before the kid, or before the kids, or at the most to, just before getting married.

Some more internal statistizing(?) shows, that your truly tends to go down 5-6 years down at most under normal circumstances and rarely past a decade when some deep emotional disturbance happens. Extreme elation or depression seem to open some strange doors in the brain which are otherwise collecting cobwebs and the rare flashback happens!

The fact that most of what we see in our daily life seems to dwell increasingly on the present, be it the blogosphere, SUN TV (old movies from our childhood are a rarity), the lack of other TV channels at home, books (Kite runner appealed so much, mainly because it brought back memories of the late seventies!) and things that connect to the past are few and far between are possible reasons.

Imagine my surprise then on watching this Tamizh movie at home called "Kannum Kannum", I find myself going down memory lane, not 5-6 years, not 10 years but a full 30! The movie was different, with good acting performances but ended up being too long. Would definitely recommend a watch with a nice DVD remote that can Fast forward with subtitles on and the sound still playing! What the movie lacked, it made up by connecting a few critical neurons in my head!

This family in the movie, was playing "ring ball" on a large terrace! Tell me people, when was the last time you played "ring ball" or "ring" or "ring toss", as we used to call it? A simple, almost solid white rubber toroid, light enough to be tossed around and caught, but heavy enough to hold traction with your fingers? The texture of a ball, the feel of a frizbee, a unisex sport for all family?

Drifted into the past effortlessly, after watching that scene. So many great memories of playing "ring" as a child with my brother, sister, aunts, kids we had hardly met in houses we rented. Even caught glimpses of the faces of some of those kids while dreaming with my eyes open.

Do they even sell these rings anymore? If they do, going to ask MIL to get one for the kids, (okay, okay, it is really for me!) when she comes back here.

Time to open up more doors inside my head and create some new ones inside the kids heads so they can dream a few decades from now!

"Ring" toss anyone?


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Movie Sequences

It is common these days to see Indian movies blatantly copy foreign movies with a small twist in the end. For some reason, the entire scene by scene lifting of another movie has reduced drastically in the last year.

The new trend is to just recreate segments of hit western or south east asian movies. Segments as in, a series of stunt sequences, family situations, drama situations etc. Needless to say, if they never gave any credit to the original after copying an entire movie, they are not going to give any credit for copying segments.

The funny thing is the arguments between me and the Mrs. on these sequences. Somehow she manages to forget the original sequence and is amazed by the creativity of the Director or actor or cinematographer! That gets to me more than the director. It is easier for me to show relation to the original when the source of the sequences is another Indian movie.

For example, the movie we watched recently can be expressed with the equation:

Thotaa = Thotti Jaya + Fanaa - Chimpu

where Chimpu is the fudge factor, or in movie terms the sludge factor!

Here is another sequence:

Hero is cornered on a high rise building
He is standing on the parapet wall on the top floor looking down
The old and wise cop is puffing and panting but nevertheless has a gun pointed at the hero
Cop delivers a dialogue about how the entire building is surrounded and it is "surrender" or "death by falling"!
Hero lets cop count
Just as cop counts one hero spots a train in a distance. (the tracks are not even close to the building, but what the hell!)
When the cop counts three, there is a .5 second pause and the hero falls, arms out
Then we see the rope he is holding
He swings a distance of around half a mile and precisely lands on the top of the train.
The hero looks back and smiles
The old cop who looks like he needs eye glasses rated +5.5 in the right eye and +6.5 in the left, gives a wry smile and identifies the hero's face from the train top a mile away..

Familiar??? Lets see what you think the original is!

Here is another one.

Boy comes to girls parents house to be introduced.
Boy has just lost his job before joining girl on the trip
He needs money
The prospective father in law figures out that he has money troubles
So they have a race (running, go-cart, whatever) and if the boy wins the girls dad will loan him the money, if not the boy should leave the girl alone and walk away!
In the same movie girl stops talking to boy because he hid his "losing the job" part from her. Eventually boy helps girls dad join girls mom (they are fighting as well) and the parents help girl join boy! The director of the Tamizh copy is even supposed to have attributed the sequence to a wrong original! If you are a movie trivia buff name the original, copy and the wrong original mentioned in the media..


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Like mother like Daughter-in-law??

We have all heard of
"like mother like daughter"

for the first time, we hear "like mother, like daughter-in-law"

San got this movie "Thotta" from the local Indian grocery store.

The first opening in the title credits is a picture of Indian Congress Party Suprema (female version of Supermo.. I am using my Spanish skills here!) and the caption

Baratha Annai
Thirumathi Indira Gandhi avargalin
maru avataram

Thirumathi Sonia Gandhi avargalukku
iththiraippadaththai
Apranikkirom.

Translation :

India's mother
Mrs. Indira Gandhi's
alternate avatar

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
this movie is our offering.

We live in interesting times!


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