Look-back

February 6, 2012 Leave a Comment

Last week was quite extraordinary in the sense that I hit upon 3 different ideas that I wanted to blog about..here. This hasn’t happened in a while and I was thrilled. But then, I was worried that I would overshoot my January quota and end up with a drought filled February. So, I thought I would table those ideas for the time being. And here I am, trying to recollect those 3 ideas. Never mind.

Quick round-up:

Books:

The Calcutta Chromosome  - Amitava Ghosh

I would say I was pleasantly surprised to read a sci-fi from this brilliant writer. A writer, some of whose sentences sometimes need multiple readings to understand. The best part about this book is that you could finish it in one sitting although I finished it in 2 sittings (2 plane rides followed by some late night reading).

Movies: 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Fincher

Ok. I was not that impressed with Fincher’s handling of this story. I liked the original Swedish version better. Although, there were some brilliant lines in the Fincher version which were enough to make the trip to the theater worth it. Rooney Mara was brilliant. And Trent Reznor – Take a bow! (no pun intended).

Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows

I have watched a few Guy Ritchie movies in the past and have liked many of them..(Snatch, LSATSB, Sherlock Holmes I). But this movie may have made me a slight fan of his style. I can’t imagine anyone else pulling off a Sherlock Holmes story in such a classy, novel and glitzy way. Downey had outdone himself from Part I.

Band Bajaa Baraath (Hindi)

Heard that this movie in general generated lots of positive buzz. Not a bad movie. Mostly clean Rom-Com. But I wondered what was so different in this movie compared to a few others that came out around this movie’s release. Overall – a good time pass..

Music:

Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi – S Thaman

A very different Thaman album. So Bravo to him for accepting to do this. Nothing extraordinary in the album except the fact that it is a genuine attempt to make a youth album with a Romance theme. From that stand point, Thaman has succeeded (7/10).

My picks – Parvathi, Parvathi (Brilliant tribute to “Viswanathan Velai vendum”) and Azhaippaya…

Talsamayam Oru Penkutty – Sharreth Vasudevan (Malayalam)

Sharreth once again hits a home run. I have been following his music only in the last 3-4 years but whenever I have time, I try to listen to some of his old work as well. What a composer! One of a kind. A kind that singers apparently are scared of when they get a call from his studio.

My picks – Ponnodu Poovai, Kannaran Thumbi and Enthe Hrudyathalam

Sports:

What an epic match the Rafa-Novak match turned out to be. Watching the match was exhausting enough. Rafa gave everything to hold that trophy is an understatement. I don’t think there were will be another epic grand slam final like that in the near future. Salutes to the two brave & strong men.

That pretty much sums up my last few days. Oh, yeah, by the way..I almost forgot – The Giants won!!

Filed under Books, Movies - General, Music - General, Sports - General

Collective thoughts..

January 26, 2011 3 Comments

This one is going to be one random post. Sort of like a talk show monologue but without a theme..

* Books – Finished reading all 3 books from Steig Larsson’s trilogy. Wow! is one small word to describe the set. After reading all the books, one has to wonder, what kind of books he would have written had he still been alive? What kind of a coincidence is it to die after delivering the final transcripts of the three books together to the publishing house (and before the books were published)? Larsson sure has a tremendous knowledge of the Swedish legal system and has a clear understanding of the political history. I haven’t read much about his personal biography, but based on the kind of work he did and based on the issues he so passionately dealt with in these books, you could sort of form an opinion on his persona. Also, I couldn’t but get reminded of Assange (for no real reason except the fact that these characters were fighting within the legal system). Truly, a great read and for me, was educative too.

* Movies – Quite a few. Where do I start? Manmadhan Ambu was an entertainer all the way with shades of Kamal’s brilliance in screenplay and writing. Unfortunately, Kamal is at a point in his career where if he does a Hey Ram to suit his intellectual sensibilities, he is going to end up with a commercial dud or if he does a MMA as a mild rom-com-fam-drama spliced with his occasional sparks of intelligence, then people reject it because they don’t get too much masala. So he has to do a Dasavatharam if he has to make his producers happy while feeding the intellect in him. Unfortunately, he can’t do a Dasavatharam every year. He is probably comfortable writing a Virumaandi every year, but he can’t find a producer to support him. So he is always going to be in search for the right balance. Meantime, I will continue to enjoy Kamal the intellect in any form I can get.

Here is a recent interview – mostly in English..Just look at the ease with which he talks not just about the main topic of the day but about anything under the sun. Yes. he could be opinionated on certain things. That may be a trait of  a knowledge seeker in a contradictory sort of way, but he is objective too.

http://icdn.indiaglitz.com/playerV2/embed.swf?vid=49723&category=5003&as=

Now I watched a movie called “Get Low” – without any expectations. It is a story about a lonely old man planning for his own funeral. Pretty interesting till the climax which I thought was a let down.

* Music – Probably plenty to write about. But what comes to my mind right now is Mynaa. Who would have thought that D Imman can produce a classic? This album is a keep sake in my library. And the customary AR Rahman reference in the form of 127 Hours. Bought the album. Haven’t listened to the tracks on my real 5.1 system yet. But have listened to all the tracks dozens of times. Acid Darbari..ha..ha. Only AR! Glad he got 2 nominations at the Academy. Good luck!

Filed under AR Rahman, Books, Movies - General, Music - General

3 idiots -> 3 views

January 12, 2010 Leave a Comment

Happened to watch this movie over the weekend. 3 idiots, the movie that has been making waves all over the world of Indian movie goers truly lived up to its reputation of being one of the most popular movies, as the most commercially successful movie of 2009 and as the one to watch for all the entertainment, humor & the supposedly great social message it offers.

Normally I don’t like to call my experience of watching a movie and sharing my comments a true “Review”. I am going to present my comments in a different form for this movie – of course, just for kicks. Here are 3 different views of the movie..

View 1 – An Average Moviegoer

  • The entertainment quotient of the movie is probably close to 7.5/10. By which I mean, there is almost 75% of the time when you are watching the movie, you never get the feeling “what the heck is going on?” or you look at your watch or you sort of predict what the character is going to say or do..
  • Casting – Aamir Khan is pretty good and full marks to him for physically trying to morph himself into a lean machine from his Ghajini looks. Although he could never pass off as a 20 year old (to be fair Madhavan wouldn’t pass off as a 20 year old as well..), he looked much younger for his age. But I thought Aamir overdid his mannerisms, in other words, he tried too hard to look like a 20 year old. Madhavan was a class apart, if you could leave his age aside, he didn’t overdo what Aamir tried to, but rather played to his strengths. Shraman Joshi too did quite well..and you could see the chemistry between the 3 working really well.
  • Awesome comic one liners – Have to give full marks to Hirani and Abhijat Joshi for their sense of humor and for a great adaptation & for a great screenplay. This is what helped the movie to be a highly entertaining one. Not to mention, the social message that they interviewed the screenplay with.

View 2 – A Critic with a microscope (actually just a simple magnifying lens)

  • Aamir as the hero – Of course, he gets to do all the right things and say all the right things as the main character “Rancho”. As much as I would like to give credit to Aamir for not hogging the camera, he however gets to say the cheesiest of one liners (punch lines as they call it in Tamil movies) and always tries to be Mr. Clean. I don’t have a problem with him playing a mainstream hero..but could have been less pretentious about it (like Ghajini). I have lots of respect for Aamir Khan the thinker behind the actor, so was a little disappointed that he chose this route.
  • All the larger than life scenes – As much as they are entertaining and helps the writers get their point across, these scenes have meaningless purposes in the grand scheme of things. For example: The whole delivery scene with a vacuum cleaner. C’mon, couldn’t they have taken a less dramatic approach? That too right after another dramatic sequence which includes a student pissing outside a Dean’s house..Again this being a critic view, I would like to totally do away with anything as silly & as dramatic as these scenes were, specially given the movie involves Mr. Perfect, why not?
  • The whole underwear salute sequences – May be they overdid it in my critic’s viewpoint much like “students making fun of teachers” episodes.

View 3 – A Controversy Monger

  • Of course I can’t talk about this movie without talking about Chetan Bhagat. Enough said and enough discussed. I heard about his book in 2007 and read his Five Point Someone within a month after I heard about this book. I liked the book for the story and the simplistic way it was told. Nothing more and nothing less. But wasn’t surprised when I read that someone is trying to make a movie based on this book because the book had enough ingredients for a movie. When I read about the whole controversy, I took sides immediately. I am on Chetan’s side.
  • If you haven’t read the book yet, then there is no point in trying to argue with you. But what is hard to fathom is why Aamir Khan would join hands with VVC and RH to go after poor Chetan. No matter what the agreement is (in which I am pretty sure there is no mention of Abhijat claiming 100% credit for the story), all Chetan wants is a due recognition of his contribution. Will VVC or RH come out and openly say that they would have come up with the exact same story if not for Chetan’s book? Absolute BS.
  • It is also hard to believe that Mr. Perfectionist failed (supposedly on purpose) to read the book before he did the movie. Why? Stupidity or sheer, smart  foresightedness? Either way, it is giving him a good shield to fight against Chetan. The respect I had started to develop for Aamir Khan since Lagaan has once again been brought under a cloud of suspicion.
  • On the whole, Chetan’s name deserves to appear in clear and concrete terms whether in the beginning or towards the end. Just “Based on the Novel written by Chetan Bhagat” or “Original Story by CB” or “Story by Abhijat and Chetan”…would have been enough in my mind.

Filed under Books, Movies - General

Books, Blue and Men in Blue

September 15, 2009 Leave a Comment

After not having the opportunity  to travel in the past coupe of months, I guess I have fallen into the rut of not reading enough. The 10 day vacation was a welcome break in many ways – and I was able to catch upon 2 books from the list of half a dozen that I have been craftily updating..

The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga) – I had not read any detailed reviews of this book anywhere but had known that the book was making waves all over. When I started reading the book, it took me a few seconds to understand the style of the novel, where dear Balram Halwai, the self-made, half-baked, semi-psycopathic, self-proclaimed philosopher, White Tiger narrates the story of modern India through a series of letters to the Chinese Premier (Wen Jiabao). Throughout the book, Adiga has managed to spice up the story which is narrated in more of a confession narrative style, with crass & crude remarks only the likes of Balram and their background can make, thus giving him the veil of not getting judged by his (Adiga’s) readers on his political or social stance. The story itself can be analyzed, dissected and probably put into case studies, for what Adiga has tried to portray in this novel is not just how rich and poor live in modern India, but also to subtly bring out the general Indian psyche in the age of call centers and BPOs. As a story, it was well written. If the book has to be judged on any literary merits, then at the risk of being termed snobbish, I will not give it more than a C+. I would love to ask Adiga his real intention behind trying to use the Chinese premier as the medium here (you do hear about several comparisons between India and China throughout the book, mostly mentioned in a matter of fact manner without sounding patriotic or unpatriotic). Of course, critics like those who called SdM an anti-India movie will do/have done the same for this book as well, which is not surprising to me, as I felt squirmy reading about certain incidents & felt disgusted about certain people in the book.

Netherland (Joseph O’Neill) – Chuck Ramkissoon is a character. I mean. He truly is. “There is a limit to what Americans can understand. The limit is Cricket.” I may have paraphrased what he said. But this line gives true color to his character. An immigrant, living in NYC, where one can make a living through so many legal and illegal ways, Chuck is a very complicated and a highly ambitious kind of guy, who always seemed to have a small plan and a big one for anything he did. And he meets Hans. The story is really about the very unusual friendship these 2 share with the game of cricket bringing them together under very strange circumstances in New York City after 09/11, where both of them were trying to make a new home land, away from their mother land. Oh, I almost forgot to add – the real backdrop of the story is the love between Hans and his lawyer wife, or how they rediscover it, after they get separated. I highly recommend this novel just for its originality and for bringing out the true essence of a cricket loving immigrant’s feeling in America.

Blue – Chiggy Wiggy, is a catchy pop number set to a simple groove but to a wide assortment of digitized sounds..The Bhangra fusion takes time to sink in and when it does, you feel the brilliance. Aaj Dil  and Rehanuma are the kind of songs that makes you wonder how laterally a musician can think when trying to make a racy romantic number to suit an action movie, while making sure there is room for genuine melody. Bhola Tujhe is a great sounding ballad more along the lines of recently done JTYJN types. Blue Theme is thumping, rocking, pumping and absolutely naughty (specially the Bhangra type percussion that is thrown in between) – Only one man can come up with this kind of a number, because it needs a lot of mastery over rhythm. Finally, my 2 picks of the album are Fiqrana and Yaar Mila. Fiqrana is truly innovative and becomes addictive after a few hearings while Yaar Mila is instantly catchy. A well packaged album by Rahman for today’s fast food audience.

Men in Blue - After being No. 1 ODI team for 16 hours, Indians managed to win the Compaq trophy. I didn’t follow the matches but it was heartening to see Tendulkar plunder in the final. Great going Dhoni!

Note to Potro -Are you going to be able to carry it forward, after what you did in the Flushing Meadows? Beating Nadal and Federer back to back…?? Great job.

And finally a note to Federer, “It is ok. You had a streak going for 5 straight years..and If there is anyone else who deserved the US open this year other than you, it is him. You just couldn’t get your serves in..and I think you also made too many unforced errors without reading the bounce of the ball well. Great acceptance speech btw..”

Filed under AR Rahman, Books, Cricket, Sports - General

Unaccustomed Earth

June 2, 2009 Leave a Comment

Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri

Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri

(Click on the picture above to enlarge it)

Filed under Books

Kindling the Past

May 18, 2009 Leave a Comment

5:30 AM – The sun is yet to break its first streak and the winter clouds of South India are still actively settling their dew, on top of the bushes & trees that formed a nice roof for our backyard. I, a 9 year old boy, yet to come to senses with adulthood, but in my own way, every bit of a teenager that I am not, walk down the stairs to get down to the first order of the day – brushing my teeth. Although, I have to admit, this would not be my first order had I devised the rules in the house. The second order of the day, approximately at 5:35 AM  is to take a short walk towards the iron gate, that perceivably gave us a sense of security, by being the line of control between our house and the busy street corner, which at this time of the day, is still recovering from the abuses of alcoholics from the previous night, but is ready to welcome the spiritual souls of the morning who walk past it to the nearby holy river.

Normally, from where I am, right after I step out of the washroom, I can see the silhouette of what I am looking for. I still walk all the way to go near the gate and wait for it, even if I am unable to see the object from a distance. These moments at the waking phase of the day, are spiritual for me in their unique way. No, I am not talking about spiritual from a religious context. Then, it happens. My moment of spiritual salvation. I hear the sound of a rusty cycle chain clinging on to the brake pedals, as the newspaper man jumps off his bicycle, letting the cycle rest on his waist, as it falls down, while his right hand goes inside the bag hanging on one handle bar of the cycle. He picks the newspaper (“The Hindu”) and switches it to his other hand, if needed and tosses it right through the openings of the iron gate. I run towards the gate and reach for it. I know my mom is awake by now and I know no one else is. So, I quietly carry it to the verandah and turn on the light, to awaken the mosquitoes that swarmed the bulb while it was dark for what seemed like a secret meeting, to plan their next attack for the following night. I pay no attention to any of these. I impatiently open the last page – Page 16. Flip one paper – I am on page 14. The Sports Page.

There have been many days, many months, many seasons (winter and summer alike) and many years, when the above routine continued, only that I continued to grow older. Even if I cannot simulate the same environment nor the coverage of Cricket in “The New York Times”, even today, I try to walk down my driveway on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings (ok..not always at 5:30 AM), to pick that piece of object to satiate my desire to know what is going on around me in this world.

I am one of the early adapters of technology in all forms – internet, gadgets, blogging, etc. So, certainly, I am not complaining that digital news has killed the Newspaper industry in the US. In fact, I will be the last one to do so because I dwell in the middle of multiple news streams, constantly updating me throughout the day, with everything that I need to know. But it is very heart-wrenching to read about the folding of so many local newspapers, who probably were/are symbols and icons of their respective communities. This not only is killing the very routine that brings back such good memories from my past, but also is apparently killing thousands of jobs – The newspaper delivery boys and men, the traditional journalists and many more.

As the country struggles with its share of woes from all corners, as newspaper companies, small and big alike, continue to find ways to survive this digital age onslaught amidst all these, they say to people like me, that Kindling the past is not going to bring anything worthwhile, instead asking us to accept “Kindle” could be the future. I have not used it yet, but am inclined to try it, just not to be left behind but also to be fair to my own claim of being one of the early adapters of new technology & gadgets. Even if Kindle turns out to be an useful product that I may actually enjoy using for convenience sake, I guess, I will always remain a purist when it comes to protecting the Fourth Estate.

Kindle

Kindle

Filed under Books, Miscellaneous

While I was reading and watching..

April 2, 2009 Leave a Comment

Possible Side Effects by Augesten Burroughs – One of the few short essay collections or story collections that I enjoyed – mostly as my plane side read. The guy is funny, self-deprecating and pretty good in imagination.

The Stupidest Angel by Christpher Moore – Another gem by the man who has created some of the best satires of the 20th/21st centuries in American literature. If you liked his “Lamb”(which I did) and his “..Melancholy Cove..”, then this one is slightly mediocre in terms of the story, but Moore pulls it off convincingly through his narrative style. And yes, I do believe that there is a world of weird people out there in Pine Cove.

A Wednesday by Neeraj Pandey – A movie that I had been waiting to watch for a long time. The recent trip to India couldn’t have been complete without buying this DVD. I did and watched it over the weekend. I have to admit the movie deserved every single critical acclaim it received. The script was taut and the acting was tight. The plot was neat and the narration was crisp. Overall, a good movie that acted as an outlet for a social message.
Besides the above, I did watch a bunch of unmentionable movies thanks to my in-flight entertainment system. I am also reading the new Chetan Bhagat story…
Truly, I wish I can read more –

Filed under Books, Movies - General

Sujatha – A man with many faces

February 28, 2008 Leave a Comment

I don’t think I was this personally affected with the loss of any literary figures as with the loss of writer Sujatha. There was something about this man that made him human even though he possessed all the “literary figure” qualities. He was able to connect with the common man through his many facets. Even as a writer, he had this inane quality of connecting with people at all levels. Technocrats, Elitists, Literary Romancers, Film makers and anyone who can read Tamil – all liked his writing for some reason or the other. Needless to say, he was loved by all and was truly a pride for Tamilians. It is a sad loss for the Tamil literary world. I don’t think there is anyone out there who can fill in his shoes right now.

May your soul rest in peace Sir..!

Filed under Books

New Avatar

November 27, 2007 Leave a Comment

What’s with travel blues anyways? Specially any kind of travel that involves India. Here I am – back – all round and rosy (not quite, as the son is running a severe case of flu), yet the first Monday I was looking forward to, turned out to be a hell of a sombre day. This is my first full work week in the USA, as an official entrepreneur. Yet, I just could not step out of the house for different reasons, most of which were not under my control.

The freedom and flexibility this presents sure is enticing but the risk and uncertainty this presents is fear sweeping. But I have many pioneers. Many successful for the optimistic me and many not so, for the not so optimistic me. And there are a plenty of unsuccessful ones for the real pessimistic me, that does not exist!

I finished reading “Five Point Someone” in pretty much one sitting. When this good college friend of mine recommended this book during my recent meeting, I picked it up without a second thought as the story was set in a college campus. The first part of the book did bring me many of my campus/hostel memories back and also a wonderful piece of fiction I, myself had written about 11 years ago in an online magazine. I wish I had the guts to have extended it to a 150 page novel, with some sort of a story line. Because, after reading Chetan Bhagat’s attempt, I think it certainly feels like, I could have beaten him by more than 11 years..and who knows a blockbuster movie could have been out by now.

Macbook Pro rocks – I am still exploring & after using Leopard, I can tell how much I would have hated Vista, had I gone the windows based route again – That’s the flexibility I am talking about in this new avatar.

Filed under Books, Travel

All was well

July 26, 2007 Leave a Comment

I didn’t really sit with a clock nor I checked it for statistical reasons..5 sittings – about 9 hours and in about 4 days, from start to finish – that’s what it took me to read “The Deathly Hallows”.

**Spoiler Alert****Please don’t read further if you don’t want to know what happens to Harry***

There are authors who write books, who create characters that are fictional yet you live with them while you read them and who keep you involved the whole time. Some of the characters end up being talked about for a very long time. Most don’t. But there are some authors like J.K. Rowling who not only create characters but also create a whole new world, coining terms that sound giddy or asinine when you read the first time but grow over a period of time and almost become real and most importantly give the characters more than just life.

So did Harry really die? Yes and No. Of course, the story ends with a grown up Harry leading a happy family life, with 3 kids and Ginny. Ron and Hermione continue to provide the friendship that Rowling so strongly painted throughout the book and they too have kids that are ready to go to Hogwarts. So all was well for Harry and his immediate friends, after all. But throughout the book, Rowling makes the reader believe that Death is a definite possibility for Harry. And even when Harry accepts it and walks to his own death, he does so, defenseless and unprotected – right into the hands of Voldermot. And here is where, Rowling proves that she is a master story teller..Depending on how the reader interprets what happens at the “King’s Cross”, right after Voldermot “kills” Harry, what follows in chapter thirty four is simply story telling at its best. I won’t go into the details of what happens at the penseive – but enough it is to say that Dumbledore clarifies almost everything and yet leaving that little bit for the reader’s own interpretation.

So am I happy that Harry is alive? yes – Indeed I am. Deaths and Tragedies are not always fun..but there were quite a few good characters that died in the deathly hallows. Must have been difficult for Rowling to kill them. Still, Harry, Ron and Hermione prevailed in the end over you-know-who – so that made it up.

All was well with the Potter family.

Filed under Books

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