Godavari- A soft breeze !

Godavari, this movie was in my queue for a long time now ! I wish i had watched it earlier..Its so fresh and refreshing!

The pace in which the film moves is as gentle and soft as the boat moves across the waves of Godavari.
The flow has to be complimented with a soft music, which is beautifully done. The background score gells so soothing to the scenes that you are taken to the mood of the film so easily.

Coming to the story, its about a US returned engineer Sriram, who is inclined towards doing good to the soceity than to take the role of a conventional money maker .He is in love with Raaji , who gets engaged to Ravi . He tries to convince Raaji's father, but in vain. Hes very much afflicted to power, fame and money and thinks Sriram could never get on well with any of these. Seetha runs a dessigner store , but her family wants her to settle down .She refuses and likes to be an independent woman rather than bowing down to a man.Marriage is a nightmare for her.
All the characters end up taking a trip on the Godavari river. The heart broken Sriram and the stubborn Seetha happen to meet and there the story turns an epic ;) ...Raaji learns that her fiancee is a
selfish brat .. Will Ram & Seetha tie the knot or will Ram end up with Raaji is the rest of the story.

Seetha Mahalakshmi - I think she shined in all the scenes ! She has the right amount of vivacity the character demands and gutsy enough to stand her ground. Shes stunning towards the end when she displays maturity in working through her conflicts and sorting out her emotions.
I liked her and u know why :p !

Sriram : Hes awesome and one of the coolest guys we will ever meet. Hes so focussed on not turning a money making machine. He expresses himself with a controlled flamboyance, with slight expressions. Hes a pleasure to watch when he conveys his fondness for his cousin Raaji and the way he handles Sita's talks.

They both make a cute pair. :):):):):)

Raaji - She s so confused till the end of the film.yet she stood her own character.

The camera is just awesome... the steamboat , the Godavari river, the hills alongside it are captured so beautifully, it made me decide to take the trip once in lifetime.

At times, highly philosophical dialogues were delivered with so much ease by Chinna and the two animated dogs. It strikes a chord and leaves you wonder.

Music is just amazing! The violin hits the high and low notes as required , with the drum beats on a low note just makes it so good to handle the emotions exceptionally well.

The lyricist needs a special mention. Its full of life and so classical. Had i known the language better, i would have quoted some here.

Loved these songs ! They keep playing in my laptop for the nth time. I couldnt resist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHQelDB2LUM&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NvNVvuWkqY&feature=related

And this scene, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzW5mOnjICQ&feature=related


Its a feel good one, simple, classy, no melodrama, after a long time, i m happy watching this movie ! :)

I vouch, you will like it :)

Originality - A distant dream ? ! ?

These days, we sense a monotony around us . Everything looks alike and similar.
Switch on the TV , you find ‘n’ number of comedy channels and News channels. All of them provide similar stuff, that they no longer entertain you. I am happy, at least the matches are different and there’s something to refresh. Even IPL matches are nearing an end. The boring routine starts after that.
All are busy trying to imitate every other channel or every other company. Where are we heading to ? Are we forgetting that we have a prized possession called ‘ a human brain’ .
Are we trying to follow others blindly ? I am confused. Getting inspired by someone or something is never an issue. But trying to be someone , definitely is.
I am really tired to see so many new ventures coming up. Not that, I am against them. But whats the difference ? Evey company/venture sringing up , emerges as a proud potential competitor and nothing else. Where’s the unique individual ?
Why are they not willing to come with a unique business plan instead of copying an existing one? I am really confused and shocked… But I have to, but accept the reality… People are no longer willing to create their own unique identity but their sole aim is to be succesful!
We have become so used to the conventional stuff that we are no longer willing to be unique. So many eat outs emerge , but the menu card remains the same ! We dont think about that..Instead we will not hesitate to laugh at someone who goes out of the way and does something different.Why is that we cant accept individuals possessing a multi-dimensional thought process ? Why dont we realize that it is because of that, a singleton mindset is seen everywhere.
How great would it be if every individual comes out of the comfort zone and discover her/his unique skills.. The world would be so different and will be a more interesting place to live in !

P.S :This post is an after effect of the fact that I came to know recently that Mani’s ‘Guru ‘ is an adoption of ‘The Aviator’ . I am shocked ! Hope ‘Raavan’ is new and unique !

Vinnai thaandi varuvaaya - Colorful !

And After a long time ...
Vinnai thaandi varuvaaya made me come out here and write !

Story : Its a colorful:) love story revolving between Karthik,an aspiring film maker and Jessie , a girl from an orthodox Christian family.

Cinematography , Simply Great ! I should say I loved the way every scene was taken. The minimal lighting effect used takes us to a whole beautiful world! The film can be watched once to bathe in the scenic magic. Even the locales look cool to the eyes! Fabulous work !

Costume , casually smart !
How often is a heroine projected exclusively in sari ? Kudos to that. Trisha looks gorgeous!
Even;) Simbu looks cool.

Music :
Excellent background score ! Too good songs...Already all the numbers have become my favourites ! :)

Lyricist needs special mention.. Thamarai has done a great job.

Well.. I still wonder why i did not like the movie. I couldnt categorise myself as a person who hates romantic movies either,
after having watched a whole lot of romantic films in almost all languages i know.
After listing out the positives ...And here comes a longer list than the pluses !

Karthik : Typical depiction of a city guy.
Jessie : A confused female , who never knows what to choose and why.

Love at first sight , that too with an elder woman.
May be, that itself may be one of the biggest reasons for me to hate the movie.
Typical Simbuish.

The fact that she is older than him is repeated 'n' number of times in the movie , with calculative terms to fit the scenes somehow is horrible.
I wondered if the movie's sole aim is to stress, that a guy can fall in love with a girl of greater age than him?

Every single line in the movie is artificial.
An overdose of English and F words. What do they think ? Use of such words is cultured ?

Repetitive frames/scenes irritates at times. The train scenes being referenced in one or more scenes is upsetting the vibes. Again simbuish.

I really do not understand whom has the hero tried to imitate. But sometimes, i had to concentrate to listen to what he says.
Silenced dialogues to express sadness dont fit the mood.

Manipaaya is a mind blowing number. But where was it fitted in , as if it was a happy duet unlike the lyrics ?
The placement of almost all the songs looked too forced , and it did not create any emotion , as it would have , if rightly placed.
And at times, I felt the Rock BGM in certain places could have been avoided. I struggled to listen to the words spoken.

Pace is definitely a concern... Slow slow.. .that you tend to wonder if the film will ever end.

And now the storyline... Boy loves girl, girl loves boy ( confused if she has to ).
They meet, talk , hug , part, again unite, talk , hug , part.
Finally, it is someone else who married the girl. And it takes a little time for us to understand that , after a whole length of real/ imaginary scenes.
Sorry for letting the climax out... oh... the widely spoken climax in tamil film industry.

The self appreciative dialogues in the last part of the movie is really funny..

On the whole, i felt the movie is too much artificial and wholly misses the magic !

P.S : Specially made for slow romantic genre lovers. If you don’t fall in this category, don’t ever waste your money.

Time to visit temples!!

Visiting temples – Quite common among Indian born Hindus.
Wikipedia says, “The customs and etiquette when visiting Hindu temples have a long history and are filled with symbolism, solemn respect and veneration of Brahma's creation.”
Have you ever thought which would be the best time to visit temple and why ? Yes, you might have… and yes, we would have received a lot of unsaid traditional instructions.

I dismiss my mom’s repeated tutoring ( order or plea, whatever ) of visiting a temple on some occasion or festival .
I hate to move in the crowd. I like to visit temples when I have the privilege of seeing the deity for at least ten mins (whether I see or not , that is secondary) and when I can walk around the sanctum sanctorum as slow or as fast as I wish, unlike, waiting in long queues only to hear, ‘paathaachunaa nadathute irungo’ , on a day that is considered to be very auspicious.
Never mind, how much ever frowns I see in my mom’s face I avoid going to temple on the kubambhishekam day- Could I really survive in all those processes of pushing, ramming, pulling of every human being just to have a glimpse of the kumbha being kept quite a few meters high? I just could not.

One day, my sister called me up and said, ‘Today is panguni uthiram, Thindal murugana pathutu vanthom’ ,
Reply from me, ‘ oh apdiyaa, iniku apo nan adyar ku poi perumala paathutu varen’,
There was just a sigh of surprise on the other end, ‘??!!’ .
My mom asked an explanation for this, but on hearing what I said, she only pitied all the poor souls who are/ going to spend their time with me.
Yes, if it is a day when I have to visit a Murugan kovil, I go to a Perumal kovil. The entire crowd would have gone to the murugan temple, and the perumal kovil will be free of the mass.

These days, IPL matches steal the attention of every single responsible citizen of India who is equally responsible to cast his vote. The political parties whose campaigning should have been in full zeal in the evenings lost the tempo and they are finding ways if they can boost up the support by telecasting the matches before they start the campaigning.

Coming back to visiting temples, you could choose such times, when the roads look deserted with the number of moving cars and two wheelers being minimum, to visit a temple to which you have to travel quite a distance . Enjoy the travel , you need not wait for hours in signals, need not move inch by inch. I do that, I visit temples, which I would have dismissed due to such constraints earlier, sacrificing the pleasure that I would have got watching live the sixes and fours. No, not sacrificing exactly; I have the option of watching highlights, and no matter these days, you get almost every movement of the match in all the private news channels as highlights. For me, the match is just one or two hours later than it actually happened , other than that, there is no much difference.
And those one or two hours, I would have utilized it for a visit to a temple, when most people are devoid of mobility.
He he :) !

I avoid visiting temples on such days:
New years of all geographic calendars
Festivals like diwali & pongal
Shiva temple on Pradhosham
Perumal kovil on Saturdays
Devi temple on Fridays.

Now comes the question, with whom to go to temples? Most often, I avoid going with people whom I don’t know much.
Such times, when I could not go with my family or my close friends, I prefer to go alone. You see, everyone has his/her own way of praying and it is the personal space which should not be allowed to be intruded by anyone else. You should be in that comfort zone , where you are not asked to do anything by anyone. One might chant mantras, or someone else will close his/her eyes and pray or someone else will speak to the almighty..
So if you have someone whom you don’t know much, you will be forced to do certain things, for instance, stand before a God for more than ten minutes where you usually spend five min when u are alone or vice versa. Sometimes, you will have to receive instructions like, you have to come around the sanctum sanctorum thrice , you should fall only before the kambham ..etc.

I hate such …. I go to temple to forget my mortal existence, to realize my inner eternity and to receive subtle messages, often not consciously and to consciously drop off worldliness. When that is the purpose of my visit, I do not want it to be intruded by such kinds of constant nagging.

Visiting temples- they are rituals in fact… they give us the necessary peace and we become as celestial as we can.
Let it be as much as we like it !!

Am i becoming a fan of Lal ?

Off late, I prefer watching malayalam movies than tamil movies.Reasons:
1. Learning a new language other than my mother tongue.

2. Very good classical & semi-classical songs throughout the movies.

3. No masala sequence of fights, romance, separate comedy track etc.

4. Slow moving and artistic rendering of the story.

I get a feel of reading a very good novel.
No..Dont mistake! I am not against the Kollywood cinema... but my film interests match the Mallu cinemas than the Tamil.

I have watched quite a good number of malabar movies after getting my own laptop.Having started watching Malayalam cinema for Prithvi's movies (;)), I have ended up seeing Lal's movies ....His Highness Abdullah(I have already spoken a lot about it! ) is the first movie of Lal that I happened to see.
Following it, are a chain of movies that made me stick to Lalettan - Bharatham, Chithram, Kilukkam,Devasuram, Aaram Thamburan,Vadakumnathan,Thalavattom,varavelppu,No 20 Madras mail,minnaram and many more ..Some of them were suggested by my friends, some of them were chosen by me at random.
Every movie I watched gave me the pleasure of reading a good book. Lal's acting was so realistic in all the movies ...each role played being different and very much suitable to him..Infact bringing out his versatality in acting. His natural style brings in the character a reality and the movie, an emotional touch.

A legend , I should say ! Before arriving to this conclusion, i just had to double check , if i had been too partial towards Lal or just that i have watched only his movies in malayalam, I couldnt have had a chance to appreciate other actors of his time..?? But then, to make things clear, i did watch a few films done by Mamooty, Prithviraj, Dileep ..etc....
Yes, Hez a Legend ! An unmatched versatality has he !

Not sure ,if Tamil industry would be able to render such beautiful classics ...( Again...i m sorry for saying this,but it is the bitter truth) !
I dont blame the industry , but the audience is quite conservative about having the good old formula that comprises the Tamil movie.. So may be, such movies may not be welcomed by the fast track audience...Wuf, i got on nerves,seeing some tamil new entries, i doubt if they are tamil films..occasionally they speak in tamizh,a total crap of mixing English & Tamil ..the dialogues standing aloof from the characters and the story ! I am not against speaking in English as well, but the originality of the language is lost when we do such lingual chemical experiments .... !! Even If we can direct films which portrays sequences only in english, Can we ever match the Hollywood industry..??

I think i am going somewhere else, back to the topic :) 'LAL' !!
Yeah... i am becoming a fan of the 'real artist' in him ... Yes, i do like Sivaji Ganesan, Rajini, Kamal Hasan, Sharukh, Aamir, each one being unique in their own way ... And one more added to my list now, Mohanlal ..
To say the truth, I dont hesitate even to play some of his scenes and songs repeatedly , to that extent that i am questioned by my roommates if i have any plans settling in Kerela..

hmm...Noone understands the sheer pleasure of a new language and mastering it, unless they have such interests !! Man, I love learning new languages, if not mastering , i wish i am in constant touch with them... I live with languages, you know how divine it is when you do !

And Thanks to Lal, my affinity towards the language is growing....
May i have the pleasure of quoting a dialogue of his ,

"onu arinjaa kollam, savithriku ennu ene ishtam ayadhu? "

Ente theivame, aa scenil ethre feeling undunu ningal aarukum ariyo,athuvum specific ayitu vinu choyikumpol.... I was blown off simply !
Ok, Let me answer the question,
"sathyam, eniki ariyilla... pakshe, oru paadu mokam thonitu undonnu vicharikkinnu... Am i becoming a fan of Lal ???"

May be, this would have been a better post if it had originated from a native speaker of that language ! But then,I jzt cant resist writing!
( Devasabhathalam song plays in the background)

Previous post:
http://ladypearepages.blogspot.com/2008/10/his-highness-abdullah-short-recap.html