Keeping up with the tradition

Another Birthday Blog just to ensure that the tradition is not broken.

2010 birthday celebrations started a day early with a friend celebrating her birthday. So we decided to share both the days as part of our 2-day long celebration.

Lots and lots and lots of good wishes from family, childhood friends, school mates, Park, AOL and the Aegis gang poured in, and continue to as I write this. Spent hours on the phone catching up with friends who took time out to call. Facebook obviously topped the charts on the wishes front.

Thank you Rumz, Sarah, Iyer, Jess, Phani n Nasheer for the awesome gifts and for the nice evenings at Nylo, Mayuri n India West.

Thanks to all of you who made my birthday a memorable and enjoyable one. Every wish that came in made me smile and the day was filled with countless smiles.

It feels kick@ss to be remembered by so many people and I begin a new year feeling GREAT !

Ps : Proffy..... if you are reading this, you know who the call was from ;)

Piravi

A heart wrenching tale of an old man waiting for his son to return home. This 1988 classic directed by Shaji N. Karun is based on the story of Rajan, a student who was tortured and allegedly killed by policemen.

Premji portrays the pain and suffering of Raghava Chakyar, who indefinitely waits for his son Raghu’s return. His expressions and subtle performance makes the viewer connect with the character of the old man. The film has minimal dialogues but the camera work of Sunny Joseph makes nature and the landscapes convey unspoken sentiments. Shaji’s direction is unique. He uses the untouched village backdrop as a character alongwith the monsoons playing an important role in the film. His portrayal of the boatman as a catalyst of hope speaks volumes of his ability to create fine moments in the film.

This Malayalam film, which means ‘Birth’ has won National and International acclaim and was screened in over 40 film festivals. IMDb has a rating of 9/10 for Piravi.

The film won National Awards for Best Actor (Premji), Best Director and Best Film in the year 1989.

I watched this movie today and it made me think of the helplessness of many who do not have the ability to question or confront the exploitation of corrupt political systems. If you are someone who watches slow paced movies with a lot of depth, do not miss ‘Piravi’. This film is a gem in the genre of parallel cinema.

To the best ‘Ammi’ in the whole world !

Amma left for India today. It was easy bidding goodbye to her at the airport…. The ‘cursory hug’, ‘Will call you daily’, ‘Travel safe’, ‘Call me when you land’ etc. etc.

It was only when I walked into the empty house I realized that it was no longer ‘home’.

It’s merely not about the delicious food she makes, not about the smallest of things she made note of before I left for work, not about the fact that she would stay silent when I had to take my early morning calls at home, not even the fact that EVERYTHING was taken care of everyday.

I reminisced the innumerable times when I lay lazing on the couch and demanding her to get stuff done for me… “Get me some water” or “What’s there for me to munch?” or “Can you get me my phone from the other room?”. I cannot remember her ever asking me to do the smallest of such jobs.

My weekend grocery shopping is never going to be as organized as it was. Watching movies at home is not going to be fun without her comments. There will be no one to ask me how my day was at work, when I return home. Will miss every minute of her not being at home.

Such departures make us want to cherish the moments of togetherness even more.

Back to the regular grind of work and home, will sure keep me occupied enough to cloud the emotions. I keep reminding myself that, “This too shall pass…. For better things to come….”

Here’s to Amma, for being the best Mom and for more such reunions……………………………..

Neutron... Electron, un neela kannil motham ethanai?

Endhiran’s music has topped the charts and this is no surprise. A R Rahman, the genius musician had to weave magic for the Rajini – Aishwarya starrer, which also happens to be the most expensive Indian movie made till date.

Whilst all songs have a different freshness and melody, my personal favorite is Kadhal Anukkal. The song is rendered by Shreya Ghoshal and Vijay Prakash. This track has less of the ‘techno’ effect with plain strums of the guitar as the song begins. A soothing mix of the harmonica and accordion with sweet lyrics penned by Vairamuthu. This song is bound to get into the ‘evergreen duets hall of fame’.

Special kudos to both the singers. Vijay Prakash brings that naughty tone in his voice while Shreya Ghosal maintains her melodious self. Love the ‘O Baby’ bit of the song with Vijay Prakash singing alongwith the chorus. Sherya does not fail to surprise me with every rendition of a regional track. Her diction and pronunciation is her biggest strength. It is hard to believe that a Bengali girl can utter the toughest phrases in Tamil with so much ease. Her balance of pitch, flowing from low to high is mind blowing. Trust A R Rahman to bring out the best in the singers.

This song will play on my iPod for many weeks to come J

Ps : Not sure of what happened to the rumored ‘En Nilavidam’ song from Endhiran. Would have loved to see the song be part of this album. Was it an A R Rahman composition at all?

Mani Ratnam proves himself again!

Watched the much criticized Raavanan today on the big screen and wanted to pen my thoughts.

Mani Ratnam’s adaptation of Ramayan was pretty much on wafer thin ice. It is hard to believe that Mani did not concentrate more on the story and screenplay aspects of the movie. The first hour of the movie was a bit of a drag.

The movie stands out with the technical expertise, cinematography & art direction. The life-like sets and the plush green locales combined with Santosh Sivan’s magical camera work moves you right into the forests of Chalakudy and Ooty where the movie was shot.

Vikram has done total justice to the role of Veera. His portrayal of the mixed emotions was truly outstanding. Needless to say, Aishwarya Rai looks stunning throughout the movie and has rendered her role with class. Prithviraj, Karthik, Prabhu and Priyamani fit in well in their respective roles.

Mani uses water as a motif throughout the film. Shooting the movie in the dense forest with continuous rains makes one realize the ordeals the cast and crew would have gone through. The final fight sequence on the bridge is breathtaking.

Songs are definitely not a strong point in Raavanan. My personal favorite is ‘Usure Poguthey’.

Overall, I enjoyed watching Raavanan and am glad that I chose to watch the Tamil version. I have always been partial towards Mani Ratnam movies and will continue to be. Raavanan is definitely not one of his classics but the movie certainly has its highlights.

I choose not to watch the Hindi version now. Will wait for the DVD to come out and then compare Abhishek’s performance to Vikram’s. In my mind the verdict is already out….. and Vikram wins, without doubt ;)

If you are a die-hard Mani fan…. Don’t miss Raavanan.

Stand against discrimination

Lots of hype surrounds this Shah Rukh – Kajol starrer. It did not matter to me and I wanted to see the film on big screen irrespective of opinions.

My few cents about ‘My Name is Khan’.

Not sure why some of the folks banished it as a ‘not worthy’ movie. I truly loved the message that was being conveyed. The message over shadowed every other aspect of the movie that, they dint matter to me.

Thinking back about performances.....

Khan did total justice to the role – contrary to what many feel, he did not overact

Kajol looked awesome and did her part well.

Music was pleasant and the songs sounded better with the picturization.

The rescue team arriving at Wilhelmina was very moving. What’s in a Bollywood movie, especially Karan Johar’s, without some melodrama.

It is unfair to compare this movie to ‘3 Idiots’ as both are in different leagues.

Overall, I enjoyed watching ‘My Name is Khan’ for telling a tale which is so true in any part of the world we live.

Kudos to the cast and crew of MNIK !