Those who carried me...!!!!

"....." wheeler
Eventhough the Jet Airlines' services seemed to be OK, I couldn't fit myself in those economy class seat gaps comfortably...

Reason.. my long legs, as I mentioned in one of my earlier tag posts. Somehow, I managed those 5 hours with a book ("............" more on this later) which I bought in Changi Airport before departure.

4 Wheeler
My brother-in-law was in the Airport to pick me up. It took an hour's drive to Navi Mumbai. I have always heard about the traffic in Mumbai. But I have never experienced to this extent....

Eventhough, I am not comfortable with Indian driving these days (after my Singapore experience), my B-I-L drove thru the traffic with ease.... cutting the traffic in the same way as the auto drivers did. First day, I couldn't swallow the experience.... eventhough I was not the driver. Now I am OK with whoever driving the vehicle.

3 Wheeler
The surprising element is the Auto Charges, which I have paid so far. Compared to Chennai, we are finding this place more straight forward. I am not sure if Chennai Auto drivers are charging what is appearing on the meter. ('suudu' illaama..)

Here, we were charged 11Rs. per KM, while the meters were showing the no. of KMs driven by them... precisely, as 7.40 km etc., If they don't expect any "return passenger" from the destination, they tell us upfront that we will be charged with a 'published table' rate for the KMs driven.. which is 150% of the original rate. Eventhough, it sounded more or like Chennai way of charging, I still found them better to handle... :-) :-)

Multi Wheeler
I am commuting currently within Navi Mumbai area. So, there are no "crowd issues" in the trains upto Vashi. Hopefully next week, I may undergo the experience of visiting (old) Mumbai too... Since my wife arrived in Mumbai, 2 weeks earlier than me, she had briefed me about her experience in the crowded trains (even if it is ladies compartment) particularly in junctions like Kurla, Dadar, etc., I am scared already..... :-( :-(

Next likely post
Expect soon......... some more on my (completed) trips to, Mahabaleshwar & Panchgani (where Aamir Khan & Kiran Rao are hosting their wedding party next week)
242nd post

Jet-ting away from the stress....

Will be away for 2 weeks.. Going to Mumbai. :-) :-)

This is the third time I am landing there.

First time, for an interview - just for 2 days

Second time, while on an onward trip to Delhi - just for 2 hours

This time, just for a relief from the hectic office schedule. To catch up with some interesting things around the Business capital. If possible, I'll catch up with you guys.. Otherwise, U may have to excuse me... :-) :-)

Musical Count Down....

Year end has approached already... and it is time to evaluate.

Not my performance... but the journey thru the 2005's cine music extravaganza.

Already bloggers have started rating this year's releases, where I had even voted for my favourites. So, I have decided to skip all those ratings and wanted to bring out those songs which had mesmerized me & made me to listen to them repeatedly.

As I had mentioned, I am rating only those mesmerized me.. I might have excluded your favourites, inadvertently. If I had done so, pl. let me know...



10) "Kanmoodi Thirakkum Podhu..." from Sachein scored & sung by Sri Devi Prasad, was a nice song which didn't get the attention that much, since the movie was supposed to be a flop. Since, I liked the lyrics & the picturisation, it has been recognised into my final 10.


9) Eventhough "Unnai Saranadainthen ..." sung by Kalyani & Prasanna (or Piranna?) was not placed in the already lengthy Thavamai Thavamirundhu, I liked the tunes of Sabesh / Murali.

Initially, when I listened to it, I felt like listening to one of ARR's earlier compositions. Later, when I watched the movie, I could find only 'Nanae Tholaintha Kathai...' with the same tunes, still likeable. Other notable songs, which I liked in this movie were the romantic 'Enna Parkirai..' and the emotional 'Oru murai thaan..'. You should listen to the lyrics of 'Oru Murai thaan..' Reality may strike you.

8) I believe 'Uyire En Uyire...' from 'Thotti Jaya' by Haris Jeyaraj went unnoticed due to the violent theme of the movie. Still an interesting song to listen, sung by Karthik, Bombay Jayashree & Anuradha Sriram. Another interesting number from this movie was, 'Yaaridamum...' which was very much likeable.

7) 'Raa Raa..' from 'Chandramukhi' [Binni Krishnakumar - Thippu], has come into the list mainly because of the different presentation. I heard that these tunes had been borrowed by Vidyasagar from Kannada 'Apthamithra'. I felt that other songs had become hits, just because of Rajini. Nothing else.... Otherwise, they were not great numbers from Vidyasagar.

6) 'Theepidikka Theepidikka...' sung by Anushka & Premji (Gangai Amaran's son) in 'Arindhum Ariyaamalum' had made Arya an instant star. Kudos to YSR and the husky voice of Anushka. Another song which impressed me very much was 'En Kannodum...' sung by YSR himself. Beautiful picturisation too....

5) The only album by ARR during this year, was not capitalised very well by our great SJ.Suryah. Out of this, I would rate 'Mayileragae.. ' as a better one than others, due to the soothing voice of Madhushree & Naresh. An interesting observation by one of our blogger was that when you hear this song in a fast forward mode, you may get the rhythm of 'Maramkothiyea, Maramkothiyea...' song of the same movie. That's how I also felt.

Another interesting song from this movie 'Aararai kodi..' which I missed in the Great ARR Singapore show , was a comical song in the movie... still my son used to enjoy SJ.Suryah's comical movements in this song.

4) Without 'Iyengar Veetu azaghe...' from Anniyan the list won't end. Haris Jeyaraj with Hariharan & Harini in this song, really impressed the mass.. and also with all his other numbers. [I still like 'Rendakka' for its colorful presentation & 'Kumari' for Amsterdam]

3) Eventhough 'Andha Naal Nyabagam..' ('Athu Oru Kana Kalam') resembled one of Ilayaraja's old classic, the soothing voice of Vijay Jesudoss & Shreya Ghoshal had pushed it to greater heights. Unfortunately, the individual performances of everyone involved in this project didn't make it to click in BO. Lucky next time...


2) Jeeva had a lucky deal with Ameer, when they came out with 'Raam'. An excellent collection of songs from YSR, had also helped them to get an instant recognition for this movie --- in addition to the screenplay. The soothing voice of KJ.Jesudoss in his 'Arariraro..' and the emotional shots had made this song to get this slot. Another number which impressed me a lot in this movie was 'Nizhalinai nijamum..' sung by Vijay Jesudoss.


1) What else can snatch the first place, other than 'Suttum Vizhi Sudare...' from Ghajini. An attractive song of the year from Harris Jeyaraj, sung by Sriram Parthasarathy & Bombay Jayashree, made me to make a maiden attempt during the deepavali season.

The way it was shot, along with those acceptable lyrics & superb performance by Surya & Asin had pushed it up in the ladder to this height. ['Oru malai..' was another favourite of mine in this movie, in which Surya's dance had revealed his improved performances]. Kudos to the team.... :-) :-) It is unfortunate that Asin had not signed any movies still.... :-( :-(



The other numbers which I considered before short listing the above were the following numbers.

Noothana - Karka Kasadara - Prayok [Haris Raghavendar - Chinmayi]
Chinna Chinna - Kana Kandein - Vidyasagar [Thippu - Sunitha Sarathy]
Khajiraho - Oru naal Oru Kanavu - IR [Hariharan & Shreya Ghoshal]
Pani Thulli - Kanda Naal Mudhal - YSR [Shreya Ghoshal, Kay Kay & Thanvi]
Saami Kitta - Daas - YSR [Hariharan & Shreya Ghoshal]

Some notable /intentional misses are from Maayaavi, Oru Kalluriyin Kathai, Sivakasi, Majaa, Mumbai Express and new releases like Sandaikozhi, Kalvanin Kadhali, Dishoom etc.,

What do you think?
240th post

Declining growth rate

"According to one UN estimate cited by DCAF, between 113m and 200m women are now demographically “missing”. This gender gap is a result of the aborting of girl foetuses and infanticide in countries where boys are preferred; lack of food and medical attention that goes instead to brothers, fathers, husbands and sons; so-called “honour killings” and dowry deaths; and other sorts of domestic violence. It implies that each year between 1.5m and 3m women and girls are lost to gender-based violence. In other words, every two to four years the world looks away from a victim count on the scale of Hitler's Holocaust." - The Economist

The above article is an alarm on the dangerous drop in women growth rate, which is already creating issues all over and may aggrevate them.

If they are low in number - as in certain asian cities in Philipines, China, India etc., (the ratio varies between 1 : 1.2 and an alarming 1 : 1.4), they will be the most likely targets of assault. More Men Vs Less women -- You can visualise the chaotic situation. However, the general public is still not aware of this equation and prefer to have more boys.. who they feel as supportive at the elder age.

I believe this trend is changing slowly, but not at a pace required by the nature to balance the imbalance. I feel the regional Governments have to take intiative in this regard to educate people to prevent the decline in women growth rate. This would be more or less similar to the family planning initiatives promoted by them few decades back.

Now itself, I could hear from my family circles / friends that there are less no. of girls to get married eventhough we have enough would-be grooms. I hope this demand for girls would reduce the dowry issues as well - which is prevalent in many asian nations, not only in India.

Just a positive hope....
239th post

Thavamai Thavamirundhu - Review

I used to always appreciate Cheran for the way he conceives the screenplay based on a simple known social message.

Caste in 'Bharathi Kannamma", Handicap support in "Porkaalam", Politics in 'Dheesiya Geetham', Self-employment in 'Vetri Kodi Kattu', Rural life in "Paandavar Bhoomi'.. etc., He deviated in 'Autograph' with love as the main focus and succeeded. So, obviously people might have built up their expectations on his next movie.

He hasn't failed us. This time the crux of the movie is a Dad's expectation that "his children shouldn't think at a later stage that he didn't bring them up / educate them properly". It tends to happen when the child talks back after he has grown up, that he would have prospered well, provided his Dad had given enough opportunities in life. I have heard those words personally. So, I got impressed immediately.

The way the movie starts, may remind us of 'Autograph' since the story goes on a flashback mode here also. Luckily, he stops with that similarity.

The story revolves on the efforts of Muthiah (Rajkiran) to bring up his 2 sons, inspite of his cash crunch. At one point of time, the elder son (FM DJ Senthil) goes out of the joint family with his wife. While the family is going thru those emotional moments, the second son (Cheran) takes an important decision to support his lover. The emotional moments following that decision and subsequent reunion with parents have been beautifully narrated.

Rajkiran and Saranya, as his wife, are excellently portrayed in their roles and the former gets more opportunities. After Cheran's earlier 'Paandavar Bhoomi', Rajkiran has been used properly by the same director once again. He is excellent thru out the movie.


Padmapriya is too good as the lover (with her matured look) and an appreciable homely housewife. She fits in the emotional scenes with ease - when the story moves around in Chennai / in the village / in the climax. She has lived in as the character thru out the movie. Cheran has improved a lot compared to his earlier 'Solla marandha kathai' and 'Autograph', eventhough certain expressions are still the same (particulary, the emotional ones).

Only 3 more main characters remain in the movie - played by Senthil (FM DJ) as Cheran's brother, his wife and Ilavarasu as Rajkiran's assistant. They have also done commendably.

Eventhough the intial moments of the lovers in Chennai reminded me of 'Kathal' movie, locations are aptly selected thru out the movie - whether it is Chettinad-karaikudi or Chennai or Madurai.

I liked those two numbers of Sabesh-Murali (Deva's brothers). Eventhough I expected to see the song 'Unnai Saran Adaintheen' in the movie, it has been replaced by 'Naane Tholaindha kathai...' with the same tunes. Still it is OK. 'Enna Parkirai..' shot along with the first twist of the story has been captured well. Few other numbers appreciating the Dad & Son's emotional thoughts were well written too.

Strengths:
1) The casting, particularly of Rajkiran, Saranya & Padmapriya.
2) Eventhough you may need a hanky at times, the scenes are not dramatic. They are required for the strength of the movie. I was really moved in few scenes, particularly when the couple apologize to their parents and when they realise their lonely situation in Chennai.
3) As usual, the message which the movies carries with it. Worth mentioning plot.

Weaknesses:
1) Too long - 3 hrs 20 minutes, with some slow momemts. Eventhough Cheran tried to trim down in few places, he had good scope to cut some more - like those younger days when they go for excursion with a song. Still he has tightly woven most of them.


Worth watching, provided you have allocated some good time for it and you love emotional (not dramatic) flicks.

My Earlier Reviews - Limited edition (munch them, if you hvn't)
Majaa / Ghajini / Anniyan / Ullam Ketkumae / Sachein
238th post

Pramatham...

Education Qualification: MBA from Kirloskar Institute

Previous Career: Risk Consultant in GE Bangalore / Gurgoan

Present Career: Actress - paired with Mamooty in 'Kazcha' & 'Rajamanikyam' now with Cheran in "T..T..."

Projects on hand: 'Pattiyal' in tamil with Arya and 'Vadakumnathan' in Malayalam with Mohanlal.


Pramatham... ...

That was an impressive(!!) bio-data of Padmapriya. But, I was just wondering about the trigger, which had pulled her into the cine industry. Her reply is 'Nothing but Passion'

Of late, we are able to see more no. of professionals into the acting career. Gone are the days, when we would have seen many famous stars who entered the industry passionately without spending much time on education. I can qualify most of the heroes in that category. I could remember Arvindsamy, Dr.Rajasekar as exceptional ones. May be, some of the young breeds too are exceptions. What about Madhavan??

However, I found it hard to locate any heroines with an educational / entrepreneurial skills at their initial stage of career itself. Probably they might have thought those skills as a waste of time. Or they might have been pulled in early by the creators for their youthful faces...

Eventhough, Padmapriya looks very matured, she seems to be very impressive in acting. However, with the influx of so many talented mallu actresses in the last one year - like Asin, Navya Nair, Gopika, Nayanthara (Yet to be exploited!!), Meera Jasmine - I feel there would be a tough competition to get offers. Need to wait and see if she climbs up in this career ladder as well.

Titbits: Normally, all the new movies will be released in Singapore on the same day as in Chennai or one/two day(s) prior to Chennai release. This time, I'm disappointed that "Thavamai Thavamirunthu" has not yet been released here. Am not sure, if Cheran couldn't release due to the Producers issue.
237th post

Katta Panchayathu

Yesterday for the first time in the MRT (train), I observed this ad given by the "Community Mediation Centre" which was formed here under an act.

Two neighbours have heated arguments on some issues and then decide to go to CMC. Based on an informal counselling over there, they get settled down with the opinion differences and become adjustable neighbours.

Liked the concept and the purpose for which CMC was formed. It seems it was formed in 1998 for all amicable out of court settlements for minor squabbles like this.

I knew, in India all sorts of these things are sorted by "kattai panchayats" amicably... and law doesn't have much time to sort all these things. However, I'm just wondering as to how many CMCs we may need, if a similar concept is implemented?

May be a million or "n" million?? Any guess!!!And what about other countries?

In India, there is another side to it... Some may ask "How dare can an outsider enter our squabbles?"
236th post

Scanning

Our family friends were blessed with a baby last week and we went to meet them in the hospital. Their case was a special one to mention.

Eventhough, they have daughters already, they were longing for a boy baby for a long time and this kid has joined their world nearly after 13 years of their marriage. The thrilling part was that they didn't want to scan and get upset, if they had realised it as a girl [the preference of boy, was due to the fact that they have daughters already]. Eventhough the thrill had put the mother under lot of mental stress, they were blessed with a boy baby finally.. Their daughters were also happy to receive a brother.

After coming back home, my wife was talking about one of her friend's experience with scanning.

It seems her friend was taking care of her elder sister, during the pregnancy time. When they went for scanning, they had been advised that it would be a boy. However, when the time arrived, the mother delivered a girl. When her sister (my wife's friend) and her husband were informed about this, it seems they refused to accept the fact that it was a girl. They feared that the hospital authorities might have swapped the babies.

Finally, after seeing the baby, they got convinced and swallowed the fact, it seems (eventhough there were disappointments, since their expectations had failed them).

Both were different sides of the coin, isn't it?
235th post

How long does it take, to mould an artiste?

It was a surprising unexpected news.. that Asin is out of much talked about 'Jillendru Oru Kaathal' and Bhumika is replacing her. Eventhough Asin worked on a strategy to quit the project, it may be hard to consider Bhumika as a replacement. Unlike Asin, who emoted well in her initial movies itself, Bhumika is still learning to express thru her face.

Bhumika who got introduced in 'Roja Kootam' and continued with Vijay's 'Badri', was recongised instantly due to her attractive face. However, acting wise she never got improved. Even recently, I saw one of her Hindi movies in which she retained a face without much emotion, even when the situation demanded it. Not sure, if she can show an improved perfomance in 'J..O..K..', to compete with talented(!!) Jothika and Surya.

If you take actors like Surya, Vijay etc., I agree that their performances improved only in their subsequent movies. However, they tried to manage in the interim movies with fighting sequences and dances without emoting much. However, heroines are required to show some emotions to remain in the field. Otherwise, they need to quit the field quickly like Kiran. They cannot depend only on the glamour...

Consider some of our heroines, who gained experience over a period of time. "Kizakke Pogum Rail" Radhika and "Kizakku Cheemaiyilae" Radhika are poles apart. Take Sulakshna of 'Thuural Ninnu Pocchu' and Sulakshna of "Sindhu Bhairavi". The way they had moulded their careers was amazing.

Consider Tara, who got introduced in Manivannan's 'Ingeyum Oru Gangai'. Eventhough she didn't get much break in Tamil, she showed a considerable improvement in 'Nayagan' as Kamal's sister. Her performances in her homeland (Kannada), had gone beyond heights and recently she got the national award for the 'best actress'.

Nowadays, our small screens are changing them a lot. Take Devayani. Her film career and the present career are completely different, in terms of performance.

Eventhough experience counts, some artistes remain same even after a couple of movies training. In my perception, Bhumika belongs to this cateogory. Some of you may disagree. Still, I would be glad if she does justice to the important role which she has bagged in 'J..O..K..'. Hope, director Krishna too does justice to the valuable resources which he has got now.. Surya, Jothika, AR.Rahman...

Titbit: Initial rumours that Nila will be the leading lady with Vijay in SJ.Suryah's 'Puli' has been thwarted with the latest news that Asin will do the role (as confirmed by her in the Sify interview). So, will Nila play a second fiddle in the movie, which is likely to be an action packed movie with Vijay's first ever Cop role? Let us wait and see...
234th post
Pic Courtesy: Sify.com

தன் முயற்சி

ஓர் புது உலகம்..

தன் முயற்சியால்
வெற்றி இலக்கை
நிர்ணயிக்கும்
ஒருவன்

இன்றைய உலகம்..

அவன் வெற்றியை
உறுதி செய்து
பின் பற்றும்
நூறு பேர்
233rd post

After thoughts.. Genuine or not?

Compared to the weekends, the crowd would be less on a weekday in Little India. Last Friday, I had taken off from my work and was there with my wife.

While we were walking on the platform, this guy stopped me. My first impression was that it was a normal address query. He asked me if I have few minutes to spare. OK..that didn't seem to be an address query, as I thought. I nodded, inspite of my wife waiting for me.

It seems he was from Trichur, Kerala. In a mixed accent of Malayalam & English, he mentioned that he arrived here few weeks back and had got a job in a Chinese Finance Co. He expected to get his Employment Pass within a week's time, since it has been applied for already. He added further that he was from a poor family and the money he had, had completely drained, with none of the shoppers giving him temp jobs during his visit visa period.

He hesitantly asked (with moistured eyes) if I could help him to survive for few days. That was a tricky situation for me. By the look of it, he seemed genuine. But, I didn't know how to help and was not fully convinced. I could have suggested him to approach the nearby temples, since there was a possibility for them to help. But they might also be seeing 'n' no. of people like this regularly. So, I didn't suggest that idea.

When I suggested him to approach that Chinese Finance Co. (his prospective employer) to get an advance for his survival, he mentioned that he didn't approach them since no Indian faces were there. Since I was hesitant to come forward, he offered to show his passport to prove his genuineness. He showered me with some jargons saying that my face looked so helpful(!!) and that's why he approached me. He added further with an innocent face, that it would be OK even if I don't trust & help him.

Now, I didn't want to go further on that talk, since my wife was waiting. So, I just managed to pass on some money to survive for two days. He just accepted it and left the place, thankfully.

Normally, this type of situation used to happen in India very often - when people migrate from villages to cities. Sometimes, it would put us in an awkward situation to evaluate the genuineness of those persons. This was the first time, I had encountered a similar situation on the Singapore roads.

After leaving that place, I had several unanswered questions -

Was he genuine?
Should I have enquired more about his educational background and checked his passport?
Did I encourage him to go around like this further, to earn more?
232nd post

An Enchanting Odyssey

That was the name of the programme, presented as a part of my son's School Annual Day function. The evening's event was organised @ the UCC hall of NUS, on Saturday.

To everyone's surprise, the schedule was followed on dot. All sorts of welcome address and prize distribution were over, within the scheduled time. Followed them, was a Play which lasted for 2 hours.

The conceptualisation of the Play was too good.

6 kids get lost in the jungle during their trekking. Then, they just try eating some mushrooms which makes them to faint. After some time, some tribal people surround them and bring them to their senses. They decide to sacrifice the kids, to get favours from a Witch.

However, the witch doesn't want to devour the kids and promise to take them back to their homeland. Since the kids had eaten the strange mushrooms, they couldn't recollect their country's name. So, based on the clues given by them the witch takes them to different countries.

First, they visit China, because they could recollect "Lion dance & shopping". They get a treat of lion dance.

Then, "Fashion & Pastry shops" take them to Paris - where they see some wonderful French dance.

The kids realise, their homeland's Indian delicacies like "Naan / other stuff, with some good Indian dancing". So, the witch takes them to India. They land up during the harvest festival and get to see Rajasthani 'Ghumar', Assamese 'Bihu', Keralite 'Onam' & Punjabi 'Bhangra'.





One of the kids recalls her "Ballet sessions" in her homeland, which helps the witch to land them in Russia - to see some wonderful ballet.

Another kid's passionate recall of "Football craze fans & beach" lands them in Brazil to get entertained with a Salsa dance.










Then, the kids realise that the Witch takes them to wrong destinations purposefully, eventhough she is aware of their homeland. They come to an agreement, by which the Witch asks for a favour. To fulfill that, the kids are taken to Middle east, where they get treated with a dance of "Arabian beauties".


Finally, as agreed the Witch brings them back to "Singapore" where they are able to see the multicultural society, to which they belong.

That was the end of the play..... :-) :-)

All credits need to go to the director of the play, Dr.Golam Ashraf. He is currently a professor in NUS and had shown all his skills and expertise in managing the 200+ students who perfomed that evening. The one month long practice presented a fabulous evening.

The content lived upto the title of the programme.. "The Enchanting Odyssey" for us too, not only those kids who were lost in that jungle.
231st post

'S Pictures' ventures

Can we build a hype around the new ventures of 'S Pictures'?

Since, most of you guys in this blogworld are aware that Shankar's 'S Pictures' has announced two of their proposed ventures and one is expected anytime soon.

#1 Veyil

Cast: Bharath, Bhavna (mallu) & Pasupathy
Music: G V Prakash
Director: Vasanthabalan

Bharath has an interesting line up already with his 'A..I..B..I..' and 'Pattiyal'. Hope the director of 'Album' who couldn't create a magic earlier, will succeed with a different presentation this time, like his predecessor Balaji Sakthivel. With the introduction of another mallu girl Bhavna and ARR's nephew GV Prakash, I believe Shankar is betting on something unique.

Would be glad if a different movie is delivered to us.




#2 Imsai Arasan 23-aam Pulikesi

Cast: Vadivelu, Nanditha, Monica, Nasser....
Music: Sabesh-Murali
Director: Simbhudevan

Eventhough the promo's poster reveals it as a historic story, as reiterated by Shankar himself, I doubt whether it would be a historic movie. Going by the title, I doubt whether Shankar would spend so much money to present a realistic historic comedy.

There are two possibilities in this scenario.

1) Either it must be similar to Cho's 'Muhamad-Bin-Thuglak' full of funny comedy
(or)
2) It must be a promotional gimmick to just woo the press and audience. It may be a normal comedy subject, with an unique title.

Sabesh-Murali's combination has not produced any magical numbers so far in the industry, except those melodies in 'Thavamai Thavam Irundhu'. Need to wait and watch, if they could exploit this opportunity to show their potential.


#3 "Yet to be titled"

Cast: ??
Music: ??
Director: Balaji Sakthivel

Can we expect some announcement on this venture either this week or the next week - before the big bang announcement of AVM's 'Sivaji'? Fingers crossed....X


Following the footsteps of Ram Gopal Varma, Shankar is promoting different genre of directors. That is a welcome move. Looks like he is wisely investing his earlier harvests into different baskets, instead of putting all into his own child. Would be glad if this model succeeds, since it makes the field more competitive.
230th post

Dating

During yesterday's coffee break, the crux of my chat with a recently engaged Colleague, was his "phone bills.."

Method: Using Calling cards
Nature: Midnight daily conversation with his Fiance
Effect: 300$/month hole in his wallet

A guy who was never comfortable with too much of spending is currently swallowing these bills. He is unsure whether he will have the same enthu after marriage (trying to be realistic!!). Irrespective of his reasoning, I blessed(!!) him to continue on his phone-dating without talking too much on the bills.

Two reasons....

1) I knew guys, who had spent $1000-$1500/month, before the flooding of calling cards here. Compared to those, this budgeted calls looked miniscule.

2) I missed that thrill... even thru phone :-( :-( Don't ask me, why?
229th post

Real 'Ghajini'

That's what I felt, when the Argentine won yesterday's Tennis Masters Cup Finals held at Shanghai.

2 sets down against World no.1

Level @ 2-2

Lead at 4-1 in the last set

Again the cycle changed, with the come back of No.1. It became 5-5 and the World no.1 went up once again to 6-5 and started serving for the championship. Still the Argentine didn't want to give up and pulled that game to make it 6-6. Finally, they entered the tie-break which the Argentine won with style.

That was a fabulous score of 6-7 6-7 6-2 6-1 7-6, a result of 4 1/2 hours of play, for the biggest title of his career.

Another contrasting statistics - Federer's fourth defeat all year - Nalbandian's fourth of his career.

I have seen him so many times near the victory post, only to lose it to the opponent. During the final moments of yesterday's match, we wished him to win and he did. With style...

Pic Courtesy: Rediff.com
228th post

Too many things...

Too many things at the same time... Unable to visit others' blogs too :-( :-(

Anyhow, Happy Children's Day, to those kids who felt as "newly born" while expressing their views for this NAYAN post
227th post

Different arena to play around...

This is how (the title), I will term the current scenario where in we are getting successful novelists / journalists into Cine field. Earlier, you might have observed adaptation of hit novels / stories into movies. In those type of movies, the main stories were tweaked mostly to suit the cine audience mood. Sometimes, the original plot alone had been kept with more commercial elements added, to make them hits.

I could remember some of those novels, which were adapted so...

SUJATHA's - 'Gayathri' & 'Priya' [In 'Priya' you could have observed several tweaks compared to the original plot & characters]. Two years back, one of his interesting novel 'Nila kaalam' was directed by Gandhi Krishna [director of 'Chellame'] Eventhough, this movie didn't run well commercially, it got a recognition among critics. There was a news few months back, that he had accepted for adaptation of his 'Pirivom.. Santhipom' too.
RAJENDRAKUMAR's - 'Vanakathukuriya Kaathaliyee' (Sridevi)
JAYAKANTHAN's - 'Sila Nerangalil Sila Manitharkal' & 'Oru Nadigai Nadagam Paarkiraal' [I believe, the second one also had Lakshmi in the lead]
SIVASANKARI's - '47 Natkal' (by K.B. with Chiranjeevi & Jayapratha), 'Nandu' (by Mahendran), 'Kutty' (a simple story well made by Janaki Viswanathan)
Pushpa THANGADURAI's - 'Oru Oothappoo Kan Simitukirathu'
T.JANAKIRAMAN's - 'Moga mul' (directed by Gnana Rajasekaran)

and may be some more, which I might have missed.. like Writer Lakhsmi's works (help, please...)

Of late, that trend has changed. Now our novelists & journalists have been lured with attractive returns, to have better involvement in the cine field. You could have observed several novel stories & punch dialogues in the last couple of years by some of these well known personalities led by Sujatha.

Our DBI team takes you thru the path for few mintues....


SUJATHA, who is celebrating his silver jubilee in film industry, has been associated with the leading directors for a long time. His association with the industry was so thick that, he led PentaMedia for sometime into various film ventures. His involvement stretches from story discussions, dialogues till the end of the movie, which is an inspirational one to the youth of these days.

His work which got started with K.B.'s 'Ninaithaale Inikkum', had fueled many other leading directors in the last two decades. Couple of his interesting ventures were - with Maniratnam (Roja), Bharathi Raja (Nadodi Thendral), Shankar (Indian, Mudhalvan, Boys, Anniyan) Ravichandran (if I'm not wrong, it was 'Kannethire thondrinaal', pl.correct me if not), Jeeva (Ullam Ketkumae) and the list goes on...

As everybody is aware, now he is completely into 'Sivaji' discussions. During an interview in our local FM 96.8 last week, he was very cautious in delivering project details of that movie. He admitted that he & Shankar's team need to be careful, since more hype is surrounding this mega venture. There was another interesting revelation during that interview. It seems, when Rajini approached him for 'Baba', he refused since the movie required contributions for its spiritual part which was ultimately taken up by Balakumaran. [he honestly said that he could not have justified his role].

His relationship which seemed to have started with Kamal 2 decades back, continued with 'Vikram' and couple of other movies which followed it. As a friend, it seems he got involved in many of Kamal's movies. Now he is also involved with Kamal-KSR-Crazy Mohan team for 'Dasavatharam', eventhough this movie is not portrayed as a comedy movie (inspite of those 10 roles, publicized). Trust this successful team presents another interesting stuff to the audience.


BALA KUMAARAN - I was so impressed with his 'Thaayumaanavan' novel (televised for DD in the early 90s), that I became his hardcore fan and started reading all his novels.. Eventhough, I have lost touch with his writings of late, I had come across several works of him thru movies. Eventhough his novels were not converted into celluloid packages, his involvement in dialogues had brought out several interesting movies to the front.

Some of his involvements were with Maniratnam (Nayagan), Shankar (Kaadhalan, Jeans) and several other directors for Guna, Mugavari, King, Citizen, Baba, Athu, Jananam, Manmathan, Thotti Jaya etc., His upcoming movies too have interesting directors / actors.. Selvaraghavan / Dhanush's 'Pudhupet', Simbu's 'Vallavan', Arya's 'Kalaba Kaathalan', SPB's 'En uyirilum Melana' etc.,

The famous duo writers SU-BA (Suresh-Bala) are expected to join KV.Anand once again for his new venture, after their previous successful involvement (Story/dialogues) in 'Kana kandein'. I could recollect Sarath's 'Chanakya' as well, as another plot requiring some sharp dialogues in which they were reportedly successful. Hope to see many more interesting plots from these Duo writers.

As far as I know 'Pattukottai' PRABHAKAR had penned for movies like Balaji Sakthivel/Vikram Combo's 'Samurai', Satyaraj's 'Maaran' and Prasanna's 'Kaathal dot com'. Still some striking movies are yet to come from him. I heard he is busy involving in couple of movie projects currently.

Cartoonist / Journalist MADAN showed his knowledge on several issues thru his involvement in Kamal's 'Anbe Sivam' [including those famous 'Tsunami' dialogues, well ahead of our Dec-26 incident]. I have also understood that he was involved in the recent thriller 'Aayul regai'. {probably BALAJI can confirm this, being the only person in my known circle who had seen this movie}. Trust he would pen for some more interesting movies.. Let us wait and see.





Definitely this arrival of more number of specialised novelists / journalists have brought in fresh air in the area of "story / screenplay / dialogues", which used to be typically occupied with masala stuff. Hope this continues and we get to view more watchable stuff from our energetic youth directors and artists.
226th post

Unbelievable 16

In a recent interview, when Nayan had been asked if she will be campaigning for any political party, she had reportedly replied.. 'I can't, for I am just 16 and don't even have the right to vote'.

I don't want to get into her DOB and check whether it is correct or not. It may be a twist given by the reporter also.

But I have observed that, people are very happy to claim their age as "Sweet 16" for a long time.. [Given a chance, I may also do it..]

However, it becomes very hard to believe, sometimes. It just turns out to be another entertaining news. I felt so this time, when I read this :-) :-)225th post

Chennaiyin Mazhai Kaalam

It seems, after last week's rain 'Amma' had told that 'See.. I told you earlier, that we are going to get good rain... Now you have got it'.

Need to appreciate 'Amma's predictions.. but alas, Chennai had to still cope up with the heavy rain's effects.



"Learning is a big ocean!!!"
"Kadamai Thavaraa uuzhiyar.. See the crowd inside, still"
"It seems, it was an urgent issue to go out and address"
"Guys recalling yesteryear swimming practice in village ponds"
"Pothy's advertisement near Niagara"
224th post

Surprising Divorce

I got two different types of feelings, when I read this press release of yesterday.

Let us talk about the positive side. Kalaingar Karunanithi has stated that he is delinking from SUN TV & Kungumam from now on and has sold out his family stake in those organisations. Does it mean that he won't appear everyday on the small screen giving his opinion on earthquake / rain etc.,? I assume so...

On the negative side, SUN TV is reducing the entertainment elements for bloggers (like KAPS), eventhough they are still running the serials which will feed us for a long time. Isn't it?

If you could observe, the missing of Key personalities (I mean, long term associates) is happening slowly in SUN TV... earlier it was AV.Ramanan, then 'Nirmala Periyasaamy' (you can read as 'Niirmalaaa PeriiiiyaSaaaamy'), now it is Kalaingar Karunanithi. I am eagerly waiting for the turn of the Iron(!!) lady who used to be showered with "Neenga romba azhagaa irukiinga, madam?" comments... nagara mattengraangalee... :o( :o( :o(
223rd post

Survey time...

I was explaining something to my son on a particular topic, for it was a fruitful chatting. At that time, there was a knock on the front door... and somebody was outside with a Survey form. The survey, which was on the usage of Cable tv and Broadband services of the local providers, went on for few minutes. In the meantime, I got a prompt from my better-half that it was getting late, to wrap up the work with my son. Still I continued, till the completion of the survey.

It used to happen sometimes over phone as well. Last month, it so happened that a survey call which started with "5min only" guarantee, extended upto 15 minutes with nearly 50 questions. By the end of that call, my energy level had dried up fully. Even then, I had a satisfaction.

What's the need to undergo that?

Because, I could understand their job nature.. I heard some of them do it as a part time job for specific companies like this. I had experienced it once, personally.... :-)

During my college days in Madurai, our professor introduced a Marketing guy (from Madras), who was there to do a survey among the teenagers on Ice cream trends. The agenda was like this.. He gave 20 survey forms to each one of us and asked us to visit different residential colonies targetting equal no. of boys and girls. Each successful / genuinely (!!) completed form carried a "X" amount as a reward. Since, it was an interesting assignment earning money for us, we accepted it gladly.

But it was not that easy, as we thought.


In certain houses the Moms (of teen girls) didn't entertain us.. we were stopped just near the doorsteps and the girls replied to our survey questions from the half-closed doors. Some people didn't entertain us completely, due to lack of time.

I did visit some of my friends' houses to fill up the survey forms thru their sisters. That was also tricky, since I had never spoken to them freely earlier. Somehow, I managed. Few of my friends gathered the results in front of girls' schools and colleges. [the reason, why I am talking about the girls alone, is that we found it trickier only there]

As usual, to complete the forms quickly, few in our friends' circle filled in the Survey forms on their own, without even visiting anyone's house. ['aasai'... to earn quickly]. That Madras guy caught them red-handed [thru cross-verifying] and refused to accept those survey forms, threatening to forfeit all they had earned so far. That approach of our friends, got amended immediately.

By the end of two days, I was so happy to earn my first pocket money - by exploiting my own(!!) abilities....

That experience, resulted in a decision. Not to refuse answering any surveys, unless it becomes too personal or due to lack of spare time.
222nd post

Majaa - Review

Being a holiday today (for Ramzan), we decided suddenly to venture out for a movie... the immediate choice was 'Majaa'.

It must be the obvious selection, since I'm not for a typical Vijay action masala (my son's favourite) & a sensual BaluMahendra flick (eventhough 'AOKK' was my favourite, it may not be suitable to watch with my son).

'Majaa' scored better than these two for those reasons... a decent masala with less action, apt to watch with children.

Eventhough, the promotions were more focussed on Vikram & Asin, equal importance were given to the characters of Pasupathy, Manivannan & Vadivelu also. Eventhough that approach keeps the movie going at a regular pace, while coming out you may compare Ghajini's 'Kalpana' with this 'Seethalakshmi' and will realise something lesser here.

Being a remake of the malayalam hit "Thommanum Makkalum", the story is a very simple & known one. The father & 2 sons (erstwhile thieves) decide to give up their profession and move to a new village. How the sons settle down with the local belles, are shown in a lighter vein. Definitely, it would have been a simpler task for Mamooty or Vikram to do the lead role in a light hearted comedy like this. Vikram has done his part with ease.

Pasupathy & Vadivelu steal the show with their expressions and situational comedies. Asin doesn't have much scope to show up her acting skills and it is yet another movie to her credit. That's all. Murali is not that impressive as Asin's dad. [his best portrayal was in 'Dum Dum Dum']

The songs are filling the gaps as usual, with the first 'Majaa..' song reminding the 'Dhool...' song sequence of 'Dhool' (including the Lorry and the fields). Asin was gorgeous in that 'Che Che Che ' song with her costumes and dance movements. In that 'Sollith tharava...' song shot in Austria, Vikram's get-up didn't suit the melodious mood of the song. When they tried to use designer type of costumes (You chk out the song, you will know!!), they could have avoided showing Vikram in that village get-up too..

Strengths:
- The clean stuff with several hilarious moments in the screenplay.
- Pasupathy & Vadivelu, eventhough Vadivelu's part reminded some of his previous movies.

Weaknesses:
- Lack of the "required pull" to sit thru the whole movie.
- Vidyasagar. He could have come out with better numbers, than what he delivered.

Not being a high budget movie, will be an advantage for the profitability of this venture. Eventhough, it may not be an impressive feather on Vikram & Asin's hats, it is not a failure definitely.

My Earlier Reviews - Limited edition (munch them, if you hvn't)
Ghajini / Anniyan / Ullam Ketkumae / Sachein
221st post

New dress...

Thanks for all your personalised wishes and thru comments section for Deepavali.. Once again, I hope you all would have enjoyed the day well.

For us, the day had gone very quickly... :-) with the visit to crowded temples, meeting a lot of friends, exchanging wishes, etc., Received the usual comments on the dresses.... :-) :-)

But yesterday, I didn't have any mood to go to the office. If it is in India, we would be very glad to visit the school / college / office in new dresses with high spirit (Isn't it??). But, it was just another day in my office yesterday. Nobody looked into my new shirt and commented :-( :-(

Atleast I was glad that my new shirt received attention on Deepavali day... among my friends in the temple.
220th post

Deepavali wishes.....

Thanks for all your Deepavali wishes... Let me reciprocate the same from Little India... Wish you all a Happy & Enjoyable Deepavali day...

Little India Shopping!!!

219th post

My Maiden attempt...

It was an interesting Deepavali nite, out of those which I had attended so far.

Reason.. my maiden attempt... (of what??)

Yesterday's Deepavali nite was organised in a good gathering, the purpose of which was to extract the talents of adults and also to provide ultimate fun to the audience.

The evening started with Arattai Arangam [Separate post on this, will follow], followed by a music programme delivered by a group of NUS/NTU students. The music programme was combined with a hilarious 'Super Jodi' event, in between the songs. This fusion was planned, just to tie the audience to their seats thru out those 3.5 hours. The idea was perfect.. eventhough during the later part, people started fizzling out for their dinner.

And why was it memorable? We (myself/my wife) were also part of that 'SJ' programme.

Eventhough the participants would have come prepared [like us :0) :0)] with some known questions about their spouse's likes/dislikes, 100% of the questions were not on that basis. More questions were on situational ones..... and I need to appreciate the persons who were behind those questions. A set of 5 printed questions were given to each partner (different set). Later, the same questions were fielded to the spouse to check the correctness.

Some interesting questions which we goofed up were:

The shampoo which my wife uses regularly??? I mentioned a body foam's name instead of a Shampoo. Didn't get the question correctly. My wife's look... com'n, how can you miss it?
The job which my wife does for me, even if she doesn't like to do??? I didn't remember forcing her for anything. So, I had mentioned that it was a difficult Q to answer. My partner's answer was different, which was true as well. "Watching a movie on the first day with me, even if she doesn't like to do it". [it struck me then, that I missed to see 'Majaa's first show today in Singapore]
Best friend of my wife, whom I like???? Since she has many, some of whom were present there in the audience, it was difficult for me to name one. What she had written down in the sheet, didn't match with what I said.....

The other notable questions where we scored were:

- The issue on which I got angry recently, with my wife???
- The type of Jewellery, which my wife likes..?
- Whether I will buy a dress for her, if she had not accepted my earlier selections? Or will I take her along with me always??
- Will my wife be supportive for my brother / sister's marriage/career advancements??

The couples were also expected to perform something in addition, to score bonus points. Eventhough most of them preferred to act for a 'Dumb Charades' question, one couple preferred dancing for a MGR song and one preferred for a small skit.

Our preference was a Song.

Believe me guys, for the first time I was singing on the stage. So, I cautioned the audience and asked them to ensure that they will be present even after those 3 minutes.... And the song which we selected (& practised for the last couple of days) was this fantastic number from 'Ghajini'.

சுட்டும் விழி சுடரே, சுட்டும் விழி சுடரே
என் உலகம் உன்னைச் சுற்றுதே
சட்டைப் பையில் உன் படம், தொட்டுத் தொட்டு உரச
என் இதயம் பற்றிக் கொள்ளுதே

உன் விழியில் விழுந்தேன், விண்வெளியில் பறந்தேன்
கண் விழித்து சொப்பனம் கண்டேன்
உன்னாலே, கண் விழித்து சொப்பனம் கண்டேன்

மெல்லினம் குரலில் கண்டேன்,வல்லினம் விழியில் கண்டேன்
இடையினம் தேடி இல்லை என்றேன்

தூக்கத்தில் உளறக் கொண்டேன், தூறலில் விரும்பி நின்றேன்
தும்மல் வந்தால் உன் நினைவைக் கொண்டேன்

கருப்பு வெள்ளை பூக்கள் உண்டா?, உன் கண்ணில் நான் கண்டேன்
உன் கண்கள், வண்டை உண்ணும் பூக்கள் என்பேன்
உன் கண்கள், வண்டை உண்ணும் பூக்கள் என்பேன்

மரங்கொத்தி பறவை ஒன்று, மனங்கொத்தி போன தென்று
உடல் முதல் உயிர் வரை தந்தேன்

தீ இன்றி திரியும் இன்றி, தேகங்கள் எரியும் என்று
இன்று தானே நானும் கண்டு கொண்டேன்

மழை அழகா? வெயில் அழகா? கொஞ்சும் போது மழை அழகு
கண்ணா நீ, கோபப் பட்டால் வெயில் அழகு
கண்ணா நீ, கோபப் பட்டால் வெயில் அழகு

Since this was the first time for me, it seems I had a tightened face on the stage (as commented by our friends). My wife didn't bother much, since she had done it couple of times earlier.

This adventure had helped us to score the required bonus points. With that help, we got the "Second best SJ" title. It was good, since we didn't go there with any expectations. My only worry earlier, was not to goof up during the song. Luckily, I didn't..... Eventhough my wife scored better than me in terms of modulation and expressions, I had a good start today [presumably!!!].
218th post

Understanding A..B.. concept

While having a causal chat, my Colleague was talking about his friend, both of whom entered the industry at the same time. It seems his friend had gone up in IBM ladder now and currently in the interview panel. Just because he moved to Singapore, my colleague believes that he couldn't see the growth blah blah....

I couldn't blame him for his attitude. He is one among the many people who complain about the reverse of fortunes inspite of their abilities. I had seen different people with different perceptions from time to time. For simplicity, let us consider those who feel left out as 'B' while comparing with another 'A' in the following scenario. You can assume that my colleague is 'B' and his friend is 'A'. [Caution: Don't put me in the position of 'A' or 'B'. It is my General observation among a group of people. Pl. look into this generally]

Case#1
======
A & B were collegemates, during which time 'B's intellectual qualities were utilised well by 'A'. After few years, 'B' moved out of the country on an overseas assignment and loses his job motivation due to various reasons. When he returned back, he observed that 'A' is in a Vice-President position of a start-up growing company. 'B' is still wondering whether he made a wrong decision in moving out of India....

Case#2
======
A & B were introduced to each other in a party. As usual our 'B' has got several distinctions in a professional course and our 'A' had come to that level after several years of struggle. When 'B' looked into the career path of 'A', he got amazed. The job profile which 'B' is targetting for the last few years, thru hard work and sweat with his distinctive qualities, had fallen into 'A's laps without much efforts. 'B' is still working hard to get a recognition for his quailities...

Case#3
======
A & B, being relatives, are constantly compared for their achievements from time to time - at school level / college level / career level etc.,. Those comparision made by their parents, had passed on to them later. Being a Senior person, 'B' didn't expect 'A' to beat him in terms of career achievement & monetary terms. But, that cannot happen always when each person's abilities differ and are rewarded on their own merits. Now 'B' has got settled down with the reality slowly, waiting for his turn to come up...

Case#4
======
A & B are no way related. 'B' is much elder, that his son is younger than 'A' by few years. Eventhough 'B' is affluent, he ignored that fact and started wondering as to how 'A' has made so much money at this younger age. The hilarious part is when 'B' got worried about his son (a college student) as to whether he can earn as much as 'A'. They don't consider the fact, that they are already sitting on huge wealth which 'A' cannot earn immediately!!!

Case#5
======
'A' is serving in a particular industry and is in a good earning position. If it is in India, that much earnings may not be possible for the same profile.Eventhough 'B' cannot be matched with 'A' in terms of age, 'B' is still wondering about 'A's earning capacity with that profile - which may not fetch so much money in India.

Most of the above cases, boil down to a personal perception of "you lucky" type of feelings. There are two factors which play the major roles in these type of situations.

1) 'Luck' - Definitely, the fortune wheel stops at different places, the timing of which may not be known to the persons involved.
2) 'Efforts' put in by 'A' which 'B' fails to recognise

My perception is that the person who has the feelings of 'Left behind' should put in more efforts and should wait for the 'Lady Luck's smile at him. Eventhough, it may not happen in an easy way for 'B' as it had happened for 'A', the reality has to be faced. Isn't it?
217th post

The holy words "Belief - Trust - Hope - Faith..."

A SMS lottery scam had hit Singaporeans with more frequency in the recent past. Either thru SMS or thru missed call tricks, these conmen make the victims to fall into their traps and ask them to advance some amount to claim a bigger prize money [something similar to the Nigeria type of email frauds]. Last year, one of my friend had a similar experience of getting a mail from a Spannish Lottery agency, saying that he had won 500,000 Euro and has to pay some deposit to claim the winnings. He ignored it, after some background check.

When I look into the victims generally, I could observe that the reasons behind their plight are either too much of trust/faith or greediness. Let me not take the greediness part to discuss much. However, some naive people are tricked just because of their trust or faith on some system [which overshadows their failure to check the authenticity].

When a question is posted as to 'Why they acted like this?', the possible words which may be uttered are ' .. belief / trust / hope / faith..'.

Yes, several things on Life goes based on certain assumptions. However, whatever we hope/believe may not happen as we think it would happen. It goes on the other side unexpectedly. You can take any of these practical situations which I had listed down here... and you can relate it with 'n' no. of personalities known to you.

- Getting married to a 'Seem-to be' nice person, becoming a hell.
- Placement into a 'so-called nice pretty' job, landing you in problems with colleagues.
- Bringing up the Kids into a nice environment, hitting the rock unexpectedly in terms of their behaviours.
- Healthy one's thoughts that 'Nothing will affect me', getting shattered due to some diagnosis.
- Investing into some known Chitfunds or New ventures (including Films), getting bombed.
- Facing the dust, after trying to become big in politics.

Eventhough most of the assumptions / calculations are due to some sort of belief / trust on a system, there is a possibility for things to go in a different way.

This seems to be a test for anyone's willpower. Those who survive this becomes stronger and more focussed on their future ventures. They prepare themselves for any aftermaths of their future beliefs. If we have the mental strength, then we are the kings who can face any situation....

Life goes on with these type of positive thoughts only, to face the consequences of our beliefs / hopes. Isn't it?
216th post

Birthday wishes to a cute girl....

Today must be one of her memorable birthdays, with so much of wishes pouring from everywhere.
















Really Cute, isn't it?



















Asin....


The variation which she has shown from Malabar (MKSM) to Priya to Kalpana was awesome. Very expressive face....My favourite facial expression of hers was while delivering this 'Antha Sanjay Ramasamiya Naan luv pannaleppa...' and the final moments when she departs.

Wish kollywood uses this talented girl, properly!!!. Eventhough, I am not sure if she has got a real chance to 'act' in 'Sivakasi'...I'm confident that she may continue her form in 'Majaa'.

You can visit this page also to wish her, if you want to. [this is her own guestbook maintained by her in her website WWW.ASINONLINE.COM --- an actress who has also got time to maintain her own website... hmmm, times are changing!!!!]
215th post

Continuity of festive season...

Here in Singapore, the festive season starts with Navarathiri. This makes me always, to feel that I'm nearing the year-end and going to enjoy few more holidays. Immediately after Saraswathi Pooja & Vijaya dhasami, you can observe 'Fire walking' festival, Deepavali, Ramzan (Hari Raya Haji), Christmas, New-year, Pongal, Thai Poosam, Chinese New year, Bakrid (Hari Raya Pusa) etc., eventhough we may get holidays only for few of these :-( :-(

Last week, it was 'Fire walking' festival....

The 10 day long 'Fire walking' festival takes place in Sri Mariamman temple, located in China town. This is one of the oldest Hindu moument in Singapore, which can be dated back to 1820s. (almost 2 centuries...). Being administered by the 'Hindu Endowment Board' (Govt. organisation), this is not only one of the favourite temples of the residents, but also one of the main attractions for the overseas tourists. [Sometime back, The Hindu covered it extensively]

Eventhough I termed the event as a '10 day long Fire walking' festival, the actual 'Fire walking' happens only on the last day. During this event, the devotees cross a four-metre bed of glowing coals in the courtyard of the temple. The hot stroll recreates a scene from “The Mahabharata”, our epic poem, in which the goddess Draupadi proves her innocence by walking over burning coals.

During the first 9 days, lots of offerings will be carried out by the devotees like 'paal kudam', 'anga pirathachanam' etc., Normally, it starts in the midnight (1:30 or 3 am) and ends by 9 - 10 am in the morning, to avoid the scorching sun. The number of devotees who used to visit during these days, are always enormous. Sometimes, few westeners also used to participate in those offerings. It makes us to feel that we are somewhere in Tirunelveli or Madurai during a festival event.

We, a few member volunteers group, used to go to the temple during the night time to man the ticket counters ... but not every night, since we take turns [just to relieve the temple staff, who used to work round the clock during these 10 days ]. For the last couple of years, we are visiting them like this, which makes us light mentally, eventhough half-day's official work may be affected (during the weekdays). We did visit last week, as usual...

Incidentally, this morning being the 10th day (2am-8am), the 'Fire-walking' event would have taken place... Eventhough I got an opportunity to visit this event today morning, I didn't go due to various reasons.. one being, the pressure to face Monday morning office hours :-(:-( Eventhough it falls on Monday morning always, hope I would be able to catch up with the event atleast next year...

Some more on this event...... Writeup #1, Writeup #2
214th post

Risky moves by tinsel town designers....

When a designer wants to spend his own money, to convert his thoughts into a final product.. the result may be either abundant benefits or a long stay under a shell. This is what is happening in Kodambakkam, nowadays. Each and every director is adding another role to their credit... as a producer.

A news of this week, made my team to do some interesting digging....

Director Shakthi Chidambaram is going into the Producer's mould, after tasting success in several of his earlier ventures. Since those ventures like Ennamma Kannu, Charlie Chaplin, Mahanadigan, Englishkaaran etc., had a decent run in B&C centres, he would have decided to reap the profits himself out of his next venture titled 'Kovai brothers'. I think, he may make more money than the earlier ones in B&C centres, considering some of the pictures released earlier this week. [chk out yourself...... Courtesy: Tring Tring]

Few weeks back, director-turned-comedian Manobala wanted to try out the new role as producer. Few months earlier, K.Bhagyaraj's assistant Mr.Sivakumar (director of Arjun's 'Ayutha Poojai') wished to produce a new movie with his mentor in the key role as director and actor. Will they all be lucky like their predecessors who took up this additional role? Time will tell them...

I believe, most of them take up this new role, due to several reasons... (1) to encash their abilities (2) to strengthen their market (3) if they are unable to find any scapegoats (4) if they are confident of their juniors

Our DBI team made some interesting search, to pull out some of those existing directors who don the producer's role as well.. successfully or otherwise!!!

Let me start with 'Iyakunar Sigaram' K.Balachandar, whose production house 'Kavithaalaya' has carved a place in the industry with a lot of quality movies to its credit. [Was it called 'Kamalaalaya' or 'Kalaalaya' earlier? Something similar to that...]

I remember that in those earlier days, he used to direct most of them produced under this banner. Later, the house's trend of supporting other directors, had definitely converted it into a leading production house. Most of them were hits and I don't remember many flops from this house..

Some of them which I could recollect are Netrikann, Poovilangu, Sigaram, Velaikaaran, Keladi Kanmani, few family dramas of Visu, Roja, Rojavanam, Saami, Thirumalai, Vidukathai, Ayyah etc., Upcoming 'Ithaya Thirudan' (Directed by Saran) with 'Jayam' Ravi in the lead, is also from their house. I'm confident that they will come out with more clean entertainers like they did earlier.

Bharathiraja has rarely produced movies for outside directors, under his home banner 'Manoj creations'. Most of them from his house like Mudhal Mariyathai, Kodi Parakuthu etc., were directed by him. [a lot more, which I'm missing here!!]. 'Alli Arjuna' was the exceptional one, directed by Saran, eventhough the reason behind was known to everyone [BR's son Manoj as the hero]. With a limited scope of making himself & his son successful, he couldn't convert this into a big production house, as everyone is aware.

Maniratnam's houses produced some memorable movies directed not only by him, but also by some other young directors. His initial involvement with 'Aalayam Productions' had churned out Bombay & few more., and subsequent one thru 'Madras talkies' released movies likes Iruvar, Uyirae, Alai Payuthe, Kannathil Muthamittal, Ayutha Ezuthu etc., Those movies directed by outsiders include movies like Chatriyan, Nerukku Ner, Dum Dum Dum, Fivestar etc., I could even recall some of those TV serials like 'Anbulla snehidhiye' 'Punnagai' which were presented well.

Hope we are going to see a lot more quality movies from his house, as I heard recently that he is planning to produce movies for his former assistants like Susi Ganesan & Azhagam Perumal once again.

K.Bhagyaraj had mostly tried only his abilities thru his Saranya Cine Creations. Eventhough this production house had many movies to its credit like Ithu namma aalu,Veetle Vishesanga, Sundara Gandam, Vetiya Madichu Kattu etc., it couldn't make it big. The latest buzz, is that he is behind his daughter's debut movie 'Paarijaatham' as a producer. Probably if it succeeds, I hope he will support new directors to make more money. Otherwise, his house may not become a big one.

Ve.Sekar was one of the low profile directors who ventured into the production arena thru his 'Thiruvalluvar kalai Koodam', which has churned out so many family dramas like 'Pondatti sonna Ketukkanum' 'Varavu Ettana Selavu Pathana' 'Kaalam Maari Pocchu' etc. Of late this production house has started entertaining outside directors as well like Venkatesh for 'Aei' (Sarath/Namitha), Shakthi Chidambaram for his under-production 'Pattasu' (Vikranth / Sibiraj !!) etc., Low Budget, decent returns has become the motto of this house, as I could observe.

Shankar initialised his efforts with 'Mudhalvan' jointly with R.Madesh (director of 'Chocolate' & 'Madurey'), eventhough he didn't continue his own high budget ambitions. However, his support to his former assistant Balaji Sakthivel has definitely yielded a fine movie in 'Kaathal'. Heard that he is going to produce 3 more movies to be directed by his former assistants (including one for Balaji sakthivel). Indeed a clever move with good marketing skills... finding outside producer for his costly ventures and making profits out of his low budget movies. Very smart....

As we all know, SJ.Suryah wanted to have all the credits & debits to him, for his last two ventures 'New' and 'Ah Aah..' Just because, he was able to rake in more money, I pray that he won't produce some more unwatchable 'B' grade movies. He had already gained a name as 'sleaze king'. Hope he comes out clean atleast in his future movies.

Other interesting personalities, who did venture into this new role and are still continuing in the field as most of you know, are ...

R.Parthiban [Several strange attempts like Sarigamapathanee, Housefull, Ivan, Kudaikul Mazhai etc.,]
Rama.Narayanan [His 'Thenandal films' had supported many living creatures in Tamilnadu.. thru several spiritual ventures.]
K.S.Ravikumar [with his hilarious 'Thenali']
Kadhir[With a B.O. bomb 'Kaathal Virus'.. Assume, he couldn't come out of that debacle still]
Cheran [Well crafted 'Autograph' and Vijay Milton directed 'Azhagai Irukirai Payamai Irukirathu' which is under production]
Saran ['Aaru' being directed by Hari]
Bala [Thru his 'B' movies - Surya's 'Maayavi', Ajith's 'Paramasivan' under production]
Thankar Bacchan [A successful attempt in 'Chidambarathil Oru Appasamy' when he couldn't find a producer. Heard that he is planning not to produce his next venture]


If you can observe, only those production houses which are commercial enough to support outside directors had made it big. That's the lesson which most of the young directors had learnt nowadays and profiting out of it.... Smart guys...

Report Courtesy: Our DBI Team

Related - "Let me do it" series posts
Actors turned producers
Cinematographer turned Directors
Singer turned actors
213rd post