Can God save the so called 'God'?

When you look into the line up of Ajith's new movies & if you are unaware of his current market status..you may tend to think that this guy is someone different & great. Yes, he 'was' and not 'is'.

Can he atleast recover his lost grace - in his upcoming movie 'Godfather', yet to be started Bala's 'Nanae Kadavul' (meaning 'I am the only God'!!!), a new untitled movie proposed by Selvaraghavan (with Dhanush!! & Bharath)? (Let the 'God' in his titles atleast help him to achieve).

Even now, his 'Godfather' is struggling to move fastly, which is contrary to KS.Ravikumar's fast phased work culture. KSR used to churn out movies very fastly contrary to the likes of Maniratnam, Shankar etc., His objective from his very first movie (Puriyatha Pudhir) was to make money for the producers. So far, he succeeded with that clear objective. He knew the pulse of the audience. Can he do that trick for Ajith?


Why do you want to be a 'God'?

Sometimes, I pity Ajith. The Charming hero of the late 90s had earned this status on his own. From the beginning of his career, he used to act as a lover boy and succeeded well. If you look into his graph the romantic movies like Aasai, Kathal Kottai, Kathal Mannan, Amarkkalam etc., pushed him to the second tier. His releases in 1999/2000 - Valee, Kandukondein Kandukondein, Mugavari - pushed him to the top tier.

Unfortunately, the slide started after the diversion of his attention to his passionate hobby of Formula Car racing. He started signing movies to fund his car racing ambitions. Good, he was determined to fulfill his passionate objective. But, that had cost him his well built movie career, which was built purely on his efforts.

He couldn't give a super hit after Year 2000. Except Dheena / Poovellam Un Vaasam / Villain / Attagasam which were commercial hits, his other ventures were complete flops (Citizen, Red, Raja, Jana, Ji). He couldn't get a name in the Bollywood as well, as Shah Rakh Khan's 'Samrat Ashoka' didn't succeed in the box office.

Now, he is squeezed too much between the veterans & new entrants, that he will move out of the field unless his upcoming movies succeed. Can he change his strategy, atleast now? Let him not do the larger-than-life role anymore. Let him come out with some realistic movies (to suit his well built body; that doesn't mean that he has to do 'dadaa' role always. We are sick of it)

I hv confidence in KSR (eventhough I don't bet on 'Godfather' as a classic), Balaa (eventhough I am not comfortable with the title) and Selvaraghavan. But if these movies fail, it will be too difficult for Ajith to find producers anymore. (See Madhavan's plight).

BTW...did I spend so much time on a guy, who has not given any hits in the recent past? I don't regret, since I can still recollect his performance in movies like Valee, KK & Mugavari. Let's hope he remains in this race atleast (now that he has quit his Car racing ambition).

ஒரு இந்தியனின் எதிர்பார்ப்பு

ஆஹா.... அடுத்த கவிதையும் தயாராகிவிட்டது....என் இரண்டாவது கவிதை


Regular Email, which I used to receive


ஒரு இந்தியனின் எதிர்பார்ப்பு


ஒன்றா? இரண்டா?
இந்தியாவின் பெருமை கூற...

மின்னஞ்சலுக்கு மேல் மின்னஞ்சல்
வந்து கொண்டேயிருக்கிறது
அவற்றை பறை சாற்றி :-) :-)

ஆனாலும் தடுக்கிறதே
சில நிதர்சனமான உண்மைகள்
மெத்தனம், ஊழல், தீர்க்கமற்ற அணுகுமுறை

இவற்றை களைந்தால் போதுமே..
நினைத்ததை செயலாற்ற,

எத்தனை காலம் ஆகும்...
அரசாங்க இயந்திரத்தைச் சரி செய்ய?
தெரியவில்லையே!!!!!!

ஒருகால், இந்த மின்னஞ்சல்
அரசு இயந்திரத்திற்கும்
அனுப்பப் பட்டுள்ளதோ...
மெத்தனத்தை அதிகப்படுத்த...

எதுவாகிலும்,
குறைகளுக்கு ஒரு தீர்வை
எதிர்பார்க்கும்
இந்தியன் :-< :-<

Thats all, guys... thanks for reading so many tamil lines at one stretch. You can relax now.

தொடர்ந்து எழுதலாமா? இல்லை தாங்க முடியலையா? எதுவாயிருந்தாலும் இப்பவே சொல்லிருங்க...உங்க நல்லதுக்கு தான்....

இரண்டு சந்தேகங்கள்:

1) Blog - இதற்கு தமிழில் என்ன சொல்? தமிழ் ஆர்வலர்கள் பகிர்ந்து கொள்ளவும்.

2) கவிதை என்றால் சொற்றொடரை உடைத்து உடைத்துத் தான் எழுத வேண்டுமா? ரொம்ப நாளா சந்தேகம்......Can anyone clarify?

SUN TV AT IT AGAIN....

SUN TV remains the same always and they never even try different formula. For them, if there is a holiday, then the viewership has to go up for their channel - which would be their top priority.

Come MAY-1ST, labour day holiday...

This time, viewers are presented with programmes unrelated to the occassion for which May-1st holiday is being celebrated. Starting with SJ.Suryah's morning interview (I couldn't bear his makeup & mannerisms..Don't know, what he is thinking about himself?), followed by romantic 'Titanic' (dubbed in tamil) & Vijay's 'Tamizhan' movie. They might hv decided to correlate 'Tamizhan' movie alone to May-1st, since the hero fights for the masses in this movie.

The pity is that the younger generation is unaware why the holidays are coming. They don't know the significance of each & every holiday. Considering the wide reach of these channels, the younger generation can learn only from here (provided there are quality programmes).

மக்களை நல்ல விஷயம் கத்துக்க விடுறதேயில்லை...விடுமுறையானா சினிமா நிகழ்ச்சிகள் வழக்கமாகி விட்டது.....திருந்த விட மாட்டாங்கய்யா....திருந்த விட மாட்டாங்க!!!!!

The Storm starts ~~~~~~

If you didn't get a chance to chk out the news on the recent sandstorm in Al Asad - Iraq, see some of the pictures...taken when the storm was approaching.


Is there any typical name for this sand 'tsunami', which I am unaware of? Pl. share, if you are aware of.



Start of the storm

STORM COVER :-( :-(

Storm covering the work place.

Anniyan - Now it is upto Shankar

Much awaited music album has been released....which is sure to be a hit album, eventhough there are varied reviews & reservations.


Courtesy: Anniyan official site

Eventhough 'andan kakka.." has a resemblance to "Chella Kiliyae.." of 'Chellamae', the combination of Jessie Gift & Shreya ghosal makes it fresh.

'Kaadhal yaanai' by Gv.Prakash, Melwyn - the way this female has sung the song, brings back a song in 'arasaatchi'. (also, a portion of the song reflect's Susmita sen's song in 'Mudhalvan')

'Iyengaaru Veetu' by Hariharan & Harini, makes sure that the intial scenes are going to be extravagant with a huge 'thiyagaraja arathanai' set up. Now itself the richness of the scenes are coming up in front of my eyes. A nice melody...

'Kannum Kannum nokia' by Lesle/Andre/Vasundhra das, for the much talked about item number with the Bombay model, is a typical fast paced song for Shankar's movie. (eventhough this resembles one of HJ's song in 'arasaatchi')

"Kumari yen kadhal.." by Shankar Mahadeven & Harini, is refreshing (Eventhough, you cannot stop recollecting SM's voice of 'Sangamam' movie)

On the whole, the collection is OK . Pl. recall the earlier reviews of "Chandramukhi" where people ridiculed Vidyasagar for not giving a good collection. Still it became a hit, due to Rajini's Charisma.

Shankar's charisma will definitely make this album hit. But the success of the movie rests on him now. Hope, the film presents entertainment & social message in a digestable proportion, as he did earlier. (in his series of movies ending with 'N'.....Gentlema'n', India'n', Mudalva'n')

Pl. don't ridicule Women drivers

.
Hey guys, don't ridicule the women drivers, just because they seem to meet annually like this. :-) :-) :-)





Pl. chk how Mazda has portrayed its woman driver (for one of their model ad). Cool ad, isn't it??

note: Make the view width as 320 to hv a better clarity

Moral: Don't take Women for granted (!!!). I hope, you don't, generally.

Relaxz in the Maze

Guys, you must be so tired after so much of blogging..

Pl. relax.

But not in the open field. In this MAZE. If you can finish and come out, kudos to your concentration power.

Without touching the walls, try to come out of the maze..

I got penalised for touching the wall.

வாழ்நாளில் முதல் கவிதை

.
When I was in the final year of my College, our department came out with a souvenir magazine, for which I was the co-ordinator-cum-proof reader. So, I was so curious to contribute something - -- to hv my name in it. The following was the output.

இது நாள் வரை, நான் எழுதிய ஒரே கவிதை.

ஏக்கம்...

அவன்ஏங்குகிறான்.....
வானத்தில் சிதறி கிடக்கும்
சில்லரைகளைப் பார்த்து,
அவ்வளவு
சில்லரைகள் தன் பையில்
வராதா என.


When my wife read this, while I was pulling this out of my shelf, the immediate question raised by her was why I was after சில்லரைகள், at that time itself. Didn't find an answer for
that question!!!!

Thanks to அடேங்கப்பா and Mr.Narayanan, for referring to this site and clarifying my queries.

Let me think, if I can be more creative and come out with better ones..

Similarity to 'Page 3' scene....

Is politics playing a role in Web reporting also?

Yesterday evening, when I saw the report on theatre owners about reducing collections for CM/ME/Sn, I posted the follwg message with a link.

Now the link is not there anymore.

The report was mentioning that they can recover the cost only if the movie run for 150 days at the current ticket rates of Rs.200.

Is it a immature report? Or is it a factual report, due to which, it has been removed from their columns? This brings the 'Page 3' scene to my memory, where the heroine's crime report would be pushed under the carpet.

BTW... Did anyone read that report?

Expect Rajini again, soon!!!

Today's Contrasting report in Rediff, has brought out the fact the theatre owners are bleeding out of the Tamil new year releases. Eventhough there were many reports about profits made by distributors / producers, the rediff article depicts a pathetic and alarming situation.


Victorious Rajini!!!

There were contrasting reports coming out all along after the announcement of release date of Chandramukhi. Initially, Rajini had asked the theatre owners to reduce the ticket prices, without increasing it too much. After the release, it was reported that Rajini will be getting a whopping sum as his share. Latest rediff report is about the bleeding theatre owners.

There is a possibility that the initial reports might hv been circulated to maintain the hype created before the release. Eventhough, the collections for 'Chandramukhi' would be better than 'Baba', will a situation arise that Rajini refunds something out of his pocket indirectly?

This may happen by releasing another movie very soon, at a lower price. It happened so, in case of Maniratnam's release of 'Uyirae'. There was a news going around in the market that 'Alai Payudhae' was taken at a low budget, to compensate the loss incurred by distributors in 'Uyirae'.

If the Rediff article turns out to be true, we can expect a new movie from Rajini very soon. May be a real Rajini magic can be seen in that, once again.

Beware of Blog Virus

.

Too much of blogging may lead to this situation.....

Beware, bloggers. Don't get affected by the virus.



Blog Virus

காதல் புத்தகம்

.

Recently, I read that 'Kathal' director Balaji Sakthivel is coming out with a book on making of "kadhal' and the pains felt behind the scenes. As we all know, he is the one who directed Vikram's 'Samourai' which didn't make money in the box office.

For his next movie (which he is supposed to do for Shankar again), he plans to come out with the book even before the release of the movie.



Courtesy: The Hindu

We hv come across publishing of movie stories in the magazines, while the movies were under production. I can quote few examples like Sujatha/Kamal's 'Vikram' in Kumudham, K.Bhagyaraj's movies in his book 'Bhagya', Athiyamaan's 'Sornamukhi' etc.,

Will the book release (on making of movie) be a new leaf, in Indian movie industry? Nowadays several Indian movies are coming out with an extra CD on their movie making. "(see the latest discussions on this issue in the comments section of 'Gautam Menon' post of Lazygeek)

Need to wait and see, if the book concept becomes a success.

Another level for Bloggers......

-

"...We may want to experiment with the concept of using bloggers to supplement our daily coverage of news on the net. There are of course inherent risks in this strategy -- chief among them maintaining our standards for accuracy and reliability.

Plainly, we can’t vouch for the quality of people who aren’t regularly employed by us – and bloggers could only add to the work done by our reporters, not replace them. But they may still serve a valuable purpose; broadening our coverage of the news; giving us new and fresh perspectives to issues; deepening our relationship to the communities we serve, so long as our readers understand the clear distinction between bloggers and our journalists...."

The above was part of the speech delivered by the media moghul Mr.Rupert Murdoch to the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Read the detailed speech here.

Nowadays, more no. of blogs are dedicated to critical analysis / counter attacking the original story published in the Old media (like this one). However, there are some original blogs as well where they take up & discuss the subjects afresh (like this one). This brings out the fact that the process of journalism has changed its face, a lot.

Not only the way of news sharing has changed, but the source of advertisement income is also being shared by Bloggers nowadays along with the internet media. It is clearly visible from Mr.Murdoch's speech, that he & his alike are trying to find soultion / treatment for the headache caused by the blogging community. Anyhow, march on bloggers.....

BTW...is there anyone attending the 3-day sessions organised by Media Bloggers Assoctn at Nashville during May 5-7, 2005? Is it a serious stuff?

Missed & Found!!!!!!

Can you identify the person in the above picture? (eventhough the picture quality is not that good!!!!)


He is none other than the erstwhile young hero Anandbabu (son of Nagesh) who acted in movies like Thangaikkor Geetham, Paadum Vaanampadi ('Disco Dancer' remake), Udhaya Geetham, Pudhu Vasantham, Vanamae Ellai etc.,

At the age of 40 plus, he has now returned to the film arena -- not as an actor. But as an assistant director. He has joined Director Charan, as his assistant in his new movie 'Idhya Thirudan' starring 'Jayam' Ravi. He is hoping to do well & grow in his new avataar.

Hope he impresses the audience in his new role, which he couldn't do that well in his previous career. (Just recall how Vikram was behind the screen, for a long time, after his intial introduction in Thanthu Vitaen Ennai & Meera. He had to wait for a long time, before his 'Sethu' break).

Hope the motivation & spirit which brought Vikram to this height, will help AnandBabu as well. All the best.

Chaos - can this be regulated?

-

Will the chaotic conditions in Bangalore affect the investment flow? Already the city is facing tough competition from other growing cities within India. If there is no co-ordinated effort from the present Govt., there is every likelihood that the growth process will be slowed down.



Can this be regulated? Courtesy: The Economist

Eventhough, India's IT industry has several advantages over other countries (read the article in The Economist), there are many negatives factors as well affecting the growth of the industry. (Indian Express's concerns one & two).

During my recent trip to Shenzhen in China, the tour guide told that the current modern city is only 2 decades old. Earlier it used to be a mere fishing village. Now there are so many skyscrapers and excellently built roads/expressways within a short span of few years. Need to really appreciate their pushy attitude, in achieving their target.

Now, how long will it take for Bangalore to redevelop? Is the democratic process hampering the growth, achieved by our authoritarian neighbour?

Weekend tit bits...

Black

Watched in the VCD...What a fantastic movie!!!! Personally, moved by the characterisation & the reality.

I had never expected Big 'B' to deliver such a good performance. I never used to enjoy his acting, since I used to treat him as one among the masala heroes (except in 'Khaki' & 'Baghban'). This movie will be the height of all his movies. Rani's performance was also excellent. I believe, this movie is going to sweep 'n' of national awards by end of this year.

Striking Kural

Saturday evening, decided to go out for shopping..which ended up in dinner at Gangothri Veg. restuarant, in Little India. When I saw the following script on a small piece of board displayed there, the immediate question which cropped up in my mind "Is it the original Kural?"

அடக்கம் அழியாத வாழ்வு தரும்
அடங்காமை வாழ்வை இருட்டாக்கி விடும்

The lady owner explained that it is the explanation given by Kalaingar Karunanithi (Kural:121 க்கு தமிழுரை). It seems, initially she used to write the actual Kural everyday, which didn't achieve the purpose. So, she switched over to this தமிழுரை. Good job, indeed!!!

The immediate personalities who came to my mind at that time were Infosys Mr.Narayanamoorthy (for the first line) & some of our erstwhile politicians / cine producers (for the second line... I didn't want to name any particular person here, since there were several nos.)

Sun TV 'Kalyaana maalai'

I don't normally sit and watch this... But came across the following storyline briefed by the 'Pattimandram' Judge, which was hilarious...

"It seems a couple of 60 years old, were so attached to each other, that the Elderly man used to hold his wife's hand always (whenever they step out of the house)....

Since, the neighhbour's wife always used to highlight this, he couldn't restrain himself of probing further...

For his query, the elderly man seemed to reply that "Otherwise, my wife will go into all the shops which are open at that time. So, till I reach my home, I would prefer to hold her hands, which I am following for the last 3 decades...." :-) :-) :-)

BTW...do you follow the above trick??

Does she need it?

Nayanthara...

It was a flashy introduction for this Mallu girl, in Sarath's 'Ayyah' followed by Rajini's 'Chandramukhi'. Eventhough, she got good reviews for her performance in 'Ayyah', she didn't get the attention in 'CM'. (Obviously...since her role was a name sake insertion).


Glamour Vs No-Glamour - Which one will succeed??

Now, the problem is that she is not being signed by the young artists -- after acting with senior actors in Tamil industry..(the only exception in the recent days was SIMRAN). This has resulted in her signing up glamour roles. (SJ.Suryah's Kalvanin Kaathali, Surya's next movie etc.,)... It seems, Vikaram has dropped her for his next movie.

With this background, can she stay in the tamil industry or will she go back to Malayalam industry itself, where she is still getting good roles? (recall her debut movie 'Vismaya Thumbathu')

Let us wait and see, if she can succeed like Simran or follows other girls like Kasthuri, Heera, Reema Sen, Swarnamalya etc. (who turned to glamour & failed, after their intial good introduction)

(Devayani is an exception to the above rule, since she has now become a character artist after being introduced as glamour girl in 'Thotta Chinungi' & 'Sivasakthi')

Nayan's latest news made me to recollect the following quote which I observed few days back, in my friend's house.

"TRY HARD TO GET WHAT YOU LIKE
OR YOU WILL BE FORCED TO LIKE WHAT YOU GET"

Is she trying this trick??

Varudhu Varudhu.. Vilagu Vilagu...

Now that the next release mela is starting, everybody is eager for the first release of the following bunch...

Vikram/Shankar - Anniyan (audio is getting released on April 29 & Movie on May 20th. Hope to see this combination to succeed)

Dhanush/ Balu Mahendra - Athu Oru Kanakaalam (Will this bring his luck back??)

Simbu - Thotti Jeya (will he click here with the combination of Gopika?)

Jayam Ravi - Dass (or will it be 'mazhai'?)

Surya/Murugadass - Ghajini (Can murugadass show his earlier magic of 'dhina' and 'ramana')

SJ.Suryah - Ah Aah (???)

Srikanth/KV.Anand - Kana Kandeain (inspite of the controversies, surrounding it. BTW..what happened to his 'Chathurangam' directed by karu.Palaniappan?)

Ajith/ks.ravikumar - Godfather (What to say??)

Ravi krishna/Radha mohan - Ponniyin Selvan (let us see if RM can show his magic after his previous 'alaghiya theeyae')

Bharath - Feb-14th (Will he hv a chance to prove his luck once again?)

Cheran - Thavamai Thavam Irunthu.. (it is a long wait, already...hope he is doing his homework well)

Arjun - Chinna (what to say??)

Sarathkumar - Chanakya

Satyaraj - 6.2 (may be only for the front benchers)

Vijaykanth - Perarusu (now itself I hv written off, eventhough they are publicising thru controversies)

I expect some good presentation from Vikaram/Shankar, Dhanus/BM and Cheran. I cannot bet on others. Will my expectations go ahead, as I wish?

Can you carry one more, please??

When I received the picture loaded here, the quotes received sometime back popped up.....



Can you carry one more, please??

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.
--Henny Youngman

When we drink, we get drunk.
When we get drunk, we fall asleep.
When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.
Sooooo, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!
-- Brian O'Rourke

Do you guys share the same view?

Friendly Foes!!!! - Movie in Production for a long time....

Story discussion
6 people want to join a Club (which has 5 members already). Not only 2 existing members oppose the expansion, some outsiders are also pulling the legs of those 6. What will happen in the climax?

Fit in the Characters
Hey,does it look like a story for next David Dhawan movie (Dushman no.1) or does it look like an event happening in TN panchayat board meetings? Pl. don't be mislead.

This is happening in an International arena.

Getting the Permanent seat in the UN Security council is becoming a nightmare for the countries aspiring for it. Each country has its own strengths & aspirations. But most of the countries (whether existing SC member or not) who are opposing this proposal, have their own reasons.

As we all know Japan, Germany, India, Brazil are aspiring for the seats along with (2 out of 3) African countries viz South Sfrica, Nigeria, Egypt. Their proposal for expansion of security council which currently comprises of WW-II allies, has opposition from specific countries.

Brazil has USA, Japan has China, Germany has Italy and India has Pakistan, as the opposing UN members for this proposal.

Last week, we had seen several protests in Chinese cities against Japan's proposal to join SC. They hv their own reasons, since they were asking for apologies from Japan for WW-II atrocities - which affected China directly. Today Japan's PM has asked for an apology in an International forum.

Pakistan has its own reasons and is placing counter proposal & soliciting support from other disgruntled nations. ("Whether I get or not, my neighbour should not get it" policy). Eventhough UK-France-Russia are not against the expansion, will the proposal be approved by the majority of member nations? (Germany's addition will put in 3 EU countries into the SC, which some existing members are not comfortable with)

World Big-wigs talk so much about smooth relationship / peaceful world etc., But if they feel it is against their country's personal interest, they don't support a proposal.

Climax of the Movie
Now going to the opening remarks of this post....Will the story (David Dhawan's movie) end with a positive climax or will it hv sequels (like the one Simbu assued of at the end of Manmadhan)?

Show your magical wand again...in Tamil movies...

AR.Rahman is back and promises to do more....As we all know, he is doing Godfather (Ajith) & Ah AAh (SJ.Suryah).


Unbeatable ARR

Earlier for Ajith, he had scored 'Kandukondeain Kanukondeain' and 'Pavithra'. Eventhough 'KK' was not a proper Ajith movie (due to the heavy starcast) we cannot forget 'Santhana kinnathil.." song shot in Egypt (on him & Tabu). The movie was a success mainly because of the great music & camera work. (recollect Ash in that rain song 'Engae Ennathu Kavithai...."). It was not a great script or great acting. ARR did it, then.

'Pavitha's songs were enjoyable. But what to do? It was director K.Subash (am I right???) who was behind the camera, who had never showed the magical touch after his first movie 'Chatriyan' (which was in fact a Maniratnam production). Ajit also didn't hv a star value at that time. So, AR.Rahman's efforts turned futile.

All his efforts for KS.Ravikumar (director of 'Godfather') like Muthu, Padaiyappa, Thenali were worth mentioning and became hits. Now the question is, whether KS.Ravikumar can show his touch and bring back some market value (!!!!) to Ajit, with the help of a watchable story & AR.Rahman's support. He should not let ARR's efforts to go into drains like so many other movies which came & went to the box, without much impact. (I can quote movies like Pavithra, Vandi-c-Chollai Chinrasu, Kadhal Virus, Sangamam etc.,)

For SJ.Suryah he did 'New' and 'Ah AAh' is only the second movie. Let's wait and see, whether SJ.Suryah can deliver a watchable movie this time. (I was not at all impressed with his acting in 'New'... Ellam neram, Ivar mugathai naama paarganumnu...Only due to AR.Rahman, Simran and the front benchers, this movie clicked). SJ.Suryah...pl. do not let AR.Rahman down with a dabbah movie.

Hi.. AR.Rahman...It seems you hv some more tamil movies in your store...... C'mn man.. there are so many new kids going around in the industry like Joshua Sridhar(kathal), Devi Sri Prasad (Sachein), Vijay Antony (Sukran) and the established kids like YSR, Harris Jeyraj. You hv to mesmerise the audience again...Eventhough we appreciate each of your efforts, we would like to hv more in Tamil as well. We are already missing you in 'Anniyan' team, eventhough we are sure that Shankar would hv extracted the maximum from Harris.

"Metti oli" in Singapore..

Everybody knows that tamil megaaaa-serial 'metti oli' can be seen in Singapore..(My wife used to record it and watch it the next day morning) I am not talking about that.. the story itself has moved...(BTW.. it is nearing 800th episode)

Now the blog content...

'Metti Oli' story has moved to Singapore as well. Earlier, it moved around Indian Cities like Mumbai, Kuttralam etc., This arrival follows their successful stage show, held in Singapore one year back.

During one of the film festivals held here in 2004, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) invited Indian film & TV production companies, to shoot their movies/shows here. I remember reading that they were given concessions to include Singapore as part of their stories, and not just as a tourist spot in the story.

Earlier Zee TV serial 'Astitva' moved their story to Singapore for few episodes. Of late, I heard that some more hindi movies / shows were also including Singapore in their stories.

Now 'Metti Oli' has moved two of its characteres to Singapore (the last daughter of Mr.Chidambaram) and the guy who still chases her (!!!). In the local TV (Vasantham Central) news yesterday, they showed more 'Metti oli' artists (particularly Chethan's mother & sister) departing Changi Airport after their recent shooting here..... That means, some more Characters & politics arriving Singapore.

Good tactics to attract tourists. Isn't it??

Blame it on Ads

Perfect bashing for our cricketers pampered by Advertisement income.

However, will these comments & columns generally result in a change? I doubt.

Welcome back to my refurbished blog....

Thanks for visiting so far.

I hope I will be able to give you the same assortment, which I served you earlier. Just a break for few hours, before I join you later today.

I hv moved all my posts from my Trial-n-Error blog, to this dreamstores (Just like that....)

COMMENTS PLEASE...

Guys&Gals (I hope Gals are visiting too...). It is a matter of few days, that I hv started blogging. Thanks for all those, who hv visited so far & who left their views.

When I started, I wanted to hv a clear vision as to what I am doing. That's why I segregated the topics into two - One purely as Filmworld discussions and other as Knowledge Sharing. Still I am eager to do that.... and ready for the Challenge of maintaining two.

But now, I hv received few observations & suggestions, that it would be better, if I combine both into one blog. Reason is that I can allow the visitors to focus on one blog, rather than on two blogs being presented by the same person.

Here I need all your views.. All you guys have experience in blogging for a long time. I would like you to leave your comments as to whether I can combine both under one. I am confident that I can maintain the same quality of entertainment & non-entertainment stuff, even if it is combined...

Your suggestions please...One baby or Two babies???

Even if you are an anonymous or occassional visitor, I would like you to post your comments. Your valuable comments are highly appreciated...to make my blogging a quality one.

$2.2 billion Vs $1000

Recently read a report about a proposal being pushed by New York's Governor, George Pataki, and New York City's mayor, Michael Bloomberg - to build a world class Football stadium in Manhattan.

They are ready to spend so much for this ($2.2 billion), in an effort to succeed in their bid to host the 2012 Olympics (eventhough Paris is ahead in the race).


Manhattan Vs Mannargudi (ethugai monai??)

Does this type of monetary resource constraint affect the growth of the game in India? I think so. (See the picture above).

We hardly spend $1000 for development of a ground. Not only resources, but also politics. If our guys can play well in a ground as in the picture given below, will they not do well with a well-developed infrastructure?

If we see India's position in International games, the situation is alarming. Compare the same no. of people both in China & India. They are on the top slot and we are nowhere near them. (China is not only Manufacturing for the world,but it is also manufacturing.. world class atheletes for them).

Can we expect some reforms / dedication from the concerned machinery for the identification / development of sports talents?

Vaanam Vasapadumae..

"Sky will be ours". Inspirational phrase, isn't it?

For the past two months, our local radio station OLI 96.8 FM is broadcasting a programme with this title every day. Hope it will continue in the coming months also. If the title itself is so inspirational (eventhough lifted from PC.Sriram's tamil film), how about the quality of the programme?

Definitely, worth mentioning.

Everyday morning, the FM's chief architect Mr.Azhagiya Pandiyan (tamil patrulla peyar, illaiyaa???) presents this programme, in his striking voice. Everyday, he talks about a famous personality, their background, their success againgt Odds etc., The same programme is repeated again in the evening, for those who were not able to listen to it in the morning.

I hv given the link here. You can even mark it as one of your favourites and start the day with an inspirational talk. Why not??

Two days back, he presented it on Swami Vivekananda. I was so inspired that, I wanted to highlight the same in my blog. Be inspired.

Vikram's new movie..

Now that Vikram's much awaited 'Anniyan's shooting is over, he seemed to hv accepted the next offer.

If I am not wrong, for the first time, he has agreed to act in a remake movie and it is none other than Mamooty's recent hit 'Thommanum Makkalum'.

I observed that so far, all his movies were either in the Art Genre or Action Masala Genre. First time, he is venturing in to a Comedy/Humour category. Since the movie is supposed to be helmed by Director Shafi (who directed the original), I hope we may end up seeing a different Vikram this time.

Pasupathy is getting a different role again (after M.E.) as Vikram's brother.

Carry on men & make it hilarious!!!

Duck walk.. Will there be another one, following?

Receipt of this Duck walk picture by mail, a while ago, sparked the thoughts of some wonderful BR's romantic movies within me. (BR - Bharathi Raja)

Obviously, the start of my memory walk is 'Nadodi Thendral' in which Ranjitha used to rear these many ducks. Eventhough, that movie didn't do well in the Box-office, it had a touchy tale.


Is a Better one walking behind?


The Last movie from BR's camp, which I really appreciated was 'Kizhakku Cheemaiyilae' (back in early 90's) which had an impressive story & was a hit in the box-office as well. Who would hv forgotton AR.Rahman's new avatar as a rural musician for that movie?

As we know, it followed the other impressive hits of BR like 16 vaiyadhinilae, Nizhagal, Kallukkul eeram, Kizakae pogum rail, Niram maraadha pookal, Alaigal oaivathilai, Mann vaasanai, Mudhal mariyadhai, Vedham pudithu, Kadalora Kavithaigal.

Eventhough he made 'n' no. of other movies like Kodi parakuthu, Captain magal, Tamizhselvan, Taj mahal, Anthi manthaarai, Kadal pookkal, Eera nilam, Kangalal kaidu sei, he didn't impress me that well.

Now, it seems he is concentrating more into Cinema politics & the new TV Channel started by the related associations. After so many years of diversion, will he ever come out with a better movie? We don't know. If so, we expect that it will be another rural classic.

Oxymorons

I always love to read the articles, stories by noted writer SUJATHA. The reason is the freshness which he delivers, inspite of his age. For me, he is always a 20 year old College student...

I am a regular reader of the current article 'Katradhum Petradhum' (Learnt..Gained..) in 'Ananda Vikatan'. It is more or less like his tamil blog, which inspired me a lot, before I started blogging.

In the latest edition, he was talking about Oxymorons (a phrase with contradictory words). He had quoted few tamil oxymorons in that article, which he really liked. Some of those were already used by our tamil movie lyricists. Listing some of those, which I enjoyed. (I enjoyed his kindal in few..)

Inbamana vali (Enjoyable pain)
Azhagana Ratchasi (Beautiful demon)
Arasangaa Veallai (Government job)
Kaathal Pisasu (Lovable Devil)
Oozhalilatha Arasiyal (Corrupt-free politics)
one of his favourite kindal - Thoppul kaataatha Nadigai (Actress who doesn't show her navel)

This really made me curious to find out more Oxymorons from the net. Finally ended up with the site having many of them. I enjoyed reading them, eventhough it is a big list. I am listing down some of them, which I liked there... (due to time constraint, I picked up only few. You hv more there).

Authentic Replica
Bug-free software
Comfortable tights
Eyes Wide Shut
One hundred percent chance
Train schedule
Unknown identity
Microsoft Works
Same Difference
Pretty Ugly

Strikes you, isn't it? For more, pl. visit the list.

Continuing Bad Dreams...

Of late, I am talking about too many dreams, isn't it? (Is it because of the name of my blog?)

As I mentioned earlier, movie industry is always rife with Controversies.

But this time, for an unexpected combination. KV.Anand-Srikanth/Gopika-Vidyasagar (for their "Kana Kandeain").

Even before, the grand music launch of this movie, there was a controversy raised by some educational institutions. Due to that, the producer removed some of the provocative hoardings put up by them, few weeks back.

Now the Censor Board had asked the team to rewrite the lyrics of a song, due to the double meaning contents (the same song, for which the hoarding was removed). This is an unexpected attack for Vidyasagar & his lyric writers.

Hope they come out of these bad dreams and present a watchable clean movie.

Bose Vs Bose

Music lovers hv started appreciating AR.Rahman's work in Shyam Benegal's hindi movie 'Bose - The Forgottten Hero'.



Historic Bose

Now a new controversy has surfaced..which is usual to the movie industry. Telugu Industry is coming out with a new movie 'Subash Chandra Bose', with Venkatesh in the lead. Eventhough the telugu title (SCB) was registered earlier, SAHARA INDIA (producer of BTFH) is not happy with the release of both the movies in the same month.

Will Venkatesh's commercial BOSE win the race against Benegal's historical BOSE? It is a matter of few weeks, to see the results.

BTW.. the lead lady of Venkatesh is none other than Genelia, the cute lead of 'Sachein'. She is chasing Trisha now, for the top slot in the industry. Can she make it?

Kolangal (with more 'dots')

.com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .name, .pro & many other country dots

Some more dots were approved in the recent meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). They are .mobi, .jobs, .post and .travel

ICANN is still debating on other dots like .asia, .mail, .tel and .xxx (!!!)



Courtesy: The Economist


ICANN has already started convincing the firms handling .pro registration on a new issue. The domain .pro, supposed to be for qualified professionals, is sought after by sex professionals as well. After handling this issue, it may look into approving new '.xxx'.

In addition to the above issues, United Nations is dragged into the issue to handle the world wide domain governance, replacing ICANN. If the governance shifts to the UN, will it be satisfactory? Need to wait and watch.

ARTisitic work....

Just wondering, as to which politician's picture or political party's flag would hv been drawn in India, if they hv identified such a spacious wall?


If it is India, what would hv been drawn?

Service apartments in Chennai

Of Late, the concept of Service apartments hv developed a lot in Chennai. This suits lots of overseas travellers including Desis, who come to Chennai very often for business as well as personal stays.

Compared to the hotel stay, a lively residential stay suits the taste of lot of people. Eventhough, I don't hv the experience of staying in Chennai's service apartments, I hope our blogworld desis might hv that experience.

If so or If not, you can add in one more contact in your Service Apartments provider folder. I got this thru my friend.

Not being a biggie makes them to offer attractive rates than the existing providers like The Residency.

Kollywood dreams...travelling to other "..wood"s

I may not restrict myself to Kollywood...I may go to Bollywood, Tollywood, Malluwood also.. (sick of telling so many woods)

Towards that, I would like to invite you to see the Letterman Show, in which Aishwarya Rai had given an interview. This is only for those who hv not seen it earlier... Enjoy.

Aishwarya Rai interview......

A Dream - Can he make it successful?

Poovae Poo Chuda Vaa, Poo Vizhi Vaasalilae, Varusham 16, En Bommukutti Ammavukku, Arangettra Vellai, Karpoora Mullai, Killi Pecchu Ketka Vaa, Kaathalukku Mariyathai, Kannukkul Nilavu...

Now Oru Naal Oru Kanavu...

Most of the Fazil's movies are remakes from Malayalam hits, except 'Killi Pecchu Ketka Vaa' which didn't click in the box office. Now the new movie seems to be a story made for tamil industry.



Another 'kanavu'


The title for the current movie has been borrowed form Director Selvaraghavan. (Selva was supposed to direct Dhanush with this title 'Oru naal oru kanavu'. Now it has been changed to 'Pudupet'). He might hv given up the title since Fazil's movie stars Sonia Agarwal (!!!)

Will he be able to make this new kanavu successful? The story seem to be wafer thin with predictable line. Hope Fazil shows his earlier movie magics to create a touchy / emotional feeling in this movie.

All the best, Fazil.....

KAZCHA - 'kaltha' given by whom? Vikram or Vijaykanth...

Initially there were news that Vikram would be doing the remake of Mamooty's last Malayalam hit Kazcha, after 'Anniyan' project.

I expected that Vikram will perform very well, if it is remade. There were talks that the Gujarat earthquake background shown in 'Kazcha" might be replaced by the recent Tsunami events.

But the latest news is that Vijaykant would be doing that remake, playing Mamooty's role. This has spoilt my mood compeltely.

Anyhow, interesting news is that Vikram may act in Malayalam director Blessy's new tamil venture. (Blessy was the director for 'Kazcha'). Can they come out with a different story without compromising for commercial expectations?

Dual Role - Is it simply Double pay check game?

To my memory, I hv not seen more successful movies with the heroes in dual role.

Eventhough there were commercial hits with dual roles, movies with interesting story plots are very rare. You can number it easily for any heroes..I am listing down some of the last movies in which these guys performed in a dual role.. italics are supposed to be the hits with proper story content. Others may be commerical hits, which didn't impress that much.

Rajini (Raajathi Raja, Muthu)
Kamal (Apoorva Sagothararkal, MMKRajan, Indian)
Vijaykanth (Vaanathai Pola, Thavasi)
Satyaraj (Looti)
Sarathkumar (Naatammai, Natpukkaga, Ayyaa)
Arjun (Karna, few more after this.. which are not greats)
Vijay (Puthiya Geethai)
Ajith (Vaali, Villain, Attagasam)
Simbu (Manmadhan)

Very rarely, strong stories have come out from the above lot, eventhough others may be commercial hits.

The reason behind sharing the above info, is my curiousity as to why these guys are signing movies again & again in dual roles? Are they getting double pay checks? Why do they want to fail again?

Take the upcoming movies -- Vijay's Sivakasi, Ajith's Godfather, Simbu's A-C. It is a pure gambling by the producers. Actors don't bother, isn't it??

Still a question lingering in my mind? Is Vikram Playing a dual role in 'Anniyan' or not (Initial talks were like that)? If so, I hope Shankar makes it differently, as he did in 'Indian'.

PRINCE FOREVER

Britain's royal family had faced several crux situations during 1990s. Windsor Castle Fire, Queen Elizabeth's Children's divorces, Princess Diana's demise etc., It continues in this decade also.

Due to the steady growth in the Life Expectancy, the record age for the new kings are going up (See the Chart given below).


Courtesy: The Economist

Now that Charles is 56, will he get a chance to become the King?

It seems, the recent opinion polls show that the people's expectations for a new king has shifted to a new grandchild in the royal family. Not from the existing group of Princes waiting for their chance (even Prince Williams!!!)

Don't you feel like grabbing it??

I got this picture from one of my friend recently.

Supposed to be selling in Taiwan.

Somehow, I hv missed to locate these type of ice-creams, during my occasional visits to Taipei. Being one of my favourite dessert, I always long for something different like this.



Need bigger than this??

SACHEIN - REVIEW ---- nothing but 'kushi'

Did you infer my title as "another entertainer like Vijay's earlier movie 'Kushi'"?

If so, I would like to correct it. Ya.. It has all the ingredients like 'Kushi'. But it fails to impress like 'Kushi' did. The reason may be that we are being shown the same "ego" formula, once again.


Courtesy: Sify movies

Similarties --

• Similar college campus (no classrooms & classes, but only games & cultural events ...lucky guys!!)
• Same egoistic clashes (this time only the heroine stages them)
• Similar Seductress (Muntaz was better than Bips)
• Similar Comedy Situation (Definitely Vivek scores higher than the college Student Vadivelu!!!!)
  

Better things to appreciate ---

• Vijay's mannerisms (still fresher)
• Genelia's cute smiles & expressions (she should hv dressed up better in 'gundu manga' song.. the country girl outfit doesn't fit her as it did Trisha in 'appadi podu')
• Ooty (as fresh as it was in 'moodupani', ' moondram pirai' - need to appreciate the Cinematographer Jeeva)
• Music - "kannmoodi thirakumpodhu...." beautifully shot in Ireland & sung by the musicdirector Devi Sri prasad himself. (others didn't impress)
  

Things which could hv been avoided ---

• 2nd half of the movie (without any story, except the last 10 minutes)
• Bipasha Basu (Thanu should hv spent the 75 lakhs Rs. in a better way, instead of paying her. Who is the makeup man? Need to sue him, for making us to watch her like this. Guys in India are lucky that her item number has been deleted for the first week. We had to watch that in Singapore)
• Stunt scenes filling the story gaps

Since there were too many actions movies from Vijay prior to this movie, he would hv agreed to do this story. Noted Director Mahendran's son John who directed 'Sachein' could hv done a better homework. Eventhough we need to appreciate him, for presenting a soft movie with a good location, he could hv made the storyline touchy.

In a recent interview, he had mentioned that he wanted to make movies with a strong stories like in Malayalam. He might hv compromised this time due to Vijay's image and Thanu's enriched production stake. Hope he gets a better producer next time, giving him free hands to decide a better story.

Manmadha graph ^^^^^^^

Thotti Jaya, Vallavan, AC....

See the line up of Simbu after the success of 'Manmadan' (samething happened in Dhanush's case also)

Also see the strength of actresses after this movie.. He has shifted from glamour girls to actresses, who can emote well (may be much than what will be paid for.. I mean, Jyotika).

Gopika in Thotti Jaya, Sandhiya-Nayan-ReemaSen in Vallavan, Asin in A.C. Atleast, this info is digestable. It seems he is planning to invite Aishwarya Rai also as his heroine, in one of his upcoming movies. Now I am unable to react(!!!!)

BTW, A.C. is not an English title ..it is a short version of Elumalai-Chidambaram (A-C ..tamil alphabets) as per its director SJ.Suryah, in which Simbu plays dual role

Aataa kadichu.. Maatta kadichu...

Initially, there were reports going around the blogworld that Mediaah blog has been condemned by Times for their constant critcising. Later, it turned out to be an April Fool trick....

Next the Walmart issue, where the 'alwayslowprices' blogger was forced into a corner for his webcontents.

Now the real threat is to a Government. This is not Tehelka type. Captain Ed's blog has published certain explosive details of supposedly secret testimony to a judicial commission in Montreal that is investigating a huge political corruption scandal centred on the ruling Liberal Party.

The report published by Economist has brought out the pressures building up on Paul Martin's minority Liberal government.

Now relook the tamil idiom "aataa kadichu.. maatta kadichu..." (meaning 'First Swallow the Goat, Next Swallow the Cow, Next swallow the man...'). Blogworld is really upto something!!!!

Tamil Thalaippugal...

In the recent past, I am observing that most of the tamil movies are being named in thooya tamizh.

Not only has SJ.Suryah changed the title of his upcoming movie 'B.F.' (supposedly 'Best friend') to "Ah Aah", but has also signed a new movie titled 'Kalvanin Kaathali' with Nayan. Ravikrishna's upcoming movies "Ponniyin Selvan" & "Kallan" also follow the trend.

Probably these kind of reactions from the film Industry might have prompted Dr.Ramadoss to release statements before Chandramukhi's release.

Now another twist to name the movies in thooya tamizh. This is prompting the makers to lift the titles from old movies - like 'Nadodi Mannan', 'Parthipan Kanavu', 'Kalvanin Kaathali' etc., Should we appreciate this as a good trend (for adopting catchy tamil titles) or pity them for not thinking little more louder (to get new titles)?

Hongkong - Skyline

Hkg Skyline - snapped by my son, during our recent trip!!

Skyscrapers - Can Indian cities come up in the rankings?

Hong Kong has 7,417 skyscrapers, more than any other city, according to Emporis, a firm that tracks the construction of high-rises. By its definition, a building must be over 35 metres tall to qualify as a skyscraper.



This itself is looking taller, isn't it??


New York ranks second with 5,444 skyscrapers; Singapore ranks third (roughly around 3500 skyscrapers - due to more no. of high rise public residential houses leased out by Housing Development Board-HDB & private housing estates).

Los Angeles has just 450 skyscrapers ranking 25th in the list. Chicago's Sears Tower has more floors than any of its rivals, though other skyscrapers are taller. Mumbai is the only Indian City ranked at 22nd place under this category. The number should be little above L.A.

Compare Indian cities situation against the recent increase in number of skyscrapers in Chinese cities. Can we catch up with the fever, at some point of time?