Movie Madness

[kunjuppu]

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Love You Mr Kalakar

Starting early 1960s, Tarachand Barjatya, with his fledgling Rajshri Productions (Madras) came up with a formula to make a lot of money - make movies which appeal to people's hearts and fluffy self.

None of the serious topics for TB, and when i saw Vivaah a few months ago, i noticed that his sons who now run the company have been faithful to the father's time tested formula.

So i did not expect much of mr kalakar, and i was not disappointed.

it is another of those mumbai based love stories, but i would not consider it a tribute or characterestic of mumbai. the movie smells only of rajshri pictures, with its sweet syrupy rather unbelievable but non controversial stories.

this is the story of a rich girl amrita rao who loves a middle class cartoon artist tusshar kapoor, who is also an orphan. the rich father challenges the young man to run his auto parts company and increase profits - all within 3 months.

there are bad guys with agendas of their own, but no one is too bad to be destroyed. some bad people, seeing the goodness in the hero, change their mind, and become good (if you can believe it).

the hero tusshar kapoor, jitendra's son, looks like a grown up zippy, and younger than amrita rao. he should be anything in real life but an actor, but thanks to dad, will probably get a few more roles, in which he either shapes up, or gets shipped out.

i saw the movie for amrita rao. she is one actor, i can keep on staring (and drooling per mrs K). she is too cute and who cares if she cannot act (she cannot). in every scene, she comes daintily dressed, to match the colour of the surrounding scenery or the walls.

she has a sweet voice, and since there is no hysterics or sobbing in the movie, i do not know if she can do such 'hard' things. she smiles a lot, and must have had one good orthodontist in her teens.

as usual for any rajshri pictures, most of the songs are happy duets. a couple of them Kahin Se Chaill Aa, bhoore bhoore badal are pleasant enough to load to your ipod.

normally this movie would get a 1 but because of amrita rao, i give it a 2 - a pleasant 2 because you can watch it with your beloved anytime anyday....

 

[Yamaka]

Folks:

I have started watching Vikram's "Deiva Thirumaghal" online Latest Movies | Watch Tamil Movies Online... Is it a good movie?

I will write about it in a day or two!

Cheers.

 

[kunjuppu]

பிள்ளையார் தெரு கடைசி வீடு

பிள்ளையார் தெரு கடைசி வீடு !!

it is a fancy title, but that is the only thing fancy in the movie, apart from the scenery.

with the hills in the background, i presume it is southern tamilnadu bordering kerala, but i am not that familiar with the topography of tamil nadu, and so i will let some other knowledgeables to give an opinion. for all you know, it might be somewhere in andhra, standing in for tamil nadu.

the story is supposed to be rural folk based and values. but i think it fails on both accounts.

a city bred college mate, comes to spend the summer with her rural friend from the village. supposedly to share 'family' values.

the good for nothing son, falls in love with her. he loves his lifestyle, which is basically getting drunk everyday, under the doting eyes of his mother, and tolerance of daddy. eventually he hopes to take over the farming profession of the old - they apparently live well, with car, tractor, nice house and all the related paraphernalia.

however he find the guest girl has pancreatic cancer (this must be the best hospital in the world with dr prakash raj - over a period of supposedly 4 hours or less, they have diagnosed incurable pancreatic cancer). so the hero goes back on a promise to marry his aunty's daughter, and goes for the girl he loves.

banished from the family, the young couple live alone, till one day he falls down in the toilet. again dr. prakash raj, this instantaneously declares that the hero has some rare tumour, and gives him 6 months to live.

i got very confused, as to who has a shorter time to live. or there was something so smart in the editting, that i missed the whole story.

to provide relief for the audience, the hero kicks the bucket, after impregnating his wife (whom i suppose has the clock still ticking on her life. or maybe not, i dont know).

the movie spends a good 10 minutes on the death scene, with our hero shoved cotton up his nose. the hysterics are not upto par - they should have hired professional ஒப்பாரி singers.

எனக்கு ஒரு தேவதை song is very pleasing to hear.

the actors did not make any impression for me to look up their names till now. the hero, githan ramesh. if you ever happen to see him in person, please suggest that he attend some acting school. or seek another profession.

it was a relief not to find a fair punjabi or sindhi girl masquerading as tamil. this time it was dark skinned andhra and maharashtrian girls, sanchita padukone & suhasini. i guess the female infanticide of yester years has taken its toll on tamil female population to such an extent that the producers cannot even find one tamil speaking female these days.

2

ps. please recommend this movie to folks you dont like.

 

[kunjuppu]

பொக்கிஷம்

பொக்கிஷம்

5 . easily deserved.

the topic is a taboo topic. hindu muslim love, except here it is the guy who is 'hindu'. he is the son of a communist, and named lenin, and working in the communist bengal of 1970s. the girl nadira is a karaikal muslim, who meets lenin in an hospital in chennai, where his father and her mother are admitted for treatment.

that the story is set in the 1970s, makes it an easy flow, less of current day tensions and also gives credibility to the intellectual and literary angle - something that is unrealistic if not impossible, in today's world of emails and sms.

these two develop their relationship through letters, and even get the parents to agree to an eventual union. except the girl's father is two timing, and manages to pack off his entire family to resettle in malaysia. lenin, on enquiry after a prolonged silence from nadira, only to be stonewalled by the entire muslim community of karaikal, as to her family's new whereabouts. such is the attitude!!

the present, we see, lenin long dead, and his son, finding his father's old diaries, letters from nadira, and the father's unmailed letters to nadira.

he takes upon himself to deliver those letters, and there is a bittersweet meeting between nadira and mahesh, lenin's son.

cheran has narrated the story par excellence. he could have avoided almost all the songs, and cut the movie from its 172 minutes to about 140 through smarter editting. there is this unnecessary interaction with a tamil speaking neighbour and the bengali girl enamoured by him.

the calcutta of the raj, fading but still retaining some of its grandeur through those wide avenues, the trams, and above the buildings, is brought out very well. it is amazing how beautiful the old general post office of calcutta looks. we too had a similar one in chennai, but the neanderthals, demolished it, and build a geometrically ugly brick and glass structure in the 1960s. too bad, we are yet to realize the beauty of british architecture - anglo saracen unique style, found only in india of the raj.

padmapriya plays her role well, though i think, the piety is little over emphasized. i do not know the intimates of a tamil muslim life, but i would imagine inside the home they are no different from the others. hence, i found, the subservient attitude of the women, like getting up and getting out of the room, in the presence of the father, somewhat surprising. may be true.

come to think of it, when my granpa entered indoors, the dependent women of the house, got up and went further interior. 50 years ago. the daughters however did not. even then.

karaikal and nagoor and the entire thanjavur district has been beautifully photographed. so has calcutta, the hooghly, the bridge and the harbour.

cheran's acting skills, especially pathos, is lacking. it is best he tries infuture, to avoid showing emotion. the strongest scenes are supposed to be him, coming back to karaikal to look for nadira's family, but seeing cheran do this, does not seem convincing. patches of bad acting.

still i think the movie is worth 5 , because a sensitive story line presented so delicately fine, overall good acting, the narration style and the way, the son mahesh (aryan rajesh) brings it all together.

that the movie bombed in the box office, i am not surprised. tamil audiences, i think, cannot handle such topics, with such sophistication. cheran is a few notches above, and hopefully, he survives near bankruptcy of producing poor performing movies but superior quality movies.

the hindu muslim romance, is presented more believably, and with less dramatics, than mani ratnam's bombay. pokkisham is, i think, atleast 10 times better than bombay. cheran, inspite of his defaults, acts better than arvind swamy's role in bombay. the duplicity of the girl's father is even more convincing, than any amount of smoke and bombs of bombay.

cheran always picks a small canvas, i have found. but in this canvas, that is பொக்கிஷம், he has produced a classic.

it is a slow paced movie, and not everyone will have the time or the mental frame to watch it. for those who could, and did, it is a rewarding experience.

பொக்கிஷம் 5

http://tamilkey.org/pokkisham-movie-2009-dvd.html

 

[Yamaka]

Well, folks... I finally finished watching Deiva Thirumaghal (DTM):

This is a different type of a movie... very emotional one... I couldn't watch it in one sitting!

A developmentally challenged man (Vikram) marries the older daughter of a rich man... the wife dies soon after the birth of a girl (who later becomes the DTM.)

Viram loves his daughter in his own ways.. and the daughter knows it and loves her dad.. but the rich man comes to know of this - he separates the daughter from the low IQ father - a long legal battle follows.

Nassar acts as the cunning lawyer to get the daughter from the father using legal mumbo jumbo...however, he also comes to know the pure heart of the low IQ man!

The final court scene was good: daughter by gesture finally talks to the father.. and everybody watches it... the high powered lawyer tells the Judge that he has no objection for the daughter to live with the father!.....

It's a long story... emotional drama... good cinematography... No stunts..no blood, good.

I will watch just once... I will give 2.5 Stars:

Vikram has evolved into an excellent actor - I liked him very much in Raavanan.

Cheers.

 

[mskmoorthy]

I am Sam

Story line of Deiva Thirumaghal is similar to this movie "I am Sam" (starring Sean Penn I Am Sam (2001) - IMDb ) from what I have read. (I do not know which movie came first)- From that website story line is
[h=2]Storyline[/h]Sam Dawson has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. He works at a Starbucks and is obsessed with the Beatles. He has a daughter with a homeless woman; she abandons them as soon as they leave the hospital. He names his daughter Lucy Diamond (after the Beatles song), and raises her. But as she reaches age 7 herself, Sam's limitations start to become a problem at school; she's intentionally holding back to avoid looking smarter than him. The authorities take her away, and Sam shames high-priced lawyer Rita Harrison into taking his case pro bono. In the process, he teaches her a great deal about love, and whether it's really all you need. Written by Jon Reeves <[email protected]>

This wikipedia entry Deiva Thirumagal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia mentions about I am Sam movie too!

 

[Yamaka]

Hello All:

I just finished seeing "Ko" by Jeeva, Pakia Raj, Ajmal Ameer etc.

I don't know why the title is Ko, as yet.

This is a Political Thriller... the story is interesting with twist and turns. I felt very sad to know how the retail politics is going on in TN...how pathological the political process has morphed into...

All the actors and actress have performed well... I like Jeeva and Ajmal and the two young girls (new faces).

Harris Jayraj has done the music....

I heard the original story is from Hollywood... and now Bollywood and Tollywood want to copy this movie too.

I will give 3 stars (out of 5), for the interesting story line and is a parody on the political scene in TN.

Cheers.

 

[nachi naga]

i wonder what mollywood is producing these days

 

[kunjuppu]

Ponnar Shankar

i have always had a soft corner for Prashanth, since i first saw him in jeans opposite aishwarya rai, and was upto par with her in style and suave. made me proud a tamilian could stand face to face in popularity with miss india.

so when i read that we are going to get once again, two prashanths in this movie, i was anticipating a double joy. instead i met with double disappointment.

prashanth's acting skills appears to have faded away with time. gone is the sharpness of dialogue delivery and the sharpness of stature. instead we find a வழ வழ கொழ கொழ actor, mumbling his dialogues. prashanth is ponnar, prashanth is shankar - both act and dress alilke so that one can easily get confused. add to it, they both have shoulder length shiny mane, which conveniently gets blown to give an illusion of grandeur, but only ends up as hair flying all over uncontrolled.

the story line is nothing much to brag about. it is an old raja rani feudal story with good guys orphaned and treated badly by the bad guy, who ends up with his daughters marrying the good guys and himself getting punished. inbetween there is lots of horse riding, drum beating, and scantily clad girls, supposedly wearing the dress of that times, and seeing which, i wonder about all this modern prudery about wearing jeans/tshirts in colleges and the fuss about கற்பு.

divya and puja are the twin girl attractions, both fair, high cheeked and looking like lakme models, than the supposed tamil கிராமிய lasses they have purported to be. they do not say much in the movie, which is good, for whenever they opened their mouth, i could not but wish, they would shut it soon. much to my relief they did.

one song, மலர் வில்லிலே, a group dance, i liked, more for the costume and choreography, than for the tune, which was average ilayaraja.

considering that MK penned the lyrics, i am surprised that i did not like that too. it is full of empty rhetoric, out of times, and many an occassions sounds hypocritcal. the days of high sounding அடுக்குத்தமிழ் dialogues are passe. today's dialogues are tamil interspersed with english. no wonder the movie panned in the box office, as the current tamil youth would not have understood the dialogue, let alone identified with it.

so all in all, this movie is out of tune, out of time and out of money for thiagrajan, prashanth's beloved daddy, who produced it, probably with a view to rekindling his son's acting career. too bad it failed, for i still liked prashanth, and hope he gets lead role in some light hearted romance types, where he performs best.

this movie took 4 years and lots of effort to make. too bad. they could have made better movies in 1/10 the time, and made a box office success of it too. i think, that when this effort started, MK's star was shining high, but then in 4 years, the star crashed down deep, and took the fortunes of this movie along with it.

RIP ponnar. RIP shankar.

0

 

[kunjuppu]

priyanka chopra

I like priyanka chopra, fondly called piggy chops.

I have seen a couple of her interviews online. Very impressed. There is a maturity, intelligence, poise and surprising command of the English language – attributes that atleast I did not not associate with bollywood actors. My error. I am glad to be in such error too.

Last, I saw her in 7 khoon maaf. Awesome picture, though it bombed in the box office. This movie was an adaptation of a Ruskin bond story titled ‘susanna’s seven husbands’.

Priyanka is dusky and looks more Indian than Katrina or the kapoor clan. And a better actor too, anyday!

Good to hear of her latest venture. publishing a music album, managed by the same guy, who manages lady gaga

best wishes to priyanka. Go for it, lady!!


Bollywood's Chopra signs global album deal - The Economic Times

 

[kunjuppu]

Ajay Devgn in and as SINGHAM

Ajay Devgn is and as Singham

I saw ajay first in rajneethi and then in once upon a time in Mumbai. I loved the roles that he took – always beyond the straight and narrow path.

With his bushy eyes, brooding face, droopy eyelids and mustache, with a six pack abs, he looks perfect for the roles that I have seen him

So, when I saw ajay play baji rao singham, I was not disappointed.

With the chanting of Sanskrit slokas, drowned out the sivamaniesque drumming, the man appears from waste deep water, hands raised in prayer, and one can feel the forces of goodness coagulate into this body as it sets out to fight evil. Such is the effect of visual effects, sound and presentation, of today’s bollywood.

The story is a well churned one, of wrong done, undoing it, and punishing the evil doer. Surya did it in tamil, but I think ajay does, one notch better.

Prakash raj is the villain, and boy, is he a good (or bad?) villain. With his dusky skin and pop out eyes and slathering delivery, he almost outshines and steals the show from ajay. Tough to imagine, this physique comes from the same roots as aishwarya rai ie tulu. But then Mendel explained all this couple of hundred years ago re the mysteries of heredity.

The heroine kajal aggarwal does not have much to do. I was turned off with her, for once she got a bollywood chance, she started biting the hands that fed her till then – ie kollywood. Apparently, she was a sales clerk in a department store in Mumbai, and a tamil producer picked her up. Oh well!!

The fights are interesting and the movie is fast paced. The title song sung by sukhwinder is awesome. saathiyaa is pleasing as a duet.

Well the success of this movie, puts ajay in the 50 crore per movie group along with the 3 khans. Good for him. Lucky guy – apparently happily married to the pretty kajol for 11 or so years, 2 children.

A good entertaining movie

3

 

[mskmoorthy]

Inside Job

We saw a very nice movie Inside Job, a documentary about the financial crisis in 2008 and its repercussions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Job_(film)
IMDb - Inside Job (2010)






It was very educational to us -

 

[kunjuppu]

Bodinayakanur Ganesan

Dont see it. too bad to deserve any rating.

 

[kunjuppu]

Veppam

Veppam

I thought that a movie under the patronage of gautam vasudev menon will be good. Or atleast offbeat. So I watched it. Also, the director was gautam’s assistant anjana.

The outline of the story, made my expectations rise. I thought this would be another ‘pudupettai’, a raw and earthy account of the Chennai underclass.

The story involves around 3 friends – two boys and a girl, who grow up among the working class of Chennai. But let me wind back the reels, for in this movie, flashback appear very regularly.

The movie starts off, with an abusive father, beating up his wife, and two sons. The older son balaji gives what he thinks is medication to his mother, at her request. but with her elaborate innuendos and wishes, the audience must indeed be stupid not to know that it is poison, and she would die on consuming it. Only the son appears to be dumb enough not to realize this and so ends up mummyless the next morning. The daddy ran away after beating up mummy.

So the two brothers are under the wing of a sign painter, who has a pretty daughter. Veppam is primarily the story of the younger brother, his friend and the girl nani, karthik and nithya. They grow up together happy, nani working for the sign painter, and nithya helping out with the business. Nobody goes to school, which must be fun.

We get introduced to the drug (cocaine) distribution set up in Chennai. It is fascinating, for in this case, the don is a female who goes about with an incredulous name, ammaji. Jennifer who acts as ammaji, fits the role well, chewing vethlai and spitting out like a pro, and dishing out death sentences inbetween. Incidentally, the daddy of the two brothers, is working as a distributor for ammaji’s cocaine.

Karthik, inorder to get quick money, approaches daddy to help out distribution. He also asks nani to come out with him, to help with the deliveries (not sure why he should do this as all he needs is a mobike).
Karthik also has the hots for a prostitute, whom he hopes to pay off & buy off from the pimp (daddy’s other job).

But daddy is a mean dude, who plans to kill karhtik & nani (his own son) on way to deliver the drugs to Pondicherry, and make some extra bucks for himself. How the older brother balaji foils this plan, and gets revenge for his mother’s death, and how the drug gang is broken up and all such, is rest of the story.

If you find this narrative going around like hanumaan’s vaal, that is exactly what the movie is like. There is no cohesion. Nithya menen is pretty and so is nani with his constant 3 day beard. Rest of the actors do not make any impression. Thank goodness there is no comedy piece, as that would have been the last bit of insult thrown at the audience.

The direction is choppy and the editing even worse. Too many flashbacks, so that the charm is lost.

The song ‘kaatril eeram’ is very pleasant to hear, though not a hummable tune. The scenes associated with the song, is novel and sort of funny.

1

 

[kunjuppu]

The Secret in their eyes - Argentina Spanish

long ago i read somewhere, if there is one south american country, which has no reason but to be prosperous, it is argentina. of a large land mass, blessed with wondrous weather, just the right amount of population, homogeneous almost (all native people killed off) et al.

buenos aires, the capital, was modelled after, and was referred to, paris of south america, for its broad boulevards, well constructed buildings, cafes and parks.

but argentina carried the stain of the spanish conquestodars - the feudal attitudes, the vast land holdings, the peasantry fed by a constant stream of immigrants from italy and above all a brutal military, which sucked the brightest and the best of youth, into a promising career.

argentina always believed in white european catholic supermacy, supported hitler wholeheartedly, provided sanctuary to the fleeing nazis, and in the 1950s parlayed peronism, courtesy of juan peron, who was the armychief, and a populist, a la hitler mode. peronism, was a big lie, which, to an extent like the dravidian parties, fed the masses with empty words which they swallowed, while the rich lived and laughed and got fatter.

any intelligent movie or story of argentina cannot ignore this past. it might also be remembered, that one of the favourite past time of the military, was to throw their opponents, mostly communists, from 30,000 feet in a plane, into the sea.

policeman, especially murders squads, get to have an obsession with unsolved crimes. whatever may be their private lives, and i believe, even in india, the life of a policeman, is no bed of roses, these hate to let a murderer go scot free.

'the secret in their eyes' is a murder mystery, which occurred in the backdrop of peronist argentina, as seen years later. there is a lot of flashback here, but used so intelligently, that i wish anjana khan the director of veppam had a chance to see how flashbacks can be used effectively.

the story in brief: a very beautiful girl from a small town, a school teacher, moves to buenos aires, marries a bank clerk. her secret brooding mental admirer from childhood days, rapes and brutally murders her. the policeman and his female boss, break rules, to get the murderer into prison. however, the murderer, becomes an informer to peronist police, and as a reward for snitching is let out. how the revenge is extracted, is rest of the story.

there is the unsaid love between the low police office named benjamin (who i would imagine is jewish, though is not mentioned in the film blatantly) and the aristocratic irene, who goes out of her to protect him, against peronist thugs. his love for her, is unexpressed, for class, caste, religion and money, everything divides them.

i will not say more, for it would be to spoil the public's enjoyment should they wish to see this movie.

i would only caution that the first 80 minutes, this movie is ordinary. then it soars to extra ordinary heights, and rightfully so, earned the oscar for the best foreign language movie. also, the scenes of argentina are refreshing and new, and provide a change from the usa or europe or india.

5

watch The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) dvd movie online free | Watch Movies and TV Shows Online For Free

 

[kunjuppu]

sabash sariyana potti (ssp)

some movies start off well. because of the story theme and the acting.

ssp starts off well. in a small town, with a movie fanatic family, the object of their veneration jayaram visits, and somewhat unknowingly accedes to the fan (sriram karthik - sk) request to help him out with a movie career in chennai.

so off to chennai, our hero goes, like thousands who flock there every day, in the blind hope of getting a break in the filmi world. sk is rebuffed by jayaram, and how he fights against the odds, and wins in the end, is rest of the story.

there are shades of slum dog millionaire here, in that, the hero uses tv contest to win money and also his erstwhile adversary. not at all an original idea.

acting is barely adequate, though jayaram is a delight to watch, even in a bad role. anjana thamburatti in the female lead is refreshingly pretty, with just a slight squint, which gives a sparkle each time she looks at you through the screen. everyone else is wasted. music is okaay, but with one very good song, 'mudhal mozhi' by rahul nambiar.

2

 

[mskmoorthy]

Two (serious) movies

Two movies recommendation - Both of them are serious

1) In a better world - Danish movie with English subtitles - power of forgiving - whether one is able to forgive the other
Oscars best foreign film 2011 :”In A Better World” Mikeal Persbrandt plays a doctor working in Africa-Nzherald.co.nz - AFRICA: NEWS, CULTURE, CHINA/AFRICA/WORLD
In a Better World (2010) - IMDb

In a Better World - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2) Conviction - based on a real life story - bonding between brother and sister and sister's determination to get college degree and law degree to free her brother (who was wrongly convicted for murder)

Conviction (2010) - IMDb

Conviction (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Betty Anne Waters, Real-Life Heroine of

 

[kunjuppu]

potta potti

delightful movie!!

another cricket based movie, but this time between two guys, both after the same girl, in rural tamil nadu.

what a wonderful topic, and great scenery. sadagopan ramesh the cricketer makes his debut in kollywood.

a small village in southern tamil nadu, through circumstances which need not be explained here, ends up in coming up with two teams, one team coached by ramesh and the other by mayilsamy, who is a shyster.

it is indeed strange to see how the fate of a girl is decided by the parents, the panchayat and the men. pretty harini shows some spunk in what is basically a feudal female role. good for her. to top, she is a stunner too.

so, lagaan style, there is familiarization process with a game, that neither side is familiar. it is quaint to hear the commentary in tamil also, delightful to see guys tying up their lungis, to deliver the ball.

reminded me of old madras lore, of the famous rangachari, who apparently, prior to delivery of super fast balls, took to loosening and tying up his kudumi, thus letting his opposing batsmen know of his tactics. ofcourse this happened in 1930s, when none of our members were born or old enough to view cricket at chepauk.

meanwhile, our heroine, has the hots for our ramesh, and before long, he too reciprocates. oh sweetey!!

the good guys win, incidentally, against big business, who had secret plans connived with the bad guys, to start open pit mining in the pristine mountainside, and export our mathru bhoomi. good, that these were defeated. also.

there is one beautiful hummable song, idhuvarai, idhuvarai.

Patta Patti 50 50 Songs Free Download, Tamil Songs, Mp3 Songs, Mp3 Download, Songs Listen Online, Play Online, Musiqbuzz.com

dont know why it is under the strange movie title in musiqbuzz, except ofcourse, the movie title was changed.

there is not much to say about acting. ramesh should stick to cricket, which he knows best. now that he got the girl, there is no reason for him to act in another movie, to get another girl

but the movie is entertaining, thanks to tamil nadu countryside and the unknowns from the village where this movie was shot.

4

 

[kunjuppu]

i have been looking for an online version of 'nellu', the 2010 movie based on the kilvenmani massacre. if anyone is able to locate one, please feel free to pass on the links.

thank you.

 

[kunjuppu]

Yuvan Yuvathi

yuvan yuvathi, now running to packed houses in toronto.

the movie could be divided into two parts. the first part, is privileged boy chase girl, who through circumstances, become dependent on his favours. the chae failed.

the second part, is the retribution part, and where balance is restored, and goodness and true love prevails.

baharat is the hero, and rima kallingal is the heroine, and both of them are adequate. bharat's father is played by sampath raj, who looks an aged vikram, just as handsome and also possesses the sharpness of delivery.

the best actor in the movie, is santhanam. he is no ordinary comedy sidekick. this man, been provided with punchy and great lines, maximizes their delivery, to deliver an entertainment, that goes far beyond comedy relief. so, i would consider santhanam to have had the best role in the movie.

the music is so so and none of the songs hummable, given the opportunity for so many duets.

i liked the movie.

3

 

[kunjuppu]

the girl by the lake

The girl in the lake.

I do not know how many of the public might ever get a chance to watch this movie. It is 96 minutes of slow action thrill. Done to perfection.

The hero here is a middle aged policeman, on voluntary exile from rome to a small village, in a way, a voluntary demotion. His wife is admitted to a nursing home nearby, and we find out that is the reason for his living here ie to be near here. The wife, at a young age, is losing her memory, has forgotten him and their only teenaged daughter.

Against this family background, he investigates the murder of another teenager girl, whose body is found nude, in a lake near the village. That the girl was a virgin, and came from the village, adds only flavour to the mystery.

As we all know, there are no secrets in an agraharam, and such is also the case in small villages. This village of the movie, near the mountains of north italy, appears modern, clean with none of the historical architecture that we have come to associate italy. To me, it appeared more like germany or northern Europe, including the attitude of the people, ie more individualistically morose and unhappy, than the jovial Italian types that we are used to caricaturing.

Underlying the murder of the girl, is the death of a 2 ½ year old mentally handicapped boy, whose death, as the movie progresses, unravels itself into another mystery of its own. Ultimately those are interconnected, and we end up with a feeling of sorrow and sympathy for the murderer. For ultimately, when we are overcome with the limits of our patience, and demands on our body and soul, the death of another, is in a way, at that moment a sought after relief. But is it really so?

Great movie.

I think we now have mature enough audiences in india, with a core group of sophisticated followers, who can appreciate indianization of such movies. Hope someone takes up this challenge.

Variety Reviews - The Girl by the Lake - Film Reviews - Venice - Review by Jay Weissberg

4

 

[kunjuppu]

stanley ka dabba

'stanley ka dabba' is a perfect example of a good topic screwed up by bollywood into a terrible movie. when i was young in india, i used to vow, with the shortage of raw films which had to be imported from the west, using up then valuable foreign exchange, that if the movie does not come up to certain standards, it should not be released, and the producer/director jailed.

stanley would qualify for one such movie, for to me, i am more enraged, at the sight of a good topic abused.

child labour, as we all know is abhorrable. this is the story of stanley fernandez, who goes to a fashionable upper crust convent school in mumbai during the day (no one explains how he pays the fees, money for uniform for he is always impeccably dressed) and does not bring lunch.

offhours he works in his uncle's restaurant, cleaning up and serving the folks. it takes more than 3/4 of the movie, for the idiot director to realize, that since stanley works in a restaurant, there can always be some spare food, to fill a dabba, for lunch.

the characterf stanley is made to be goody two shoes, and unbelievable. every day, he stops and prays before virgin mary, and also prays before her, when he is abused by a psycho teacher mr. verma (more on that next). he has a pretentious accent and more than that, his goodness, would qualify him for sainthood in the catholic church.

next comes mr verma, who for reasons unknown, does not bring his own lunch, and begs food from his fellow teachers. when they start to refuse, he bullies his students to sharing their lunch with him. and he chases stanley out, because they are both free loaders, chasing the same dabbas of the classmates.

anyone who wants to know how the northies view us, can see how teacher mrs iyer is portrayed. she is pretty, sort of, but so uptight, that she would need one pound of ex-lax daily to maintain her ablutions. talk of anti brahmin tamil insults. worse than padosan!

for once, i would agree with hindutva folks. there is no raison d'etre for the crazy verma. it could be crazy da costa or hussain. but it had to verma. no rhyme or reason for it, except hindu bashing (just kidding folks). but still in bad taste

it could have been a great move like, jayakanthan's 'unnaipol oruvan' .. and chitti. iinstead, we have a crap junk movie, with an elitist school getting free publicity. shame on indian education system and i would say, church run schools.. pandering to the rich, and neglecting the poor -even their own co-religionist.

one song, 'life is bahuth simple' stands out. just view the song on youtube and bypass the movie.

3

 

[kunjuppu]

engeyum eppodhum

Engeyum eppodhum (ee)

This is the first movie in the ‘disaster’ genre that I have seen. Ofcourse in English we have them all along, with titanic being the mother of all disaster movies. Ee is more modest and tamil nadu centred.

The movie opens with an head on collision between two passenger buses. The story of some characters in the bus is told through flashback.

We are basically interested in the lives of two couples, through their ‘falling in love’ process.

One is jai/anjali. Anjali, whom we saw in angaadi theru, walks away with honours here. Her portrayal of a modern young woman with head on her shoulders, and a unique approach to vetting her intended boyfriend, is thoroughly enjoyable. In the latter part of the movie, she displays an emotional side, which brought tears to my eyes. It is good that tamil movie is developing south Indian actresses with acting skills, as I am rather tired of watching pale skinned bimbos from the north.

Jai as anjali’s sidekick is adequate as the henpecked hopelessly in love lover. He reminded me, in his mannerism of simbu.

The other couple is ananya/shravanand. Ananya plays a trichy girl coming to Chennai for job interview, ditched at the bus station by her girl cousin, and forced to seek help from a stranger, to guide her to the interview place. He eventually spends the whole day with her, thus providing the seed for a budding love.

How these people and others eventually meet, headon, in the two buses, is rest of the story. Atleast the way the emergency vehicles are deployed, I am gratified, that such responses have improved by tons in tamil nadu. gone, I hope, are the days, when an accident is more a sight seeing for gawkers, with little medical help arriving.

The movie is produced by fox-star pictures, another multinational dipping its waters into kollywood. This is good for the industry, as these guys with deep pockets, relieve the tension of the producer/director to seek funds from hawala or marwaris or underworld. I think the same is happening in bollywood.

Bus accidents are traumatic. In 1979 my family experienced one. My favourite cousin, and her two young children, 5 & 2 were travelling with a group of colleagues on a kerala tour from Chennai. Near a unmanned level crossing the bus stalled, and was hit by a train. It took 2 days for the bodies to reach Chennai, and they were laid out on the floor of the madras central, open to everyone to gaze. As there was no adequate news, my cousin’s husband had gone to Coimbatore as the rumour was the bodies were being brought there. so it was left to my sick dad to identify the bodies and claim them. dad, was never the same after that experience.

Traiffic in india is still expanding exponentially, but our traffic sense has not. I think. We need to follow the rules, avoid speeding and even more so, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Back to engeyum eppodhum. The movie has been slickly produced, with good editing, and a couple of very nice songs. The development of romance of two different couples under different circumstances is entertaining. As I already said, the movie is ultimately a ‘disaster’ movie, but shorn of the pathos. Almost clinical like Hollywood. Makes it all the more entertaining.

4

 

[kunjuppu]

Doo

DOO

This is another off the mill love story. Who is the best mate for you? is it one who is completely opposite in likes & temperament? Or one who is a carbon copy of your values.

Having had an arranged marriage myself, and indulged myself with all the familiarities that come with marrying a person so close to me, in practices, values and background, I have always felt, that there is a lot going into marrying one who is similar to you in tastes and temperament.

A common background and identity of values, makes many explanations of behaviour unnecessary. Atleast, for a start, things go smoothly, till the battle lines are drawn, and each partner, gets to know how far they can ‘push’ the other. At that point, it does not matter anymore, whether you are of the same background or otherwise.

Sanjay and nakshatra, grew up together, parted, and meet again as adults. She is a mouthy IT worker and absolutely thoroughly spoilt. Imagine a girlfriend, expecting expensive gifts for her birthday. Take her home, and she sits in the sofa, and orders the boy around in front of his mother. I have heard of a white female colleague, complaining about her son’s girl friend such, but by gosh, did not think, that india had moved this much ‘forward’.

The ‘lovers’ part, after giving back all those expensive gifts exchanged.

Then sanjay meets sangeetha bhat. Sweeter looking than nakshatra, and more in tune with family values. He brings her home, and she rushes off to the kitchen, to help mom coffee. Cho chweet, to gladden the heart of any parent. Right? Peace at home, happy mother, no wasting of money on expensive gifts and a good moral girl.

Guess, who this idiot finally choses? Yes he goes back to nakshatra. He missed apparently, the excitement of the fights and such. Sangeetha was too boring for she was very much like him.

What a lesson to preach to the kids!!

Inspite of the archaic message, the movie was well done. good acting. A couple of good songs.


3

 

[mskmoorthy]

The Fly Bottle by David Egan - A Play

This is not actually a movie but a play I saw (with my family) nearly 8 years ago. This play Fly Bottle was done remarkably well and it has left a deep impression in my mind. You can read about this play here
EMPAC :: events :: EMPAC presents Shakespeare & Company - THE FLY-BOTTLE - a play by David Egan :: - experimental media and performing arts center - rensselaer polytechnic institute - troy ny

From the blurb, a brief description of the play:

The Fly-Bottle examines the famed "poker incident" between renowned philosophers Wittgenstein and Popper at the Moral Science Club in England on Oct. 25, 1946. A venerable institution at Cambridge University, the Moral Science Club was the melting pot for visiting philosophers to discuss their latest research with students and professors. Wittgenstein was the club's chairman and Popper the invited speaker. Russell was in attendance. Speaker and chairman had never met before, and the two were in the same room for only ten minutes before Wittgenstein stormed out in a rage. The two are said to have engaged in a heated exchange that culminated in Wittgenstein's vigorously gesturing with (some say brandishing) a poker that hung by the fireplace. Eyewitness accounts differ considerably, and the play confronts this disparity by examining the event from multiple perspectives. One of those eyewitnesses was Bertrand Russell, the eminence grise of British philosophy who had a profound impact on the lives and thinking of both Popper and Wittgenstein. All three philosophers have influenced the philosophy of science and, thus, science itself."In scrutinizing the triangle of mutual mistrust and respect between these three philosophers, the play explores the complex matrix of the history, philosophy, and psychology behind the ideas that shaped our world," says Egan. "Nearly 30 years later (Wittgenstein safely dead), Popper bemusedly retold his version of events in his autobiography. The story was met with outrage by Wittgenstein's devoted followers, and a heated exchange ensued between Popperians and Wittgensteinians in the pages of the Times Literary Supplement with overtones that prefigure Jerry Springer. Those ten minutes at the Moral Science Club have had no discernable impact on the course of Western philosophy and yet they have been made the subject of memoirs, articles, a best-selling book, and now a full-length play."

If you get a chance to see this play, please do not miss it!

Popper is famous for refuting principle of induction - as can be seen here
Problem of induction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From reading (and trying to grasp the philosophical/mathematical theory behind) the arguments/counterarguments in this newsgroup, I am reminded of the play I saw 8 years ago and that prompted this writeup.