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Movies-The realm of human imagination...its fascinating how drastic a turn the field of entertainment has taken in the last century(plus a decade)to turn human imagination into something so close to real...
Movies have always(and hopefully will always)fascinated me...its not the actors, technicians, the laborers or the amount of money that goes into a movie that has fascinated me, but how a simple human mind(in some cases a collection of minds)is able to turn something so abstract into something thats worth speculating and imagining..
Having written a review of a movie..i now consider myself a small time amateur critic of movies...i analyse movies just for my own satisfaction...its a kinda selfish motive only..its like each time i look at a still/frame i notice something new...each time i hear a dialogue repeated i kinda learn something new...guess i learn more from movies than from books...reading does exhaust me at times...but not watching..
It took a pretty long time for me to get propelled into analysing movies given the fact that i have a director within my family...but this propelling action was kinda restricted to tamizh movies only...it was like i didnt sorta "hear" the many brilliant other language movies that were made...and anyways i wasnt really old enough to see all genres of movies...
So what propelled me into movies...the faintest memory i have of first being awe struck seeing a movie is khakha khakha...i was kinda stunned after watching the movie...i dont mean to say it was the greatest movie i ever saw..it just kinda gave a beginning...
But the big break had to wait for some more years...i had finished tenth and i unassumingly caught hold of a dvd of the film "the Matrix" at my uncle's house...it was a combo dvd with the first two parts of the trilogy present...since i was jobless i just played it...
thankfully the movie was sub titled...i couldnt hear most of the dialogues even at full volume...the movie started of pretty slowly...exploded suddenly and finished off in an abstract...
frankly speaking, though i was awed by the movie...i didnt quite connect to the story...so i played it again the next day...and this time it hit me...
i had, before seeing the matrix, had seen a handful of hollywood movies...like gladiator, titanic...some other crap movies(some of which were put on vijay tv :D)...but not quite this...i hadnt seen a sci fi movie before...dealing with the future...man vs machine kinda thing(ya...i hadnt seen terminator then)...but the one real thing which caught me was the "maya" effect(aka illusions)...i had heard of this effect when i was a kid...but to see the effect transformed into a series of incidents and events(ie a movie)...i was quite awe struck by the director's imagination...and i saw the second part the same day...was very impressed by the stunts(till date...they are the best kind of stunts i have seen yet)...and a month later i caught hold of the third part..
i was pretty impressed with the trilogy...it was like the greatest movie i had seen then not realising what was to come..i did manage to see all the three movies atleast a coupla times more in the years to come...
so the basic crux is that...this movie opened the floodgates...i began to see a lot more hollywood and british movies...i read about famous story lines and screenplays and actors...like i began knowing more about cinema..
(if u did realise my nom-de-plume is The 1=the one which is a jumbled form of-"the neo"-the lead character's name in the matrix...thats my ode to the movie..my ode to the big break it gave)
and college has really played an important role in improving my knowledge of cinema...it has widened the horizons a bit...exposed me to newer thinking styles newer themes newer screenplays and an amazing list of actors...and now i do consider "dark knight" to be the greatest movie i have seen till now...but its possible i might see a better movie than that...
off late i have indeed realised one thing...there is no stopping to the process of learning in cinema...you just have to keep learning and keep growing...and i am trying the same...its been more of hollywood and kollywood all my life...in the future i do desire to expand my horizons to world movies...to movies which are made in different parts of the world..i think thats the ultimate place where a true "critic" will want to be...the pinnacle of film making...
the trouble with seeing movies made all over the world is...you cant relate to most of the themes...its pretty much a fair reason though considering you cant see the way of life of most people around the world...another complimenting reason would be "lack of resources"...there are not many people who follow world cinema as such and hence its tough to become a follower...the inspiration factor and the resources are lower(atleast in my nation)...but i do maintain this belief of mine.."if u need something...u need to seek it out"..
of course i am just an amateur yet and with divine help i have quite a few years of my life to become more than just an amateur...to be more imaginatively equipped and creatively enriched...
will put up reviews of some of the movies as and when i see of them...and hopefully you like my way of looking at things and my mode of analysing :D
jai ho cinema!!!!!!!
cheers,
Friend-What an important word in all our lifes...everybody has and loves their friends...Its pretty difficult to live without a friend really...if all that sounds a cliche to you,they sound to me too...but i just cant help it...the fundamental relationship on which this world(rather humanity)is built around is..of course friendship..
I would really be betraying myself if i say my mom is not my best friend..(actually she is)..but i am trying here to portray a person(rather incidents if u like to call it that way)outside my family who has had the greatest impact on me(outside my family as in excluding all brothers sisters and cousins)...personally i measure relationships based on their intensity(not on the incidents that take place or any other factor that you might use as a scale)...and hence when i say a person is my best friend, he/she has had the greatest impact on me...
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To say that this film is good would be a real understatement..
And writing a review of a film for the first time(after giving oral reviews for more than three years), i hope it wont be taxing on both yourself and mine..
To go beyond the commercial realms of tamizh movie making and exploring new areas under the given constraints seems to be sasi kumar's forte...though he has only acted in this movie, to say that he has done only that will be preposterous..
"Subramaniapuram" proved the guy's mettle as a maker(though its not one of my personal favorites its nevertheless a good film)and "pasanga" furthered his reputation...here comes the movie which establishes him as an actor...job well done sasi..
samudirakani, who got into serial direction and then into acting, proves his potential as a maker...kudos to him for pulling off such a movie..
the movie's story line is pretty simple(i would say its a run of the mill with a difference)..what happens after friends join a bunch of lovers against all odds..the movie starts off with its theme music and in the background you see yourself travelling along the median of the road(good theme music)
the illustration of the equality of all kinds of education by karuna(sasi kumar)in the beginnig of the movie(it was the start of an amazing line up of good lines) and the subsequent humour in the introduction of the protagonists were amazing..the basic fun part was that the protagonists were so much ordinary(its not that no other film has shown this kind of intros...but they were pretty much believable)..
the first half is all humour and friendship...karuna's dedication to his friendship and his other friends' dedication towards their friendships with karuna were amazing...good illustration really..(i mean it wasnt melodramatic-like so many of vijay movies...nor was it underplay)..the director could have obviously done away with the item number...but its ok with the front benchers i guess(personally i am used to better things :P-pun intended)..
there were a few loopholes in the "kidnap-the-girl" act...the girl's dad is supposed to be the don of the town...yet he seems to have no police influence...there was also not a single police checkpost it seems around the town(they just drove their way out of the girl's town...no vehicles in pursuit)...and the henchmen werent great either(both the girl's dad's and the son's mom's)...i dont know whether all these things sound "realistic"..but tamizh films have been so brainless in the past(most of them) that when you think of a don you always think of a dozen sumo,qualis,tavera(or whatever SUV the producer can afford)which go after the hero at the drop of a hat..and there are always a minimum of a hundred henchmen who come up from nowhere and the hero(with not even a good bicep)beats everyone of them to earn his reward(sometimes he bashes up the same guy 5 times..and after all the injuries the "goonda" still fights the hero!!!!!!..true..being a tamizh film hero is tough)...what to do...guess my tastes have also been washed off :(...
the second half was more "realistic"...and the back and forth editing helped the pace of the film a little and also removed melodramatic moments off the movie(kudos to the editor)...the stunning reversals suffered by the friends(one loses his love and his grandma, one his ear, and the other his leg)were superbly portrayed..kanja karuppu provided some relief from the sadness underlining the scenes with his typical dialogue delivery(nothing great about the comedy scenes..its just that you were able to laugh to some simple lines too coz of the mood of the screenplay- aka saroja-with much less comedy and impact)...and the ungratefulness of the lovers was portrayed nicely...it was nice to see the small twist in the story here(i mean this is where the story deviates from the usual shit that is often offered...usual tamizh movies end with the first half)..
being unemployed i was kinda surprised with the amount of money karuna was able to churn out with just the sheer strength of friendships(do friends donate so much)???...i was also kinda confused with the sudden support karuna gets from his dad during his grandma's cremation(i mean he was always degrading him till that point)..but these are just minor potholes in the screenplay=>>i ignore them..
the climax was the best part...it was superbly finished..far from predictable...technically the movie is quite sound with good cinematography...above average music and background score..the lightings were real nice..and the art attack was fine...the stunt shows were "realistic"..
Special Mention:
Abinaya, the girl who plays the sister of karuna in the movie is supposed to be hearing and speech impaired...i hardly noticed it when i saw the movie...amazing portrayal given the difficulties...the girl has got good looks too...rock on...
Bottom Line:
A revelation-worth all the money you might spend on it..
i hope u did like my review...looking forward to reviewing more...
cheers,
Thats the entrance to my former school where i did my eleventh and twelfth(ya..the entrance doesnt look great...the building is even worse :(..)..i have many bad memories and rare spots of good memories of this school, this building, the teachers and my friends...
For those who thought this post might be revealing my "romantic" side or my "love" life...its going to disappoint you heavily...the fact is this...i dont have a romantic side of mine(only front side, back side and side side :D)and i havent experienced love in my life...
The fact is this...Our batch had our farewell day on this date(quite ironical considering the strict regulations inside the school denying the right to speak to the opposite sex)and i have very good memories of this day..
I had come to the school as usual with my scooty(i still use this vehicle...though its not that comfortable to drive, it indeed has served me well :P)...we had classes in the morning and had a break in between which provided us some time to go back home and change clothes(i hope my memory is right on this...coz i did come to the school early that morning)...i had gone to my uncle's house nearby to change...i arrived at about 3 to the school for the party in a jeans and a black t shirt...one of my favorite combinations...
We had a blast of a time in the initial half hour before the program started...and i was clicking and posing to as many snaps that i could come across(but tragically i had forgotten to bring my camera and it was back home)...but it was fun anyway to have a last little chat with friends...
the program began with speeches and mementos to the teachers and all...and they also gave some awards to students(even i got one...i dont know why i got it still!!!!!!!!!!!!)..and the principal gave a short speech(i never listened to her speeches anyway...all crap...and anyways i never had a good memory of this principal...she really troubled me one day for no fault of mine--she had called me a "recommendation" student when i had came to that school through merit...that statement still hurts)...thankfully the secretary had not turned up(otherwise that "kezhavan" would have bored us for another half hour)..
now it was the turn of the class leaders to speak...sudipta mam(english teacher)had asked me whether i had prepared a speech..i was shocked!!!!!!!!no one had told me about it..but she swore that my class teacher had nominated my name over there(he never told me :(...he keeps forgetting things till date)..and by this time the previous guy had started to speak...OMG!!!!i was next!!!!!!!!!!!!
she immediately asked one of my friends from the other section to help me out(he was going to give a speech and had already prepared it)...he gladly agreed and we went to the nearby staff room to begin preparing the so called speech...she actually wanted us to do some patchwork..
i went there and told my friend that i wanted to be honest about my experiences at this venue(which had bitter experiences too)...he just agreed to what ever i said and just asked me to write whatever i wanted to...he was reading along while i was writing and also quipped in with quotes now and then(i am not a great man of quotes...but he is :D)...the quotes were pretty useful...i was writing what ever came to my mind and in 5 mins i had completed 3 pages(enough to drag on for five mins or more)....
came out of the staff room...the guy giving the speech was just about done and sudipta mam was shouting my name..i came walking fast(didnt run :P)...and i came close to the mike...i glanced the audience for a second...the most beautiful girl i had seen in that school came in a pink dress(some vagueish costume..i dunno whether it was a saree...but she looked good in it..and that alone mattered)...and my best friend had come in a black dress(guess it was a chudidhar in this case)..they were seated one behind the other(almost)...i smiled a little...
i decided to sound as cool as possible..i had this habit of being cool when tensions rose on the outside...but even then i had never been a great speaker(till date i have only improved on a little).. i used to stammer a lot when i didnt have a paper in hand(even now)...but when i did have a paper in hand i became a wholly different speaker all together...it reduced my nervousness so much and turned on the AC thats present inside myself(aka induces coolness) :D..
i promised myself that i would speak to the best of my abilities and ensure audience participation... hence i started my speech with "Friends,Dav-ians,Indians"......(ya...a spoof of mark antony's "friends,roman,countrymen" in shakespeare's Juilus Caesar)...and the crowd was filled with an "aaaahhhhh" sound(indicating mokkai)...but i had succeeded...i had got everyone's attention...
i began my speech with the difficulties i had faced esp in the initial stages of the school life here..juggling various activities and tryin to excel in each of them...i had told them how tough a turn life took here...about how free i was in my previous school..and how engaged(pun unintended)i was here..
then i quoted Einstein(this quote was given by my friend who helped me prepare the speech)..about how life was like riding a bicycle and inorder to keep balance one had to move on(everyone smiled at this line, guess they liked it)...and then i told about the positives learned from the dav life...about how life should be made tough to make yourself tougher and so on...
then i praised the teachers as the ironical 23 gems of the school(ironical coz there are only nine gems in the real world....and this was a formality anyway...everyone had to mention them whether they liked it or not)..and i accidentally said that the principal was the king who possessed the 23 gems...an english teacher(so called)herself, the principal pounced on the grammar error saying it was wrong...i coolly apologised in a murmur and corrected the sentence as the queen holder of the gems...everyone applauded here...
and finally after wishing everyone the best in their lifes i added..."and for the one last time..namaste"(and as a student of dav that was indeed my last namaste)....the hall broke into an applause...i had never received such a thunderous applause in my life...i was pretty glad i pulled it off..i had successfully given a speech which atleast most people in the audience accepted(they either accepted or considered it mokkai...i was okay with both)..so gladly i stepped down and included myself in the audience...a flood of congrats...it was nice...a day of redemption really....i wanted to stand out as someone for atleast a day in that school...and i just fulfilled that dream...i had atlast stood out as a speaker..a moment of triumph(which have been so few all through my life)...and my heart was filled with happiness..
my friend who gave the next speech also received a thunderous response..he is a famous speaker anyway..so no surprises...and in the meanwhile sudipta mam had asked for the script of my speech...and she never gave it back...i hope she does have it still with her...the greatest speech i had ever made was lost all of a sudden...it was a nice assembly of words that i dont recollect...a destined assembly really...and i lost the script...but all was not lost...the speech, though not in full, remains in my memory..and will live through this post for eternity...
the rest of the evening passed in a jiffy...the girls made "pack-level" speeches...it was followed by some cultural shows by our juniors that included a spoof of tam actors which involved a lot of double entendres(the guys got the slack later from the princi)...during the shows i also spoke with one of the very few friends among girls that i had there...it was the first time i spoke with a girl inside the campus :D....
we had some refreshments later...and soon packed home...a few hugs around...few handshakes...and the party was over...days were to come during which our destiny was to be decided...i wished all my friends well...bid adieu to almost all the teachers and began my walk to my scooty along with three of my friends...then bid adieu to them too and drove my way home...it was a day to remember...a day of triumph atlast inside that campus..
and so i looked forward to the immediate future..my character was to be tested then...
moments of triumph are not the usual kind of thing for me...i have always been a runner up on most occasions in my life...so to have my first and only moment of triumph at dav at the last day of my school life was somehow fantastic...its a memory that will make me happy any time i think of it...
Months later..i did ask many friends(incl juniors) what they had remembered out of me(through a forward sms)...and a majority of them said..."farewell speech"..
Hope you shared my happiness too..
cheers,
Making heads turn!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well thats the entrance to the place that i spent most of my time during this semester..and for most of that time..i was alone..
Warning:This post doesnt actually include funny incidents..it has been named so only to indicate that it is a continuation of one of the previous posts about my 1st semester experiences..
Dec 28,2008:
Boarded into the familiar surroundings again..another long four months were to be spent..had a not-so-good cg on my hand...had to put up a good one too..and i became the external publicity(EP) "coord" for amalgam(my dept tech fest)...so lots of things to look forward too...
Jan 1,2009:
New year...spent with my family...not so good a start(most of my starts on new years are not too good)..but i just hoped it would be a new beginning to me and to a famous tennis champion..
Jan,2009:
This month was by far the most fun filled through out the second sem...myself and my friend being EP coords for amalgam had to coordinate to publicise the event in colleges in tamilnadu...we tried to fix up appointments to arrive at a particular college and put up a presentation thus inviting students of the other colleges in an attractive way to boost up the numbers coming to our fest..
we also tried to woo the mech dept of various colleges as mech guys had to do a course related to out dept.. a typical chat with the hod of the mech dept of some college went like this..
Me:Hello sir, Is this Mr.X(say X is our mech hod of some arbit college)
X:Yes,Who is this?
Me:Sir, I am calling on behalf of the metallurgy dept of IIT Madras...we are conducting a tech fest called amalgam during the end of february sir...so for that we would like to invite students of your dept...for inviting students we thought it would be a good idea to put up a presentation...so when shall we come to your college?
X:What do u want?
Me:(sounding exhausted after that long patient speech)..sir, we are conducting a dept tech fest called amalgam sir
X:ok
Me:we would like to invite your students for that by putting up a presentation..
X:ok
Me:so when can we come to your college?
X:why do u have to come here?
Me:(aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh)...we want to put up a presentation as an invitation sir
X:oh!!!!!!!!ok....(realising the thing i am tryin to say only now...cha)
Me:so when can we come sir..
X:you do one thing...i have to ask the students and my fellow professors about this...so call me up tomorrow..
Me:when sir?
X:say 10 o' clock in the morning
Me:Thank you sir..(he hungs up before i complete the sentence)
The next morning the above conversation again takes place and if i am lucky i fix up an appointment...if not...well...one more time :(
But doing all that we did fix up appointments in various colleges...and we did cover a decent number(ceg,mit,ssn,jeppiar,sastra,nitt)and we did send oral invitations and email invitations to some of the other colleges..
jan20:had a very bitter experience at ceg...the hod was a psycho...the students completely uninterested(gosh...bad start)..
jan21:mit was superb...the experience was nice and so was the warmth of the people there...had a nice time there apart from putting the presentation required(and it did work as some people did turn up)....i did catch up with my best friend here...so all together a memorable experience..
jan28:ssn...the travelling experience was horrible..we had to change over three buses to reach there...and it took us more than 90 mins to do so(and the sun was really killing)..and after getting down at the college gate we had to walk for another 15 mins in the blazing sun(i was burnt like coal by then)....we entered the mech dept...a dilapitated building for one which was only a year old(!!!!!!)...and the hod wasnt there...we waited for almost 2 hrs...ate a sick plate of noodles for lunch(yuck)...and finally we gotta chance to meet him...but he turned down our offer of a presentation(it was hearbreak really)...and when we were walking toward the entrance my phone rang...he called us back...and we did manage to put up a presentation(the most disappointing fact was that..the mech guys over there had not heard of internships...and there was just ONE good looking girl there :( :( :(...)...
we visited jeppiar college the same evening...well...not worth an experience to mention..
jan31:
a memorable day of my life..myself and my friend had reached trichy that morning...to cover sastra and nitt...we reached sastra pretty early in the morning...my friend abandoned me to chat with his friend(he left me all alone for 5 hrs...cha...ungrateful fellow)...i was practically there only to correct one of the greatest mistakes of my life(one of the main reasons i became an ep coord)...but looking back i dont think i have corrected it(never had a chance really)...anyways it was nice to catch up with some old friends...it was a nice experience except for the excruciating sun and the lack of shades..
we reached nitt by 4 in the evening...and i did catch up with some old friends there too..and the hod of the meta dept of the college was so warm and hospitable...and the class rep of the dept,who had promised me to bring mech students also gave some excuses for bringing up only meta students..but we did put up a nice presentation(the results showed in amalgam)..we had dinner over there with our friend(and saw a very good looking girl there sitting right across us :P...)..and finally we returned to our city the following morning...the day is still fresh in my mind...
jan21-jan25:
For those studying in my college, the first line of this post should be pretty familiar coz it was the tagline of saarang 05....yup...saarang is the pinnacle of life at iitm...the most colorful(pun intended)days of iitm are these 4 1/2 days...just fun and nothing else...inspite of all the fun i did make two event finals(out of some 7/8 i participated in)...so it was nice...and the pro shows were great...though sonu nigam lacked variety he put sufficient enthu to rock the "OAT"...opeth was "God-level" for rock fans...kanyakumari was sensational...shobana brilliant on her own terms...and DJ Rekha also rocked...5 days of fun...5 days when you forget everything...thats saarang!!!!!!!!!!
feb 1st week:
my friend and i were in the smithy workshop...i was holding a red hot iron piece through a pair of handles...my friend was banging on it to bring it to the required shape...and a slip in balance...bang...the piece shot up in air...fell right on my friend's right hand...he was shivering in pain...later after consulting doctors at the insti hospital(and undergoing treatment of course) he came to know that the burn would create a permanent scar on his hand...i felt so bad for him..but i couldnt help it nor express it...it was a bad thing to happen really..
feb 3rd week,mid sem1:
disaster-thats one way of putting it...i made many crude errors...and after the first four exams i felt devastated...some overwhelming force made those errors for me..and i had never done four exams in a row so badly..was feeling let down...and moreover i was studying alone and the solitude about my room did hurt me a lot...i did reasonably well in the other two exams to acquire a sense of relief..
feb 4th week:
mid sems results came and i was filled with relief as i had done physics and my dept exam actually well comparing my fellow mates...so damage done only to the other two of the four exams i had thought i did badly...some consolation in the end and my mind was beginning to feel relaxed...i also bought a comp during the course of this week..served as a distraction as well as reduced my anxiety...
feb28-march2:
Amalgam finally took place...i had also become an event coord for jaagruthi(a school students awareness programme)and i had to conduct a cluedo event for them...hurriedly prepared a question paper the previous night of the event and got it bulk printed with the help of my classmates(they helped a lot)...and the event was pretty good...i conducted it as smoothly as i could and received some compliments from some of the audiences(that was nice...that was the second time i got such compliments and first in my college)..the event had a prelims and a final..prelims was written and in the finals the participants had to play the board game of cluedo...
Our EP work was a reasonable success as totally close to 200 people turned up for amalgam...our boss was happy with our work...
there was this SoME(analogous to shaastra's SOE)and they did produce a tank of non newtonian fluid..it was fun to play with it...they also created a solar powered bicycle...nice work really...
so overall amalgam was a nice experience...and served up a good weekend..
march beginning:
worst part of the semester...depressed due to the sudden wave of solitude..was missing most of my friends..for long my comp was my only companion...
march 2nd week,mid sem2:
pulled off well this time...the work that had gone into it showed..finally full relief..
april beginning:
solitude was still there..but i was not disappointed as i was in march...saw a lot of movies(alone this time around)...hammered myself into my room...and also managed to become a coord for shaastra 09(ya...luck involved for sure...agree)..
april end,end sem:
the most anticipated time of the year...i wanted to fight harder this time around than i did the last time... wanted to put up a reasonably better show...did well in my dept course,math and ee...not so well in cs and phy...so..overall it was an "ok" feel...it all came down to chemistry
the day before:
after math exam i had lunch and returned to the room...somehow i slept and bathed and read(newspapers)my time till about 7 in the night...then had dinner...had a chat with friends..(as usual these people belonged to the RG gang...so obviously they boosted me for no reason)..i finally started chemistry at 9 in the night(most people had almost finished half the portions by then)..i read and read and read and finally finished organic by 2 in the night...then had some snacks to quell my hunger..then started inorganic...it was close to day break and still i hadnt completed one important portion of it...it was 4 45 by my watch...i gave up and slept the next two hours...
the morning:
i woke up to a very sunny day clouded by a fog(actually it was a fog in my mind...everything seemed to be covered in a whitish cloud)...went to the mess and had one big gulp of hot coffee(took a lot more than usual)...by the time i reached the exam hall the fog had partially disappeared...but then my brain was refusing to think...refusing to think of anything at all...it was just blank...it wanted to be blank...and then deep down a fear rose within me whether i would even pass this exam...coz my brain just wouldnt think...the paper was given...for the first fifteen mins i was dizzy...i hadnt cracked any of the questions..got no momentum going in my favour and i couldnt think sequentially...but luckily i didnt panic and the dizzyness slowly went off...and luck again(rather divine intervention, thats more i like it)no tough question had been asked from the portion i had omitted to read the previous night...did the exam reasonably well..
came back to the room..downloaded a lot of movies...packed my belongings...slept a little...and looked forward to three months of rest, of holidays, of sheer relaxation....
and there ends my first year at iitm....a memorable one...looking forward to more memorable experiences and thought-filled years..
cheers,
