Monday, February 4, 2008
9 Things I Hate About Everyone
1. People who point at their wrist asking for the time... I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?
2. People who are willing to get off their a** to search the entire room for the TV remote because they refuse to walk to the TV and change the channel manually.
3. When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". Damn Right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?
4. When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they?
5. When people say while watching a film, "did ya see that?" No Loser, I paid 50 bucks to come to the cinema and stare at the damn floor!
6. People who ask "Can I ask you a question?"... Didn't give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?
7. When something is 'new and improved'. Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, couldn't be new.
8. When people say "life is short". What the hell??? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever does!!! What can you do thats longer?
9. When they resist deliberately to comment here .
NOTE : In the second part of the prelude. I lied. ;)
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Yeh dil mange more :)
HEADLINES : Common Entrance Tests cancelled for the current academic year.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Taare Zameen Par - Aamir puts SRK in shame, big time
Who can't relate with Taare Zameen Par's eight-year-old protagonist Ishaan Awasthi who can't get his head around his studies? Be it words or numbers, he struggles to make sense of them, falling way behind his classmates, much to the frustration of his teachers and his parents.
Naturally, it doesn't help that his elder brother is a class topper and a tennis champ to boot. Ishaan meanwhile, is a dreamer who's fascinated with little fish, and spends most days punished outside class letting his imagination run riot. At home, he's mixing colours, painting away instead of doing his homework.
Convinced that some strict discipline will straighten him out, Ishaan's father packs him off to a boarding school, much against both his wife and Ishaan's wishes. Unable to deal with this betrayal, Ishaan goes into a shell at his new school, not only failing to show any improvement in his academics, but also no longer inspired to paint. When substitute art teacher, Ram Shankar Nikumbh, recognizes in him all the symptoms of dyslexia, he takes it upon himself to help Ishaan.

First educating his parents about his condition, then urging the school's principal to give the boy more time to catch up, Nikumbh devises unconventional methods to teach the boy, and succeeds eventually in changing his life forever. There should be no doubt whatsoever in anybody's mind after watching Taare Zameen Par that the real hero of this film is its remarkable, rooted, rock-solid script which provides the landscape for such an emotionally engaging, heart-warming experience.
Between the writer and director, they construct some of the most memorable moments you're likely to come across on screen. Take that simple one that illustrates the everydayness of a schoolboy's life - the one in which we see Ishaan biding his time, punished outside class, moon-walking in the corridor and burping away enthusiastically. Or that heart-wrenching scene in which Ishaan's mother discovers a flip-book he made which reveals just how vulnerable he's been feeling.
It's not just the little moments that stay with you, but also the film's crucial scenes, which are handled with such rare maturity. "Meeri maa.." song and the "3 into 9" sequence for example. :)
And then there's that other scene which I consider the most important in the film - the one in which Nikumbh visits Ishaan's home and explains to his parents what exactly is the problem with their son, and how they may have damaged his confidence even further - it's a poignant and delicate scene because Nikumbh is at once confrontational, admonishing, comforting and hopeful, and it works also because it's performed so instinctively by Aamir and the actor playing Ishaan's father.
Lest you be mistaken, let me make it clear that although it's centred around a dyslexic protagonist, Taare Zameen Par is not a film about dyslexia. Nor is it a film about any disease or disorder. It's a film about parents and children, about the pressures we put on our kids, about how we push them into becoming assembly-line products instead of encouraging them to find their own unique strengths. It's also about finding our heroes.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Peter Boys and Mary girls!! - Gotha thirunthunga da!!
But I cannot tolerate the vetti scene people put up. Both guys and gals, in their own ways.
"Machi Gilli padathula Appadi Podu pattu super da, Vidyasagar kuththi eduthutaan!"-nu pesikittu irukkara naayi, oru figure kurukkala nadantha udaney, "Mayn have u checked out Eminem and Linkin Park? They just rock dood! Tamil songs are just stooopid"-nu yaen Peter vidanum?
Idhu varaikkum class-ey attend pannatha naathaari, azhagaana ponnu vandha "What did our prof cover in class yest?"-nu yaen scene-a podanum?Sila pasangalukku English rathathula oorinathu. Adha onnum panna mudiyaathu. Idhunga ellam "Hey dude wassup" case-unga. Adhunga kitta standard reply "Yo maan, cool" appadina mooditu poiduvaanunga. Adha thavira kai-la sila fingers-a random-a madichu appappo moonjikku munnadi neetikinae irupaanga. (see the picture below) Kannu eppo kuththuvaanga-nu bayamavey irukkum. For safety purposes idhunga kitterunthu thalli irukkarthu nallathu. But idhunga ok, ivanga ellam Thamizh pesaama irukkarthu dhaan nallathu.

Pesarthu dhaan pesareenga, ozhuna pesa varuma? Adhuvum illa. Ponnu kitta poi propose pannu da-na, "I wanna make love with you"-nu sonna seruppala dhaan adippa. Appadi varaatha baashai-a verum scene kaaga yaen kadichu kotharanam? Therinja baashai-a ozhunga pesalaamey?
Seri ippo pasanga over, ponnunga...
Indha Shakespeare-oda family tree-a aarayanum. Mukkalvaasi ponnunga direct descendants of Shakespeare. Atleast college days-la appadi dhaan sollipaanga. Oru class-la 20 gals irundha, adhula 15 paer indha category-la dhaan irupaanga (Adiyen sollrathu ellame Chennai matrum sutrupurathil irukkum ponnungaluku matum, enga college ponnugaluku suttu potalum Peter vida theriadu. Apdiye avanga try pannalum ketta comedya irukkum. Thaikulangal mannikkavum!! ).
Indha maadhiri mukkal vaasi paeru English-laye pesikinu thollai pannara idathula sila nallavangalum irupaanga. Pasangal-la example - saakshaath naaney dhaan :-) Ponnungal-la examples - en blog padikkara ella gals-umae!! (Nalla gavaninga!! Puthu varusham porakka pora samayam adhuvuma enna sabikkatheenga!!)Naan English-ey koodathu-nu solla varala. Infact sila English words-laam saadharname pesrapovey varum. Paarunga..Infact, English, words..ellamae English :-)

En kitta pesara payyana irundhaalum seri, ponna irundhaalum seri over-a English-la pesina naera thitti vittiduvaen. Ellarum adhaye follow pannunga :-)
Ellarum inimae namma Captain paecha kaettu ozhungu mariyaathai-a Damil-la pesunga :-)
Ellarukkum advaaaaaaaaaaaance New year wishes.. Intha varshathula iruntachum, Peter boys and Mary girls thirunthunga!!!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Om Shanthi Om - Pointless!!
I had to break the 'for-heaven's-sake-no-hindi-movies' pact that I made after watching few really,really,really boring crap (like Fida-KANK-Bunty aur babli etc.) as I surprisingly 'wanted' to watch Om Shanhi Om.Even now I coudn attribute any particular reason for that odd intuition ;-) . And I did watch it last weekend.
Let's get it straight - Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om is nothing more than an escapist masala film, albeit one that is faring better than Sanjay Leela Bhansali's arty flick, Saawariya, at the box office.What does work in OSO's favour is, the casting. SRK, "talented" newcomer Padukone. Also, the film teems with over 654358 Bollywood stars.
The story, set in the '70s when sideburns and bouffant hairdos were the rage, starts with Om (SRK) and his friend Pappu (Talpade). Both are aspiring actors who can't get beyond landing two-bit roles. However, Om is an optimist who lives by a quote from The Alchemist: "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it …" . Not only Om but every other character on the big screen utters this thing atleast a hazaar times. Booooring..

And while he dreams of becoming a megastar, unlike his mother (Kher) and late dad, who never went further than doing bit roles, he falls in love with a top-notch actress called Shantipriya (Padukone) . They strike up a friendship after Om rescues her during a stunt gone horribly wrong. Just as Om starts making plans to spend his future with Shantipriya, he learns she is secretly married to film producer Mukesh Mehra, who is planning to marry the daughter of a wealthy filmmaker to gain the funds needed for his next film.When Mukesh realises Shantipriya won't keep quiet about their relationship he takes deadly measures to silence her. Unfortunately, Om dies in the pursuit of saving her.
Thirty years later, Om, reborn as the son of iconic actor Rajesh Kapoor on the same night he died, is living the life he yearned for. However, memories of his past life resurface when Mukhesh returns to do a film with him.And so the story comes full circle as Om decides to avenge the death of Shantipriya by hiring a look-alike to scare Mukhesh into confessing his crime.
The acting part was good. SRK differentiated '70s Om and '07 Om with ease. But my eyes were hooked up with Deepika Padukone. Ithu sema hot machi!!. She was hot, beautiful, elegant and taller than SRK. People were so excited about SRKs six-pack abs. I din have time to notice that as I was engrossed with Padukone's abs. It couldve been more elegant. Kirron Kher's acting was crap. No point in reviewing it. Arjun rampal and Talpade were suave in their performances.
I don know who wrote the dialogues. But avan mattum kaila kedaikatum. Mavane seththa di nee. It was soooooo poor. It was soo boring to hear some cliched dialogues again and again and again in a single movie(eg. "picture abhi bakhi hai mere dost" / that alchemist thing ) It was torturing to see, rather hear the same dialogues from the first half in the second half of the movie. Whatever SRK spoke in the first half, Deepika would say that after intermission. What the fish!! :-)
There are many things that Id like to appreciate and blast about this movie. But that would make this post so big. So here we go.
Shottu
* There is the picturisation of the second song Dhoom Tana wherein we got to see Rajesh Khanna, Jeetendra romancing with Deepika (thanks to special effects), and the
magical fairy talelish song Main Agar Kahoon.
* The awesome sets and costumes, which take you through the nostalgic 70s.
* The Filmfare award sequence - Sema.
* Deepika
* Deepika
* Deepika
* and more Deepika ;-)
Kottu
*Lack of chemistry between SRK and Deepika. There was absolutely no love angle between their characters. The half saw SRK in love, while the second half was a
disaster in this department.
*Badly etched Kirron Kher's character
* Farah's sloppy screenplay in the second half.
* Although my favorite song before watching the movie was Deewangee, I thought it was a bit way too stretched in the movie. It was almost like what 60 min song ?? it
went on and on.
* Story?? Whats story??
* Dialogues... sathyama avan saavu en kailathan...
Having said that, there is no doubt that this movie is going to make loads of money, which is good for many people in this industry. If you are a SRK fan, you'll love the movie. If you are an Aamir Khan fan, you'll love to thrash the movie big time. Im a fan of neither, so , yes its a 3 hour roller coaster, 3 hour circus..blah blah blah. whatever.... This movie is the one which keeps you entertained for the entire stretch but then when you realise its pointless in making and watching such movies , you'll start repenting for spending 100 bucks for it.
OSO - (partly) S.O.S.!!
Afterword : I now realise its pointless in reviewing a pointless movie.. what a sad!! And im back to 'for-heaven's-sake-no-hindi-movies' pact :-)
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
'Figures' On Wheels
Senseless. This is just one apt word to describe the way women drive. It is just a question of how this senselessness is achieved.
The mention of rash driving conjures up images of men in super fast bikes (minus the silencer). Why women get this "angely" image is what baffles me. The way some of them drive leaves you in awe - poraanga da Valentino Rossi paeththi. [Requested not drill into details like if Rossi really has paeththi. Certain assumptions have been made considering that he is the only MotoGP racer I know of.] Speed is fine as long as you have the control - proper reflexes are of utmost importance. This is invariably lacking for reasons unknown.
This is coupled by their "All's mine" attitude. The entire stretch of tar is completely at their disposal.
* Press accelarator and you move forward.
This is a checklist and they make sure they adhere to it. In short, it's their appan veettu roadu.
As if this were not enough, you get to witness more [no double meaning intended]. The "accessories" which they sport while driving a vehicle. Some wear a dust filter mask or whatever. Protection from pollutants, fine enough. Some others mask their face with their dupattas in such a fashion that they look like Afghans. And there are others, Aravind Swamy's cousin sisters, who wear a long white glove to avoid their skin from getting tanned. Kaathotam-a irukkanum-nu sleeveless onnu poattu, karuththuda koodathu-nu maela oru glove. Ithellam oru polappa??
Have you seen the face of a person when he gets out of the car after teaching a lady how to drive? Well, if you have, then you would agree with me :)
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Ramayan @ 2067
But Dude, the forest was reeeeal scary shit... really man...they had monkeys and devils and shit like that.But this dude, Ram, kicked with darts and bows and arrows... so it was fine.But then some bad gangsta boys, some jerk called Ravan, picks up his babe(Sita) and lures her away to his hood. And, boy, was our man, and also his bro,Laxman, pissed..... all the gods were with him... So anyways, you don't mess withgods. So, Ram, and his bro get an army of monkeys.. Dude, don't ask me how they trained the damn monkeys... just go along with me, ok...
So, Ram, Lax and their monkeys whip this gangsta's assin his own hood. Anyways, by this time, their time's up in the forest..and anyways...it gets kinda boring,you know... no TV or malls or shit like that. So,they decided to hitch a ride back home...and when the people realize that our dude, his bro and the wife are back home... they thought, well, you know, at least they deserve something nice... and they didn't have any bars or clubs in those days... so they couldn't take them out for a drink, so they, like, decided to smoke and shit...and since they also had some lamps, they lit the lamps also...so it was pretty cooool... you know with all those fireworks...Really, they even had some local band play along with the fireworks...and you know, what, dude, that was the very first, no kidding.., that was the very first music-synchronized fireworks... you know, like the 4th of July stuff, but just, more cooler and stuff,you know... Thats it dude.. Ramayan is over and Mahabharath.. lemme think..dude thats another long story.are you gonna spend time on some stories that never even hapened?? To make it easier just change the lead role it Krishnan here.. And btw both Ram and Krish are avatars of Lord Vishnu.. and later during the early 2004 or something Hrithik roshan was Krish and made a lot of money.. thats it buddy lets hang out somewhere..."