Drishyam, Mollywood, movie myths dispelled and other random thoughts

Forgive me if this sounds patronising but it definitely is not meant to be.  I'd always heard that the market for Malayalam movies was not big (monetarily) and so I'd imagined that their movie budgets would be low (discounting for the star salaries) resulting in poor production values. Not true.

I was also under the impression that Mollywood either churned out loud, trashy, nonsensical films or boring, arthouse flicks. Not true. 

A 165 minute thriller. With just 2 songs. A second half which is significantly longer than the first. An overall lazy and languid style of film-making. It just wouldn't work for me. Not true.

Meditative silences randomly interspersed with long, dramatic monologues characteristic of  radio shows / TV serials of the 80s (remember them??). How can it succeed? It just did.

Drishyam released in December and ever since, I'd been hearing nothing but rave reviews about the film. It seemed to be one of those rare Malayalam movies that seemed to have won over both the fans and critics in equal measure. Racking up an incredible 50 crore, the movie's success was attributed to the fact that besides connecting with the die-hard Lalettan fans & the important family audience, it pulled in a lot of non-Malayalam speaking crowds outside of Kerala and even abroad. With this as the context, I had been meaning to see the film for quite some time but my only concern was the language barrier. Bangalore does not have a Sathyam cinemas to screen movies with subtitles & so as I dithered and the movie crawled into its 7th week of running, it finally came down to just one 10 am show at PVR, Koramangla....and that's when I heard Kamal was planning to remake it in Tamil with Gautami and Nadia. *shudder* Flashback to Unnaipol Oruvan and A Wednesday *shudder shudder*

My mind was made and I finally saw the movie this week. WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW....Yes, I got only 80-90% of the dialogues and would have loved to see it with people who know the language better but the film absolutely lived up to the hype.

What worked for me:

The script & screenplay: Whoever thought a thriller with strong human drama elements could keep an audience hooked for 165 minutes. Despite the slow pacing, I never found myself getting restless and could hardly wait for the next scene to unfold and the story to move forward. The twists were logical and the attention to detail was meticulous. The only complaint I had was the excessive amount of explanatory scenes but I guess that's a compromise the director had to make the film more accessible.

Camera-work: Sujith Vasudev's cinematography was top notch and the very first scene shot inside a rickety local bus itself was an apt pre-cursor of things to follow. Lovingly mounted shots of life in small town Kerala and some innovative framing (angles, lighting) techniques made this movie a soothing sight for tired eyes.

Characterisation: Every single character was very well fleshed out and they stayed in my mind long after the movie ended. While you can never justify why some of them reacted/behaved the way they did, you could understand their motivations for doing so and that was where the writer won. There was no clear but overly simmplistic black or white, there was grey and various hues and shades of the colour.

The casting & performances: I'm not familiar with the works of most of the supporting cast but there wasn't a a single over-the-top or off-note performance from anyone in the cast. The supporting actors be it the rich industrialist (Siddique) or his IG wife (Asha Sarath), the in-laws (Sreekumar and Shobha Mohan) of the hero or even his two young daughters (Aansiba and Baby Ester) were consistently brilliant as were the canteen owner & the office assistant. Meena as Rani George is quietly competent but the show-stealers are Mohanlal as Georgekutty (another chameleonic act) and Kalabhavan Shajon as the lead antagonist Sahadevan. These two alone are reason enough to merit a repeat watch.

The direction: All things aside, the real hero of the film is the man at the helm, Jeethu Joseph. This film is ample proof that we have in our midst, a man with genuine story-telling prowess, one with exceptional control over his craft and an ability to keep us engaged without any needless gimmicks.

A movie as successful as this cannot be without its share of controversies and I am not talking about the plagiarism part here. There has been an incredible amount of heated arguments and internet chatter on the propriety of Georgekutty's actions but here is how I see it

There is always a correct/right (legally of course) way of handling a problem or a crisis and then there are other ways. What Drishyam does not DO is take a firm stance in one side or even justify the choice its protagonist makes. Different people put in the same spot might react differently and since the movie is a work of fiction, the director just makes a choice on which route Georgekutty takes. They say "Art imitates life and vice versa" but it would be ridiculous to blame the director for propogating the view that it is fine to take the law in one's hands as long as the ends justify the means.

I've never ever tried to put myself in the shoes of a fictional character and decide at a moral crossroads but if I had to, I swear I would have done exactly the same (or even more) as what Georgekutty does. Parenthood sure does strange things to you !!!

Final words: This is a must-not-miss movie. I could not give it a more ringing endorsement than what I have hopefully done above. Catch it in a theatre asap before you miss out

Oscars 2014 - a roundup

Come Feb/Mar, it is the Oscars season and I try and watch as many of the nominated movies in theatres as possible. Of course, I've already seen few of them through 'other sources' but if you're eager to catch up with these flicks, now is the time to do so as studios typically try to cash in on the Oscar Buzz and release these films in Indian halls. This year has been really good with virtually all the interesting films being screened, including off-beat ones like Nebraska, August: Osage County, Inside Llwelyn Davis and Saving Mr. Banks.

Here are my quick thoughts on some of the films that I've managed to see and some of those I've deliberately given a skip

American Hustle: I enjoyed this film, really did but cannot for the life of me fathom how it could get 10 Oscar nominations. This is commercial, mainstream, fun cinema. I thought it was as entertaining as the Ocean's Trilogy. Almost. Still, doesn't take away the splendid performances. I loved Silver Linings Playbook as a novel and was quite disappointed by the movie version. Obviously, I wasn't particularly thrilled by Jennifer Lawrence's win last year but she's the current Hollywood darling and its not dificult to see why. She's a hoot as the completely cuckoo Rosalyn and is reason enough to pay Rs 220 at PVR to watch the movie. Jeremy Renner is good too as is the incredible Christian Bale whose physical transformation to play this role almost had me gasping for breath. Go for it. 

Captain Phillips & Gravity: I've already covered these in brief here

Her: Spike Jonze’s  movies are usually bizarre. His collaboration with that genius Charlie Kauffman (whom I finally "got" thanks to Eternal Sunshine) gave us the universally acclaimed Being John Malkovich and the delicious Adaptation neither of which were particularly liked by me when I first saw them.....and then, Where the Wild Things Are happened. This was a brilliant and hugely under-rated (73% at RT, you've got to be kidding me) film that actually worked for me the second time I saw it. And so, when I first heard about the idea / concept of Her, I was utterly, intrigued. This coupled with a starcast of Rooney Mara, Amy Adams (ok, there is Joaquin Phoenix also but he's actually good here) meant that I HAD to see this one.  Sweet, funny, soul-stirring, insightful, even melancholic in parts, this is a fantastic film. It is actually genre bending and a must-see for people

The Wolf of Wall Street: Finally a 3 hr Hollywood movie with no song and dance which actually justified its running time. Completely entertaining though I do wish I had seen it in the hall..but then, I wasn't sure if I would or would not be bleeped out. Leo will get his Oscar one day just like Scorcese did but it will be a real pity if he gets it for a not-so-deserving film in the end.

Dallas Buyers club: Not really my kinda film as I tend to stay clear of biographical dramas. I am going to get a lot of flak but I really used to like Matthew McConaughey in his braind-dead rom coms (read: How to lose a guy in 10 days, The Wedding Planner etc) that I am loathe to see him in this new avatar. I've been meaning to catch up with Mud for a long time now but from what I hear, he's awesome in Dallas Buyers Club and with True Detective also in his kitty, the McConassance is truly gathering steam.

12 years a Slave: Lincoln bored the hell outta me last year and if I don't know much about heavy, historical subjects like this, not sure I will care much for this film so skipped this one. If i still have to see a film on slavery, I'd rather revisit Django :-) 

Side comments:

• I USED to like Meryl Streep. For one, she could act (18 nominations and counting) and she had genuine screen presence...and I absolutely adored her in The Devil Wears Prada for which she deserved an Oscar....but then I saw Doubt, Julie & Julia and caught parts of The Iron Lady. Jeeeeeeeeeeez. This woman is like the Major Sundarrajan of Hollywood. She can still ACT but she is always the same Meryl Streep. She KNOWS she can act and there are scenes which scream out 'Hey watch me ACT"....and, as my mom recently observed, if you go back and watch her old films like Kramer vs. Kramer or Bridges of Madison County, she's been doing it for ages. I just cannot stand her now.

• Cate Blanchett won Best Actress for Blue Jasmine. She was the clear favourite by a country mile and won comfortably in the end and all the critics were happy that their prediction came true. Except that there was nothing extra-ordinary about the performance. I'm not dissing it, just saying I've seen similar stuff from Saritha and Rohini in Tamil films and I never heard anyone raving about them. A lot of this for an Oscar?? Just because it is a Woody Allen film, do people need to go so overboard?? Uffffffffffff

I'm usually not enamoured by the acting honours and tend to focus on the Best Picture and Best Screenplay (Adapted and original) categories but this has been a year of sterling, breakthrough performances by relatively new faces so do give some of the above movies a dekho.

Tamil film music - Light at the end of the tunnel

If you, like me, have been frustrated with the general quality of Tamil film music over the last couple of years and the lack of fresh talent, here is some good news for you. There are a couple of really stand-out composers in the scene and these two 30-something talents look like they are very much there to stay....Wait to know more about who I am talking about.

With YSR finding 'new' religion and thankfully sparing us of his Thamizh kolais, Harris Jayaraj continuing to create templatised music that sounds good for 2 months and then completely fades away, Anirudh rehashing idli maaavu to create dosa and uthappam already in his short 4-5 movie innings, DSP continuing to be DSP and Imaan refusing to let go of his 80s Ilayaraja hangover, TFM buffs have been starved of genuinely new material. Enter Ghibran and Santhosh Narayanan from Coimbatore and Trichy respectively :)

I've already waxed lyrical of Ghibran and how much I loved the score in Vaagai Sooda Vaa and Naiyandi. Of course, Vatthikuchi was what brought him firmly to the limelight but my personal favourite amongst his efforts is Thirumanam Ennun Nikah. His ability to take a classical raga and then create commercial magic out of it is what makes me really look forward to his next 2 efforts, Viswaroopam 2 and Uthama Villain. As long as he doesn't get Kamal to sing much in these films, he's got me waiting with bated breath. If you've still not heard about this guy or his music, sample this, this and this - these are my personal favourites currently.

‎Santhosh Narayanan has been another gem I managed to chance upon thanks to Karthik here. First off, I must confess that I did NOT like Attakathi (the film) one bit which meant I wasn't open/willing to take away any positives from the film  - it didn't help that the Aadi Pona Aavani song which was all over the airwaves absolutely drove me nuts. Since then, I've had a chance to revisit the album a few times over and even I cannot deny that it heralded the return of Gaana as a cool genre and gave us that man, Bala. Pizza had an excellent score but it was with Soodhu Kavvum that Santhosh blew me away. The album was a quirky mix of rock, trance, rap and even techno fusion elements & his choice of unknown (to me atleast) singers to deliver this rollicking sound track was a brilliant move - absolutely mad, zany music that had me oooohing and aaaahing. Come Na, Mama Douser and Kaasu Panam attained cult status and ensured that the world sat up and waited for his next....and then came Jigarthanda. This one will divide people straight down the middle - you'll either looooooooooove it or hatttttttttttttttte it. No prizes for guessing which camp I belong to.

I've never been a fan of the logic that music has to be judged in the context of where it fits in the movie. If you're releasing a full fledged album and I pay hard-earned money for it, I want to enjoy it stand-alone. Period. (This is where ARR's Highway failed but I digress). Having heard so much already about Jigarthanda being an urban gangster film, I was keen to see how Santhosh would treat this and boy, does he deliver. The effort is as good as Pudhupettai which is the Holy Grail in this genre and Jigarthanda feels more of an OST than a regular album. Each track is stand-alone wowwwww, unique and feels like nothing I've heard before which is saying a lot. I'm not able to put a finger and tell you exactly why this is awesome but awesome it is. Its just been a couple of listens and the tracks do grow on you.

PS: Technically, Cuckoo came before Jigarthanda but I've not listened to it much so more on it later.

Summer clearout at the Emirates

John W Henry was right... what are they smoking at the Emirates?

Piers Morgan is damn right... How on earth can we give Wenger ANOTHER contract extension? What has he done to deserve it?  What are his KRAs?

Anyway, this is EXACTLY what we need to do this summer

Extend

·         Get Rosicky and Sagna to extend their contracts - promise them WENGER will be OUT. 

In

·         Cover for Right back Sagna – Jenkinson is just not got enough. Budget options like Martin Montoya (who will anyway sign on at Barca) are not the solution. Get bloody Toby Alderweireld who is languishing in the bench at Atletico Madrid (though we could have got him for far cheaper last summer) – he can also play centre back or pay good money and get Seamus Coleman.

·         Defensive midfielder – pay a huge signing on fee and get Blaise Matuidi N-O-W....or get Marouane Fellaini - he can do what he used to do at Everton effectively for us (forget what that clown Moyes is trying to do with him at United)

·         Creative / Attacking midfielder – Clement Grenier would come cheap but if you need a winning mentality, go for Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan or Lucas Moura

·         A 15 goals a season striker – Balotelli wouldn’t be bad but we should also consider Mario Mandzukic or Edin Dzeko

·         Second support striker –– we need 4 strikers for a campaign and since we’ll be letting Bendtner go, we should look at the experienced Lavezzi from PSG or make a play for Javier Hernandez both of whom will offer something different.

Out

·         Arsene Wenger – persuade Joachim Low to break his contract with Germany or get Antonio Conte

·         Mikel Arteta – he was a quick fix signing but he has only 1 year left at the end of this season. He is slow, ponderous and cannot play DMF.

·         Abou Diaby – surely with his injury record, there is some way we can legally terminate his contract. He’s just been sitting and eating our money.

·         Johan Djourou – buy his last year of contract and release him

·         Ryo Miyaiichi – selling shirts in Japan is not enough, he is not good enough to play for Arsenal or even any team in the Premier League

·         Park Chu Young – I will pay for his contract termination, just get him out to anywhere

Release

·         Bendtner – enough is enough.

Traveling - BAH !!! I hate it (or do I?)

Wait, that didn't come out right so let me explain. I mean, I actually like visiting new places, experiencing a new culture, meeting different people (ok, that is a little bit of a stretch) and indulging in the odd adventurous pursuit but I absolutely detest the means to reach this end. I hate the actual traveling in planes/trains/buses etc to get there. Why, you might ask. For one, I like my precious sleep and despite being reasonably good in coping with jet-lag, I still don't make enough money to travel in anything other than cattle-class and I am still to come across any airline which has made the penny-pinching 6 ft plus Economy class traveler comfortable on a journey longer than 5 hours. Not to mention the godawful food where I never seem to learn my lessons. Asian Veg meals has to be the absolutely worst choice one can make in flights be it BA, Emirates, Lufthansa or Qatar....but all this I can't control so what is the point of complaining.

One thing which is very much in my own hands is what I choose to watch in the in-flight entertainment and that is precisely the topic of my rant for this post. How many of you feel increasingly overwhelmed with the amount of choice available these days? Makes one wish we could go back to the days of Henry Ford and Model T, right !!! Anyway, given that one could choose between Movies, Music, TV Shows, Audio books and what not, I find myself increasingly spending a lot of time just surfing through all the choices without ever settling down to anything specific.

Music soothes my nerves for sometime but pretty soon I get bored. Music is also not an option where you can move seamlessly from Jazz to Pop and then Classical. One needs to get into the "zone" and I seem to suffer from serous attention deficit issues. Audio books are interesting for about 15 mts after which the drone of the voice-over puts me to sleep.

TV shows are a mixed bag - the really popular ones like How I Met, The Newsroom you've probably seen all the episodes multiple times but if you're like me, trying to check out a new series, the problem is that the choices are limited to late seasons and mid season episodes which really mean you cannot try something from a logical start point. That leaves me with just movies.

I try and avoid all those movies that I've already downloaded but not watched because I always tell myself I am going to find the time SOMEDAY to see them at home anyway. The big summer blockbusters always look poor on a small screen and the olden classics are mostly for insomniacs. I then look at the time available before the next meal and also plan my sleep accordingly so I end up having 3 hrs of time to kill. This usually lends itself to 1 full fledged movie and probably 1 shorter flick. The genres therefore become automatic picks - a drama and probably a rom-com/

Coming to the current trip, Bangalore to Frankfurt kick-started with Ridley Scott's The Counselor. The movie is ample proof that having A list stars and a top notch director still dos not guarantee that the movie will be time-pass. I can't remember the last movie which made me feel "What the H&^% just happened" as the end credits rolled out and I dashed off to Wikipedia to see if I had indeed "got the movie" :-( The only saving grace - Penelope Cruz and her accent....sigh....Btw, for the prudish amongst you lot, skip the first 10 mts of the movie... quite saucy n racy, eh ;-)

The second film I checked out was Enough Said. I love James Gandolfini and though I have reservations with Julia Louis Dreyfus (thanks to Veep), I took a chance and I wasn't disappointed. Nice, simple story very well enacted. Just the kind of fare you'd pick for a flight.

Having never missed a bus/train/flight in my life (a la Kareena Kapoor in Jab We Met), I always plan my trips such that I have ample layovers in transit. With 4 hours to kill in Frankfurt before boarding my 2nd leg to New York, I set about exploring the shopping scene. My My. I've been through Munich and Hamburg before and I've experienced first hand German efficiency but nothing prepares you for the pure functional effectiveness of Frankfurt. The airport has no personality - it is business-like and does what it is supposed to do. Put people in planes with little fuss. Period. Needless to say, the shopping expedition was fruitless.

Boarding the 747-400 onwards to Newark, I quickly found my bearings in one of the middle seats of the centre 4 seater (I dont bother checking in 23 hrs in advance to get the right seat - cattle class is cattle class wherever you sit) and switched on the TV monitor.

My first pick for the afternoon was Rush. I had been meaning to watch Ron Howard's much acclaimed retelling of the 1976 F1 Season in big screen but never got around to doing it. Thank god I finally caught up with this one. SHEER MAGIC. Nothing I say here has probably not been said before but Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl (I loved the latter) are spell-binding in their respective roles and Hans Zimmer's pulsating rock score and Anthony Mantle's outstanding cinematography (you can literally feel the adrenalin) add that extra vigour/zing to proceedings.

The second pick for the journey was Krish 3 but I could not make it past 10 mts so ended up sleeping for 4 hrs continuously :-)

Coming up for the return legs: Prisoner, About Time, Malavita and/or Runner Runner (I know)

William, Sherlock, Scott, Holmes

The wait was intolerable so I did what I had resisted all along. Got the episode from the net and watched it in one sitting from 1130pm yesterday night... and I must admit, I had mixed feelings at the end.

Yet another season is over and Gatiss/Moffat are notoriously lazy so the wait for S4 is bound to be another torturous one. Coming to The Last Vow itself, the first hour was brilliant but the conclusion left me a tad disappointed....and the post credits shock/surprise did not really get me all revved up too. Mary's character arc moved exactly in the direction I guessed it would, Mycroft was brilliant as usual & Molly became a little more interesting. Benedict Cumberbatch continued to scale dizzying heights & I am now seriously tempted to check out some of his movies (his choice of roles are ALL in genres I absolutely loathe - 12 Years a slave / August: Osage County - boring Oscar drama, The Hobbit - Fantasy, Star Trek - Sci-fi, The Fifth estate - biopic) but the most magical thing about the episode was this pearly gem (slight spoiler alert) "“The problems of your past are your business. The problems of your future are my privilege”

So, how was Season 3 overall, you ask !!! There has been a lot of negative reaction to the first 2 episodes but this is how I look at it.

The Last Vow was like the last 2-3 overs of a T20 chase with all its thrills and chills, The Sign of Three was like the 1st innings and early + mid part of the 2nd innings of the match with all the patient build-up and setting up of the launchpad while the The Empty Hearse was like the precursor to the match with all the cheer girls and dancing and general fun.

When you buy a ticket for the match, you've got to go through all 3 stages to experience the whole entertainment package.

PS: The title of this blog post is another LOL moment in the episode. Sparkling dialogues, I say.

172 mts I am never going to get back in my life...sigh....

Christopher Nolan is a phenomenon. He is what I would call a once-in-a-lifetime director, someone who comes along and absolutely shakes the way you look at the movies ever after.

Memento established him as a director to watch out for, the Batman trilogy expanded his fan base multi-fold and Inception probably ranks very high in a lot of critics' All time top 10 lists  but if I were to be forced to pick my personal favourite amongst his works, it would have to The Prestige.

Yeah, for a first time effort Following is mind-blowing (if you've not seen it yet, go online and order it ASAP from the US/UK) ) but the Prestige still edges it for me. You could say he had great source  material from Christopher Priest's award-winning 1995  novel but it still takes a master to translate that magic to the screen. The complexity of the rivalry, the insecurity of the 2 principal characters, their dreams & obsessions were all brought out so brilliantly. The casting was purrrfect, the art direction was memorable and the movie was a masterpiece.... which brings us to Dhoom 3.

• 250 crores and still counting. WHAT THE F*&^ !!!!!
• If the moolah raked in is any indication of the average Indian cinegoer's "changing" tastes, I am OFF movies for another 10 years.
• Everyone and anyone at Yash Raj should hang their heads in shame for making this monstrosity.
• When the whole world rubbished Tashan, I was one of the few people who actually had some kind words to say of Vijay Krishna Acharya. Now I wish he had vanished from the face of earth after the debacle of his debut.
• Aamir Khan was always a scheming, manipulative superstar ever willing to come out and launch a charm offensive when he wanted something of us - our money of course - without ever coming back to apologise when some of his duds left us feeling nauseated (read: Ishq, Mann, Mela, Mangal Pandey, Dhobi Ghat). Lightning has struck again. Horrible is an understatement to describe his performance here but again he gets away with it.
• Just 10-15 mts of screen time for Katrina Kaif? Blasphemy. 
• Pritam's music was godawful.
• ...and the most charitable thing I can say about Abhishek Bachchan was that he was almost as good as Uday Chopra. 

Thank god I read this vitriolic piece - saved me time on the most obvious bashing targets. 

Return of the lone wolf

After a hectic 3 years in the field, returning to India in 2010 had always been a well-planned and carefully thought through decision. The first few months had been tough adjusting back to the hectic pace but then, once we found our feet, it felt great to be back with friends and family.  In the 3 years from 2010 to 2013, thanks to my new role, I’d hardly traveled within the country leave alone tour abroad so when the opportunity to make a quick 2 week trip across 4 cities came earlier this month, I was quite keen to go back in time to revisit old haunting grounds. Come Dec 3^rd, despite having to work till around 5 hrs before I flew out (crib crib), the overwhelming sensation was one of eager anticipation coupled with nostalgia.

Cut to today - It’s been a whirlwind 2 weeks on the road and as my trip winds down, I cannot wait to get back to India. Phew.  All said and done, home is where the heart is.  So what did I miss in these last 2 weeks? On the professional front, I realized how much my regular 9 to 6 routine meant to me and I must confess that I yearned for  the chitchat with my team, having known faces around me at work & the adda sessions during lunch.   On the personal side, it was really tough having to leave India within a week of Dee coming to Bangalore and despite the mild trauma of spending my first week with a full time bawling infant, I missed her.  Besides that, ghar ka khaana was never more appreciated than in these last 2 weeks…..and so here we are.

Highlights of the trip

London

·         Commuting by the tube, reading the free Metro newspaper & then rushing through the turnstiles to walk briskly towards your destination has to be one of the simplest things in life which has given me greatest joy

·         The sumptuous English breakfast at the Copthorne Millennium Hotel at Stamford Bridge – one of the few times I wished I was not pure veg

·         Much as I hate the menu, having Lebanese at the Sheldon Square restaurant Massis with some truly wonderful company on a cold, blustery, winter’s night

·         The festive spirit captured best by the public Christmas lighting – you see it everywhere

·         Riding the 24 mt Heathrow express from Paddington to T5

Reading

·         Working in LB at 185, Kings Road, RG1 4EX….. sigh……

·         Grabbing a (sandwich + drink + crisps)-to-go lunch at Pret a manger and then coffee at Starbucks later in the evening

·         Riding the elevator all the way up to the 1^st floor at Sportsdirect, checking out the Football jerseys and then returning back without buying the latest Arsenal kit (till we win a trophy)

·         Window shopping at the Oracle mall – doesn’t matter if many of my favorite shops have wound down and things have changed a bit, it’s still a magical place

·         Meeting Vinod and his 2 lovely daughters, Shreya & Sonia, at Woodley and feasting on the hot, delicious Poha made by Vasudha…. Manna from heaven !!!

New York

·         Traveling by train from New Brunswick to Pennstation – watching snow soaked landscapes whizzing by

·         The amazing 4 hr walk from Madison Square Garden to the UN complex and then from Central Park to the Empire state building – whoever thought one borough would pack in so much punch

·         Finally living the dream – saw almost all our RCT logos in real -  a Chipotle restaurant, a Macy’s store, a CVS Caremark pharmacy, a Coach and Estee Lauder outlet – a consumer’s paradise. 

·         The super cool FREEEEEEEEEEEE ferry to StatenIsland which affords nice views of the Statue of Liberty

·         Every skyscraper in Manhattan

·         The uniquitous NY Subway

·         The sense of freedom all around

Chicago

·         The most awesome Hotel stay I’ve ever had in a business trip – take a bow Staybridge Suites at Oakbrook Terrace. It’s not posh, it’s not flashy but it’s still awesome. The warmest chef, the kindest reception desk, the absolutely brilliant shuttle driver, the social dinner menu / conversation, the yummiest cheese pizza ever, the mind-blowing muffins, the awesome room, the super-fast Internet…. I could go on…. Do not regret for one bit not staying at the Courtyard…..If only the Chicago weather had been kinder J

The Mundane Times (or) Bits and Bobs, though I suspect I have used this post header once in the past

A day out at the movies

So, I've seen Gravity and yes, it was completely worth the hype. Now, let me go out on a limb and say that it could well figure in my all-time Top 10 list. Yes, it was THAT G-O-O-D. Whoever thought Sandra Bullock could emote so well but the real star of the movie was the special effects. The 3D is completely immersive and non-gimmicky (if you ignore the debris that flies out at you for a few seconds in the 2nd half ) and at 90 odd minutes, the film just about manages to ensure that you don't suffer from a migraine on using the 3D glasses. The first 20 mts of the movie are sheer cinematic magic and IMO, even better than Avatar. Planning to catch it again on IMAX 3D - only hiccup being tickets are priced at 580 apiece. Gulp.

Also managed to watch Captain Phillips over the weekend and coming after the disappointment of Prometheus, it is safe to say that Ridley Scott is back in form. Even though the movie is 2hrs+, the pacing is relentless and after a certain point, I almost felt sea-sick and couldn't wait to see land. Tom Hanks is his usual capable self but the real revelation were the 4 actors who played the Somali pirates in the movie. I understand most of them have little to no acting experience and Barkhad Abdi as Muse was mind-blowing. The movie's biggest triumph is the fact that it went deep down to show the Somalis also as humans living in terrible conditions whose only hope of survival and stability is piracy. I'm a big fan of Paul Greengrass and though I've seen comparisons with the Bourne movies he directed in terms of style, I found this movie more comparable with his brilliant but under-rated United 93.

What's on Telly (not technically in Indian airs)

Breaking Bad has been making waves in the US for the last 5 years but all this time, I was blissfully unaware of it. When it comes to the Emmy's or the Golden Globe, I've tended to look more at Comedy, staying away from Drama (unless I see THAT name - Aaron Sorkin) and so it was till about 6 months ago... when I first heard about this show from my cousin. He's a big fan and watches the episodes streamed directly from the net which, I've got to admit, was something I'd never considered. Here I was, always looking for the nicest (read: good resolution small sized files) downloads from the internet when there was a completely easier option staring at my face... but I digress. Since then I've managed to complete Season 1 in one long day of binge watching and I must confess that the show sure sucked me into its world. Bryan Cranston is unbelievable as Walter White but I'm more a fan of Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman (his voice mail message is a riot). I can't wait to get started on Season 2 and 3 which are already safely down to my HDD.

Meanwhile, I've also got the whole of Season 1 of Veep lined up for a weekend and I'm also downloading The Americans whose Season 1 pilot was quite an entertaining watch.

So much to watch, so little time.

Page turners

William Boyd's SOLO is an interesting novel. For one, it is the official follow-up to Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and the author was handpicked by Fleming's estate to take the series fwd.... of more interest to me was the decision to not set it in a contemporary context it like they have done with the movies but to set it up in the late 1960s in the Cold War days without the cars, cocktails and women :( I'm only 50-60 pages in but its been an interesting read so far. More on it later.

Also have Lee Child's Never Go Back waiting for my time and attention. I was never a fan of the Jack Reacher books and last year's movie did nothing to change my mind. However, there's been a lot of hype around this book and I just wanted to give it one last shot - hope I do not feel the same way as the title.

What else is cooking

Work, work and more work. Not been an easy couple of quarters with pressure at office building up to boiling levels but the holiday season will soon be upon us and with that, there will be a 3-4 week lull with hopes of a brighter tomorrow post the restart. 2014 can't come soon enough.

Talking on the phone to the other half takes a LOT of my time these days. Since Dee is growing up and does enough to entertain herself, the OH seems to have more time on her hands which isn't always a fun thing. Everything in her mind - from redoing our house to make it baby-proof, prepaying our housing loan, immunisation schedules, car servicing - gets discussed in detail and I yearn for the days of peace and quiet when the phone NEVER rang at home :-)

On the contrary, technology enabling greater connectivity does have its plusses too -  I don't really miss Dee growing up as everything she does gets captured on video and uploaded on Youtube or I catch it live on Skype. Cheers, I say. 

Dealing with loss

When you lose someone dear, it is always a very painful blow to take. The usual platitudes of "he's lived a long and fulfilling life" "It's always better to die peacefully than in pain" "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away" all seem (to ME atleast) tired cliches or trite, meaningless statements...so much so that I just switch off.

My default first reaction seems to be one of shock/despair/feeling of emptyness or hollowness and it usually takes me quite sometime to even accept that the loss is permanent. I then seem to always fall into a shell and look back fondly at all the pleasant memories that defined my relationship with the person which invariably ends with me ruing the fact that it will never happen again....and then, the strangest thing happens to me. I rarely cry. I go into full denial mode and become an ostrich - I distract myself with reading, writing, cleaning, walking, anything that will take my mind off the situation at hand for a good 2-3 days. Sometimes, I worry about even this approach. I guess we all have our ways of coping with loss.

Anyway, I'll miss you Maama - outside of immediate family, I think you were one of the few people who was ALWAYS hoping and wishing the best for me and I really valued and cherished that. 

The safest/coolest/best job in India has its greatest day EVER

If you work in the Indian Meteorological Department, YESTERDAY was the best/greatest day you ever had or ever could have. You finally got S-O-M-E-T-H-I-N-G right and what's more important, others (read:: foreign forecasters who slaughtered you on your failure to predict the 2004 Tsunami) got it WRONG. Mr. L.S. Rathore could not have been more smug even if he wanted to.

Woooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooo !!!

Let history remember this day - 13th September, 2013 - as the day we Indians showed we could show the middle finger to Western superpowers !!!

Where are all the critics???

For more fun read here 

Vanakkam Chennai - a vanity project in vain

KU:           “I’m tired of sitting at home and playing socialite wife while you have all the fun”

US:          “What fun???? It’s tough work having to act like a wooden spoon and make Hansika perform like she’s Amy Adams”

KU:         “I don’t care. I want to do masti too.”

US:         “Shall I ask Dad and get you a Lok Sabha seat? If we win and it is hung parliament, you could even become minister like Chiranjevi-gaaru”

KU:         “Naaah, politics bores me. Besides, there is a chance I might actually end up in jail”

US:         “What do you have in mind then?”

KU:         “I wanna be your heroine in your next movie.”

US:         “What !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No da kanne, you’re my real life heroine. Let’s not mix real and reel - they are bad bed-fellows *nudge nudge wink wink* ”

KU:         “So what do you suggest?”

US:         “How about me producing a movie and you can direct it with anyone as hero? Even Rajinikant  !!”

KU:         “Woohooo…thank you…. I loooooooooove that Radio Mirchi Shiva, his mokkai jokes are so so funny… him and Santhanam will be awesome, illa chellam?

…and that, ladies and gentlemen, was how “Vanakkam Chennai” was conceived.  An expensive vanity project, funded by an exasperated husband  for his bored-as-hell, lazy wife.  Sounds familiar – someday we will talk about 3 J

What works:

·         Priya Anand – I have tracked her from her Vaamanan days and she was the best thing in 180 too (besides Sharreth’s music, of course). She’s gone from strength to strength with English Vinglish, Ethir Neechal and now VC and she strikes me as someone with huge amount of potential, almost Vidya Balan-like.  She also happens to be one of the few Tamil heroines I would specifically write a script for (more on that later)

·         Hmmmmm….the gorgeous music but then I already had the songs on repeat mode in my iPad

What doesn’t:

·         Almost everything else

o   I am a sucker for a good rom-com but it’s been ages since I genuinely enjoyed a “routine” film in this genre – I have no problems with the boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl-back storylines except the least I expect is atleast some excitement in the meet-cutes and the making-up process. Here, there is NOTHING. NADA.

o   The story is as old as the hills and it’s probably funny that even this was plagiarized but there is absolutely no excuse for the lack of novelty in story-telling.

o   In VC, the characterizations are stereotyped and weak, the comedy is flat, the song picturisation lacks imagination and goddamnit, the hero looks overweight and the cameraman couldn’t be bothered to hide it – Overall, the entire movie-making crew’s effort seems lazy and I am being very charitable here.

Recommendation:  Watch it at leisure from the comforts of a giant LED TV in your house when it is screened soon on some satellite channel and you might actually not feel bad about the 2.5 hrs gone

Raja Rani - a royal train wreck

Raja Rani has come and gone and also supposedly conquered a lot of hearts (and set the box office ringing) but my experience with the movie was very mixed. Actually, I went through 3 distinctly different phases and what I’ve shared below is not a formal review but more of a tracing my journey with the film.

Part 1: Pre-release

The promos had generated a fair bit of curiosity – firstly, RR boasted of the return of the hit pairing of Arya and Nayantara post BEB (*puke*)  and then there was the whole wedding invitation advertisement. Post audio release, the chart busting music added to the buzz and there was also talk about the movie being this generation’s Mouna Ragam with the Kollywood fraternity unanimous in proclaiming the arrival of the next big thing Atlee Kumar.  After all, he was Shankar’s assistant in Enthiran/Nanban and at 26, he’d managed to get Fox Studios and AR Murugadoss to fund his debut venture.

Not so surprisingly, the first few reviews of the movie held sharply contrasting views ranging from calling it a cult-classic to labeling it utter tripe. I was bemused by the hostility and angst displayed in social media about the young film-maker and how people seemed to delight in his “failure”. The reactions seemed extreme and even reeked of jealousy but the more balanced commentators also pointed out that Atlee had got so caught up in his own hype that he had got a lot of the basics wrong.  With all this running in the background, it was with a strange curious fear that I finally caught up with the movie.

Part 2: Post release and Week 1

Straight off the bat, let me set the record straight. This is no Mouna Ragam, hell, it doesn’t even come close. Yes, it deals with relationships but in a very clumsy, amateur way that had me wanting to wring the writer’s neck in frustration but more on that later……

What works

·         Nayantara – she brings a quiet calm and dignity to most of her roles and Raja Rani is another feather in her cap so much so that I actually realized how much we’d missed her when she took that break from movies during her dalliance with PD.

·         Shooting most of the songs in montages clearly was an inspired decision – “Hey Baby” was nicely done and its evident that Atlee has learnt well from Shankar

…..hmmm……its really bare pickings if I have to think hard of 3 nice things to say

·         BGM, though melodramatic and a little over-the-top during the emotional scenes, fits well into the mood of the film and GV deserves some credit for that.

What doesn’t work

·         The characters are deeply flawed but not in a real-world kind of way. I just didn’t get why two adults who’re joined together by fate but who’ve both gone through similar tragedies in life couldn’t get down and talk about it. The more I think about Raja Rani, the more Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya starts looking better… and that can never be a good thing. 

·         The dialogues are downright silly – for a supposedly class/multiplex movie, they are clearly aimed at the LCDs (Lowest Common Denominator) sitting in the front benches.  Many of the characters regularly deliver love sermons and spout supposedly thought-provoking life lessons but if you really let the words sink in, they make absolutely no sense.

·         The film is unable to settle down consistently to one tone – I was constantly left confused as to whether it was an emotional drama with lighter moments or was it a fun filled comedy film with a few heavy scenes.

·         The casting for the leads is ultimately one of the film’s greatest weaknesses – Arya just does not have the gravitas to pull off emotional scenes. I half expected him to launch into a self-deprecatory joke in almost every scene that required him to showcase serious acting. A Jeeva (not the SMS wala but the NEP wala) might have honestly done better. Jai’s soft but weak simpleton is sort of similar to the one he played in Engeyum Eppodhum but he is seriously out of form in this film. The other stars clearly had no need/time to prepare for the movie - Santhanam comes in and does what he does (I can’t get myself to call it comedy) in every other movie these days without giving us 1 reason to remember that he even figured in the movie 24 hrs later and Nazriya’s role requires her to be just cute and bubbly and she does that as well as any other 18 year old in India with any acting experience.  Satyaraj tries hard to get into the skin of a dad-with-a-difference but the effort shows and reminded me so much of that genius Raghuvaran who managed to do exactly the same with consummate ease in Yaaradi Nee Mohini.

·         I could quibble on a million other details but the single most glaring flaw in the movie is the message it wants its “followers” to take back – if there is life after love failure and if there is actually love itself after love failure, what on earth is that last scene in the airport with Jai and his ring all about? WHAT THE HECKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK !!!!!!!!!!

Part 3 - Post movie watching experience and Week 3 onwards

I’ve spoken to a lot of people and heard a cross-section of views and looks like the movie does indeed have its devotees. Every time I’ve shared my concerns/issues, I have been roundly dismissed as being too critical. The film has already made a lot of money and seems to be drawing a hardcore crowd of lovelorn, lost/confused teenagers (read: vayasu kolaaru pasanga) over and over again.  In short, it has found its audience and is being celebrated as a grand success.  I only hope and pray that it does not spawn off a series of such terrible “love message” movies.

Why can’t young & aspiring directors aim high instead of just focusing on what will work at the box office?

Naiyandi - a film that HAD to be made

It's unfair to judge Naiyandi for its artistic/creative merits. I, for one, clearly think that the movie was made for a lot of reasons and "satisfying/entertaining the audience" was NOT very high in the priority list of the makers. Shocked? Yes, I mean it.

So who is to blame? Where do we start?

Dhanush has had an interesting 2012/2013 (by chance or by choice I'm not sure). I'm guessing he was aware when he signed on, that movies like 3 and Mariyan (whilst challenging the actor in him) would not set the cash registers going and would probably set him back a little in the box office rat race. Mixing his commercial outings with the odd art-house effort has always been Dhanush's idea of  striking balance in his body of work but the timing of shoots/releases was what led to the problem of him having to do a Naiyandi. Whilst 3 and Mariyan left the business value chain (promoters, distributors, exhibitors, TV channels) with heavy losses, Ranjhanaa's success did not benefit the same stakeholders. (Not sure how commercially successful Ambikapathy was)

As a result, I suspect, what Dhanush needed whilst he waited for KV Anand (*groan*) to finish this script was to do a low budget quickie with a well-established director which would be an above average grosser and win him favour back with the Kollywood eco-system.

5 star films Kathiresan who had earlier produced memorable films like Aadukalam and Polladhavan for Dhanush was roped in. Not wanting to get into the bad books of the star and keeping in mind their past successful track record, I am sure he green lighted this project - breaking even was the aim and anything better would have been good as it would have only got his more friends in the value chain.

The next task was to find a competent, on-his-way-up director who was looking to move up to the elite league and would be glad for a chance to work with a "star" despite the other pitfalls. Enter Sargunam who had already created hits out of simple, rural stories like Vaagai Sooda Va and Kalavani. Sargunam, like Suseenthiran before, grabbed the opportunity and even agreed to work off an existing script (loosely basing the story on the Malayalam movie Meleparambil Aanveedu) and another piece of the puzzle had fallen in place.

A new music director in Ghibran with the clear mandate to create a couple of hummable tunes and Nazriya, the fast rising star from Malayalam, was chosen as the fresh lead for the "Maapillai".

A supporting case with some familiar faces like Sriman, Saranya Ponvannan, Pyramid Natarajan was added to give it the family appeal that is needed to crack the B/C centers and the usual suspects like Sathyan, Singampuli and Sathish were lined up to provide the laughs.

A couple of songs were shot in foreign locations, the film was sold in various areas for a reasonable price to ensure that everyone won, the usual PR overdrive happened and there was even a completely fake controversy created in the last few days prior to release to ensure that no stops were pulled to create the right buzz prior to release.

So what happened then?

The movie seems to have crashed and here's why I think it failed.

Someone forgot to tell the team that having all the right ingredients in place does not assure you that the final end product will be perfectly tasty for consumption.

1. The story was lame.
2. The screenplay had nothing interesting.
3. The music did not catch on.
4. The comedy fell flat.
5. The production looked tacky.
6. The Inikka Inikka song (where is her navel??) was butchered.
7. The hero had no redeeming traits.
8. The heroine was dull and plain boring.
9. The villain had a blink-and-you-miss role.
10. (Even) the climax fight was mokkai. 

I could go on and on. Yes, the film was a massive disappointment but it wasn't horrible as most of the reviews have made it out to be. It was uninspiring. Period.

As we speak, I am not sure how the film has turned out commercially. It will not create records but if it turns profitable to all concerned, then mission accomplished.

Wait... so where does it leave us, the money-paying theatre-going public? Yes, we were taken for a ride and if there is someone who has lost, it is us.....But I was willingly conned knowing that the film was NOT going to be good simply coz this gives Dhanush the license/leeway to do a Mariyan which is what I want to see him do.

PS:  In the middle of some decent films, I remember Vikram also giving us monstrosities like King, Majaa, Bheema etc and I don't think he copped as much flak as Dhanush is getting for Naiyandi. Double standards?

Varutha Padatha Valibar Sangam:: How to be Happy-go-lucky (till the cookie crumbles)

OK, it’s time to confess.

I was not a big fan of Siva Karthikeyan (SK) even from his Vijay TV days but when someone from your town, and your school, makes it B-I-G in Kollywood, you just shove your biases/opinions aside and join in line to fete the underdog’s success.  Yes, he’s from Campion and he’s a CHAMPION, I say.  Proud of you Siva. Enjoy your dream run (while it lasts), my friend.

He was good in Marina and no one can deny that what saved 3 from a colossal disaster was the light, first half where Siva was a joy to watch as he teamed up with Dhanush. There are some things in life where MORE is good - like an Edberg backhand volley, a Ganguly cover drive or even a Tirupati Laddoo  - but Siva Karthikeyan playing boy next door yet again is NOT one of them….. but still our Kollywood producers seems to know what’s best and therefore, we’ve had to endure Manam Kothi Paravai, Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga and Ethir Neechal.

Varutha Padatha Valibar Sangam is the next product from SK’s assembly line. The film boasts of a story line that will struggle to utilize all of Twitter’s 140 characters and is replete with inane, mind-numbing one liner funnies delivered with annoying sincerity by SK and Parotta Suri.  Satyaraj is yet again wasted in a paycheck role and director Ponram, who credits his mentor Rajesh for teaching him the craft of making movies, shows us why bad teachers can be dangerous for the world. 

On the positives, it was nice to hear nasal Hariharasudhan sing this, the heroine Sri Divya has a pretty / expressive face and there is a nice director’s touch of using Bindhu Madhavi,  a regular in these B centre comedies (*groan*), in a cameo role to remind viewers exactly of what kind of movie this is. Besides that, there are absolutely no other redeeming factors but still……

Recommendation:  Must watch in theatres or by buying an original DVD (SK is married and has a family to support and if this current run continues, he will soon be jobless so needs to make as much hay while the sun shines)