mag-moments

Stasiland-Real story of the cursed country

2010-05-30T00:10:00.000-07:00

Is reading History books an interesting time pass? Will you be happy after reading all the history books?

Are History books always written to show the triumph of Good over Evil or they are mere reflection of how cruel humans can be? Are history books the collection of past events or a Book on coming future with just wrong names but the content remain same? As the phrase says “History repeats itself” if it does repeat will it be for Good or even worse.
After reading the book Stasiland(Written by Anna Funder) , my first history book in last two years, I became too philosophical and in fact I thanked God and democracy for giving me enough freedom and Privacy.

The book Stasiland is about the stories of people in the then East Germany (German Democratic Republic.. in Short GDR…) it is the story of wall which was built to separate a nation with in itself. Honestly before reading this book I know No East Germany or West Germany, all I knew about the Germany was Hitler, Steffi Graff and Albert Einstein. The infamous Berlin wall which was built as a border between East and West Germany after the Second World War (it was built later, but they were separated by Barbwire before that), tells the story how human ideologies and world are separated as left and right. West Germany, which was taken into control by America and its allies and East Germany which was taken into control by USSR, so it is very obvious that West Germany was a Capitalist country and East Germany a socialist country.

This book is a collection of the stories and events told to the author by the people in East Germany under GDR regime. GDR is a perfect example how cruel a government can be to its own people, Germany is the most cursed country in the modern history, to overtake all the cruelty done by Hitler, East Germany was cursed with GDR, the rule which formed a department called 'Stasi' to spy its own people for more than 20 years. GDR had spies in each and every apartment, every street, every office every tables. Some are paid spies and some are unpaid informers.GDR and its policy(communism or socialism as you call it) was so much insecure, in secure within its own people, communism which always believes that “revolution among the people can only bring good rule “ was afraid of the revolution of the people against their rule, was afraid of capitalism. So they created spies and informers everywhere in the country, after the Berlin wall was removed, the estimated percentage of spies and informers was 4%, which means for every 25 persons there was a spy, who records your every day-today activity in detail, the details are so minute.

After the wall was broken the records were made public, if all those data are aligned in files and arranged in series it can go up to 133 kilometer. Anna Funder comes across stories of lot of people who believed in the GDR system, and who are suffered by the system, whose love letters were copied umpteen times, the spying which was close to being voyeristic on the common people.

While seeing the movie “Lives of others “I thought it was story of one particular regime on particular family, I never imagined it was for the whole country.
Like I mentioned “Is History repeating itself, in different place? “, as we all know there is one more wall, which also believe in the very same ideology, which refrains people from their freedom of speech, which controls the media and the communications, which manipulate the details in other countries, which hides the details of the deaths in mines, which is having very Genuine people who believe in the rulers and manipulating them in the name of culture and socialism.

I wonder whether this wall will also come down will there be one more Anna Funder to write a book on them?

My House-4 (Almost Pillars :) )

2010-04-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

After two months i'm updating the photos of my house construction.. Very lazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Work is going slow only..

Up in the air-Movie Review

2010-02-24T22:59:00.000-08:00

What will you feel when a movie starts with the frame where an old man cries after he was fired from a company, the shot extends with five to six people’s experience when they were informed that they are fired out of the company. You can expect that kind of movie to fall in either depressing movie or feel-good movie or uplifting movie, well “Up in the air” does not fall under any of the above categories, at least for me. It ends with a sad note but it’s not depressing.

“Up in the air” is the kind of movie which you can enjoy throughout because of the three leading actors at their best (George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick) and a director/co-Writer (Jason Reitman) who is having a magical touch.

Based on the novel by Walter Kirn of the same name, “Up in the air” is the story about Ryan Bingham(Clooney) a senior employee who travels across north to south and east to west and does a living by firing the employees for the managers who don’t have guts to fire the employees directly. His only aim is to get 10 million air miles from the flight company, which he feels, is an elite group of only 6 people so far. He meets Alex (Vera Farmiga) who is also a wanderer like him .They both are in for a casual relationship and maintain their relationship by arranging their schedules time to time.

Apart from this Ryan is also a motivational speaker who tells people about emptying their back packs which means freeing one from any relationship which burdens them. A new ambitious employee Natalie (Anna Kendrick) who joins the concern proposes a new method of firing employees over internet there by reducing the cost, which is not welcomed by Ryan. So the manager asks Natalie to accompany Ryan in his next trip throughout and understand the nuances of firing employees. The story goes on and tells about Ryan’s relationship with his family, Alex and Natalie.

(Huh.. this is the first time I’m mentioning in detail about the story, I hope there are not many spoilers in here)

Though it’s a tricky plot in which we have to accept a man, who fires people for his living, as our Hero, George Clooney excels in it. With his gentlemanly appearance and smiley face he adds a positive dimension to that role. Vera ferminga and Anna Kendrick are perfect foil for Clooney(I haven’t seen any other movies of them , so I cannot tell whether they are at their best, but in this movie they are best).

The only negative point which I can tell about this movie is second act, which at times look repetitive but then they make up for that in third act which is too good.

This is the my first Jason Reitman movie, all I can tell is he impressed me to a great extent. The screen writing and direction is intelligent.(Because of this movie I seen one more short movie of him ‘In God we trust’.. you can see it in google videos only.. and I’m planning to see his other movie ‘Thank you for smoking’ this weekend)

My final verdict See the movie at any cost, this weekend itself if possible J

Dexter Season 1- Review

2010-02-22T04:38:00.000-08:00

How many times you wanted a psycho killer to survive in a movie or series, the psycho killer who is blood thirsty and who is cruel enough to cut the victims into pieces instead of poisoning or killing them softly, who doesn’t have any humanly feelings like crying, laughing, love etc? Dexter is all about that, in spite of his cruel nature we still want him to be alive we still want him to carry on with his blood bath.

The Story of Dexter is about blood analyst Dexter who works with forensic team in the morning and goes for a killing spree in the night. Instead of choosing the victims in any pattern like regular psycho killers, Dexter works like a destructive god by killing people whom he think are not fit to live in the society. A co-killer who is impressed by the methods of Dexter challenges him with puzzles planted in a serial killing of hookers.

Michael C Hall as Dexter is amazing, charming and witty. His role is completely different from ‘Six feet under’ where he is a control freak who is emotionally week. The guy, who played as Dexter’s foster father Harry, is also very good. Debra as Dexter’s sister fits the bill (Trivia: Jennifer Carpenter who acted as his sister in this series is Michael C Hall’s real life spouse- Thanks to Beca), but ultimately the show belongs to the writer who comes with some wonderful lines in a first person (Dexter) narrative.

It is not advisable for kids; in fact, even unstable minded people should also be kept away from the show, because of the gory nature. In one particular scene a full hotel room is filled with human blood which is in one word Horrible, but unlike Hostel or Saw movie the scenes are not vulgarized here. If you can swallow some blood and boring first 2 episodes then you can witness a perfect psycho thriller of our life time.
Check out the IMDB link here(9.4 rating ) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773262/

My House- 3 (Borewell )

2010-02-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

The work is going in normal pace, yet to get lot of approvals from the Government for Blue print and Electricity connection.

1) Site is cleared for construction

2) Borewell digging

My House- 2 (Bhoomi pooja photo)

2010-01-27T01:34:00.000-08:00

Bhoomi Pooja photo of my house.Today(27-Jan) one more Pooja by the builders was also started and I paid the initial amount in Cash to the builder.
First Pooja was performed on 26-Dec-2009.The place was completely flooded at that time.And today we just marked the boundaries as formality start.

Though I don't completely agree with these kinda things , just because of my parents i've to do this.I believe in God but these rituals surely have some meaning in old days, but I don't think these days they have much meaning.Whatever.. Wait for more :)

My House- 1 (Plan)

2010-01-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

Finally my house plan is completed, today we are going to start the construction .
See the house plan below.
Land dimension is 21.5(East to West ) X 50(North to South)

North

Keeping my fingers crossed, It took nearly 3 months to freeze the whole process.

I'll update the post at regular intervals with photos

Ilayaraja and Thirukural

2010-01-18T00:14:00.001-08:00

What happens if Thiruvalluvar claims royalty for quoting his Kurals. Won’t we fight against that? Why, is it because he is not the writer of Thirukural or is it because the some one who is using it is insulting Thirukural.

Nothing like that isn't it, same goes with Copyrights for Ilayaraja's music, he is a legend who almost occupied Tamil music for 2 decades completely, when you take a movie or refer something in that decade you have to obviously use his music for reference, we loved his music, don't we have rights to use his music as reference.

I completely agree on the remix part, when some one is remixing any soundtrack they should at least get permission from the original composer, because people who are using it may be using it in wrong movie or may be killing the soul of the composition like the vomited version of "Massimasam aalana ponnu" in the movie Pandi.

But apart from that I don’t think Ilayaraja has the rights to claim any copyright, its entirely his fault, giving some great songs which the present generation directors grew upon, hearing ,so they feel like using the songs which they liked very much in their movies.

My opinion is anyone can Quote Thirukural because Thirukural is the soul of Tamil literature, so is Ilayaraja's music for Tamilians :)

Last post of this year

2009-12-30T20:19:00.000-08:00

Last day of the year(2009), so I 'm looking back to check my memories of this year.

My last hope of relationship between me and my gal(ex-gal), gone, SINGLE again.
Room mates changed, but no matter who comes and who leaves I'm still occupying the computer, it means lot of movies.
Professionally I haven't done anything, so it means I got paid for doing nothing, well, can I ask for anything better than this.
I feel guilty of getting money from a company for long time without doing anything ,so I changed to new company after all they pay more for doing nothing.
New interests...hmm..No Keyboard,No Drums then what have I done this whole year? god knows, after all it's his duty to get the best out of his people, let him assign some new work.
I haven't written any new script or story or even a new message so it means I'm still fresh and ready for next year. My thoughts are with me and I'm waiting for that day in next year when it all comes out into paper,if not next year may be the year after, some day it should come out isn't it.
Look wise I still remain same , except for the lazy days when i don't go for a haircut or shave, So i don't have to change the passport size photos, I can use the same and my weight remains same, 69 and sometime it increased and came back to 69.
New gadgets this year: Got a new samsung Slide mobile, which likes the service center more than me I have given it for repair 3 times in 3 months,lesson learnt "Stick with Nokia you moron" wat else.It doesn't mean that Nokia will remain without any problem it means the gap between two services are more than any other mobile.
Interesting movies this year : Unnaipol oruvan,Prisonbreak(series),24(series),3 Idiots,Pasanga,Nadodigal,etc
My Ex-Roommate got married and moved to mansion(only he knows the reason) and my friend gave birth to a lovely Kid(whom I like more than movies :) ),his name is Chahisnu (Even google don't know the meaning of his name,but I think that kid may like it when he grow up,but the name is cute and unique , just its a tongue twister for old people).
I got a land for constructing house, my entertainment for next year, the plans are almost at closing stage, my blog will be about the house construction and details for the
first half of next year.

Significant achivements-Got first prize in Toastmaster(hoooooooooooo I dedicate it to my school teachers ;) ),tried to woo a new girl which failed miserably at beginning stage itself,learnt cooking maggi noodles,learnt shaving without making scars on face,2 bike accidents without any serious damage to bike,got some good friends who likes typing chat messages and SMS ,started this blog rechristened myself as Mag J among internet circuit.
Philosophies learnt this year which I have to apply next year :
1) God won't give desire in your heart to achieve something, without giving the skills to your brain.So if you desire to achieve something, you can.
2)Limit your expectations in any relationship, then you won't be disappointed

Happy New Year,like always one more fun filled year ahead for me Wish you all the same

My last day in Office

2009-12-17T06:25:00.000-08:00

Hmm Its been a month Since I started preparing for this D day, and finally it came today.I have to leave the office, just like that.Handing over my Id card and filling some forms , Yes you are out of the company buddy.
The Company which was integral part of you for years will go away after you give away the Id card.

Am I sentimental with the company, definitely not. I'm sentimental about the Company which I got within the company.Too much isn't it.. TBH I'm not a die hard worker or some kinda Geek, Just a normal guy who finishes his jobs and spends his time in Canteen with this friends, so for me , leaving a company is definitely not going to be sentimental.

Like train friendship , there is one more kinda relationship in the Corporate, that is Cafeteria friendship.Thank god I've never been once in my life with set of friends whose aim is to screw all the human beings with Salwar or Jeans. So obviously when you have nice friends and a cup of Coffee you can talk any topic on the world. That can be your colleague's Kid's dress, or seeing a blushing chat of a guy or gal with their fiancee/fiance, or advising other guy to follow strict diet regime with a chicken in your mouth,or a movie you seen last night, or the hair style of the gal who just crossed,or Tamil Ilayaraja songs or TMS songs, or every Indians oxygen, Cricket, or mokkai chat in Tamil like " Sirichu sirichu Vayiru valikudhunnu solrangale, oru vela vayiru vali vandhaalum bayangarama sirippu Varumo ? ". Jokes definitely not too funny, just the timing of the person who is commenting it, or the look of the person who is commented, increases the value, it happened very frequently on our coffee table.

If somebody ask me "what is so senti about it, when all these things are gonna happen everywhere?".. Well "It may be same, but not the same people isn't it" .Who knows I may get some good friends in my new company or Old company whatever you call it .I pray that I don't want a better team than this, because I can't bear this itself :( ...
Joining a new company tomorrow.. :)

Satire on Indian news media

2009-12-15T08:53:00.000-08:00

I got this following mail yesterday, I don't know the person who had written this , but this is the best satire I had read on Indian News media

Subject: Jack and Jill by NDTV

A very true Scenario !!!

The way news gets reported today !!!

Heres how the Indian TV news channel NDTV 24x7 would report the Jack and
Jill nursery rhyme.

Disclaimer: All names (except those of Jack and Jill), are fictitious.

Prashant - TV Anchor

Two persons have been injured in a freak climbing accident. Jack and his
companion Jill had gone up a hill to fetch a pail of water when Jack fell
down and broke his crown. Jill came tumbling after. Live from the hill, our
reporter, Amrita Shah, takes up the story.

Amrita Shah

Thank you Prashant. Well, as you say, two persons - Jack and Jill - had gone
up a hill to fetch a pail of water. Suddenly, Jack fell down and broke his
crown and Jill came tumbling after. Prashant.

Prashant

Thank you Amrita. What do we know about the hill?

Amrita

Not too much. Jack was going up the hill to fetch a pail of water when he
fell down and broke his crown. Jill came tumbling after

[Headline appears at the foot of the TV screen: "hill breaks crown of
pail-boy Jack"]

Prashant

What news of Jack and Jill?

Amrita

Prashant, it seems that Jack had gone up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
We know nothing about the pail, or how heavy it was but it seems that Jack
fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. I have here with
me, an eyewitness to the accident, Mr Shahid Trivedi. Mr Shahid, tell us
what you saw.

Shahid Trivedi

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and
broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.

[Headline appears at the foot of the TV screen: "Boy and girl tumble down
hill. Water spilled"]

Amrita

Jack and Jill. What do we know about them? Are they brother and sister? Are
they married? Just what were they doing on the hill together?

Shahid Trivedi

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail a water.

Amrita

And what happened next?

Shahid Trivedi

Jack fell down and broke his crown

Amrita

Go on.

Shahid Trivedi

And Jill came tumbling after.

Amrita

Prashant, there you have it. Two people innocently going about their
business to fetch a pail of water when one of them falls down, breaks his
crown, and the other comes tumbling after. Back to you in the studio
Prashant.

[Headline appears at the foot of the TV screen: "Water errand ends in
tragedy"]

Prashant

I have with me in the studio now, Professor Chandrashekar Belagare from the
Indian Institute of Applied Hill Sciences. Professor: a hill; Jack; Jill; a
pail of water. A tragedy waiting to happen?

Professor

Well that depends on the hill, the two persons, the object they were
carrying and the conditions underfoot. Let us look at the evidence so far.

Jack and Jill

Went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down

And broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after.

Clearly, one would suspect that if Jack's fall was severe enough to break
his crown then the surface of the hill must have been slippery or unstable.
But I think we're overlooking something quite fundamental here. Who was
carrying the pail? Jack fell down and broke his crown and - this is the
key - Jill came tumbling after. If Jack and Jill had been carrying the pail
together, would they not have fallen at the same time? The fact that Jill
came tumbling after suggests that Jack lost his footing first and perhaps
knocked Jill over as he slipped.

Prashant

Professor thank you very much. So there we have it, two persons - Jack and
Jill - went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke
his crown and Jill came tumbling after. Later in the programme, Osama bin
Laden captured in Afghanistan, President Bush says rent-boy menage-a-trois
was "just a brief lapse of judgement", and Pakistan launches nuclear
warheads against key Indian cities. But next up, join us after the break for
a studio discussion about hills, boys and girls and whether water-fetching
trips should be supervised. We'll be right back...

Rocket singh: Salesman of the year - Common man Review

2009-12-13T19:24:00.000-08:00

One more feel good movie from Shimit Amin, where the real heroes are insulted to death and we desperately want the protogonist to win at the end at any cost.
The plot is new, and the location is also new, total set up will be new if you are not salesman or you will seldom understand the hardships the salesman go through if you shout at the tele caller who want to meet his/her target.

I should admit, I missed first half hour of the movie because of my ever punctual friend,so I can tell remaining part of the plot.
A sales trainee Harpeet(Ranbir) joins a computer sales company who wishes to achieve something big,
but he was completely let down by the attitude of company towards its customers.
His father teaches him to be honest, which is the last quality a salesman should have to sell any product and Harpeet being a honest salesman, looks like a sitting duck in front of his colleagues and how he manages to overcome that with the help of his friends in the office forms the remaining plot.

Right from the beginning we know that,Ranbir is going to win it, but the director cleverly extends the plot to keep us some surprise.

Casting is good, especially Harpeet's boss (thank god they haven't given it to Boman Irani, otherwise it would have been a stereo type) .
Giri is pick of the lot among Ranbir's business partners.
Jaideep Saihni's free flowing script is aptly directed by Shimit Amin , without any bollywood glamour.Most important thing is there is no song in the movie
which is mouthed by the cast, all are montage songs(I can't assure on the first half an hour of the movie though).

Negative point, if I have to tell, should be the length of first half, apart from that, the movie is full of heart. The movie never pretends to be a melodrama but it has its heart at the right place which is rare in a feel good movie these days.

Ranbir is best, man, this guy has it in him to be a star, hope his brain is not corrupted by other directors who comes with a complete bollywood script(that's the last
thing I want this from this wonderfully talented actor) .
Music and Cinematography are good.And due credit should be given to the art director for his office set, and Giri's congested home.

Final verdict, go for this movie if you like you see a movie for its soul.

Avatar review (Yahoo)

2009-12-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

Find the excerpt of review of the movie Avatar from Yahoo..

Its good to hear some pleasing review on the movie Avatar, I admire James cameroon a lot, he is definitely a master visionary. Now to the review

James Cameron's first film since 1997's 'Titanic' has been frequently described as a game changer - a new revolution in movies which, thanks to cutting edge 3-D technology, can now make human actors transform into huge giant blue creatures that doesn't make you laugh out loud.

'Avatar' tells the story of a wheelchair bound former marine called Jake Scully (Sam Worthington) who agrees to travel to the alien planet Pandora to take part in the scientific Avatar program. The experimental program sees him explore the planet in his avatar body – that of one of the huge alien Na'vi's that inhabit the planet.
He has also been given a side job by the marine commander to infiltrate the alien population and report on their weaknesses, so the marines can destroy their homeland and mine the world's precious resources.
Complications arise, as they so often do in these kind of movies, when he falls in love with one of the aliens. Read more ....
Also find the review from other news papers who attended the first ever premiere of the movie 'Avatar'

After months of buzz, ‘Avatar’ finally had its world premiere last night in London. It has taken James Cameron no less than 12 years to release a follow-up to his massive blockbuster hit‘Titanic’. The film director invested an incredible £300million in 3D sci-fi adventure ‘Avatar’, which finally hits the big screen next Thursday.
Many film journalists at last night’s premiere have already published reviews, despite being asked not to by the film’s producers. Here’s what some of them had to say:
A cautious Guardian arts correspondent wrote: “We shouldn’t really be telling you this – but it’s good”.
Read more ....

I have to see either Avatar or 3 Idiots(Hindi) next Friday , which is surely going to be an exciting Friday for me, God please give rest to varuna bhagavan(Rain god ) on that week end :)

Prison break complete review

2009-12-08T07:52:00.000-08:00

********* spoilers may be there **************

If any movie buff says that he had not seen Shawshank redemption yet,
then all I'll tell is "Get out of the temple, you atheist"
The same goes with "Prison break" for an English series. Well I was
completely amazed by the concept of the series, though I don't like the
Scylla part of it, I liked all the episodes.

How many of us will imagine the concept of breaking a brother out of
prison, by tattooing himself with the blueprint of the prison. The whole
series is not only about prison breaking but its philosophical at most
parts, the guilty should be punished, but you can't put wrong doers
inside bars just like that, we have to sacrifice some one we love.

Michael, Sarah,Sucre, T-bag and Linc were there with me for long long
time. Though the screenplay looked repetitive at times they maintained
the pace throughout.

There are lot of high points in this series, if I have to mention one
important thing.. I can tell characterization..
Linc behaved like Linc throughout the series, so is Michael and Sucre
and every other person.
No matter in whatever position they were put they remained the same,
which is really really heartening, in due course there were some
characters who changed completely, but the justification was always
there.

After seeing last few minutes of the series, I felt like finished
reading a complete novel or to emphasize the feeling, I felt like the
last day in an office where I served long time.
I'm gonna miss Michael...( not exactly a spoiler :) )

Season wise review

Season 1- Fantastic
Season 2 - Amazingly fast paced
Season 3 - Ok
Season 4 - Interesting and exquisite

Prison break - Final break

2009-12-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

********* Contains Spoiler ***********************
Huh..man why do they have to do this in final break.. this is not at all fair..
I cried.. its for nearly 6 months that I've known Michael scofield and Sarah.. I'll put a detailed review on Prison break season 1- season 4 soon.. But.. WTF.. is I said at the climax..

Hot Fuzz movie review(Short)

2009-11-15T19:13:00.000-08:00

Hot Fuzz is a Dark comedy movie.I still don't understand under which genre should I put this movie.Comedy,action,crime,mystery,murder genre may be.

When you feel this movie is fkin** hilarious then it switches to blood and gory mode, when you shy away from the screen they come up with some seriously made funny scenes . Well this movie is certainly not for weak hearted, definitely a "No No " for Kids.

(I personally dont like revealing the stories in review, so if you are looking for review well this one is not for you)

Its a cop story set in a rural England, this genre was tried less in Hollywood, more like Guy Ritchie's piece of work, without Jason Stathom.

If you are expecting a kickass movie for the week end after noon go for it, you will seriously laugh.. I bet..

I copied this review from my wordpress blog, because it was getting ore hit these days :)

I got a Google wave invite

2009-11-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

This is the greatest news for me in the morning,I got a Google wave invite.Huh.. when they started giving invites from September I was hoping I will get one, but I haven't got any,so was bit disappointed.
I'm a great great fan of Google from the early days of their Gmail.In 2005 when I was looking for job in Bangalore, myself and 2 more friends will be checking mail twice in a day, hoping that we will get some offer from any company. Like, Tamil movie heroes we won't be having money(though our parents were ready to give, it was a prestige issue for us to get money all the time) and will walk along the roads where we can browse at minimum cost, Gmail was introduced at that time and my friend sent invite, so I opened an account.In browsing center if it crosses even a minute we will be charged more than what we have, so we will be hurrying to check our mails, all other mail providers at that time will take an eternity to load and will eat our breakfast money :) , after getting Gmail we were checking mails very fast and started checking movie sites also. Thats the simplicity of Google, from then on my account will be there in most of Google products.

Like every-other guy out there who is a Google fan ,I was jumping in joy when I got the Google wave invite.

P.S :

1) After seeing lot of the late night Telesale ads in Tamil channels, I gave an Ad for Google I think , sorry if it is too much.

2) Controversies surrounding Google over the privacy intrusion in people's life drags me down, hope they will come out clean(If not man, I'm screwed big time)

3) I'm going to send all the invites to my friends so no Google wave invite request please.

3 idiots,Trailer.. First look

2009-10-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

I Wonder how these 3 will look like College students..
Lets wait and see but the Trailer looks typical Hirani style, hope the movie meets the expectations.
Aamir look great in the trailer

Thanks CNN IBN

2 States - The story of my marriage,Chetan Bhagat book Review

2009-10-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

Love is divine.
Marriages are made in heaven......
But in India if it's a love marriage the couples should travel through hell to get into heaven.
There is everychance that the heaven's entrance will be shut and the pair will rot in hell, if the pair is from different
ethnicity.
The book, 2 states is the dramatized autobigraphy of the author's love story.
Krish, a punjabi boy falls in love with Ananya swaminathan , a Tamil girl in IIM, everything goes smooth until the day
when they have to depart from college and convince their parents for their marriage.
So Krish decides to take a job in Madras(chennai), and plans to convince Ananya's parents.Ananya does the same thing to
convince Krish's mother.
In normal case it would end here itself,but reality is different, so Ananya and Krish should make their parents
accept their repsective in-laws.

The book starts in flash-back, where Krish tells his love story to a psychiartist.

Like other Chetan's book, from the word go you can see his typical sattires through out.There are lot of one-liners
which will surely bring a smile on your face.
like 'From Hemamalini to Sridevi why all south Indian gals are attracted to Punjabi guys?', or your typical chetan's line
' When estrogen is attacking from all sides then you can do nothing' .

Book travels through the series of events,where Krish meets Ananya's parents, and his relationship with his branch manager
Bala. Though love story is main plot the book,the book travels on cultural differences inside the same country.
Chetan mainly dwells
on the sattires on Chennai tradition,Tamil,cinema posters,food,Color(may be being a Tamilian myself it looked racist at some places)
and so on....
When Ananya goes to Delhi Chetan takes dig on punjabi habits.
The book clearly tells one important thing
'What is seen as a cultural shock in one part of the country is not even bothered in other part of the country'.

The book is completely filmy, well I'm not a literature student, so I wont buy books for the literary value,
but again when the book is completely filmy,then you will surely hold less value for the book.
If the whole thing happened in Chetan's real life, well, all I can say is 'you, lucky chap'.

Definitely not better than 'Five point some one', but equally good as other books.
So shoud you buy the book,'Yes man,after all he is the only genuine Indian writer who writes book for GenX India,
and this book is surely a page turner if you really like to read the book for fantasy, and not for your Literature project'

Synopsis of the book

Love marriages around the world are simple:

Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy.
They get married.

In India, there are a few more steps:

Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India, deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don’t agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple have a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but it is much harder to convince. Will they make it? From the author of blockbusters Five Point Someone, One Night @ the Call Center and The 3 Mistakes of My Life, comes another witty tale about inter-community marriages in modern India.

For Visual trailer of the book , please follow the below link

http://www.chetanbhagat.com/books/2_states/teaser.php

One day on Chennai roads - Part 3 (Toast master Topic)

2009-10-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

One day on Chennai roads-Part 1
One day on Chennai roads-Part 2

Some centruies back,Charles Darwin after completing his book "Origin of species",was sitting outside his house thinking deeply, he was afraid of the consequences of his findings, because those days Priests strongly believed that 'God created Man' , If he go and tell them "God didn't create man " , that itself is enough for him to get the capital punishment, on top of that, if he tells them that 'Man came from monkey' , just imagine what would be their reaction.He was searching for a concrete proof at that time.

If he is here today, I will put my arm around his shoulder and will tell him 'come on buddy ,lets go for a walk ' and then I'll take him to the mount road and

will show the people who are jumping over the dividers, he can take the video of that and tell any one 'see how humans are jumping like monkeys, do you still need proof for this'.

You know, One day when I was driving , suddenly some monkey.. sorry some guy.. jumped over the divider and fell under my bike, I took him and asked 'Idiot, don't you have eye.. why don't you cross the road on Zebra cross?', he replied, ' let Zebras cross on that, i wont cross on that', I was totally ferocious and told 'U, monkey cross ,get lost'..I doubt whether he understood the real meaning .So thats it I think, the time is over

Conclusion :

In spite of all this, when I had an accident on a Friday night at 12:am .. I don't know nearly 5 people came from nowhere and helped me out, gave me water,and was sitting there with me so that I could recover from the shock, after that only they left.That is Chennai.

Its not a cynical view on THE Chennai city,it's just a sattire on MY Chennai city.

One day on Chennai roads - Part 2 (Toast master Topic)

2009-10-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

One day on Chennai roads - Part 1

......... (Continuation)

Then there is this big brother for Auto,’Share Auto’.

If normal Autos are like Indian gals then this Share Autos are like foreign gals they won’t show any signal at all, they like to stop wherever they like. If someone is even raising his hand to check up his watch then, immediately, no matter on which lane he is driving, he will rotate the Auto near to them, these type of stunts we can only see in a martial arts inspired Chinese movies where they can walk vertically on a bamboo tree.

Like I said it’s a ‘share auto’, so you are not the only who will travel, they would like to dump as many people as it could hold, like the tomatoes loaded into the sacks, only difference is tomatoes won’t get squeezed at least. I meant only Share auto this time and not the foreign gals.

I know in this toastmaster everyone will come up with some statistics right from global warming percentage to inflation percentage, so I also like to tell the details of a survey held recently. In a famous theme park in Chennai they conducted a survey, why Chennai people are not thrilled by any roller-coaster raids, the result they got was almost 98% people have the experience of travelling in the Chennai city bus, nothing scares them anymore, so I would like to call MTC as ‘Big momma’ .

MTC drivers before sitting on the driver seat apply fevi-quick on their fingers and keep them on the horn, now the unlimited horn service starts J

If bus drivers are applying feviquick, there are other kinda people who apply fevicol under their feet and keeps them on accelerator, they are none other than our water tanker lorry drivers. They don’t want to accidently apply brake so they remove it and keep it in their home and then they start their lorry.

Now you can ask me ‘Then how will they stop the lorries'? .It is very simple you can open any Tamil news daily and see the pictures of water tanker lorry colliding into dividers, hanging upside down on fly-over...

The Hindu newspaper may come without Cricket news or the Sarcastic remark on Hinduism by our Karunanidhi, but not even single edition came without carrying the news of accidents involving water tanker lorries. If I become Defence minister of India, then with Military tankers I’ll also add water tanker Lorries in the army, because water tanker lorries killed more people than the military tankers, Just we have to make sure there is no divider or fly-over in the battle field. In Olden days USP of Indian army is the Elephant army, I bet, water tanker lorry, if added to the army will be the USP of modern day Indian army.

Two services are termed as emergency services in Chennai city, one is Ambulance and the other is water tanker, one helps during emergency and the other helps creating the emergency. I will call water tanker Lorries as 'Big daddy'...” (... to be continued)
Guys if you are too lazy to write a comment just give your reactions below it will surely encourage me .Thanks.

One day on Chennai roads-Part 1

2009-10-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

In our office we've a bi-monthly Toast master session.This is just a transcript of my speech.
(I read a quote somewhere "After a speech you will always have two versions of it 'What you said and what you intended ' " )
So this transcript is more of " what I intended " ..

"The topic I've selected for today's toast master sesion is ' One day on Chennai roads'.It's really funny to say that ' On Chennai roads' because in Chennai almost every road you take, is dug out, so most of the times you will be travelling IN Chennai roads.
In Chennai the PWD works very fast, because they give contract for digging the roads even before they are laid, so the workers wait patienly till the road is laid, once it is done then they happily go there and dig the roads.
All roads are like burrialgrounds except that, these are duggged out for your death and not after your death.

Those who are getting contract to lay the roads may be relatives of Band-aid company owners I think, because almost all roads are having patch works only.

We know that the goverment in Center and State is lover friendly, you can see that clearly from the couples who are travelling on bike on Chennai roads , they enjoy every bumps on the road,just imagine how much it hurts a bachelor like me .
If the goverment want to keep the lovers happy why not they lay a part of the road for lovers with a speed break at every 50 metres atleast guys like me will travel fast.Don't think that I'm jealous, I'm telling this because majority of the people here are bachelors so I'm just reflecting them.

Some times my friends will ask me, 'Have you ever seen a ghost with legs?', my answer to them is 'I don't know whether ghosts have legs or not, but I know they have three tyres and we call them as Autos in Chennai'.
If Autos are ghosts then Auto drivers are ghostriders.Autos break all the rules of physics and traffic, they care for no one.When traffic police catch people for drunk and drive I wonder why don't they book Auto drivers for drunk and drive because I dont see any Auto driver who drives in one lane, they always drive the vehicle in zig-zag motion , like pepsodent tooth brush.
Like White petrol for Aeroplane ,I think these Autos have Wine petrol thats why they are always tripsy.Sorry for comparing auto drivers and people who drink and drive, because they drive much better than Auto drivers.
I can compare Indian gals to Autos, they are the masters in tricking you.They will show all kinda signals and keep you guessing always , you should not believe those signals because if u believe them I'm sure you will end up in an accident .If unfortunately you are attracted and are going behind them instead of overtaking them, atleast dont let them aware of it, once they know that you are behind them , thats it,they will play all tricks to keep you behind them forever .............. "

This is first part of the session,if I get some positive response (even if I dont get also :) ) I'll post the remaining parts :)

One day on Chennai roads-Part 2

Just leave your comments so that I can continue my post further..

2 States- The story of my marriage: New Chetan Bhagat book Review

2009-10-21T05:08:00.000-07:00

This is the opinion given by my friend on the book “ 2 States (The story of my marriage) “

I found this to be too gud compared to 3 mistakes and 1nite at call center.luvd it as much as 5pt someone...

V can relate ourselves to many instances in the story and especially for those who r in luv, can adapt some ideas from this book to convince the parents for marriage.

It gives a perfect opportunity to indulge ourself in South India VS NorthIndia culture,music and soo much.The love story of krish(a punjabi guy) and Ananya(a tamilian gal),all the hurdles they came across to win over each other's famliy cos they din want to elope.In India, marriages are not only to get a good life partner,its more like becoming a member of Spouse’s family.In fact,Krish gets 4 gold rings made to propose girl's entire family!!what more to say…Must read for everyone to know what lovers go through to make everyone accept their love .

I’ll get that book by this week , I will post my review next week

Kamal Haasan on NDTV

2009-10-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

Sonia Singh: I am joined by one of India's biggest stars Kamal Haasan, marking his 50 years in the industry. Kamal Hassan, Thank you very much for joining us on Your Call. It's a pleasure to have you with us on the show.
Kamal Haasan: My pleasure
Sonia Singh: 50 years in the film industry when you are 55. I just want to take you to your first movie. (Clip plays from his movie Kalathur Kannamma). Your dialogue delivery packed quite a punch even at that time. Do you remember that at all? How old were you?

Kamal Haasan: I was 3 or 4 when I went into the studio. And the film took a lot of time and there was a change of director as well. So I got to do scenes twice. I think I was in a theme part and this was the boring part. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and don't remember the worst part at all.
Sonia Singh: So it was all fun. There was quite a hiatus but after that initial film, at 3-and-a-half or 4, your career took off a little later at 18 and not as a hero.
Kamal Haasan: Yes, but in the meanwhile I did 5 or 6 other films. So I was active till about 7, then there was a retirement. Early retirement I should say.
Sonia Singh: Right. And we have got a call, our first caller from Delhi. He is Raj Singh from Delhi. Mr. Singh, you can ask your question to Mr. Hassan.
Phone caller: Raj Singh: "Sir, my question to you is what inspired you to be a movie director and an actor? Did it come to you naturally, was it really meant to be or do you think it was something that inspired you? And my other question to you is that do you really wish to join politics in future?

Kamal Haasan: Oh yes, like every other Indian I am a politician but I am not that good an actor. That is an old line but that is the only true line. About why I became an actor, I really don't know. I didn't plan anything. I sort of just went to the floor. What I enjoyed most was entertaining people, being entertained and probably giving back what I received. When I act, I am giving back to Shivaji Ganesan what I received from him. He may not be around, but it's sort of a continuous circle but not vicious.
Sonia Singh: But in Tamil Nadu, especially, it seems like a natural transition that a super star like yourself will take the next step that is politics. Why hasn't it happened with you? You must have something that you are looking ahead to.

Kamal Haasan: Well, you can say that there are two ways to explain it. One is that I am not qualified. The second explanation would be probably I am more sensible.
Sonia Singh: Well, we have got another caller from Chennai. Let's just go across and have a look.
Video caller- Kanimozhi Karunanidhi: In the sixties, we had political ideologies propagated through films. Do you think that kind of a situation will come again?

Sonia Singh: You said you are not qualified, but there we have a lady, daughter of M Karunanidhi, a Rajya Sabha MP, asking about the link between Tamil cinema and politics which has been integral.

Kamal Haasan: Yes, she is right. And that is why I said that I am political but I am not a politician. I have very strong views. I have a rational approach to life and it is reflected in my films. My politics is probably more subcutis. It is not propagandist. She was right. It's happening more and more in Tamil cinema. My next film in Tamil has a lot of what she is talking about. But it is not propagandist. It doesn't take sides.
Sonia Singh: So your films are political but you are not a politician. Let me just go across to somebody who also wants to ask a question, someone who is a political commentator. A well-known film critic Cho Ramaswamy joins us from Chennai.

Sonia Singh: Mr. Cho Ramaswamy, Kamal wants to hear your question.

Cho Ramaswamy: First congratulations on these 50 wonderful years that you have contributed to Tamil cinema. It's a great thing. I don't think any other actor has played the different kinds of roles which you have. The amazing versatility which simply cannot be matched. Coming to the specific question, you are now saying that you are not qualified to become a politician. Is there any qualification for you to become a politician? That is perhaps one thing in India which doesn't require any qualification. Is it because you have too many qualifications that you are not entering politics?

Kamal Haasan: (With a Big Smile)OK, just the moment that I said I am political, there I have Mr. Cho Ramaswamy. I smiled because I am a great fan of his and some of my politics and equipoise that people like me maintain comes from the kind of stand that he boldly took many times. I have seen him since my childhood. I am a fan and he likes people getting into trouble as you saw (laughing).
Sonia Singh: So you don't want to answer the question?
Kamal Haasan: Absolutely, I am already becoming political.
Cho Ramaswamy: Kamal, the way you are answering my question shows that you are completely qualified to become a politician because you have not given me any answer and have talked for five minutes.

Kamal Haasan: (All Smiles…) Let me borrow some boldness from Mr. Cho and say yes, probably I am qualified and that is why I am not qualified. You already gave the answer. Thanks for leaking the question paper.
Kamal Haasan: Thank you, thank you, sir.
Sonia Singh: You are asked so many times by your fans about joining politics. Other film stars like Rajnikanth have been asked because of the vacuum that is seen in the current politics, Tamil Nadu politics as well. Do you see that?

Kamal Haasan: Yes, but I used to be very angry about it and I gave an answer, seems not too inappropriate. I said there was a time when all Indians, most Indians got into politics, unless they were in civil service or working for the British. The rest of them got into politics. There might be a time when everybody will have to get into it, that would be the time when I would also publicly come out and actively be in it. But that time we'll all have guns. I hope it doesn't happen. I hope you don't need me in politics. Because when I do come, it will be because we are very very angry.
Sonia Singh: So, the politicians should do their job to avoid Kamal Haasan in politics. But I mentioned Rajnikanth. So that too, of course, from your profession, acting, and it has been a long long time since we saw you and Rajni in a movie together. I just want to play a clip. (A clip of them together in a movie is played out)
Sonia Singh: Well, I can't comment on who is the better dancer, but let us know about your relationship with Rajnikanth. It's hard for two superstars to be friends but what is the relationship like between you two?

Kamal Haasan: It was not hard at all, I think. I don't know whom to give credit to, but I think it was not hard at all. We still are friends but we are very clear about it. We have drawn our lines and that's not a battleline at all. It's a professional line and it was decided by both of us. We realised that one remuneration was split into two when we acted in films and we both were worthy of a full payment. It was actually a labour struggle. So we decided to go our ways. And that was the only reason, there was no ego problem at all. We have a healthy respect for each other and our tracks run different, different fields actually. We don't even think of each other as competitors but co-travellers with different destinations.

Kamal Haasan: I remember that we used to go around not painting the town red but actually went around Singapore and we had early morning calls and our boss was a very strict man and we would be sleepless. And I remember that we used to lean on each other and sleep while the director was not watching. So, that's how we grew up. We were from the same institution, same mentor, yeah.
Sonia Singh: Well, we take a quick break now. Of course when we come back, we'll discuss the movie which made Kamal Haasan a national name, and more of this, after a short break.
Sonia Singh: Welcome back and you are watching 'Your Call'. The one show on television where you're in the questioner's seat. You can just log onto ndtv.com. You can call on this number on your screen. You can send your question via webcam and ask your question directly to the personality of the week and tonight, of course, is the Indian star Kamal Haasan. And let's go onto our first question coming via webcam from Pune. Let's go on to the question.

Web cam question from Gopan Krishnan, Pune: Hi Kamal. Without doubt, I reckon, you will always be in my opinion the most versatile and finest actor , about the greatest in Indian cinema. But do you reckon that your mass appeal country-wide would have been far greater and impactful if you had been more advertised and had better and stronger command of the Hindi language?

Sonia Singh: The Hindi language... I just want to look up some clips from that Hindi movie, Ek Duje Ke Liye, because in so many ways you have become known to the Hindi film audience through that.
Sonia Singh: This has been talked about not just in regards to you. But there is a feeling that there is a bias in Mumbai that while South Indian heroines have done extremely well and reached Number 1 posts, somehow the same hasn't happened with the South Indian heroes

Kamal Haasan: You can't say that because they have not shut me off. The fact is that one has to live there and pursue. It's not that I have had less failures, less obstacles in the industry where I have flourished now. The reason has been that I consistently have been trying. I have had my share of failures too, but you will have to keep trying. I stopped trying when there was a lot of underworld involvement in Bombay. I thought I was safer in Madras.
Sonia Singh: Did you feel underworld threats?
Kamal Haasan: Before. I am quick on the take when it comes to that, and I was quick on the draw so I withdrew.
Sonia Singh: Right!
Kamal Haasan: I have the choice. Like 'Hey Ram' was something I did on my terms. They allowed me to do it and then now I've a script ready. So if you are talking about longevity, they have been very kind to me. I have been there from when I was 26-years-old.
Sonia Singh: Great! Well, someone, of course, has made a choice in Bollywood. Your daughter Shruti . And well, she has got a surprise question for you. She is online with us right now from Pondicherry. Shruti, thank you so much for joining us and go ahead with your question to your dad.
Shruti: Hi Bapu! how are you doing?
Kamal Haasan: Hi!
Shruti: And because I am your daughter, I can be annoying. I am going to ask you how do you say "Thank God, I am a rationalist."
Kamal Haasan: Ya, that's to please you baby, because I've to accept your god as well. (smiles)
Sonia Singh: You haven't made your children rationalists?
Kamal Haasan: No, I haven't tried. I wish I had but doesn't matter, now it's too late.
Shruti: We all have our own God, that was my question for you, because I heard you say that, "Thank God, I am a rationalist".
Kamal Haasan: Well, that's not my line. That's from another great filmmaker who said that. He said, "Thank god! I am an athiest." He is a friend and mentor, Mr. John Clotharia.
Sonia Singh: Shruti, Hi this is Sonia from Delhi studio. I just wanted to ask what is it like making a movie with the huge legacy you bear and what did you find most awkward when your Dad was watching your movie? Were you scared that he is going to be your worst critique or biggest fan?
Shruti: No, no. I don't think it's about those, really those clichés with us. I know my father loves me and I know that if I am going to slip and fall, you know, sometimes he will probably let me do that and sometimes his hand will be there before I get to the ground and that's really what it is about. I feel that I have a lot to learn from his career and not as his daughter but as an artist. And he has always been there for me and I hope that continues because I have learnt a lot and that's what I intend to do. It's not about being the biggest fan or the biggest critique at all.
Sonia Singh: Right, I think that's the nicest thing a daughter can say to her father.
Kamal Haasan: (to Shruti) Did you rehearse well? (all smiles)
Sonia Singh: She couldn't have because I just asked her that question. No, but I think it's wonderful. Because a daughter can say that to her father, it's a great tribute to how you have brought her up.
Kamal Haasan: She has been great and it's not like we are patting each other's back. And she has come up with flying colours taking into consideration that she didn't have a very normal childhood. But I tried my level best and she has got the level.
Sonia Singh: You have always lived life on your own terms and you have had a controversial view, not just on religion but marriage as well. Yet, you have been married twice.
Kamal Haasan: Yes, I always said, like she said, why you did you say, "Thank god! I am an atheist!" That's because I love people and I do most things to please the people I love, including silly things like marriage. But that's the only way they would have accepted a relationship. That's a compromise. And the reason I am not in politics is because it's an art of compromise. I can compromise, but not that much. But there are compromises. Yes, whenever I married, it was for a compromise and to get the person to be with me. It was a price I was willing to pay, but sometimes it's a little too much and I can't afford it.
Sonia Singh: You want to be true to yourself. The bit you said also about the fact that your children, Shruti at least, is a remarkably well-rounded and beautiful young woman. You mentioned about not a normal childhood. And one major thing, and it was scandalous at that time, was that both your children were born before you got married.
Kamal Haasan: That's right and that's what it is.
Sonia Singh: So, you decided to go ahead and get married?
Kamal Haasan: Yes! Because later on, even taking a hotel room was difficult. They wanted to know who the other person is. If you say 'that's the mother of my children', that's not good enough. So you had to say...
Sonia Singh: My wife?
Kamal Haasan: She is my Mrs. and I wanted to know what that 'Mrs' meant? It meant mistress. So, it's sort of a funny circle. I have been asking questions like they keep fighting and saying that's the oldest institution and how could you say it's failing just because yours failed. I think it is failing and it is not the oldest institutions and it's not the strongest holding institutions. The strongest holding institution is the family. You saw that between me and Shruti. That is family. That need not be clarified by something called marriage.
Sonia Singh: But how would you answer the accusation that perhaps it was unfair to the woman in your life, both to your ex-wife Vani and Sarika, who now, in fact, is not in touch with her children anymore?
Kamal Haasan: That's their decision. I mean only one has children, the other doesn't. So it's her decision not to be in touch, probably, with the children. I have an equipoise position. Equipoise on that and they don't want to be with her. I would facilitate that, but this is the way they want it to be and that's how it's going to be. I think they are persons now, they are not children. It's wrong to address..
Sonia Singh: They are adults.
Kamal Haasan: It's my point of view to call them children, but ask them from their point of view. They are adults, they can vote. Both of them. They can run the fate of the country, why not their own?
Sonia Singh: Religion. Now that again is something which, especially, in these times we seem to be becoming more and more rigid about as we go ahead. Not the other way round. It's controversial to have your views on religion. Why do you think it doesn't work?
Kamal Haasan: For me it doesn't work. If you had been at the time of Jesus Christ, you'd be called an atheist, a zealot. The way he spoke, he spoke against the religion, at least to the one he belonged to at that time. It took till 1967 for the Vatican to accept that Mr Christ was a Jew.
Sonia Singh: Yes, of course! And now we have new age zealot.
Kamal Haasan: We have the Gospel according to the Buddhist now and we have many contradictory things about mythology. We confuse our mythology with our history. That's our problem. And we teach our children that. I have a strong view and I am very happy to be in India and not elsewhere where this won't be allowed. Am grateful to the nation. If at all, I would like to bow before any powers, it would be my democratic government.
Sonia Singh: We have a web question for you all the way from Atlanta.
Video caller Harshad Methrath, Atlanta: Hi , you are a nationalist. I was just wondering when are you going to make a bold statement like you made in David Mugan or Virumandi, where you made people realise and feel very guilty about the violence they instilled in society. So, I was just wondering when are you going to make your next movie that is as bold as Virumandi. Thank you, that's my question.
Sonia Singh: Boldness is something that is associated with Kamal Haasan. From Atlanta. Your fans are all over the world.
Kamal Haasan : I am glad he asked that from Atlanta, You have to be far remote to understand or to misunderstand the difficulty that one has. People accused me of my films being violent. I am only a reflector. I am not infusing violence into my society. In fact, on the contrary, society infuses all the violence into me, slowly but steadily. My films' violence does not decorate or glorify. It makes you thrill and it serves the purpose only that way and I am not allowed to do it. It cramps my style a lot. And about various activists who now come into movies about animals... you go to Rajasthan. You will see camels carrying tons which only trucks can afford to carry. People don't do anything about that and also everybody consumes chicken.
Sonia Singh: I have got a question from Chennai. Someone I think you know.
Video caller: Khushboo Actor: First and foremost, my heartiest and warmest congratulations to Padmashree Kamal Haasan on his 50 years in cinema. Sir, I am supposed to ask you one question, but knowing you, I can't stop with one. So there are two questions which are aimed at you. First, what makes Kamal Haasan different from others? Secondly, my next question is, if you were a burglar, what would you like to steal and why?
Kamal Haasan: What I will steal is time, if I can. But that is one thing you can't burgle. But what makes me different is my family, my parents. They are very different people and my friends and the people I have. They are all very different people. I pick the best of them and hopefully, try to eschew them the bad past. I think that is what makes me different.
Sonia Singh: Mr. Kamal Hassan, you have taken stance a through your life and through your films, not many know. We had Khushboo on asking you questions. We remember the controversy when the self-styled moral police took her on for her comments on the issue of pre-marital sex. You had the same controversy way back for a kiss you did on screen, when MJR said it's against Tamil culture and you are offending it. Tell us about that controversy?
Kamal Haasan: Fortunately, he was not very vehement or angry about it. He knew me since childhood. He thought it's a child erring. But I was an adult and it was an adult case. What I am trying to say is, all this moral policing confuses people like me who have heard of Vatsayana and seen Konark, all the sculptures. I think, we are a sexually aware nation much before the rest of the world. Probably China could be an exception. But then, I don't know what happened. We picked up a lot of bad habits from people who came in and gave us newer cultures. And then we evolved into a confused new culture and we have more confused policing from it. Let me not go into a broader spectrum which is not actually my field. Let me talk about my film industry, look at the censors, and we have Adults-only certificate but we only give them adult-rated stuff.
Sonia Singh: But we have come a long way from the flower before a kiss?
Kamal Haasan: Yes. I mean, how do you think we manage a billion? I mean don't tell me it's a stork. I think we have grown up. Adults should see movies akin to what amuses them. What I would like to remind late Mr. Goldie Anand's statement for which he was removed from office. He said, "Let there be a Triple X cinema where people go to movies just for the stuff which is the excuse for businessmen, politicians and that's why we put it in the film. Otherwise, we respect the culture. Let them go to a separate theatre and no, please do not confuse it with the red-light area; I'm not talking about that." What Mr. Goldie Anand was trying to say, a filmmaker and a sensible one at that, was that the rest of the cinema will not be adult-rated with this kind of stuff. That's what he was trying to say. He was trying to clean up the act, literally. And he was cleaned out from office.
Sonia Singh: Thank you very much, Sir, for joining us tonight . It was a pleasure to have you.
FOR VIDEO: http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1152394

Aadhavan Review:You will like it atleast for Vadivelu

2009-10-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Aadhavan is a typical KSRavikumar masala movie,the movie, not even a single minute pretends itself to be serious.

*Spoiler**

Story is very simple,a professional Assassin(Suriya) is assigned to murder a judge who was the head of the commission which deals with the killing of kids ala Nithari Killings.Aadhavan misses the target once, so he makes a challenge to himself that he will murder that judge.Then he enters into the BIGGGGGGGGGG family of Judge(Murali) as a cook and plans for the murder.Who is Suriya?,is the only twist(but anyhow everyone would’ve guessed it by then)

*** End of Spoiler*****

Luckily I got ticket on the first day , and saw the movie with a heavy crowd around, thanks to them I dint hear any dialogues for first 15 minutes.Like I said the story has nothing new in it, I wonder why Ramesh Kanna was credited for the story.The movie is completely made with caricature characters like Saroja devi,Nayanthara,Alex,Manobala… and numerous other unknown faces .Huh the movie has nothing new to offer you.

B13 inspired first action scene, and a bigg bigg family with grandma and granddaughter’s cat fight,criminal police !!!! strict judge, hero carrying bathroom slippers to attract the owner of the house… all cinematic Cliches throughout the movie in the name of commercial Cinema.

But,first half of the movie stands on 2 pillars,one is Suriya, he is at his charming best ,and the main pillar is Vadivelu he is in stupendous form,every dialog he delivers is responded immediately by the audience.I always have a feeling that Vadivelu has the potential to be a lead in the movie instead of being wasted in tracks in all his movies,where as in this movie he seemed like a second hero in the first half, and showed his potential again.Nayanthara, Saroja devi,Sathyan,Anadbabu,Shayajishinde,Murali,fefsi vijayan,Reyaz khan.. are all there.. there is nothing more to them.

In the first half songs are your 5 minute break, second half songs are ok , but even then,Wont Suriya ever be bored of doing same kinda songs (suttum vizhi chudare look alike songs.. ) in all his movies, the same for Harris Jeyaraj.It more or less looks like a repetitive and gives you “Heard it and seen it somewhere ” feeling.The situation in which the songs were placed are utterly silly.

Most important thing being the 10 year old character is performed by Suriya himself, it was good and its completely believable , nice Graphics work, though it gives some kinda weird feeling, the CG looks convincing for me,but again it really distracts you from getting into the story while you were amused with the way it is made.

Camerawork and editing is slick,though action scenes are well made, I dont know why it is not of equal standard as the original, may be the actor himself (David belle) completely performed his stunts in B13 , where as Suriya does some with rope and others are also with the help of rope.huh..Either Suriya should learn Le Parkour(stunt variety) by himself and should perform it on screen from end to end without any slow motion, or he should better stick to our tamil cinema’s “Dishoom Dishoom” fights, cos all the hard work he puts into the stunt work is not being appreciated by the editor or the cameraman or the director to make it look spine chilling..For the original chase scene from where this stunt is copied please follow the link(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GpOroM0g80)

Okay finally my opinion on this movie: it is a complete masala movie with lot of loopholes not even better than Ayan(1000 times better than anyother Vijay commercial flicks ) .If you are Suriya’s fan you will enjoy the whole movie or if you are Vadivelu’s fan you will enjoy at least first half of the movie.

Kamal 50 years in Tamil Cinema Vijay tv Part 2

2009-10-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

This is second part of the transcript of "Kamal 50 years in Tamil cinema in Vijay tv"

For video link please refer the end part of the post .

: Thanks : Indiaglitz

For first part of transcript please refer the link below

http://mag-moments.blogspot.com/2009/10/kamal-50-years-in-tamil-cinema-vijay-tv.html

All the big shots came and showered their praises on Kamal Hassan today.

Following is just a small transcript of the function

Vivek : "I hold the record of not sharing the screen space with Kamal Hassan for a long long time, and he is also holding the same .Its good that it didn't happen so far because had I acted with him then I'll be one among the hundred people who acted with him , where as now I can say proudly that I'm on among the thousands and thousands of Kamal fans"

Like every time he came up with a poem, man it was damn good this time also. That guy is having a witty knowledge I tihnk thats why his slapstick comedy is not that famous, cos he is not a 'no-brainer '

Next , dance performance by "Ungalil Yaar adutha Prabhudeva " team. It was quite good.

Parthiban : " I asked the organizers 'Why only film people should talk about Kamal,why not his fan' and they said' then you please go and talk ' .. well I'm here . The problem is Intelligent people are Kamal's followers, so I've to prove that i'm also intelligent"

Director Shankar: " During the shooting of Indian ,I prepared myself very well before each shot ,because I'd the fear that Kamal will ask some question in the shot and will become unhappy if I dint reply him properly,but luckily he dint ask any questions, after the shooting was over one of my assistant who was close with Kamal went to him and asked 'Sir, we expected atleast some place you will interfere us , but why you dint do that ?" he replied ' you people were doing your work properly '.I'm really happy to hear that.. Thanks Kamal"

Sruthi Hassan then dedicated a song to Kamal (Nee partha paarvaikku .. Hey ram) , but I wonder wh she changed the tempo of that song so badly , for other songs it worked, may be this particular song dint go well with that Tempo .

Prakash raj : " If you fall down from sky, fall as a seed, then you can grow tearing the soil apart ,Kamal had done it , I got national award for best actor this year,national award for an actor in year you can get it even if U act in one good movie where as if there is any award that has to be given for century actor then it should be given to you sir.Hats-off "

Ramesh Aravind : "I acted 4 movies with Kamal , one in Kannada remake of sathileelavathi , which I directed,Kamal had donned the similar role what he had done in Tamil,but in Kannada he asked me for tough accent ,like the Kongu accent he used in the original movie, then I said Hubli accent, Kamal used Hubli accent so perfect that even the real Hubli people cant differentiate him "

Venkatesh : " In my college days in Chennai I used to enjoy his movie ... "

Mammooty : "Kamal and I are right now tied in the national award winning race with 3 each, lets see who is gonna first win it.... "

Mohanlal: "Over all it was really a pleasant crowd to see"(I missed his part mostly )

Illayaraja: Came and sung a song, nice one, and also said "Kamal may not believe in God, but God believe in Kamal"

Arjun :"He came to Kuruthi punal after some operations even after that he performed his stunts so well , so I 've tell that he is real action King"

Prabhudeva and his father performed a dance for Kamal

Yugi sethu's special touch was missing today , I dono , he invited Rajinikanth to talk

Rajinikanth :Like the Climax in Kuselan , Rajinikanth delivered a emotional speech(Vasu Impact... :) )
"During Avargal shooting I went out , then KB sir came and asked me 'where you went out, for smoking? go and see Kamal's acting scenes inside the set,then atleast you will learn some thing' .People like Mamooty ,Venkatesh,Mohanlal or even Amitabh Bachan, Rajkapoor and all wondered how come a guy like me famous in the cine field where Kamal is acting , my reply was 'I learnt acting from him directly'".

"In 1975 Kamal hassan was more famous than what he is now, at that time I was entering into Cine industry, and Kamal recommended my name for the movie 'Ilamai oonjaladugiradhu' , like I said Kamal was very famous, he could 've easily told any director/producer that dont put Rajini in my movie, instead he recommended my name".

"Later when our movies where very famous, Kamal came and told me 'Rajini this is the time , we should go in separate ways here after as this Cine industry is having the tradition of giving the movies which we can do together, so there wont be any Identity for us'.I follow what he tells me, we separated and then I also became famous, because I dint take the route what he has taken, I know I cant win him, so I used my brain taken a different route,I succeeded in it as well".

"Kamal used to tell me 'Rajini ,Sivaji and MGR are not enemies but Cine Industry and their fans created enmity between them,so we have to make sure that, it shouldn't happen to us,You work with the directors, producers, technicians whom I work with , I'll do the same for the producer, director whom u work under', we are still following it "

"Everyone knows that Endhiran (Robot) was made for Kamal Hassan , but later because of date problems Kamal couldn't do it, so director Shankar came to me I told him 'Sir,you've written the script with Kamal in mind, so don't expect me act like him ' he replied ' sir Am I such an Idiot?,I've made enough changes in script for you ' :) .Later when we started shooting the movie, some shots went up to 7 or 8 takes but Shankar wont show any reaction, so I called him again and said 'Sir please erase from your mind it is me acting in the movie and not Kamal Hassan' "

Welll Rajini did justice to his Kuselan role in real life as well. Rajini and Kamal proved that bid people are always big people :)

It really was so touching .

Then finally the Man himself came and said lotta thanks and sorry he received all the love from audience.. and gave a special Peck to Rajinikanth ..
All I can say was he was visually moved..

Video

http://tamil.techsatish.net/file/ulaga-nayagan-kamal-part-2/

Daily SMS collection-13-oct-2009

2009-10-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

I will be posting some nice or funny or feel good SMS which i receive daily

1) “Beautiful quote from a friend for a friend:

Ur Words are not my disturbance ,but disturbance lies in your silence,So never try to disturb”

2) Inspiring sms

“If you learn only methods you will be tied to ur methods,but if u learn principles you can devise your own methods”

Kamal 50 years in Tamil Cinema Vijay tv Part 1

2009-10-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

Vijay Tv has recently held a grand function for marking Kamal Hassan’s 50th year in Indian Cinema.

I came late from office , about 45 minutes, I’m sure nothing more would have happened except for the red carpet welcome.

I dont have any videos, so I’ll just put down some transcripts of the first part.

The show was basically designed in such a way that famous movie clippings of every decade was shown and Important persons of that era came to stage and showered praise on Kamal hassan.

1960 : AVM Saravanan

” Kamal came to me and told that he want to act in a movie, I took him to my father AV Meyyappa chettiar(AVM), after seeing that Kid, he moved the Lamp to his face and said ‘ this guy is going to act in our next movie’,so my father was the one who shown light to Kamal first”

“I admire Kamal and Rajini for their comradrie”

Saroja devi:

“He is my handsome kid………”

1970:

K Balachander: “He keeps telling me that I’m his guru , but even if I dint take him in the movie Arengatram also he would be a star by now, he is more like a Yugapurush, none before, none will come in near future. “

Sivakumar:” I’m really happy and proud for my brother ,I pray the almighty to wish him all the very best and for the next 5th year celebration as well “

1980:

SPMuthuraman: “Kalathur Kanamma was my first movie as assistant director, and Manorama Achi’s movie as a female comedian , so we can proudly say that its our 50th anniversary function as well.When he was a kid I use to take him walk around the sets showing this is lighting, this room is editing room, this is set.. but after these many years this guy is taking me and showing his collections, this is world cinema, this is how it was shot, really happy to see him “

Prabhu : ” More than me and my brother Ramkumar, Kamal was the one who spent more time with my father, so I can say that Kamal is the real heir for my Dad in acting “

Jayaram : “I can proudly say that before Tamil industry finds Kamal as a hero material we were the one who introduced Kamal as Hero.In my college days I used to do some mimicry , even I got my first award for doing a mimicry like Kamal.I got a chance to act with him in 4 movies so far, I’m really proud of that “

Next came the real show stopper Radhika.. I never expected her to be this much talkative, she didn’t bother about anyone or anything on stage, she was the show stealer so far.

Radhika : ” All are prasing Kamal is this and Kamal is that , can any one dare to say that, without heroines like us, will any one say that Kamal is ‘Kaadhal Mannan’?… no chance. I acted as his partner after my 10 years in Tamil cine industry , every time I see a movie or movie still with Kamal romancing a heroine I always believe that Kamal loves that girl in real life also, but after acting with him only I came to know that , he can even act sincerely like he is loving a buffalo(its a compliment ) . I like Kamal Hassan’s eyes very much its so gracious ” after saying that she called upon all heroines on stage .

I like Kamal and Tabu conversation a bit

Tabu :I learnt a lot while working under Kamal, especially how to sit patiently while doing make-up, because he will be sitting in make-up room continuously for 5 hours”

Kamal : Dont worry Tabu, You dont need a make-up

Goutami : ” I’ve acted only 4 movies with him , after these many years I wanted to say only one thing to him ‘THANKS’ “

Goutami’s speech was too sentimental , Radhika kept introducing her as real life compliemnt for Kamal Hassan.

After receiving the compliments from all heroines Kamal said “I can bravely say that, even with Goutami on stage,(???) ‘I LOVE YOU ALL ‘ “

Radhika with her don’t care attitude surely set the function the cheer tone .

Then SPB and Hariharan made a wonderful , stalling performance on stage , they sung a dozen Kama lsongs. The way they both complimented each other was too nice to hear and see, and the Pianist also enjoyed the improvisations by Hariharan and SPB,it was a perfect Jugal Bandhi

Gopinath Vijay tv compere also used his trademark language and kept the stage alive.

It was really good to see all the big shots of all Industry, who and who of South Indian film Industry came and attended it it really was a multi star extravaganza “

Few of my opinions

May be after spending much time with our CM , he also like people complimenting him on stage may be.

Waiting for tomorrow’s part 2: Hope my onsite coordinator or my manager dint give me any work tomorrow till then bye

Some guy has updated latest Video at

http://www.tmclipz.com/tv-shows/3122-vijay-tv-ulaga-nayagan-kamal-50-12-10-09-part-01.html