I've never actually been a Rajini fan. Never really liked him all that much.
But I’ve seen it for myself now.
There is no denying in it anymore and now I'm forced to eat my own words.
Rajini-kanth…Tamil-Nadu’s sooobar-star. You can love him or you can hate him…but you certainly CERTAINLY can’t ignore him.
The Tamil-movie industry has an uncanny way of reminding its faithful patronizers who the 'boss’ still is (pun unintended) and now the prejudiced-section of the audience (a part of which I was, till a while back) can no longer sit at home and twiddle their thumbs while the entire nation (and I read, the whole world too) gazes in bedazzlement at this high-budget phenomenon from Asia.
I know. Rajini has grown old and is now rather squidgy around the edges.
I’d be lying if I said that I found him to be sinfully sexy with/without that magical make-up and fluffy wig of his.
Yep, he no longer can do those eye-catchy dance steps with sooper jhatkas & matkas because of which his dance steps are tragically limited to the ‘bulb-dance’ sequence (college’s ragging routine which involves hand-movements analogous to the activity of screwing/unscrewing a bulb)
But all those cons just seem to vanish out of sight when he delivers those lines of his with unmeasurable attitude and class knowing that the audience is going to lap it up for whatever ludicrous content it may bear.
I perceive Shivaji- to be a beautiful movie for more reasons than one.
a) Shankar. Need I say more.
b) A not too-serious-yet-rather-striking theme based on giving your mother-land your
very best ; even when shit happens (Which is quite a lot these days).
c) Money money everywhere in every frame of the movie. Lets you get in touch with the surreal part of reality.
d) Raghuvaran. An small yet honest role that reminded the Tamil audience of what this fine actor was and is capable of doing. Every movement and line had a genuine feel to it. He definitely deserved this. And much more.
e) The wardrobe.
Man! Mind boggling stuff there...couldnt take my eyes of Shriya's attire. Manish Malhotra has delivered to this movie more than he ever would and could to Bollywood itself. Shriya is here to stay and she's climbing up up wayyyyyy up.
f) Cute humour... Enna vicha Commedy onnum pannaliyae, Kids paakardidu Pogo; Shivaji kitta vechikkadae gogo :P Vivek, your my man!
g) Music. A.R. Rahman. I'd be wasting my time if I wrote anything here.
h) Songs.
For their resplendence and overtly ostentatious choreography. You’ve to see it to believe it. Karan Johar’s got some records to beat here.
i) Rajinikanth (well of course...who did you expect here..Paris Hilton?)
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie despite detesting logically-depraved movies.
This one is exclusively for Tamil folks...and they simply love it.
Typically entertaining, typically Rajini.
And thats all that matters.
Amen.
The Namesake would have been just another book I scrambled to read in a hurry in order to avoid paying a customary fine to the librarian (who of late has considered making me one of the library's official stakeholders for the fat income it gets out of the fine I pay).... if it weren't for the profound retrospection it gave way to.
Retrospection, on all those times as a kid when I'd wish I had a cooler name or at least an easier one to call myself by so that I wouldn't have to repeat my name some 5-10 times to all the British kids and teachers at school.
Having your name mutilated by the Indian masses is one thing (Mythili, Mydeenee, Maydilee,Megini...yeah, I've heard it all) but having your name shrunk to the size of a month of the year and being called that by everyone including your teachers is another; and this certainly is not my idea of 'cool'.
My name was a serious issue for me when I was in Junior-School more so because of the cute names my friends in class would have. Even the Indians in my school had short and chic names.
I remember Kajal Pai being a hot favorite and I secretly liked the way it sounded as opposed to the 3-syllabled first-name I possessed followed by yet another 3-syllabled sirname......too much for Non-Indian standards.
And too much for a sensitive 7 year old.
There were seriously times when I'd ask my mom if we could change my name...and she'dlook at me incredulously and ask..again?
Unlike the book where in Gogol changed his name from a un-cool one to a cool one, my name when I was a kid was changed from a simple one to a complex one. This bugged me for quite some time. (long saga...might blog on it sometime. Or then again, maybe not)
But yes, my detestation for my name did die down soon.
I moved schools. The Indian School, to be precise.
I was no longer the strange kid with the weird name.
I discovered that Indians (especially South-Indians) have the innate ability to name their children with the longest of names and I was no longer left alone in the dark.
Ah, those were the days (loud sigh)....where the smallest of things would leave me excited!
I'd go running home to my mom (well not really but I'd like to think so) exclaiming, 'Ma! There's a girl called Hamsavardhini in the neighbouring class' and I would count my fingers while I chirped Ham-sa-var-dhi-nee in glee.
(Note to self: keep topic of blog in mind while blogging)
Ah right..so what was trying to say (somewhere) is that, despite the initial apathy I had for my name, I'd begun to love my name . The very sound of it...and very way its written in Sanskrit and in Tamil; Not because of its uniqueness or anything or because there are perhaps only a hand-few of 'me's in this world.... but because its my identity and its perhaps one of the few (or only) decisions my parents have both harmoniously agreed upon.
On reading The Namesake, I felt grave pity for Gogol. (the protagonist of the book who apart from leading an unfortunately-loser life, changes his name to suit the American way of life) ...pity, because he'd turned down his father's most precious gift to him...an identity, with a solid meaning to cherish.
I sometimes fear that there's a Gogol in all of us. Inside me.
I could categorically dismiss this thought as seeming absurd...but I don't know.
I really don't know.
1.You plan for an exciting meetup at Sathyam expecting some 15 people; where only 7 turn up.
2. You rush like a maniac across the roads of Chennai and park your vandi outside the theatre gate just to get there on time; only to discover that your quite early than expected.
3. Watching a movie turns out to be a visually tiring experience leaving you feeling as though you've faught a battle against the Pirates from the movie.
4. You spend half your time gaping at the screen wondering what the hell in going on out there; and the rest of the time waiting for the pop-corn to arrive.
5. You've been dumped with a life-supply of pop-corn and what easily seems to be one-litre of ice-cold Coke which you struggle to drive down your throat throughout the movie; only in vain.
6. You've sat through the movie for 180 minutes and you still don't know what the movie's all about.
7. You leave the theatre just to find that your vandi has been towed by the Chennai Police; on the grounds of parking in a non-parking area.
8. Your friends accompany you in travelling another 2 kms to get to the Police station to demand for your vandi because your the rightful owner (hell, yeah!).
9. You pay up and eventually don't get a receipt. Ahem.:D
10. You decide to cross the road and park at Spencer's Plaza with Vikram, Shyamz and Surosa...for a blissful sandwhich at Sub-ways and a good stroll at Landmark.
11. You think to yourslef, "Aaaaah....all in a day's work.
Shouldn't all Sundays be as invigorating as this?"
:P
There is something about the word ‘cancer’ these days that gives me an instant gush of fear about the profound uncertainty of ..life. Uncertainty manifests itself into a whole new meaning when taking the word cancer into consideration.
Now, this is one disease which hits us when we’re in the pink of health and when most unexpected. The sad part of succumbing to this wicked-disease is that, its perhaps the only one (apart from tumor which again is another form of cancer) which defies Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion
"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”
(ok….serious misinterpretation of 11th grade Physics I hear you say, but wait…hear me out I say)
I’ve always thought of diseases to be a result of some perceptible cause. I’m not saying that its karmic ‘n all, just that you can account for every state of illness, injury or disorder that you endure. Everything can be accounted for.
Everything has a concrete cause.
Everything.
Except Cancer.
So far, from what I’ve seen, cancer can hit absolutely anybody.
Regardless of whether you live a tobacco free life or whether you own a tobacco factory....Its just as random as the grading in one of my papers in 6th sem.
Anybody.
This very thought hits me with a sudden spasm of sadness and anger considering that we humans, the most intelligent and powerful species in the Universe (disregarding any probable signs of extra-terrestrial wildlife out there ) are incapable of confronting and curing something very much science related as opposed to a tsunami (which man possibly couldn't control or evade); despite the colossal advancement we’ve made, over the years, in the field of science and medicine.
Doesn’t it haunt you when you realize that there’s a probability that you might be in a position to confront something you can’t understand or account for?
Something you can’t reason with or bargain with?
Something you can solve or resolve?
Something that brings irreplaceable sorrow and loss that spreads across a family or an entire generation,like a cancer (pun intended).
I would mention the various intriguing causes to cancer listed in one of the sites...someof them absurd, but fascinating just the same...
But that’s not what I blog for.... No. I don’t discuss useful information :P(that you should’ve discovered by now after reading some of my informatively-prolific blogs, O tolerant reader).
I’m still baffled by this medical-enigma and all I wish to say is that.. ..No one deserves to be killed unless he legally deserves it or illegally wants to.
Its one thing if you are diagnosed with malignancy after puffing a fat six-digit-number of cigarettes (die smokers, die!) but it’s totally different thing when your diagnosed with the same while/after living life abiding by all the protocols of perfect healthy living; when it suddenly hits you like a bus.
Life has so much it can unravel.
Sometimes, the best-est of solutions to any confusion in life could lie in answering a simple question… Will you have fun while resorting to it…?
Because at the end of the day, you should be proud of what you’ve lived for and lived through… and not how long you spend doing just that.
To Smt. Vatsala Nagarajan whom I love and respect with all my heart. Its not fair what life (or otherwise..) does to fabulous people like you.
...Our Government has finally done it.
The Law now has it that car-drivers not not strapping their belts (Aww...don't give me any crap about trouser/pant-ka-belt funny-guy..Tamil-Nadu Policemen aren't THAT dumb.THere! No legal hassles attached) and two-wheeler drivers driving without a helmet, will be caught and prosecuted.
Bwahahahahaha...(Evil laughter)
hmm....Lets see...this new Law-thingy does insinuate a few things.
Ayy) I hunt down that big-fat-ugly-red helmet of mine from the cob-web laddened archives of my house (despite learning a lesson the hard way ) and put it out for a while in the sun, to make it more head-friendly (and more spider not-so-friendly)
Bee) My mom takes our car to the garage to fix all the belts in the car even the ones at the back,so that they..come, when pulled (the very way well-behaved belts should behave)
See) Now this is something I'm not so sure about. Should pillion riders be donning a helmet too? I'm quite concerned because I always have someone or the other behind me everytime I ride my vandi.
Well, if yes, I'd very happily share mine..but I don't intend on getting prosecuted in the near future,thank you very much. And for some wicked reason I don't intend on investing on another big-fat-red thing;even if its for you, darling.
So, that brings us to a point of uncertainty in Point#See.
But ...hey, there is a good chance that we don't get caught for my pillion-rider-not-donning-a-helmet.
I'm quite fast on the roads and I could just Vrooooom! past the pot-bellied men-in-white.
My pillion riders love me! :)
(I can say what I want...Its my blog!)
But I'm not getting all jumpy and thrilled by that optimistic-notion because the probability that we're gonna get caught on the road with me maneuvering my loyal blue 2-stroke vandi for reasons apart from you not donning a helmet, is tragically quite large.
So either way you 'n I are meat, sweetie!
(that still brings us to a point of uncertainty in Point#See)
Never mind..
At this moment when early cab drivers,lack of good sleep, unfinished documents,an mp3 player that needs fixing and an impending Quality Audit at work ,are issues to be considered, 'Point#See' doesn't really gain top priority in my things-to-worry-about list.
There!
Well...whadya know? This country IS getting better after all...'n I'm so proud of it.
Now, if only the idea of a ban on auto-drivers' reckless driving could sink in.
(But who listens to me! Bah!)
;)
