Indian Guerrilla on the rocks

hARRIS Wows again

2006-03-11T14:20:00.000-06:00

"paartha mudhal naalae...
Katchi pizhai poolae unardhaen
oru alai-aai vandhu enai adithai
kadal-aai maari pin enai ezhuthai"

Can't say anything without these words. Wow! Stunning song. Its definetely in the same league as "suttum vizhi" (gajini). Listened to it alteast 15-20 times.

"karka karka" by Devan, Tippu, Nakul & Andrea
I understand this intro song is supposed to give a urban-ish toughness to the cop.
"speed that ya people go and
breathalizer test provin' you ain't sober...good god.
stop the beat..NIGGA..my daughter crossin' the street"

Well, all the singers listed are indians. Just coz' u think your song is not gonna big splash outside india, doesn't mean you can just throw words such as "nigga". I don't get it. Why are they doin it. Nobody in india is gonna go "oohh, they said nigga, they gotta be credible". Well, i'm all IN for using swear words if you want to. For example in the song "Kudakkooli" from "Kalvannin Kaadhali", the guy (premji!!!who the hell is that) swears lots. But it suits the mood of the song and its good. you can definetely do it. Why not. Its not like people in india don't swear. But don't go calling names for other races. Thats disgusting.But other than the beef abt using the n-word, its actually a cool song.

"Neruppu"
Sounds like song picturized in a night club. Kamal in the dark club wearing sun glasses and sippin his "Jikku"

"Majal Veyyil" and "uyirilae" are romantic numbers for the starting of romance and when the romance is at it peak (hmm, hmm). Nothing special.

Overall, a really good album.
The one thing i don't want to see:
KAMAL, PLEASE DON'T DO UR LAME TRADEMARK DANCE (the jump and foot-clap and land, etc that he did in Indian and all this other movies). jUST STICK TO THE PROS.

Sneaking Spark- Thambi

2006-01-17T22:57:00.000-06:00

[Pic-Indiaglitz]
i guess due to his failures in the recent past, THAMBI, the new Madhavan movie is not exactly the topic of the town. And not to mention its in production for a long while. As far as the story goes, its supposed to be a loose adaptation of "The motorcycle diaries", which was an amazing movie that didn't go into the polictics of CHE's life, but just potrayed the transformation of an Argentine doctor into thinking 'maybe there is more to life', through his journey thro the south american continent. So considering its source, for me personally, Thambi carries a huge expection. The director Seeman is a stunt man when it comes to giving out statements, but not known to be a great director (atleast to me). So how does the sound track rate scored by Vidyasagar?

Enn Kadhal Singer : Saindhavi
Starts as a very good melody and oops the song ends. Its under a minute. Should have been longer atleast in the soundtrack. Sounds like a Rahman melody from 90s.
NO STAR

Ennamma Singer : Balesh, Karthik, Manicka Vinayagam
Its a good catchy song with easy to remember lyrics. Its gonna stay with me for a while. Sample lyrics:
Pasu madum Aathava Ammannu solluthu
Pacha Thamizhano mummy'nu solluran
Vivasayam seyyuna, venannu solluran
velinadu poithan otagam meikeran
***

Kanavaa Singer : Madhushree
Another 1:35 piece song. I don't get it. Should have definetely been longer.
NO STAR

Poovanithil Singer : Jayachandran, Swarnalatha
A family song showing the happiness of the family. Good melody and Jayachandran's voice reminds us of old times.
***

Sudum Nilavu Singer : Harini, Unni Krishnan
Easily the pick of the album. Awsome, its gonna be in the league of "suttum vizhi', if the movie is a success. Kudos for Unni and Vidyasager. This is the first song in my new CD.
****

Summa Kidantha Singer : Kalyani, Karthik
Second best song in the album. These days u can't make an album without karthik (as some other blogger mentioned). An interesting snippet from this song.

Vairamuthu initially wrote the lyrics as:
"summa kidantha poonai kuttikku sotha potuputtaen
athu RATTA PANAYA thedi thedi oodi varuvathenna"

As it sounded too much like a female part, the director wanted it to be changed as VELLI panaya.
****

Overall, a really good effort from vidyasagar, after a not so good outing in Aadhi and paramasivan. overall: ***1/2

VV and Pudhupettai

2006-01-17T18:00:00.000-06:00

[Pic-Vikatan]

Tho' they may be entertaining, really, who cares abt Aadhi and Paramasivan. Move aside bothayo', make way for Pudhupettai and Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu. The game is on. Both got have got their official web-sites. And check out the previe of VV here.

snippets from Selvaragavan interview on Pudhupettai in Indiaglitz
- This film w'd either be a CLASSIC or a CRAP. nothing in between
- when i did Thulluvadho Ilamai i was clear. During Kadhal kondaen and 7g, i was clearer. Now i'm confused
- I'm not inspired by RGV. the underworld in mumbai is completely different from here. So the take w'd be completely different.
- we will know that this winning streak (3 hits in a row) has to give in sometimes. But until then, lets just go with the flow.
- In the future i want to be a producer and make short films

The dude is pretty candid.

And as far as VV,
After seeing the preview, i'm very skeptical of its commercial success in tamil. Its too sleek for its won good. Hope it doesn't get lost in translation (sleek to mass). But not considering its commercial value in tamil, the preview is awsome. Finally kamal getting to act as himself.

Another speeding ticket

2005-12-28T15:03:00.000-06:00

Oh ya, my second speeding ticket of the month and i'm pissed. Not really sure to whom i should show my anger, to myself, or the policeman or the govt...mmm, i guess it should be myself. this time tho' i had a slim hope that, being the holiday season, he w'd just let me off the hook with a warning. Nope. got a fat ticket. ever since my childhood days, i never knew how to put a "oh, look at me, i'm sho sorry, pleaze" face. I always had a "bring it on" sort of face and trust me, that only makes matter worse. maybe i should learn to change it.

Leader's lies 2006 (Canada Votes 2006)

2005-12-09T15:43:00.000-06:00

[Pic- cybermenace.blogspot.com]

With the elections on the leaders are playing mind games with the people. Harper (conservative) and the current Prime Minister Martin (Liberal) are the top dogs.

Very soon after I settled in Canada 5 years back, one thing was very clear. And that took me by huge surprise. That thing put simply “MOST CANADIANS HATE AMERICANS”. Martin depends on these leftist Canadians. So it helps his cause by being a ‘I am not afraid of the Americans” kinda guy. In the recent climate change conference in Montreal, Martin takes a jibe at the Americans by saying, "There is such a thing as a global conscience….Now is the time to listen to it. Now's the time to join with others in our global community. Now is the time for resolve, for commitment and leadership and, above all, now is the time for action. Because only by coming together can we make real and lasting progress.” He was referring to US not accepting the Climate control protocols. The Response: Well, the White house has officially said that Martin's comments are the worst slight against President George W. Bush. Martin cannot ask for more. This is exactly what he wants. Good shot Martin.

On the other hand, Harper’s key word throughout his campaign is “CHANGE”. Canadians need change, people need change, and change is good, blah, blah, blah. He went on the record by saying that he will ELIMINATE GST (Goods and Services Tax), which sits at 7% for most goods. Is he kidding? From where will be get the money? Nevertheless, people are liking it. Its immediate money they can save. Good shot Harper.

But as they say, good players play the big cards the last. Assuming these players are good, cannot wait to see the closing stages where they battle it out.

got it right!!!

2005-12-02T11:19:00.000-06:00

This just in. Read the review of the movie Thavamai Thavamirundhu. The story line is exactly what i guessed from the soundtrack. Guess, this is one is indeed a stroy teller. The verdict- VERY GOOD. But it does say that the movie runs for 3hrs 20 min and asks us to bring 'handkerchief'.

Thavamai Thavamirundhu - STORY TELLER

2005-11-29T13:08:00.000-06:00

[Pic- Behindwoods]

Its a classic, written all over it. One of the few albums, where all the songs mean something, tell a story. The stroy line goes something like this......A struggling father raises his kids and wants them to achieve something. His son, instead of understanding his fathers desire, ends up focusing his life on love, rather then career. Against all opposition, he marries his love. He ends up struggling too and finally realises his father's sacrifices.....sounds not that much. But the preview and the soundtrack gives a great expectation to the movie. Its a shame that this movie is not yet released due to legal problems. Hope this one gets out soon and cement the new style of realistic cinema that is budding in tamil cine world.

As for the soundtrack itslef: composed by Sabesh Murali, definetely his best work yet.

Ore Oru Oorukkulle : Sung by Sabesh himself (sounds like daddy). The song feels very authentic. This would gel with the movie; we probably won't even realize that the song is playing. Verdict-->REWIND

Unnai Saranadaindhen : New singers; sound like what Rahman used to compose in the 90s. Good. Verdict-->PLAY

Oru Muraidhan : Pick of the album by Unni Menon. The song is for sure a contender for national award for lyrics (think Vijay). You are sure to feel the pain. Verdict-->REWIND

Yenna Paarkkirai : Slow Romantic duet. Hope this doesn't stand out very odd in the movie itself. Verdict-->PLAY

Aakkatti : A good folk song on the slow side. Again should gel with the movie. Verdict-->PLAY

Theme : Doesn't match the tone set by other songs at all. Verdict-->FAST FORWARD

Aavaaram Poove : Haunting song. Sounds exactly like "thenpandi seemayilae"....even has the words "yar adichar". Verdict-->PLAY

Overall, a soundtrack that is a story teller than a dance track - ****

SIVAJI Parak! Parak!

2005-11-28T15:20:00.000-06:00

[Pic- Hindu]

Finally, it is launched. Heard they have taken the promo photos in Mumbai. Waiting for those. Lots more pictures of the function found in rajinifans.com

The Finger

2005-11-26T19:46:00.000-06:00

[Pic- cricinfo]

Greg Chapell showing how he feels to ganguly supporters in calcutta. But he claims:

"I vehemently deny making any gesture towards anybody. I did not gesture either towards the media or to the public....I have not seen the pictures clearly, but from what I have seen an image has been captured through a window. I don't keep track of every movement of mine, but I certainly know I did not make any angry gestures towards the public....I'm not saying that the hand that was shown was not mine....but even if it was, what is being shown is a mischievous and malicious interpretation of what happened."

Dude, just say "hell ya! i showed exactly what you think"

AM I A TAMIZHAN?

2005-11-26T19:07:00.000-06:00

I've always been very proud of being a tamilian. Whenever i am among a bunch of 'desis', i always had the feeling of representing my culture. And thus, in this journey i've faught (well, argued) hours and hours with many 'settans'. coz' whenever a new settan arrives he goes 'how come you dn't know hindi' and that for some reason pisses me off. But suddenly things are taking a turn. it is making me question about myself.

In the kushboo-suhasini-PMK-thirumalvalan spat (not gonna go into the spat), suhasini for some reason bursts "are you gonna send me back to paramakudi". the reply for that from the "tamil protectors!!!!" was shocking. They hit back "you shouldn't be sent back to paramakudi, you got no roots there. you should be send outside via khyber pass (coz' she is a brahmin). And who are you to represent tamils. You came from outside. you are not even tamil......"

Yes, i was born as a brahmin. But i don't think i've done anything to qualify as an actual brahmin. And will not do so in the future too. Yet, people do see me a brahmin. Although, i've heard this khyber pass comment a lots of times before, for some reason, this time it actually affected me. Are they right? I don't think so. First off, there is no concrete proof that the aryans came thro' the khyber pass. And even if they did, whats a big deal. There is also another theory that all humans migrated from africa. In that case, everybody is african.

And fine, coming to their line of thinking, "you are not tamil unless your family has lived in this land since the beginning of time." Now, whos to say that all the "tamil protectors" are pure-breed tamils (deosn't sound good). In all these thousands of years, how do you even know your great-great- grandfather is a tamil or not. there is no way of finding it. Jusy because noboday can prove that your great-great-grandfather was not tamil, does not make him a tamil. There is a huge chance of mixing. If you know for a fact that you are perfect pure-breed, then you are probably a VAMPIRE.

Even writing this post gives me a bad segregation sort of feeling. Coz' throught the post, i've been saying 'you not pure-breed, i'm tamil, etc". We are all humans. Nevertheless, we all need an identity. And that identity for me is TAMIZHAN. And i am proud of that.

Questionable words

2005-08-23T15:33:00.000-06:00

aa yo yuvan, yo thare
ya
spin that s**t up

the song "Pushing it hard!!!!!" from 'kanda naal mudhal' indeed has a s**tty start. I'm gonna leave this in a corner and think of the bigger picture here. Whats the big deal in swearing in a movie? Does swearing in english more acceptable than swearing in tamil?

Well, i guess swearing is looked down upon in most of the societies. First, i am gonna go into TV. I don't think there is anything inappropriate (who decides this???) in Indian television and in US, the censorship is so ridiculous that the less said about that the better. If you want uncensored TV then you are looking paid cable. But we all know that in lots of situations, the censorship serves no purpose. All it does is to irritate the viewer and prevents him from going inside the mood of the program. For example, writing f**k or saying ff**BLEEP**kk serves no purpose at all. Everybody knows what it means. whats the point? i don't get it. I think the canadian television is a bit more sensible than its US counter parts in some areas (i c'd be biased). In CBC, (the public funded television), in documentaries, they don't edit. I don't even think they edit in news programs. For example, in documentaries or news clips covering iraq war, they did not edit out the swearing from the journalist when there was a sudden blast, or the angry iraqi people protesting. I don't think it will give the true picture if there is editing involved.

Coming back to movies in the west (in general), anything goes here, as long as the movie is categorized in an appropriate section. (although the general feeling that FCC is a fascist, is another story). In india, as there are only 3 types of certification (U, A, U/A), things become a wee bit difficult. But even this 3-tier system could work, if applied properly. But it has never been applied the right way. thats the reason why people from all the sides complain. the makers complain that the censor board is too biased and the viewers (WHO?) complain it to be too lenient. the reason, coz' they don't know what they are gonna get. nobody knows. we need some structure and cemented guidelines around the censor board.

MACHI MACHI TOO MACHI!!!

2005-08-18T16:40:00.000-06:00

When the leaders laugh, everbody should follow suit. Note the security person behind.

Karunanithi: hello.....Don't let the water during this fatty's reign. Release it when i become CM in the next elections. Do it for me bro. I will make your voice influencial in the centre. (sucker!!! )

Karnataka CM: hello....of course bro. thats exactly why i am not releasing right now. When you become CM i will definetely release (sucker)

Dayanithi maran: he..he..he (listen you old farts, get clean bowled, so i can climb)

Guy in the suit: he..he..he (hope these suckers see me laugh for their lame jokes and give me some more money)

Security person: he..he..he (i can't belive these morons believed when i showed them the black belt from moore market as a karate black belt)

yet another TOI bashing

2005-08-18T15:54:00.000-06:00

It has beome almost boring. ya, ya, TOI is no good. Whay do you even go to that site, dude? Simple, it so bad, that you want to go back. Its like jokes from lots of our friends that are sooo bad, taht you can't help but to laugh thinking, 'how the hell did he think of pulling it off'. So far, i've seen 'news' that go horribly wrong in TOI, or exploitation of news by giving it a title such as 'stocks do a pamela anderson!!!'. But this time, those cheezy crap that they write claiming it to be news itself has gone bad. The only guy to be happy from this is GEORGE, the master of his domain.

oscar 'jollu'

2005-08-12T15:50:00.000-06:00

With the long awaited 'The Rising' just released, indian critics will undoubtedly praise it so much and declare that 'this horse is gonna win the oscar'. When it is hyped this much for the award, if it fails to fetch an oscar, it'll be a disappointment. But we should let go of this 'jollu' for oscar. Oscar if for mainstream hollywood movies and thats it. Please don't even think it represents american movies. coz' there are so many great movies made and goes to the creators house-shelf unnoticed. The hollywood's giant production houses use the oscar platform to increase their alreay over-the-top $$$. The release their 'oscar-worhty' movies in months just before the show to create the BUZZZ. For some weird reason, for a movie to win a oscar releasing a long time before the show, it has to be doubly good as the one released just before the show.

Oscar award show, in itself has bent down and following the footsteps of its master, the giant studios. For example, in a year when no 'big-hit' hollywood movies or 'big-time' hollywood stars are nominated, their TV rating slump like crazy. So they make sure that the big players are always on their nominees. Add to this, politics like left wing, right wing, pro-african american, anti-african american, etc., and you got yourself a bong show.

I don't know why it even bothers giving out a 'best foreign picture' award.....ohh, wait a minute, maybe it has a political movitive. For example, Palestinian filmmaker and actor Elia Suleiman's film 'Divine Intervention' was denied entry on the grounds that "Palestine is not a nation". But the same academy gave the award to 'crouching tiger hidden dragon' representing 'taiwan'. Isn't taiwan too not recognized officially as a nation?

Anyways, the pathetic situation arises when the foreign people (we) treat the Oscar as some kind of yardstick to measure their own worth.

Misses the mark

2005-08-11T20:22:00.000-06:00

Gajini...for some reason i was expecting lots for this movie. When i learned that this movie is an 'inspiration' from one of my favorite movies of all time, momento, that expectation just sky-rocketed. An unique story like momento needs an unique musical score. The score definetely is not unique, but at the same time not a crap either. The 'problem' is that this score could easily fit into every other run-off-mill romatic movies like sachin, etc.

First things first, this one doesn't have a theme music, which is a good thing. Theme music in tamil music albums are always fillers. Good to aviod those, unless you score a haunting theme (read 'thenpandi seemayilae' from nayagan).

Oru Maalai by Karthik...easily the best of the album. Karthik glows like a deepam. All of harris best ones have a bit of carnatic music influence and this one is no different. But for god sake, stop using some gibberish shoutings in nice songs. Can somebody please tell him that.
REWIND

X-machi by Nakul and Maathangi...Even since the 'aged' MGR days, this fictional club has existed where sexy dancers do their thing, led by one who is not that good of a dancer, but the sexiest. Everybody knows that all the other songs are fake, in the sense, the story doesn't move during the song. The story stops, song begins, hero and heroine change their dresses and locations every minute, song ends, and story starts again. But in this 'club genre' songs, we are made to believe that the song is happening as the story is moving. But somehow the dancers take the old habit of change their dresses and the background every minute. Donno how that works? Anyways, where on earth (supposedly chennai) is this fictional club? coming back to the song itself, it is from this genre and i got nothing to say abt it
FAST FORWARD

Suttum Vizhi by Sriram Parthasarathy and Bombay Jeyashree...Potentially awsome song. But ends up not that good, due to the weak performace by Sriram. I donn't think he is a good choice. Gotto have gone with hariharan or somebody who can match Bombay Jeyashree.
REWIND

Rahatulla by Anupama...Yet another song in the 'club'. Man, do these guys actually go to clubs or they just watch some jayamalini songs and get their inference of a club scene.
FAST FORWARD

Rangola by Shankar Mahadevan and Sujatha...Average song. Good work by shankar. Sometimes he can go over board, but in this he keeps it within himself.
PLAY

Overall, Average. But a big let down considering the hype surronding Gajini. Hope he doesn't do the same in 'VV'.

The beginning of the end?

2005-08-11T20:04:00.000-06:00

Ever since the unreasonable 'unkoda doo!!!' by google against CNET, i have started to wonder whether the end of 'google, the good guy' is near. Is it following the 'my way or the high way' attitude of microsoft? Only time will tell. Tho' i am using may of the awsome 'googlies' to even write this post, i cannot help but wonder, how long am i gonna use these things having the attitude 'hey, they aren't evil'. One thing for sure. They have hooked us all like a coked up song by bob marley.

But the funniest thing is the sarcastic apology by the 'leader' (who is that?)

First Citizen of Canada

2005-08-04T20:02:00.000-06:00

Michaelle Jean, born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (the poorest country in the western hemisphere), the 48-year-old Quebec television journalist will be Canada's first black governor-general. She fled her home country troubled by dictatorship at the age of 11 and came to Canada. From then on, her home has been Quebec.

She is an intense journalist and I am personally a big fan of one of her show 'the passionate eye' on CBC television. She is very vocal about racism and the language divide that exists in canada (between the minority French speaking people in Quebec and the English speaking people). She also has some 'taboo' viewpoints. She made sense when she said after 9/11: "Why such outpouring and compassion for New York and so little for the hundreds and thousands of victims in Rwanda a few years ago?"

Agreed, the governor-general post is more of pomp and prestige than actual power. But it always feels good when a minority person is named as the first citizen of a country, be it Abdul kalam, Zail Singh, or Michaelle Jean Jean. Interestingly, the outgoing governor general of canada was also a person of visible minority and a journalist: Adrienne Clarkson (born in Hong kong and came to canada as a refugee). Although it is easy to dismiss these things as mere ritual/symbolism, one should never under estimate the value it can have on the struggling minority.

One can only wish our neighbor to take some cue from us.

Pioneer of alternate Indian cinema

2005-08-03T20:44:00.000-06:00

This title may remind us of people like satyajit ray or mrinal sen. But the one guy who made everybody happy at the end of the day is undoubtedly "mithunda". He was a trend-setter. He stepped aside from the pretentious bollywood movie scene and started making 'alternate' (not necessarily of better quality) cinema. The great thing about him is that he didn't pretend to change anybodies life with his movies or shout 'my upcoming movie is shoo different' or my movie is a classic. Instead he found the simple formulae of success. Make the hero change from an innocent guy to dada and take revenge for his dead mother or wife, and oh ya, shoot the whole movie in ooty. Repeat the same formulae 50 times. He used to release a movie every some months. And none of them bit the fingers of the producers (an issue discussed in Lazy Geek's post). Instead of spitting at the sewage while living and benefiting from it (like the regular bollywood baadshahs), he started embracing it. This concept has been around for a long time and followed by lots. Even kill bill is supposed to be a homage to 70s b-grade hung-of flicks. Cinema is a mode for entertainment and for making money. Nothing else.

Now, in tamil Satyaraj is following the footsteps of mithunda. He is releasing a movie every some months. As far as I know of, he is the only tamil actor to reduce his salary accordingly. The story line of these movies can be described, at best as 'horrible'. But he makes these work with his comedy timing sense. He makes spoofs of everybody that we can think of. Recently watched 'Englishkaran...Thamizh vazhga'. He makes fun of people like simbu, dhanush, bharath, ravi krishna, jyothika, etc. He is not pretending to make classics here. He mixes spoofs, double meaning dialogues and excessive glamour, and walla, money making movie is ready.

Bottomline is that, in both these guys case, nobody can question their ability to act. Both have been there and done that. And I think, this is the main reason, people sit back and watch their b-grade (whatever the hell that means, as if other movies like alavandhan are A-grade) , but money making movies.

Jumped off a cliff!!

2005-08-03T16:21:00.000-06:00

Was a great long weekend. Went to Banff, a beautiful hill station. Though of doing something fun. So did the white water rafting. Can only describe that as a "crazy" experience. I was screaming and swearing the whole time. Swearing!!Oh, ya. You would definitely do that when you don't know swimming and your 'boat' goes crazy.

Before the start of the rafting, there was half hour of instruction, mostly of what to do when you are thrown into the water by the currents, which direction to swim, how to catch the rope while swimming, etc. The whole time I was like 'holy S***'. But still was cocky that nothing would happen to the korangoo. When the sensible me was trying to yell at the instructor 'hey, I donno swimming', korangoo took over me and stopped me from getting insulted. ya, Korangoo always puts insult over death by drowning. In spite of its cockiness, korangoo managed the whole thing without falling down. Then came the final test of saneness.

The instructors where standing on top of a 40 ft cliff and inviting people for a delicious cliff-jumping (optional tho'). Lot of people backed out (around 1/3rd). Although korangoo didn't have the balls to take the first jump, it did have enough to stand in line for the jump. The guy little bit front of korangoo took the jump. He was freakin out in the water and the instructor immediately jumped behind him and dragged him to shore. Another instructor took over at the cliff and he told us that 'anything wrong, shout help and will jump behind you'. Korangoo, at this point starting to panic a bit, as it does not know even basic swimming, leave alone swimming against the current on a bumpy surface. A light of saneness hit korangoo. It decided even before the jump that it is gonna yell help as soon as it hits the water. Now, its korangoo's turn to jump. Ohhh man, was it ever high? No thinkin, no thinking, just jump, just juaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, splash, heeeeeelp.

The dude jumps and drags korangoo to the shore. Korangoo thinks that it did a pretty good job of pretending as if the strap of the helmet it was wearing was choking its throat and that's is the only reason it couldn't swim. The instructor probably thinks "whatever...what a moron".

All these with the life jacket on. For some reason I am not able to completely trust those jackets.

Song or no song?

2005-07-29T14:07:00.000-06:00

I’ve always wondered about the purpose of songs in Indian movies. Apart from art-house movies which has no ‘reach’, almost all the movies have songs. But why?

Here in North America (or western world, in general) there has been a vibrant pop scene since Elvis Presley (that he is said to have stolen the old R&B music and gave a white twist to it, literally, is a whole another story). This pop music has grown bigger and bigger since then, and it is more than capable of quenching the music thirst of the masses. So when a guy watches a movie, he is not expecting any ‘soundtrack of his life’. He is going to merely watch 1.5 hours of story telling. This music scene co-exists with classical music. It has a wide range from mainstream Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan to special vertical segment like Slipknot and underground rap.

But in India (especially tamil nadu) there has never been a pop scene, as far as my knowledge. Although in movies like ‘enakul oruvan’ and some mohan movies, there has been some fictional pop music icon. For the masses, the only way to listen to the music of their taste (other than the local gaana artists) is thro’ the movies. They have neither the taste nor the money for classical music concerts (neither do I). So the movies SHOULD have songs till a vibrant pop scene emerges. The creators always go one step further and explain the same MASS factor to justify the formulae movies.

Coming back to the issue of songs, the best possible thing for a director to do is to make the songs not look glaringly inserted into the scene. They can make a ‘chichuvason’ (situation) so that the song is seamless. Directors like Mani Ratnam and Shankar do it all the time and make songs one their strengths with grand visualizations. And then there are directors who come from the Balumahendra camp (read Bala) who put songs in the movies simply out of pressure from the distributors. These guys MOSTLY (not entirely) avoid using the great big group dancers. Many of their songs have duets playing in the background and the hero and heroine walking, laughing, and do some more walking and laughing till the songs ends. I personally like songs of this genre (‘munpaniya’ from nandha, ‘raja raja cholan’ from rettai vaal kuruvi, etc). And then there are some directors whose theory is ‘one kuthu song every half hour’ regardless of the situation of the movie. Vijay starrer ‘mathura’ is a perfect example of this.

Although some interesting thriller movies like airport and kuruthi punal have come out without any songs, Indian movies should do fine with the songs, provided they are not inserted like a porn magazine in between English and tamil composition notes.

Thotti Jeya - Harris picks-off where he left off before anniyan

2005-07-27T13:30:00.000-06:00

Harris jeyaraj has this knack composing awsome melodies thrown with some garbage in an album. He seemed to be going in a different direction after Anniyan. But no...he goes back to his formulae. Hearing this Cd is like watching Afridi batting. goes from "wow! Amazing" to "What the hell was he thinking". Got 6 tracks and i've no idea abt the singers.

Achu Vellam...donno what makes tamil MDs think that bhangra would work in tamil Nadu. This song reminds me of "Baba cinema cinema".
FAST FORWARD

Jaari Singari...has a nice 'kurathi kuravan' vibe to it. the song is as simple as they can get. simple beat underling simple voice. Hope it gels with the movie.
PLAY

theme Music...though i am personally against filling up space by theme music in todays market, this one is not bad at all. But then again i don't see anybody hearing it more than once.
PLAY

Thotta Powerda...these songs are a "must" for hero-oriented movies. This praises the 'power" of thotta. sung by shankar mahadevan...along the lines of title tracks "machan peru madhura" and "hey sullan va sullan". Nothing special.
PLAY

Uyire En Uyire...Awsome melody. keeps the same pace throughout. Donno who sings it. Hits the slam dunk when he goes,
"oh..oru nimidam..oru nimidam..yenai nee piriyathae
en arugae..nee erunthal..thalai kaal puriyathae"
REWIND

Yaaridamum... Best track of the album. Easily the most melodious one in a while. Reminds of the 'Minnalae' days. Love the way he mixes the fast and slow paced ones in this duet. Gonna be my anthem fora while for sure.
REWIND AND REWIND

Bill Gates TERMINATES Apple

2005-07-26T10:48:00.000-06:00

Microsoft launched it "Virtual Earth" to counter Google Maps,...so we thought. But it does the "2 mangoes in one stone" thing by completely terminating Apple Computers. How? The pictures says it all.

Virtual Earth's website for a bird's-eye view of Apple's corporate headquarters show only a grainy overhead photograph of what appears to be a single, nondescript warehouse and a deserted parking lot — not Apple's sprawling campus, with 11 modern buildings surrounding a plush courtyard.

Microsoft blames an outdated photograph. But Apple's headquarters in Silicon Valley shows up more appropriately for anyone viewing the same location using Google's mapping website, which also combines many of the same government-funded satellite and aerial overhead photographs.

Is Microsoft's version of the landscape a fantasy for Bill Gates?

Hail the future 'king' KHAN

2005-07-18T21:03:00.000-06:00

The recent suicide bombings in London has made lot of people to re-think the concept of multi-cultural society. Unfortunately, the muslim community is the most affected by this negative feeling. In this volatile situation, to restore and underline the importance of multi-cultural society definetely needs a "HERO". As potrayed in the movie "Enemy at the Gates", every country or concept needs a hero to spread its wings. Heros become who they are with their unique attitude and when this tag falls on a teenager, that kid needs a lot of heart to step up. Britain's 18 year-old olympic silver-medal winning boxing champion is indeed stepping up. His name is AMIR KHAN.

As noted in this BBC article, the timing of Amir Khan's entry into the professional boxing ranks seems almost divine. When most 18-year-olds would choose rap music for their ring walk, Khan opted for Land of Hope and Glory for his professional debut on Saturday. And after his swift demolition of London's David Bailey(lasted 109 seconds), he spoke of his shock at the recent atrocities and his ambition "to bring the races together". Amir Khan dedicated his pro debut win to the victims of last week's London bombings.

Whether he becomes a real pro champion and stands up to what he has said, can only be answred by 'time'. But until then there is atleast a hope in these troubled times.

Pre-emptive strike

2005-07-16T16:53:00.000-06:00

Hope this concept ends with Mr.43.
(a) What if either India or Pakistan go for it and attack the other. They do have a genuine case of immenent danger? Is that justified?
(b) Before Mr.43 attacked Saddam, what if Iraq attacked USA (assuming Iraq possessed WMD)? Iraq had definite immenent threat, in fact the threat was coming everyday from Mr.43 ? In that case, can that be justied? Will the UN stay mute?

Bhutan and its Happiness

2005-07-16T12:45:00.000-06:00

Recent articles on ranking countries based on their GDP and GNP made me think on it fairness. Is it the only thing that matters? Seems to be. Coz' all the countries are doing their "BESTEST" to increase their GNP. But shouldn't the happiness and welfare of the people living that country matter? Bhutan is the only country that seems to be agreeing with this.

Today, our economic growth is measured by the Gross National Product (GNP). However, it doesn't take into account environmental and or social implications that allowed the GNP to grow as nothing is subtracted from the GNP. For example, a factory that pollutes a river upstream and causes people downstream to become sick with cancer and other disease is considered a good thing for economic growth as the GNP does not take into account negative impacts (not only financially- cost to restore river, health costs, peoples inability to work, but environmental and social damage as well). It only measures the total market value of final goods and services produced for consumption in a country in a given year.

The country of Bhutan, does things a bit differently. They measure the GNH, or, Gross National Happiness. The index of Gross National Happiness requires an evaluation of the effect of economic activity to welfare. The term Gross National Happiness (GNH) was coined by Bhutan's King Jigme Singye Wangchuck when he ascended the throne in 1972. Isignaleded his commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan's unique culture permeated by Buddhist spiritual values.

The govt of Bhutan is geared towards making the people happy, rather than making them producing and consuming more (which essentially increases GNP). They strive to achieve this by the use of 4 strategies:
(1) sustainable development
(2) conservation of the environment
(3) cultural promotion
(4) good governance

By focusingng on happiness, the GNP actually increases, says the bhutanese govt (its GDP increased by 5.3% in 2003). It also claims that the increased life expectancy, literacy rate and its confidence to bring universal primary education soon, are indirect benefits of the happiness policy.

But in reality, Bhutan spends more than it produces every year. But it is quick to acknowledge that in order to achieve happiness, one need not throw away materialistic goods. But the material should not be our one and only concern.

Great concept. Hope it catches on.

Ahenakew -Guilty? YES; Strip him of his achievement? NO

2005-07-13T17:07:00.000-06:00

David Ahenakew is a Canadian First Nations politician, and former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. He came to national and international attention after telling a reporter from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix this:
“The Jews damn near owned all of Germany prior to the war.... That's how Hitler came in. He was going to make damn sure that the Jews didn't take over Germany or Europe. That's why he fried six million of those guys, you know. Jews would have owned the goddamned world. And look what they're doing. They're killing people in Arab countries.” Later Ahenakew apologized for the remarks, saying they did not represent his beliefs and that he was "caught up in the heat of the moment."

In connection with the remarks, Ahenakew was convicted of wilfully promoting hatred against Jews, and was fined $1,000. He was also informed that his Order of Canada, which he received in 1978 for his work in advancing Indian education, will be revoked. The Order of Canada is the centrepiece of Canada’s Honours System and recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

Now, the way i see it is that a free democratic country like Canada should learn to live with people having bias and hatred against certain group of people. This disadvantage comes with the package called "freedom of speech". They should rise above it and should not give much media coverage to that. Even if they do give the coverage, it should in a way to educate people that it is bad. But to strip the person of his award (for his achievements before the incident) does not make any sense at all. He earned that award through his extraordinary efforts to uplift aboriginal people. You cannot return him the efforts that put in. So don't take away his recognition for the same.

And as much as i disagree with his statements, those comments were supposed to be "off the record". He made those comments in a private argument with a person, who happened to be a reporter with a tape. And even if it is allowed as an evidence, how can an isolated comment cause danger to a community at large. Stephen Newman writes in the Globe and Mail:

But because the freedom of expression is fundamental both to individual well-being and to democratic practice, the courts ought to require from the state a compelling demonstration of some grave and imminent harm before acquiescing in an act of censorship. If hate speech is truly dangerous - if, for example, it threatens to set rival ethnic communities with a history of violence at one another's throats - then the state is surely justified in proscribing the willful promotion of hatred. Where the perceived threat comes from the possible influence of evil ideas over impressionable minds, however, the case for censorship is on shaky ground.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, of the U.S. Supreme Court, wrote that every idea is an incitement. So long as we have minds and voices of our own, we should not succumb to an irrational fear of evil ideas. The cure for the disease of hate represented by the likes of James Keegstra and David Ahenakew is for persons of good will to speak out against hatred.

All crime is immoral, but not all immorality is or should be a crime.

Skin Color Matters

2005-07-12T15:38:00.000-06:00

Reading through an article on skin color at airport, my mind recaps of my experiences. My only experience (outside India and Canada) is at London. I have been there twice and on both occasions I felt that I was being treated "special". On my first trip, the security personal before the gate asked for my Canadian visa to which I promptly showed mine. Then he asked me what I was doing there. I told him of my graduate studies. This conversation, in my opinion, should have ended there. But he asked me to show him my study permit. But he has no reason to see my study permit. All he is supposed to do, is to double check whether I indeed have the Canadian visa. On what basis the Govt of Canada issued me a visa (on whether it is a work-permit visa, study-permit visa), is none of his concern. But kept my opinion to myself and showed him my study permit. But the final shot to my head, when he asked for my student identity card from the university. Why on earth would he need that? Its not his job. It the job for the immigration officials, not the security checking personnel. At this moment I thought of expressing my opinion. But a cowardly thought warned me. mmmmm

Me: Your job is not to check whether I am actually a student or not. Your job is to check whether I have a passport, air-ticket, visa and don't have any dangerous things. So I refuse to show you my student ID card, tho' I have it in my pant pocket.
Security person: OK sir, I understand. Please step aside. And my supervisor will come and talk to you.
Me: (stepping aside with a sense of victory)
Me: wait !!!!!!!
Me: Please hurry up and call your supervisor. My flight is going to leave soon. (well, i have the boarding pass, the flight won't go without me. But what if it actually leaves!!!!).
Me: Please hurry up Sir. No problem. I will show you my student ID
Security Person: No Sir, You don't have to show me. You can wait and talk to my supervisor
Me: Sorry for the trouble. But please take my student ID.

mmmmm. Back to reality. I showed him my student id without any fuss and everything was fine. The same thing happened during my second visit too. And believe me, it is not a procedure done for all. The irony is that "ON BOTH OCCASIONS, THE SECURITY PERSONNEL WERE INDIANS". I got no idea why they w'd harass another Indian. I guess it gives them a sense of power.

"Real-life" hollywood

2005-07-11T13:17:00.000-06:00

Most of the movies that make it big in hollywood are the fantasy/sci-fi movies like lord of the rings, harry potter, war of the worlds, spider-man, batman, etc. People are thrilled by the escapist environment it creates for couple of hours. This scenario is mirrored in the tv programs too. Reality shows such as the ones by paris hilton and jessica simpson potray them as being so stupid that people are happy thinking, "oh, i'm not so stupid as them".

Indian Cinema (especially, tamil) tries to tackle social problems. But the solution they provide is that "only a HERO can save us", be it indian, mudhalvan, anniyan, ramana, etc. And it always define a clear-cut format of villian and hero. But the reality is seldom that clear.

I always long for the few REALISTIC hollywood movies made on social issues. And most of them end up being too preachy or too slow. "CRASH" is a kind of movie that everybody should see and it hits the bulls eye. Roger Ebert on the Chicago Sun Times:

Crash tells interlocking stories of whites, blacks, Latinos, Koreans, Iranians, cops and criminals, the rich and the poor, the powerful and powerless, all defined in one way or another by racism. All are victims of it, and all are guilty it. Sometimes, yes, they rise above it, although it is never that simple. It connects stories based on coincidence, serendipity, and luck, as the lives of the characters crash against one another other like pinballs. The movie presumes that most people feel prejudice and resentment against members of other groups, and observes the consequences of those feelings. One thing that happens, again and again, is that peoples' assumptions prevent them from seeing the actual person standing before them.

It shows the way we all leap to conclusions based on race -- yes, all of us, of all races, and however fair-minded we may try to be -- and we pay a price for that. If there is hope in the story, it comes because as the characters crash into one another, they learn things, mostly about themselves. Almost all of them are still alive at the end, and are better people because of what has happened to them. Not happier, not calmer, not even wiser, but better.

Not many films have the possibility of making their audiences better people. I don't expect Crash to work any miracles, but I believe anyone seeing it is likely to be moved to have a little more sympathy for people not like themselves. The movie contains hurt, coldness and cruelty, but is it without hope? Not at all.

Scavengers

2005-07-08T13:01:00.000-06:00

they are the people who benefit even from the death and sufferings of others.

In London, according to the BBC, some hotel chains were reportedly boosting their room rates by as much as 500 per cent in order to take advantage of travellers who couldn't make it home because the tube was down and the bus system was in chaos. Some readers who wrote in to the BBC website said that they had been charged almost 300 pounds (about $600) for a room that would normally rent for 100 pounds. There were reports of some hotels charging as much as 600 pounds for a room. While some hotels went out of their way to help by providing rooms at a discount or not charging companies that booked emergency accommodations and then cancelled, others seemed to be operating on that old principle: a fast buck is the best buck. Obviously they've never heard of the idea of building long-term customer relationships.

BURJ-AL-ARAB

2005-07-07T19:27:00.000-06:00

This dubai hotel's web-site proudly proclaims "Acknowledged as the best hotel in the world". And boy, don't they ever back it up. Take a look at these stunning photos.

World No. 1 Roger Federer and former No. 1 Andre Agassi took tennis to new heights on February 22, 2005, ascending nearly 700 feet (over 320 meters) to play a friendly match on the helipad at the luxurious Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai. The hotel’s grass helipad, which is situated 692 feet (211 meters) high covers a surface area of 1,361 square feet (415 sq meters), was converted into a tennis court for the two players. Standing 1,053 feet (321 meters) high on a man-made island, the majestic Burj Al Arab is one of the most recognizable hotels in the world.

Paparazzi

2005-07-06T16:51:00.000-06:00

From Wikipedia:

Paparazzi is a plural term for photographers who take candid photographs of celebrities, usually by relentlessly shadowing them in public and private activities. The term paparazzi is often used in a derogatory manner. Originally, it referred to Italian celebrity photographers who learned that a picture of a movie star throwing a punch was more valuable than pictures of stars smiling

The first time i really paid attention to them was when they were blamed for the infamous death of princess Diana. couple of days back, got a chance to the documentary on them. Oh man, the amount of risk they take to get their 'big shot' is just crazy. And not to mention the competion. For example, when a celebrity goes to an island, couple groups of paparazzi gets the tip. From that moment, its game on. Whoever takes the first "EXCLUSIVE" photographas and send it back to the agancy wins everything. The second guy to take the photograph gets a big nothing. So the groups play real dirty to to prevent the other guy to take the photograph, like informing the hotel authorities about the other group and while that is going on, take their own exclusive.

NAME: Darryn Lyons
COMPANY: Big Pictures
ROLE: Chief Executive Officer
AGE: 39
INDUSTRY: Photographic agency with spin-off businesses including yachts, limousines, property, nightclubs and fashion labels
ESTIMATED WORTH: $58 million, according to BRW
BACKGROUND: News photographer

Accoring to this war photographer-turned-paparazzi-turned-business mogul:

Depending on the image’s perceived news value (first photo of them together) and quality (could it blow up to a magazine cover?) it can be a quick sale or the beginning of a bidding war for exclusive rights in each territory.

The hottest pictures – usually showing a celebrity caught doing something they would prefer the world didn’t see – can sell for tens of thousands or more. But Darryn says it’s the photos that have longevity that mean more to his business. This includes high quality studio photographs that can be sold again and again.

This realisation led him to expand his business to incorporate a state-of-the-art studio in London where his staff photographers shoot celebrities. It’s a win-win for Darryn, who gets fabulous photos to sell, and for the stars, who have some control over how their image is presented.

Darryn says it’s becoming increasingly common for the stars to work with the photographers in this way. He claims he has many stars as private clients and together they stage-manage photoshoots. This can include pictures of a seemingly unaware celebrity on the back of a boat in St Tropez or looking gorgeous in a bikini.

“The pap business has changed in the past five years or so. Those cheesy ‘at home’ pictures that worked so well for OK! and Hello! magazines are out. Readers want to see stars in their down time, as real people. There’s a lot more collusion between stars and the photographers. It’s a game and they know they need the media coverage to stay on top of it.” Darryn won’t reveal any client names though, saying he’d be off their books if he did!

This is so true though. The celebrities just stage the photo shoot that they are unaware. In the documentary, one celebrity (donno her) made a deal with the paparazzi to leave her alone if she co-operates for some snaps. likewise, Madonna wanted her to photographed while she was jogging and she got what she wanted and paparazzi also got theirs. The funniest part was when the paparazzi distracted Justin timbelanke by making a topless hot blonde shout 'justin, justin' and as justin lifted his head from under a 'hiding', they went 'snap, snap' and had a good laugh.

Vardarajan Mudaliyar

2005-07-05T15:53:00.000-06:00

Recent ga-ga over "nayagan" being selected among the top-100 movie list compiled by Time magazine, made me to re-visit the part of my brain where the movie is stored. And i didn't find any data about the main character played by kamal, "Vardarajan Mudaliyar alias Vardhabhai". I googled it and found a complete list of 'mumbai gangsters' in the home page of the movie "ab tak 56" (haven't seen this movie, heard it is a good one). Here is what the web-site says him.

1960s: Emergence of a noteworthy gang in Mumbai with Vardarajan Mudaliyar alias Vardhabhai, a migrant Tamil, as the leader. He spreads his umbrella over smaller gangs in illicit liquor trade. Haji Mastan and Yusuf Patel are other names to reckon with, they are into smuggling of contraband and construction activity.

Kamal in the movie is a carbon-copy of Vardhabhai. Wonder how much of his mannerisms did kamal use and how faithful is the movie to the actual events?

p.s.: do comment if you got more info abt the man.

CANADA DAY!!!

2005-07-02T14:07:00.000-06:00

Saw some spectacular fireworks from close range. Before the show started, the rain was pouring like crazy. And of course, the "the public" got crazy. They started to lit some fireworks of their own causing a fire hazard. But the cops didn't make a huge deal of it, as no one was injured. The "public" took a note of this and of course the situation got exaggerated. And "boom, boom, boom" fireworks started to come from all over the place within the crowd. The cops had no clue who to catch and where to rush. It was funny to see the cops running around like a "chicken with its head cut off" (i know its an awful comparison).

Finally the rain slowed down and show started. The fireworks were all timed and automated. For some stupid reason, i was surprised and disappointed to see nobody lit the fireworks. ya. i know.

After the show, while i was walking towards the "no parking zone" where i had parked the car, i couldn't help but wonder "what kinda loser would wait for so long to see somebody else's fire work". And lucky me "no parking ticket".

The multi-species roads

2005-07-01T15:38:00.000-06:00

IMG_0647
Originally uploaded by indian Guerrilla.

This is trichy (near main ghad gate). You can really see the sense of like, "this happens only in india, hey, hey"...well, maybe not. i guess, there is a lot of countries where whe might be able to see this.

System changed- CAN ADOPT and CAN MARRY

2005-06-30T15:46:00.000-06:00

The Govt Of Canada passed a bill making same-sex marriages legal. But I think a good thing is that it will not force any religious or other non-govt institutions to conduct them.

The same-sex marriage issue has been blown way out of proportion throughout the "developed" world. If 2 adults want to be in a same-sex relationship, they should be given every right to be in one and also given all the rights as a "regular" couple. End of issue.

The most important thing that tend to be overlooked is: Whether they can adopt a child or not? If they do, whether living in such an "unique" home affect a child drastically? Most of the govts say that the same-sex couples can adopt children. If that being the case, the issue of in regards to the marriage becomes a non-issue. Who cares? Why should anybody oppose to 2 same-sex couples getting married?

The main reason the gay couples want to marry is to oppose the system and spark a change. Otherwise they can just stay in their common-law relationship, which is pretty much equivalent of being married. Whenever there is a change in a law, it faces huge opposition. People would be thinking "are you gone mad? why w'd anybody make such a disgusting thing legal?". the same when Non-whites demanded social justice.

Another important question is "what abt incest?". if the concerned adults agree and want to marry, should that be legalized too? mmm, i don't know.

Do not feed, tease or annoy

2005-05-13T23:19:00.000-06:00

mimi ad
Originally uploaded by indian Guerrilla.

Thats a creative display. And by the way, this one is not a bad ride at all

saskatoon

2005-05-13T23:17:00.000-06:00

saskatoon
Originally uploaded by indian Guerrilla.

Thats the way saskatoon (named after a berry) is supposed to like like!!!! Whatever.

Groundhoggin'

2005-02-08T16:29:00.000-06:00

So far i've been a silent blogger........well..atleast a reader
tho' i did create a blog some time back, i didn't bother to update it often (at all) as i was kinda haunted by some really good blogs and felt my blog w'd be lame.

And now, i've figured out that the only way to improve is to get exposed. So i'm tryin' to get out of this isolated hole of my blog. Hope fellow bloggers w'd help me be more expressive

2005-01-18T18:40:00.000-06:00

Lakshmi

2005-01-18T18:36:00.000-06:00

Srirangam

Veerappan and Captain Prabhakaran

2004-11-01T16:58:00.000-06:00

The first thing that popped into my head as soon as i heard the news, "oh, man they covered it up." But then after reading the articles i was reminded of the killings, and all the other "wrong doings" he has done. And i thought, "maybe he deserved that."

There is a scene in the movie Captain Prabhakaran in which vijaykanth questions the judge, "why on earth a man who lives in a cave deprived all the things the industrialized world has to offer, seperated from his family, getting up every day and wondering whether he is gonna survive the day, NEEDS money from selling sandal wood? What can he ever do with that money? Who is actually benefitting?" This question has haunted me every time i hear his name.

I guess we will never know the answer of the last question, after all.