Just another blog?

(Sorry if you are not a Tamil movie afficionado)

Tell me if you have heard this story before - the protagonist is a loyal right-hand man to a powerful Dada. Tough and extremely good at what he does, but he has a conscience. Hence, has limits to how he operates and things he would not do. At some point, he becomes an inconvenience rather than a help to the Dada who decides to dispose of him. The hero waking up to this fact, not only gets away but also promises to avenge the death of his friends. From then on, it is about how he gets his revenge while still sticking to his principles. Ofcourse you have! This (and a hundred variants) is the standard masala thriller plot and Aaru (means Six, and is the nick-name of the hero) is no different.

But, I enjoyed it - more than I did Ghilli (nick-name of the hero!) and as much as I did Saami (again, nickname of the hero!). The difference is basically in the way the movie is handled and the attention to detail in the script and the plot. It is the first street gang movie with a description of the organisation and operation of these gangs - their day-to-day existence - much like any average industry.

The dialogues show great integrity - they are realistic and still get the traditional impact that will get a theatre-crowd in Madras going. The slum and its people (the spokes in the industry's wheel) has been picturised in a down-to-earth manner. Even better is showing through the movie the balance between the police, gangs, the public and politics. Any effort at rationalising the violence or lawless behaviour is pragmatic and not overly-sentimental.

Even the action scenes are not just run-of-the-mill machete fights, but intelligently designed - particularly surprising was making sure that glass specks stick to Surya's (the hero) hand if he breaks a bottle!


Surya is arguably the best actor in tinseltown today, this movie mixes his earlier characters from 'Mounam Pesiyathe' (Silence Spoke) and 'Pithamagan' (Noble Son). Trisha (lead female) is just a good luck charm like in every other gangster movie. But, her role - as a sim-card saleswoman - is very symbolic of how cell-phones have changed the Indian social landscape, the movie has shown this changed reality (with constant inclusions of police turning their phones to silent during encounters, tracking cell-phone signals, changing sim-cards to avoid detection, etc).

Vadivelu's comedy is typical of the movie - though it is traditional in its attempt to include trivia and public messages in the comedy scenes, a sophistication in the way the same is done is found. Particularly, the symbiosis between the four South Indian cultures and specifically, movie industries (particularly Tamil and Telugu) is discussed with comfort and puts a smile on your faces. The best one was the cost-benefit analysis of a car-burglary that suggests that everyone stands to benefit from it.

The disappointment of course was the music - too standard, and the sequences too similar to Ghilli. Lyrics an improvement though - again typifying the new professional approach to an age-old story. Director Hari might not be as bad as I thought he was.

I got this book as a 'Christmas gift'. I had heard a lot about it over the years and its story-line was amusing, not to mention that it tingled my patriotic nerves to know that it had an Indian boy as the protagonist (and no Indian author!). Finally, I got to read it - I finished at, more or less, one go, though I should concede I was way too jobless - the only breaks were when my mom offered something to eat!

The book is quite good, written in an amazingly simple style with the capacity to convey so many of those 'great truths' that we know, but never can express. The most fascinating thing about the writing was how a Canadian author had somehow gotten into the head of a South-Indian vegetarian school-going boy - his tastes and views and perceptions matched either mine or what I knew was common. At one point in time I was wondering if Pi Patel was in many aspects .... me.

Though I read most of the first half of the book purely following the aesthetics of the writing, I got involved in the story after the ship-wreck. Towards the end, it suddenly started disturbing me - it was no longer the objective narrative of an ordinary boy in extra-ordinary circumstances. I had to re-read many passages to understand what was being said during those hallucinatory phases that Pi was having when he became blind! Adding to my trauma was my firm view at that point that Pi Patel was a real person, and that book was merely an artistic biography. I am still not sure if Yann Martel's 'Author's Note' is also fictitious.

For giving me a true shock that I never saw coming I should applaud the author - I usually pride myself in my ability to see through surprise endings!

Some of the ideas in the book are pretty interesting -

1) "I have heard nearly as much nonsense about zoos as I have about God and religion. Well-meaning but misinformed people think animals in the wild are 'happy' because they are 'free' ... " - The whole part where he disses zoo-haters without losing objectivity is well-written.

2) The most dangerous animal is Animalus anthropomorphicus - any animal seen through human eyes.

3) The whole section on why he is a 'Hindu' because he was born one is brilliant - I always wanted to express that idea without having to feel apologetic or having to argue the superiority and inclusiveness of Hindu philosophies; Yann has given me some ideas now! In fact, all his passages on religiosity are awesome - especially why he hates agnostics but is OK with atheists!

A must read.

It has been a while since I came to accept the possibility that my Industrial Attachment is going to be crap - I knew that even when I had a look at my first list. But, what I sincerely hope for right now is for the whole bloody process of choosing one to get over.

Merck need not have suddenly brightened my chances of a good IA by first offering a project and then suddenly deciding not to give any internships at all! Now, all that has resulted in is that my IA selection process is going to go on for another couple of weeks (atleast!)

I should be grateful to OPA to refer to the next round of selections as 'Phase-II (extended)' instead of a more derogatory 'Phase-III' - but otherwise their incompetence and bureaucratic procedures are killing me.

The worst side-effect of this mess is probably going to be the cancellation of my family trip to Penang, KL and Langkawi - my next round interview is very likely to co-incide with that trip. Considering that I am the only one without a holiday this winter, I deserved atleast that!

Adding an aspirin to this ulcer, my grades are woeful and this time I can't even take the blame!

(Apologies to those who dont follow cricket!)

Is it the end of Sourav Ganguly, the Prince of Calcutta, the Maharaja of Bengal, the Lord of the Off-Side?

Ganguly has been in horrendous form for years now, and yet his overall stats look stupendous. He is still in the top ten of all-time greats in one-day cricket and has quite a handy test record. And as a captain, the greatest India has had!

But, he had to go. Cold logic meant that the selectors had to drop him to blood a few youngsters. The possibility that the Indian selectors might have stumbled upon this 'right' decision purely as a political move is still very likely.

That the hypocritical tabloids (like TimesofIndia) which were baying for his blood sometime back are now crying foul is nauseating.

When in form, Ganguly is a better batsman to watch than Lara, Tendulkar and Gilchrist. No doubts there. But, it looks highly unlikely he can get there anymore. He says he will fight - but age is not on his side.

He was definitely a far better one-day player, a naturally attacking player, and India's one day side does not need him anymore. It was only right that an aging (though solid) Test middle-order now needs to bring in Yuvraj and Kaif so that they can become the Tendulkars, and Dravids of tomorrow (and hopefully dont share Ganguly's fate in the end!).

Tendulkar and Ganguly - the opening duo - were probably the most exhilarating comrade-in-arms that ever existed. His ability to non-chalantly and effortlessly hit sixes that match Hayden's in audacity and Afridi's in distance is legendary. What would we not do to see those cover-drives that only he in the whole game could play. Fielders never mattered - the ball always went past them.

He had been worked out - They knew the short ball in the ribs would perplex him, width outside the off-stump would make him lose his patience, and he could no longer charge down to the spinners (which to me was the biggest shock!).

Funny - it seems like we have a replacement for him .. not in Yuvraj or Raina - they are their own men. But, maybe in Pathan. Pathan, in his new-role as a batsman, plays Gangulyesque shots.

He had to go. But, lets agree - he was one of the very best that the game ever saw. Good Bye.

Or maybe, he will make a come-back??

(Sorry if you are not a Tamil movie afficionado)

Finally an average Tamil movie that is enjoyable. The shaming thing though is that it had to be directed by a Malayalee. In fact, the Malayalees are the new hope for the film industry in Chennai. All the heroines nowadays are from there - including Asin, the heroine of this one. All the side-roles in this movie are Malayalees.

The good thing about Asin though is that she is not merely the pretty face (which some of our other leading ladies dont even have), but also acts! Acts quite well in fact.

All Vikrams are good actors (ahem!) and ever since Sethu, Vikram has progressively become better. His excellent performance in Anniyan (means Stranger, Alien or Foreigner) is appreciated in this movie in one of those sublime messages incorporated in the dialogues.

Manivannan and Pasupathi, along with Vikram, are quite a lot of Majaa (means Fun). I dont know what role Director Shafi played in the scripting of the dialogues, but they were quite well done. An attention to detail, a realistic simplicity paralleling Kamal's movies is found in this movie's dialogues. I enjoyed the movie.

MRT Rides in Singapore are long - thats quite a surprise because the whole place is bloody only a couple of miles long! Anyway, atleast those rides I take are pretty long what with NTU in the remotest corner of this small island.

These rides are particularly long because Singaporeans are socially dull - no offence meant - I mean they cant strike up a decent conversation or get into a fight. I have been in 3-day long train journeys in India, and I usually come out with sore throats because of the amount of talking we did in those rides with our fellow passengers. Singaporeans just stand there as if they are doing sentry duty, or texting away, or reading invariably some stupid tabloid article on an European foot-baller! Excepting ofcourse ... you know - the Indians, who cant keep their volumes low either over the phone or while talking to their mates.

So, today I was pleased to hear this conversation in Hindi - I cant quite call it overhearing cos they were so loud! Over time I figured out from the conversation, that it was a couple of Pakistanis and a poor Tamil dude. I say poor because these two Pakistanis were arguing about Indians and their perceptions about Pakistanis, and when they disagreed they would ask the Tam guy for the inside opinion. But, ofcourse, if Tamil guy refutes one Pakistani's viewpoint, he immediately would conclude that the Tamilian was too South Indian! Hence, incapable of giving a representative opinion of the Indian view-point!

These were the conclusions I inferred by the team the train pulled up in Boon-Lay.
1) Supposedly, Pakistanis know a lot about India (Yea rite! Cos you are Indian too - effectively!)
2) Supposedly, Indians don't know enough about Pakistan (Particularly the South Indians!)
3) South Indians are not quite Indians because ... hmm .... they are not from the north - you know the place that is close to Pakistan?
4) Knowing about Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan (who is a Nepali BTW) means they know India!

Good Lord!

PS - A side observation was made today: Indian restaurants (even the costly ones with sophisticated clientele) are noisy, and thats part of the reason why the ambience is inviting for the diners! What better way to have a private time than when you know for a fact that whatever you say is going to be drowned in the noise around you!

It is bad enough that I am one of those unfortunate souls still stuck in Singapore, not going back home to enjoy the holidays - It is worse that I am staying here not because I have 'work', but because my Industrial Attachment application process is right in the middle of the holidays!

But, it is 'the worst' being the only person among my friends who still does not know where his IA is going to be - the list is coming (finally!) tomorrow. In the last couple of days, atleast a 1000 people have asked me one of the following questions - "What are u doing in Singapore, still?" or "Where is your IA dude?" or the most painful "Has your IA started? Is that y you are here?" - that has spoilt my day. It is atleast comforting that I know almost 1000 people who enquire about my 'well-being'.

Today was a particularly weird day - I woke up around 12 when my friend called me for tennis. Two hours of tennis with a racquet that is meant for 'under-14 year olds' (with a label that says 'JUNIOR') was surprisingly still fun. Since then it has been weird-er.

First I dutifully followed the Ind-SL test match - not on TV, but reading online commentary and listening to the god-awful audio commentary. Atleast, Kumble took a few wickets in the end. Then I spent some effort trying to read-up about Singapore's community clubs for an essay competition that (out of sheer joblessness and for the massive prize money) I am going to enter. Not surprisingly, Google is not that useful when you really need something!

Then I decided to watch the latest episodes of Joey and Apprentice, following it up with TV programmes that I have never tried before - some were really funny.

Family Guy lived up to its reputation, American Dad was decent, Simpsons (my first time ever!) was OK but not as good as everyone seems to think, but I liked 'My name is Earl' most. Guess, now I will have to follow these religiously next week onwards.

Guess what I did after that? I am updating my new blog - the one that I started yesterday out of equally painful boredom.

Damn - why did I not come up with a clearer extension (For explanation, email vikram.bala@gmail.com - I am jobless enough to respond!)

At the height of boredom (there are useful ways to spend my time - I am just not exercising those options), I have decided to start a second blog - a more normal one.

I will leave all my 'bore-you-to-death' full length musings to my other blog and this will have the more conventional 'you know what happened today?' and 'I liked the New Harry Potter movie. Especially the French babes' blog.

I am very disappointed though with blogspot and its features. For a simpleton like me, it is not easy to find out how to have that column of favourite links on the side. I somehow managed to.

Now, I am busy finding out other friends' blogs so that I can link them up - envy those lucky few?