Sivaji (சிவாஜி): Movie Review

The Movie opens with a masked man being taken through thousands of chest beating men and women and locked up in the central prison, when a co-prisoner asks him what crime he had committed, Super-Star turns around to say 'I tried to do good for the Country' and then Sivaji turns into flash back mode. Not a typical opening scene for a Rajnikanth film, but then this one's a Shankar film!

Without giving anything away, Sivaji, is about Software Engineer returning from the USA with 200 Crore Rupees to realise his dream of building engineering and medical colleges that provide free education on merit and how he has to endure bureaucratic red-tapism and corruption like the rest of us have to, when we go to any government office. Then there's the baddie Suman, who plays the quintessential businessman trying to undermine a potential competitor to his own engineering & medical college 'business' with every crooked method possible. In the meanwhile Sivaji manages to find a typical Tamil girl, Shriya, to fall in love with, woo her and dance around. When the twists and turns of the movie leave him penniless, how our Superstar fights back is the Second half. If you'll find Rajni as Sivaji rocking, just wait for climax when Rajni as MGR simply blows you away! MGR? Yup! that's suspense ;)

Rajni as Sivaji looks a good 25 years younger and pulls of another stellar performance in typical Rajni style, the chewing gum replaces Cigarette but the rest is pure Rajni formula. Shriya as the typical Tamil girl performs as much as her role allows her to, but is nothing more than a glam doll as in most Tamil movies. Vivek as Sivaji's side-kick seems a tad under utilised but then that's the way you feel about everyone else except Rajni in the film.

There are no mannerisms or punch lines to imitate, when Sivaji wants to deliver a punch line Vivek stops him and takes a dig at the rising stars of Cinema and walks away with all the claps! The Camera work and the sets deserve a mention, the music by A.R. Rahman are already topping the charts all around. The fight sequences give you a sense of déjà vu (Matrix style is old stuff now), there's nothing new but they're highly stylised. Like in any Shankar movie there's an over dose of computer generated effects and the songs are well shot in grand style, when you watch those you'll realise what went into the making of Indian Cinema's most expensive film ever.

The film delivers a social message against 'Black Money' and exhorts movie goers to 'realise the dream' of a developed India, but, falls terribly short on story and logic. Not a typical Shankar film, but then, this one's a Rajni film! Am I contradicting myself? No I'm not! There's something for the Rajni fan and something for those expecting another classy one from Shankar the perfectionist but if you go to any of the 17 movie halls showing Sivaji in Chennai City looking for either alone you'll end up a bit disappointed after all the hype. Go watch it for 3 hours of pure entertainment.

Check out pics of the Sivaji (சிவாஜி): Film Festival on my Picture Blog

Boulevard of broken dreams

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of broken dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk a...

My shadows the only one that walks beside me
My shallow hearts the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Til then I'll walk alone

Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ahhh
Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ahhh

I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line of the edge
And where I walk alone

Read between the lines what's
Fucked up and every things all right
Check my vital signs to know I'm still alive
And I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk a...

My shadows the only one that walks beside me
My shallow hearts the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Til then I'll walk alone

Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ahhh
Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ah-Ah Ahhh

I walk this empty street
On the Blvd. of broken dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk a..

My shadows the only one that walks beside me
My shallow hearts the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Til then I'll walk alone!

Green Day - American Idiot

Simha, Simha, Narashima!

When he becomes Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu....


There won't be need for power plants...


He won't need body guards or protection...


He'll handle the goons like this...

Vote for Captain Vijayakanth!

300 - Movie Review

The Spartans discard imperfect babies, so that their armies are the strongest
The Spartans are born to be soldiers
The Spartans are taught never to retreat, never to surrender
The Spartans don't take Prisoners
The Spartans have descended from Hercules himself
The Spartans are taught that death in the battlefield is the greatest glory they could achieve in their life.
The Spartans are the finest soldiers this world has ever seen!

Zack Snyder's true to Comic book adaptation of Frank Miller's 300 is like a history lesson in an expensive Video game. It's a Cornucopia of highly stylised Computer generated vivid scenery, wild creatures and Battle scenes that's bound to excite you beyond compare. It is based on the historic battle of Thermopylae when King Leonidas of Sparta, led his badly outnumbered contingent to battle with the Persian juggernaut led by 'God-king' Xerxes in 480 BC. Snyder's devotion to the Frank Miller's (of Sin City fame) Comic Book has brought out a visually stunning rendition of the epic unlike anything we've ever seen before in this genre.

300 is true to it's Comic roots: A scene from the Comic & Movie, This is Madness, This is SPARTA!

It was 300 against a Million, yet another David vs Goliath story, a story of the underdog, but it's the treatment that's makes it such a delight to watch, it's like a poetry on a painting. There's plenty of blood and gore, plenty of killing and body parts being chopped off, but it's all stylised using stop-motion, bringing out some of the best choreographed fight scenes ever on film! This mesmerising Testosterone feast is sure to set your adrenaline pumping and bring out the video game playing adolescent out of you.

If this awe inspiring, passionate tale of freedom and honour is not reason enough to go watch this work of art at least go watch it for the Spartans who look like He-Man and walk around with chiselled features and 6 pack Abs. When the enemies' arrows blot out the sun, these Spartans fight from the shade! I can't wait to watch it again!

Check out the Comic, you'll start loving Frank Miller! Frank Miller who like with Sin City won Comic world's top Honour, 3 Eisner Awards in 1999 for 300 along with artist Lynn Varley.

300 the Movie Image: Wikipedia

PS: 300 has been dubbed into Tamil too, Guess what it's called...
'300 Paruthiveerargal'!

When Hutch Pulled the plug on me

Day Before yesterday evening, suddenly calls wouldn't go through, messages failed. Thinking something was wrong with my phone I dozed off, but the problem remained in the morning. No amount of re-inserting the SIM or fiddling with my phone had any effect. Even though I knew I had a balance of over Rs.700 and at least 5 months of validity I couldn't check that either. Calls to Customer Care wouldn't go through either. Convinced that something was wrong with my phone, I called Hutch care from my land line just to check.

Hutch Care (Automated Voice): Hi Welcome to Hutch Care, English/ Tamil, Enter your Mobile phone Number
Me: Beep Beep Beep Beep
Hutch Care Call Centre Operator (HC): My name is Y..., May I have your name & Telephone number please
Me: I just entered it... What was the point of all that
HC: Hmm... May I have your name & Telephone number please...
Me (Reluctantly): Dr.Prahalathan, 9884188018

HC: Yes Mr.Prahalathan, what's your problem?
Me: Call / Msg not goin
HC: Did you submit Photo identification
Me: Yeah, last week at Hutch Shop
HC: Your details are incomplete
Me: What? I submitted Copies of Driver's License & Medical Council Registration
HC: You have to re-submit Photo Identification
Me: What?
HC: It has Chennai-18, but no Teynampet
Me: Both Driver's License & Medical Council Registration mention Teynampet, Chennai - 18
HC: No sir, there is no Teynampet
Me: How can that be missing in copies of both documents?
HC: You have to re-submit Photo Identification
Me: Chennai- 18 is Teynampet, What seems to be your problem?
HC: Sir, You've to re-submit...

Banged the phone and started off to the Hutch Shop

The place had just opened, only one Hutch Care Executive was there, yet there were at least 10 irate customers before me. I joined the queue and added my number to the growing list. The executive (HCE) couldn't handle the numbers, she called a Manager (HCM)
HCE: All these people have submitted forms, yet got disconnected
HCM: We have lakhs of customers, they may have missed a few forms
Crowd: If you cant handle, then why do you get new customers? We can always go to some other company...
HCM: hmm... Not like that, We tried calling your numbers must have been unreachable
Crowd: We get Spammed with Caller Tune and other messages and calls from Hutch
HCM: Calm down, We tried calling your numbers must have been unreachable
Me: So you're implying your network is bad, mobiles are unreachable within city
HCM: hmm...
Me: When u can send us all the crap as Spam Messages, can't you message us that you will be disconnecting?
HCM: We tried calling your numbers must have been unreachable
Me: £$%^, When are you gonna re-connect
Crowd: Almost 15 now, all yelling
HCE: Now, I'm releasing all lines...

Note how the Hutch Care Call Centre Operator and the manager kept repeating their lines... Do they teach these people to mug up standard lines?
My phone started ringing, I walked out without bothering to thank them, as more people joined the crowd...

Vintage Car Rally @ Chennai

The largest collection of Cool Cars that belong to a generation gone by. Austins, Fiats, Fords, Morris, Volkswagens... Some as old as 1929. I snapped a whole lot of Pictures at the Vintage Car Rally that took place on January 7 from Beasant Nagar Beach to Anna Nagar Club.

Pictures posted @ my new photo blog

The Indian Railways, the Army and my first experience at Bribery!

Me and my friend K were returning from New Delhi to Chennai after our exams at Chandigarh. After a looong bus ride to New Delhi we found ourselves standing at the end of a short queue at the current booking counter of the New Delhi Railway station.

Standing in the queue was quite uneventful except for a guy or two who tried to jump the queue inviting abusive language from the others. Then there were the women who refused to stand in a queue and considered themselves too big for such formalities. The guy at the counter was fair he sent back every one of those women. Standing in the queue was so uneventful, that even after an hour we found our queue was shorter by just 6-7!

While inside the counter there was so much activity that it could have been easily mistaken for a tout's office, but for the location. There were people walking in at frequent intervals, slips of 'paper' were passed around and the guy sitting behind the counter had booked around 15 - 20 tickets in the same time we had been standing!

As we got closer to the counter we learnt that we had to cough up a few extra notes to get the tickets. Those who did not utter the magic password were told that the chart has not arrived, and to come later! K asked me if I had any 'experience' at bribing, though both had none we were emboldened by those around us and we decided to go ahead.

By the time our turn came someone senior had come into the counter and was watching over things with hawk eyes. So when our turn came we uttered 'Sir urgent, we're ready to pay extra' The counter guy still told us to wait. An hour later when the 'hawk eye' left suddenly the chart appeared by magic and we were all given tickets after paying him some bribe.

Our bribing didn't end there, when we rushed to the train, We found, there were many like us who had obtained current tickets by bribing the counter people but through the back entrance. The TTE came a little while later, we had to then pay a bribe to get a berth to sleep! We shared the cabin with a few army men who were returning home for their holidays which was already delayed by the snow fall in Kashmir causing them to forfeit their previously reserved tickets. We learnt, that even they, had to bribe their way to get into the train and then also to get a berth!

It's bad that our country's government officials are neck deep into bribery and corruption that they're bold enough to accept bribes over the counter in full public view. It's even worse that most departments of our government have powerless vigilance departments.

It's bad that we don't remember or respect the men who brave rough weather and the enemy to protect us with their lives. It's shameful, that our government officials who lead cosy lives, have to suck bribes out of these poor army men also.

So at the end of the day, even before I have earned enough to become a tax paying citizen, I have already bribed twice and become a bribe paying Indian citizen!

Leave that child alone!

I was glancing through The Hindu’s supplement for children, the Young World and saw a whole page advertisement to educate children on sexual abuse. The NGO that brought out the advertisement also conducted an exhibition at Spencer Plaza, on the occasion of World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse. It’s great to see so much awareness in a country that normally hides sexuality under the carpet.

In fact, it was a few personal encounters with people who continue to suffer from psychological problems well into adulthood because they had been traumatised in childhood that led me to decide on Psychiatry as my choice of future specialisation long before any of my peers. Further clinical encounters and the knowledge of the scale of the problem and the preventability of future mental problems, reaffirmed my decision to pursue Child Psychiatry.

Though most of the research in this area have concentrated entirely on women, boys are no exception and you’ll be shocked to know that we live in a world where even parents may sexually abuse their own children! Some brutal tales are sure to send shudders down the spine of any average person and be a cause of endless pain and rage. Some of these data maybe shocking, but the truth does hurt...

· A World Health Organization report in 1999 stated that 1 in 10 children is sexually abused;
· A survey of 350 schoolgirls in New Delhi in 1997 revealed that 63% had experienced sexual abuse by family members;
· Another 1997 study on middle and upper class women from Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Goa revealed that 76% of respondents had been sexually abused as children, with 71% been abused either by relatives or by someone they knew and trusted;
· A 1996 study on students in Bangalore stated that 47% of the respondents had been sexually abused;
· A 2006 study by Tulir in Chennai found that 42% of the 2211 children surveyed, mostly adolescents, had been abused;

Stunned? Feel like puking? Or does it remind you of a dark day you always wanted to forget?

In any case it's very important that you teach your child how to recognise, protect from and report sexual abuse. It's also important for you to learn to recognise and listen to your child's problems.

Useful Web links:
Tulir - Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse: A great site & a must read!
Tulir's Blog
Indian Council for Child Welfare,Chennai