The BOSS is back!

The mere mention of a new Rajini movie creates enough expectation and hysteria among the public. And being tagged as the costliest Indian movie ever made, and the first time collaboration of the ace director Shankar, Music wizard A R Rahman and the Super star Rajini has added to the frenzy!

Being one the many fans of Rajini, I too am expecting the release of the movie soon. The Audio is expected to hit the market on the 4th of April and the movie is rumored to hit the silver screen on the 14th of April or sometime in the middle of May.

Cheers to all the Fans! Hope to watch a Block Buster!

GOD, Superheroes and Bestsellers!

Sometimes, friends do end up discussing things at a great length, which gives everyone an opportunity to know about ones friend a bit more. It’s sometimes a revelation.

Unlike the intensity attributed to the previous sentence, Suppi, Sudhi and I, did have a discussion on Sunday (25th March 2007) on an issue that can be termed by some as controversial and some as debatable. The most part of this discussion was carried out by me and Sudhi, with Suppi giving his point of view at different points in the discussion.

It all started with me telling these two buddies about how the kids of this generation have forgotten the most admired and most charismatic super heroes of our childhood, like HE-MAN. The trigger that made me make this statement was a kid of one my relative who failed to name the super hero HE-MAN doll on my bookshelf.

This statement then led us to discuss out own Indian Television super hero SHAKTHIMAN and that’s when the main topic of our discussion started brewing. It was I who mentioned the plan of gifting someone the model of the scene where Lord Krishna preaches the Geetha Upanishad to Arjuna on the chariot. Even this would not have been such an issue had I not mentioned, how the person who could preach the Bhagavat geetha and follow all the malpractices in and out of the battlefield in MAHABHAARATHA. It was, and is, my personal opinion that Krishna did indulge in many malpractices in MAHABHAARATHA which should not merit him the status of a GOD.

This led the discussion to the two epics RAMAYANA and MAHABHAARATHA and the status they should deserve in our society. It was Sudhi's belief that these two epics were indeed sacred and ought to be protected so that the future generations will learn about the grand culture of our Hindu society. His point was that these two epics are a social and moral guide by themselves that teach us about our culture and the principles laid out for the good society. In short he was of the opinion that these two epics were SACRED enough for our society and ought to be given that status and regarded with highest respect and never criticized.

My point was against the dramatic, fictionalized and hype stereotypical description of the characters RAMA and KRISHNA in these two books. I told my theory of the origination of these two books, which I believe would have been a composition of a court poet or an author, decorating his king through a fictional account and attributing all the godly characters to him and all the evil ones to the king's certified enemy. Some of incidents told in the books might be true, but I do believe most parts of the books are fictionalized to a great extent with the sole intention of pleasing the king, the patron of the author.

But I do agree that, if looked as a fiction these two books are great in their own sense, having been bestsellers for centuries.


That evening the discussion ended without any conclusion. But I did notice an unusual silence from my buddy Suppi. I do believe he did have something to say and add, but chose not to on that day. Expecting him to talk about this to both me and Sudhi soon.

Escape From Alcatraz

I did have the chance at last to check on the film, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (1979). It was always tagged as one of the good films of the impeccable CLINT EASTWOOD. And I did have a very small knowledge of the Alcatraz prison or 'ROCK' before watching this film.

Well, as a matter of fact, I was not very much impressed by the film. It was definitely a good film, with a nice cast and a tight script, but I had a feeling of watching a re-hash of 'THE SHAWSHAK REDEMPTION' while watching this film (It should have been the other way around, but I ended up watching the SHAWSHANK before ALCATRAZ !).

To start with, I do agree with my buddy Suppi who says 'All prison movies look similar'. Have to, it is not expected that prisons (in US or elsewhere) differ to a great extent from one to the other. But the librarian in both the films being a black, both the films having characters that tend to assault the newcomer physically, the warden being a person with a stone heart........all these gave me feel of watching a SHAWSHANK again.

But the film is a good one. Clint Eastwood, true to his reputation gives a splendid performance right from the place where he confronts the WOLF with a cool attitude (BLONDIE !!??) to the scene where he shows his controlled temper during the sudden death of character who is supposedly Al Capone...he is just brilliant !

The actual escape, right from its planning stage is described well and depicted in a time frame that appears close to the real. It is also not over-dramatized, except for a scene where in the prison guard has a doubt on the sleeping figure in Frank's (Eastwood) cell and goes near to discover Eastwood in the bed and not a dummy as he suspected. The last scene, where in the warden finds a flower left behind by the escaping men, is a nice touch.

I did feel the lighting could have been better at some parts of the movie, where darkness overshadowed the physical movements of the screen characters.

But on the whole a good movie. A must watch for Eastwood fans.

Japan se laaya Mera dost.....

I was gifted 2 chopsticks from my buddy Suppi, on his return from his professional trip to Japan. I had never taken the advantage of giving him a list of goodies that I always wanted from Japan, but nevertheless I did expect him to get something for me from there. True to my belief, he did get me a pair of CHOPSTICKS and few chocolates (yet to receive it from him though...he says it’s stocked up for me!!)

Well, initially I was surprised / excited / taken aback when he revealed the two medium sized sticks from a plastic pouch for the benefit of me and my other friend Sudhi. I had always seen chopsticks in those martial arts flicks, our own national channel's telecasting of OSHIN and in some BBC and NG documentaries. But never in real life. The two sticks had a polished look on them, which kept me wondering as to how in the earth those people ever get to get hold of even the last grain of cooked rice by this.

Suppi who I believe already knew that me and Sudhi would go through these thoughts, gave us a demo on 'HOW TO USE THESE STICKS FOR YOUR BETTER'. I believe he intended us not to keep this pair of sticks not as a memento but instead USE IT for real!! Anyways, he started the crash course by asking us to hold the two sticks by our right hand, with one of the sticks lying on the thumb like on a cushion and the other above it being held on the side by the middle finger (sic) and the index finger lying over the stick at the top (pretty confusing I know....see the pic above)

After the course Suppi gave even a practical demonstration on 'HOW TO PICK UP A BIT OF CHIKKI USING CHOPSTICK'. By then me and Sudhi had strewn the Times Of India all over the Sofa in the living room of Suppi's house. Then getting an inspiration from Suppi's gallant act of picking the CHIKKI piece, me and Sudhi decided to try the same. To everyone’s amazement Sudhi did it right the very first time. After giving him due share of applause I tried my hand at the same brimming with confidence. Both the CHIKKI piece and my confidence came crashing down in my first attempt. But both Sudhi and Suppi encouraged me to try it again and again till I succeed, which I did after some 4 - 5 attempts. And then the Supreme soul who not only parted with two sets of the CHOPSTICKS for us, but also took time to share his knowledge on how to use it, dear buddy SUPPI, certified us to become the proud owners - cum - users of the CHOPSTICKS !!

Thanks Suppi! Love the gift!

Now, the pair of CHOPSTICKS lay rested in the penholder on my desk soon to be savored by dust!!