Deiva Thirumagal

"Hi! This is Cheeyan Vikram. And neenga kettutu irukkiradhu Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM !" That's all he has to say. But, he can't even say THIS in a straight, good-humored voice. He brings in an American accent & announces this like an Alattal girl on Sun Music! And the alattal continues in all his interviews: "I may act in few movies, But I know I'm the best.." Even Kamal is more humble. But, Victor Kennedy @ Vikram is so Boastful that he's nauseating. Boy! I hate proud ppl. But, even I concede that after all that over-acting in Bheema, boring Kandhasamy & horrible Raavanan, he's acted tolerably well in DTM.

But, I give all the credit to Director Vijay, 'cos he's given a lot of space for other actors also to act. Anushka shimmers in the second half as the struggling underdog lawyer fighting a mighty veteran. Sandhanam ushers in a friendly feel to the movie. But, the scene-stealer is the beautiful little girl (Sara) who is so spontaneous that we just surrender our hearts to her simple charm.

My only grudge with the Director is that he should have mentioned, "Thanks to 'I am Sam' & Sean Penn" along with the names of all those Bankers during the title credits. But, the good thing about him is that unlike sadistic Bala or the weepy/whiny Cheran, he doesn't squeeze every tender scene to wring out every drop of tear from our eyes. Our eyes water in several scenes, but strangely, they are NOT sad scenes, but happy scenes: we feel the bountiful love between father & daughter ourselves.

The climax is so poignant, there is hardly anybody left in the theater without dabbing their eyes. And when the entire audience get up & applaud the movie, we KNOW this is a Great Movie. Sure, we need such subtle reminders now & then to tell us that Life is not about our money, status and power, but the true Love that we show among each other...!

127 Hours !

Joel Schumacher made a movie with the premise of a guy stuck in a 'Phone Booth' for 2 hours: a sniper dot pointed on his chest & the warning that the bullet will follow if he hung up the phone.

But, it takes even more talent to narrate the story of a guy stuck in a crevice in the Grand canyon for 5 days. I'm sure, audience anywhere in the world would be bored to watch a guy standing in the alcove with one hand under a rock for 90 min. So, Danny Boyle gives a Prologue, an Epilogue & also picturizes Aaron's hallucinations to make it interesting.

Yes, this movie is as racy as any fast paced thriller can be. Fast cuts & peppy music may make this seem 'not real'. But, brilliant, dynamic acting by James Franco elevates this true story to an enriching experience. He gets us to KNOW & UNDERSTAND the real Aaron Ralston. He is rash, brash, over-confident, short sighted - but he doesn't assume even an iota of self-pity, even when he gets trapped. He retains his sense of humor though no one's around to appreciate it. He calmly accepts his fate & records his feelings on the camcorder. He is so human.... just like one of us. He has his fears, he cries his tears... He remembers his father bringing him to the Canyon for the first time. The hypoglycemia, ketosis & the fatigue drag him into a delirium & he hallucinates having a son, interacting with him. And the will to survive gets kicking again... he becomes resourceful enough to extricate himself, LITERALLY from this doom that be-fell him.

I hope I'm not giving away a plot-spoiler, cos everybody knows the story. Well, the self-amputation is not so gory at all. He breaks both the bones in his forearm one by one levering them under the rock & cuts through the soft tissue with a small blunt knife. He does what he ought to do & we want him to escape..

Danny Boyle's flashy cuts, unlikely angles & racy editing and Rahman's lively music bestow a restless rhythm to our hearts as we watch the events unfold before us.

As I write this review, I'm reminded of that Mexican lady, Ines Ramirez Perez who was stuck up in a remote farm house with no one to help her. She was in labor pains and couldn't deliver the baby owing to a large head. She laid on a table, cut open her abdomen & uterus with a kitchen knife and extricated the baby at the right time. Then she sent her older son to get help. Baby & mother survived !!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In%C3%A9s_Ram%C3%ADrez

http://www.theunnecesarean.com/blog/2009/11/2/ines-ramirez-perez-and-the-mythical-self-cesarean.html

127 Hours may not be Oscar material. But, it's a much necessary recording of a fellow human's endurance & resourcefulness in a Dead-end situation.

Not Gory..! But, Glorious indeed..!

I agree with the film's tag-line: There is No force on Earth more powerful than the Will to Survive..!

All...izz...well !

Its difficult to put my finger on what exactly I liked about '3 Idiots'. But, I relished every moment of the movie, yes, including the dumb part when a deeply asphyxiated new-born baby (delivered by a vacuum cleaner) takes a rescue breath & gives a Ronaldinho kick to Aamir when the students start chanting "All..izz..well ! All..izz...well !"

Chatur is an NRI who is the chief rival of our 3 idiots. He has opted to give felicitations to the Principal at the Teachers' Day function. Aamir gets hold of his speech on the computer and substitutes 'balaatkar' (rape) in the place of 'chamatkar' (shine) which appears several times in the speech - and this leads to the funniest scene in the movie - it has us roaring with laughter !

Without being preachy, this movie touches upon the tremendous pressures imposed on our students by our absurd educational system & the un-realistic expectations parents impose on their children, not allowing them to follow their dreams. The script is only about 20% of Chetan's book '5 Point Someone' and the rest is Rajkumar Hirani's (Lage Raho Munnabhai) original writing.

Very sincere acting by the 3 Idiots - Aamir, Madhavan & the other guy, and Boman Irani as the Principal has this permanent contemptuous sneer on his face - we detest him even before he has spoken a word ! Kudos to this talented actor! He breaks down in one scene and immediately we start sympathising with him ! The only mis-fit in this movie is Kareena, who is completely de-glamourised, but still doesn't look nice. (I don't know why I hate her.)

A thoroughly enjoyable screenplay, Great music and a feel-good element that runs throughout - what more can we ask?!

And now, I have a suggestion for you. At times, if at all u feel anxious, disturbed or worried about something: aapke Dil mein (read: left side of chest) haath rakhiye aur kahiye:- 'All..izz...well !' - tapping ur heart gently 3 times along with each word; it gives a beautiful sense of relief ! It really works, believe me.!

The Brink of Orgasm !

Its about this song, 'Marching Bands of Manhattan' by Death Cab for Cutie.... Its nestled itself.. snugly... deep into my brain like a Cysticercus. Its one of the sweetest songs I've ever heard...

And its the most inadequate song too...

The rhythm of the beautiful guitar builds up steadily octave by octave and it feels like soaring up...and right when its about to reach the crescendo....it side-steps, drops and begins again....This happens again & again.. throughout the song!

Boy! Its killing..! Its like teetering and lingering on the very brink of Orgasm..! Without reaching it ---like Forever! But, its very addictive and we feel compelled to listen to it from the start... again & again!

I don't know if the band did it on purpose. Anyway, on these Orkut communities for Death Cab, most of the fans have mentioned this song as their most-favourite!

The Chorus goes like this:

Sorrow drips into ur heart,

Thru a pin-hole,

Just like a faucet that leaks,

but there is comfort in the sound,

And while u debate

half-empty or half-full,

It slowly rises and

ur love is gonna drown.

This song has a semblance of a closure, courtesy of the piano that smartly takes over with a sweet chord and ends it with a clink!

Go to mp3raid.com . Key in : Death Cab - Marching Bands . It zips down in 1 - 2 mins.

Another song that tortures similarly is 'Grey Street' by Dave Matthews Band. But, I think there's a lot talent that goes into composing these kinda songs!

Paa

What can I say? The year has come Full Circle !
Dec 2008 - Poo (Wonderful movie !) Theme : Forgiveness
Dec 2009 - Paa (Wonderful movie !) Theme : Forgiveness

Co-incidence ?!!
In Poo, the innocent village girl forgives, forgives & FORGIVES her beloved mama though he breaks her heart.
In Paa, the Mom finds it hard to forgive the father, but the suffering kid leads by example & changes Mom's heart.

Again, Paa's story is ages-old. Boy bumps into girl (literally, here!). And one night of 'unprotected' passion, proves her PregCard : Positive.
Boy says : 'Abortion!'
Girl says : 'No !'
F.F.>> 13 yrs : Boy befriends the kid (afflicted with Progeria) unaware that he is his son. And the rest is Chemistry!

But, yes, the package is delightfully different this time :

1. First of all : Paa is tightly edited & is wonderfully short for a Hindhi movie.

2. Melodrama has been restrained appreciably for most part of the movie. But, they make our eyes water at the end.

3. Whatever adjective, we may choose, its not enough to appreciate Sir Big B's performance : We just fall in love with Auro - His gimmicks, his mischief, his total lack of self-pity, his fragility, his anxiety to unite Mom & Dad, his eyes that speak volumes of emotion...!
- I can only say, 'There's NO replacement for Amitabh Bachan'.

4. I never knew Abishek could act so well ! Controlled underplay throughout & his silences convey so many unspoken feelings with shimmering clarity !

5. Vidhya Balan ! Right from Parineeta days we were attracted to her... the Airtel ads made us drool & drool and now she totally knocks us down..arrested & shackled...we're glad to submit to her charm! Her eyes seem so deep - bottomless! Even in just-woken up crumpled cotton sarees, she looks so sexy. (My friend said that he was just staring at her neck all the time!)
Anyway, her character in this movie reminded me of Suhasini in 'Vanaprastham' - that Mohanlal movie. (And a little of my own Celine too!) These girls are intelligent & warm, but when they become resolute, its impossible to reason with them, to break their resolve !

6.And the Maestro: Raja rocks ! There are only two full length songs and two short cover-versions of our own cherished melodies from the 80s. They are all done so well. And the background score tugs at our heart strings and elevates the movie to an ethereal level.

Don't miss Paa ! Don't watch it on DVD! Appreciate this movie on the Big screen. We need more offerings like this next year too !

The 3 Door Problem !

I read 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' about two yrs ago. I was astonished at what it has achieved. I went to Odyssey, bought two more copies and gave it away to like-minded friends. Needless to say, I gave my book away too.

Its authored by Mark Haddon, an English man. It tells the story of 15 yr old Christopher Boone who sets out to solve the mystery of the murder of his neighbor's dog. He is an Autistic child and he narrates the story.

As u know, Autism is a neurological disorder characterised by severe impairment in Social development - the ability to interact and communicate. Many of the kids I have seen have never talked even at 12 yrs. But, strangely, many people who were supposedly suffering from Autism have exhibited extraordinary intellectual and creative capabilties - Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Beethoven, Mozart, Edison, Bernard Shaw, Henry Ford, Bill Gates. I think P.C.Sreeram is autistic too. Have u seen him speaking? And what about Forrest Gump?

In our story, Christopher's numerous peculiarities help us to understand Autism better. This guy is a mathematical & logical genius. Here, he discusses Monty Hall's 'Three Door Problem' which is astonishing in itself !

Consider this :

The host invites U on to the stage and there are 3 doors on the stage. Behind one door there is a Car. The host knows that door. There is a goat behind each of the other two doors. U are challenged to choose the door with the car behind it and the car is yours. U choose one door, but u are NOT allowed to open it. Then the host opens one door and shows that a goat is behind it. Now, you are allowed to either stick to the door u chose first or open the third door. What will u do?

Most of us would be of the opinion that now we have a 50-50 chance of winning the car and so choosing the third door or sticking to our first chosen door would not make any difference. But, this is NOT TRUE ! Answer: We must SURELY choose the third door now ! It has more chance of having the car behind it than if we stick to our first door.

Explanation:
We will assume that there is a winning door and that the two remaining doors - A and B, both have goats behind them. There are three options:
U first choose the door with the car behind it. U are then shown either door A or door B, which reveals a goat. If U change ur first choice, u lose the car. If u stay with ur original choice, u win.
U first choose door A. U are then shown door B, which has a goat behind it. If u switch to the third door, u win the car. Otherwise, u lose.
U first choose door B. U are then shown door A, which has a goat behind it. If u switch to the third door, u win the car. Otherwise, u lose.

So, the probability of winning the car is 2/3 if u change ur choice and only 1/3 if u stick to ur original choice !

Curious, but true, isn't it?

Meet me on the Equinox !

Equinox :
Like an eclipse, Equinox too is an astronomical event. It occurs twice a year when the tilt of the Earth's axis is Bang! perpendicular to the transverse axis of the Sun. So, the Sun comes vertically above a point on the Equator.
It usually occurs on March 20/21 and September 22/23.

The Scenario :
The Vampire boyfriend decides to blow himself up by stepping out into the Sun when the Equinox occurs. 'Cos his human girlfriend has acquired a new guy now. And the girl starts racing to the venue to stop him. That's when the song starts (at least in the video!). But, Man ! What a song! Starts at mid-tempo and quickly builds up speed as it ploughs into our aural fields...
Meet me on the Equinox,
Meet me halfway,
When the Sun is perched at its highest peak
In the middle of the day !
Let me give my love to u,
Let me take ur hand,
As we walk into the dimming light,
Oh! Darling understand !
That everything.. Everything Ends..!
Pay attention and u hear the two lead guitars chasing each other in a mad frenzy, but the relentless piano with its haunting refrain is pursuing them without missing a beat ! All of only 3:30 min, this is one of the Best songs of 2009. - Performed by the Indie Rock band 'Death Cab for Cutie'. It appears on the O.S.T. of the movie 'Twilight II - New Moon'.

Indie Rock or Independent Rock is a sub-genre of Alternative Rock. These bands produce & release their albums on their own small record labels and so only a few thousand copies are released initially. They usually don't attach themselves to corporate recording companies.

The channel 'Bob' on World Space radio plays a lot of their songs which I found very intelligent and enjoyable. I downloaded 3 whole albums by Death Cab - Transatlanticism, Plans & Narrow Stairs and every single song is of the highest quality. Some other great Indie Rock bands are :
1.Dashboard Confessional
2.Better than Ezra
3.The Decemberists &
4.The Doves

Dig into Death Cab, guys..! They are as good as Coldplay !