பேருந்து நிறுத்தம்

திங்கள் காலை... அலுவலகம் செல்ல வேண்டி பேருந்து நிறுத்தத்தில் காத்திருந்தேன். ஞாயிறின் சோம்பல் முறித்து மக்கள் கூட்டம் சாலையை ஆக்கிரமிக்கத் தொடங்கி இருந்தது. அப்போதுதான் அவளை கவனித்தேன். பேருந்து நிறுத்தத்தை நோக்கி விரைந்த நடையுடன் முன்னேறி வந்தாள். கடந்த ஒரு வாரமாகத்தான் அவளை இந்த சுற்று வட்டாரத்தில் காண்கிறேன். புதிதாக குடி பெயர்ந்து வந்திருப்பாள் என்று நினைக்கிறேன். ஆனால் எங்கு சென்றாலும் தன் தந்தையுடனே செல்கிறாள். இப்போதும் தந்தையுடனே வந்திருந்தாள்.

நீல வண்ணத்தில்பளிங்கு கண்கள், சிரிக்கையில் குழி விழும் கன்னங்கள், சுருள் சுருளான தலைமுடி, சொக்க வைக்கும் அழகுச் சிரிப்பு. பார்த்த உடனேயே பிடித்துப் போனது. கடந்து சென்ற அனைவரும் ஒரு வினாடியாவது அவளால் ஈர்க்கப்பட்டனர்.

அவளது பேருந்து வந்தது. கையசைத்து தந்தையிடமிருந்து விடை பெற்றாள். பேருந்தில் ஏறினாள் பையை சிரமத்துடன் சுமந்தபடி. ஆரம்ப பள்ளிகூட நிறுவனங்கள் மீது கோபம் வந்தது. பொதி சுமக்கும் பருவமா இது ?!!!

புத்தம் புது பைக்

புத்தம் புது பைக் .... கண்ணில் படும் வாகனங்கள் அனைத்துடனும் போட்டி ;
வந்து சேர்ந்தேன் சிகப்பு சிக்னலின் முதல் வரிசையில் ;
வரிக்குதிரையின் முதுகேறி என்னை கடந்து சென்றாள் அவள் ;
வழியை கடந்து சென்றாள் - என் விழிகளை கடத்திச் சென்றாள் ;
பச்சை நிறம் மாறியதால் பாதி மனதுடன் பயணிக்கத் தொடங்கினேன் ;
சிகப்புக்கும் பச்சைக்கும் இடையே வந்த வெள்ளை தேவதை ;
இப்போது போட்டி எனக்கும் என் இதயத்திற்கும்.

அங்காடித் தெரு - Review

The movie opens with blood turning the screen red much similar to the critically acclaimed "Veyil". But thats where the similarity stops. Angadi theru directed by vasantha balan is a hard-hitting, no-nonsense movie that brings to fore the unseen side of the life of the sales people of the busy ranganathan street. How many times have we ignored the sun-dried voice of a girl selling flowers or the persuasive tone of a garment salesman. Vasantha balan stops by and documents the livewire of the sales street and succeeds.

Well the story is a simple one liner. Its about how young people from different places, with nothing but poverty in common, throng the sales street, dreaming a better future. To brief it, Jyothi lingam (Mahesh), a school topper in a village near tirunelveli, due to his father's death, is loaded with the responsibility of mother and two younger sisters, comes to chennai to work as salesman in senthil murugan stores. He, accompanied by his friend marimuthu ("kana kaanum kaalangal" fame Pandi)slowly discover the reality. The humiliating and ill-treating supervisor(director A.Venkatesh) , the hell-like living conditions, body-squeezing workload; Poverty makes them digest these stuffs and get on with it. Amidst the sweat and tears, develops love between Lingam and Kani (Anjali). One day, sneha comes to the shop for an advertisement shooting, and the pair gets locked up in the shop entire night. What follows changes their life forever.

Casting is the strength of the movie. The lead pair immediately get the recognition from the audience as they easily attach themselves with the characters. Director Venkatesh as the abusive supervisor is a perfect foil for the role. Pandi who has already proved his mettle in kana kaanum kaalangal, utilises the opportunity to the full extent and prooves that he is a natural talent. But the credibility of the director lies in etching the supporting cast onto the minds of the audience. Be it the self-esteemed, unemployed man who turns lavotory into his business; be it the lady who is married to the dwarf; be it the blind old salesman who gives courage to the lead pair; they all leave an indelible mark, long time even after the movie is over.

These genre of movies dont move at a greater pace and incidents joined with linear screenplay makes it interesting. Kani's sister episode does little to help it and could have been done without. Dialogues sometimes lack clarity in the name of natural delivery and the nellai accent makes it even difficult to understand.

Music is a big bonus and movies like these with no real star power rely heavily on the gramaphone. Vijay Antony and G.V.Prakash Kumar make you hum to their tunes and the BGM travels nicely with the movie. "Aval appadi ondrum azhagillai" and "un perai sollumbodhae" are already the hot favourites on FM requests. Richard's camera captures the rustic life in the sales street with stark reality.

Kudos to vasantha balan, who has proved that "veyil" was not an accidental success. His confidence in the script shows his film making and he gets himself a seat in the row of directors who rely on the script rather than star power. His courage to handle this sort of the subject needs to be applauded and he is sure to win laurels for this. But the real success of the director lies in the fact that, next time when you visit the sales street, you are sure to ignore the sales people, but ... you will ignore them with dignity.

தவறான நீதிபதி

நடந்தால் நிழலாக
தூக்கத்தில் கனவாக
விழித்தால் ஒளியாக
எப்பொழுதும் என்னுடன் வருகிறாய்;

தவறான நீதிபதியடி நீ
பார்த்ததோ என் கண்கள்
வலியை இதயத்திற்கு அல்லவா தருகிறாய்

எதிர்மறை

நீ வந்து அமர்ந்த பொழுது இறகு போல லேசாக ஆனது என் இதயம் ;
நீ விட்டு விலகிய பொழுது கனத்து போனது ஏனோ ?
இயற்பியலின் எதிர்மறையடி நீ பெண்ணே !

Advantages of IPL

1. While returning from the office, I don't have to wait long for the house door to be opened. Usually I return from office by 11:30 PM and have a hard time waking the guys to get the door opened. It takes two to three ringing of the bell followed by calls to the mobiles. But with IPL matches stretching close to midnight, Guys are awake watching the final overs and i get into the house at the first knock of the door.
2. At office, people leave early from the office, and i don't have to rush in to get front seat in the office bus. I start by 10.30 PM bus. So I can leisurely get in bus five minutes before the departure without the worry of being confined to the bumpy last seats.
3. This is a boon (or could be a bane) to the housewives, given the fact that the husband returns early from office. The overall lie-meter of the husband scores low during these periods as there is less of making about his staying out, by creating non-existent office meetings or the long-time friend who was never born.
4. Saturday and Sundays, there isn't too much traffic on roads (esp IT corridor) as guys happily spend the evening watching their favourite regional teams clash with the rivals. Not sure whether the guys really like being glued to the TV sets, but this is one way to make some savings, by avoiding Gucci and D&G girlfriends. But less spending in the weekends may lead to increase in inflation or make the current inflation persist.
5. This is an extension of point number 4. There is less air pollution in the cities. Greener city.. Hmmm.
6. It paves way for national integration, by erasing the borders between the states. Chennai cheers for M.S.Dhoni while Delhi prays for Dinesh Karthik. And the irony is that, this arises from a strong affiliation to the regional teams. Sometimes this has unintended effect too. Where else on earth would you clap when Albie Morkel dismisses Tendulkar !!!!
7. The most refreshing thing is that, at office, girls discuss T20 matches and thats a revelation considering the fact that test matches and ODI were by far not even the distant favourite of girls. IPL talks certainly eclipses the extensive talks about the serials or the movies or the parlours, atleast for sometime.

Oscars - 2010

"The Hurt Locker" bags 6 of them. Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first woman director to win an Oscar.
Best original Screenplay : Mark Boal for "The Hurt Locker". Should have gone to Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds". Nobody except Tarantino can make drinking milk look so scary.
Best adapted Screenplay : Geoffrey Fletcher for "Precious". Should have gone to Jason and Sheldon for "Up in the air". Nice transition from paper to celluloid.
Best actress : My favourite bags it. Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side".
Best supporting actor : Christoph Waltz for "Inglorious Basterds". That was one hell of a performance.

VTV - Review

Movie : Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya
Direction : Gautham Vasudev Menon

Gautham, the lead pair, A.R.Rahman ; enough to pull the crowds. But will they sustain it, is the big Q.
Karthik (Simbu), an Engineering graduate, has celluloid dreams. He meets Ganesh, a cameraman, who, believes in Karthik and asks him to wait for the right choice. He offers to help him out and convinces Kathik's parents. Love at first sight for Karthik, and who would not when one sees Jassie(Trisha) - a malayalee christian, and conveys to her too. But Jassie bound by her father's religious values refuses his proposal and says they can be "just" friends. But Karthik isn't someone to let go his first love easily. When Jassie's family comes to know about this, tempers rise high between the families and Jassie's father arranges her marriage with her consent. Karthik goes to church to attend marriage without Jassi's knowledge and when Jassie drops out of the marriage at the last minute, there is no turning back for Karthik. Jassie admits her love for Karthik, and there begins their complicated journey of love.
Well, if that looks like a complete story to you, i would like to interrupt that we are only half way through. Will their parents accept the love ? What about Karthik's dream to become filmmaker ? Will the pair sustain their love through turbulent times? The answer to these forms the rest of the story. And there is a twist in the tail/tale too.
Gautham menon returns with a complete love story after a string of cop movies. Depicting love in not too dramatic manner has always been his style and he sticks to that. The lead pair's natural chemistry lets him to concentrate on his story and doesn't require him to think too much on the love building aspect of the pair. But he could have done something about the pace of the screenplay, where certain scenes stretches beyond the required limit. Gautham has made compromises in the screenplay to accomodate the regular filmy things. The boxing sequence of Simbu (probably for his fans) is one. The girl assistant director who falls in love with Simbu is another insertion. She is included just to divert the audience when Simbu talks to Trisha in the park about a girl in his life.
Manoj Paramahamsa, the cameraman, seems to be still haunted by the ghost of Eeram. His extensive use of blue and aqua colours, though beautiful, goes a bit overboard. Kerala and Trisha look more beautiful through his lens. The intelligent capturing of the romanticism of the night time during the lead pair's conversations speaks volumes for his ability.
ARR wields the gramaphone. Songs are good, and hope everyone will agree if i say, that they aren't best. ARR is a genius; no denying that. But when it comes to background score, raja is the king. The secret is to know where to mute the instruments. Music keeps on playing during some of the important dialogues and jeez, wasn't that loud. Was that just because of the fact they advertised the movie as "an ARR musical".
Simbu is fresh. No finger tricks. No punch dialogues. No air brushing sounds when he turns back. He sits himself well in the boy next door image and scores well. He is the cute charming boy that every girl would want. His emotional deliveries require more sheen. His attitude towards love is well received by audience. Long way to go in dialogue delivery and emotions, but happy to see that he is willing and has taken the first step towards that.
Not often does a heroine gets a meaty role as this, and Trisha grabs it well. According to the story she is a year older than Simbu and bravo that she gave a nod to this. The scenes require her to be very casual. But her not-so-varied expressions is something that she needs to concentrate if she wants to improve. She looks ravishing, in the simplest of the costumes. But almost every scene ends with Trisha walking in slow motion and too much even a good thing is good for nothing.
Ganesh, as a cameraman friend of Simbu is a revelation. He tickles the funny bones with simple one-liners and heavy sighs. His peculiar voice and accent are fresh to audiences. No doubt he is going to receive offers galore.
Well , the movie scores with the chemistry of the lead pair and its bold take on contemporary love. This type of narrative of love is new to Indian cinema, yet making it look interesting is another aspect which could have been made possible by little trimming of the screenplay.