AVATAR - The World of Pandora is Amazing!

James Cameron's Avatar (3D movie) is unbelievable and amazing! Kudos to the Film maker for his extra-ordinary brilliance in bringing the World of Pandora close to our eyes. It is truly Fantastic.

This is the first time in my life i saw a movie of this great stature. The 10 year work of James Cameron after Titanic has seen the light of the day. The response is just awesome through out the world and FOX Communications has done a marvelous job in Marketing the Movie to the World. The director's wait for the technology growth is a worth mention here and that has created a magic in bringing the World of Pandora close to us.

I have no clue if anyone has ever taken or will take a movie of this stature in future. More than describing the experience of watching this movie, it is worth the money you pay in theatres to watch the same.

A must watch for an awesome experience to see the world of Pandora!

The Remake Trend: Not Healthier?

Off late, the Tamil Film Industry is more inclined towards the Remake of yesteryear or other language movies. The trend started off primarily with Billa and from then on it just continues and there seems to be no end to it!

In spite of the fact that, many remakes are not doing good in the box office, today's directors and producers keep taking these kind of movies without any period. To my knowledge, Unnai pol oruvan and Gajini (In Hindi) was two of the best remakes in the recent past. There are a few other movies like Billa, Santosh Subramaniam, Pokkiri, etc which was good enough as well. I can count the number of best remakes when compared to the unbearable count of the worst ones. In how many languages will these people take movies having the same story? For example, Prabu Deva's Pokkiri was already a remade movie from Telugu. Now, he again made Wanted in Hindi. Can't these people make a movie with a better story avoiding the remake?

I happened to see Kanden Kadhalai (The remake of Jab We Met in Hindi) and Ninaithale Inikkum (Classmates in Malayalam) in the recent past. Both the films lacked originality. Jab we met in Hindi was such a fantastic movie and it had a wonderful performance by both the lead roles played actors. I felt, the transition of the character played by the female lead in Tamil was not upto the mark and the Male lead was trying to imitate more of the one played in Hindi and hence lacked originality. While in Classmates (Malayalam) the climax had more twists and turns which made the screenplay more interesting. The Tamil version Ninaithale Inikum lacked the suspense and screenplay did affect because of the same reason.

There are many other films on the list which lacks in showing justice to the original version. It is high time the film makers think about a new story line and if at all they wanted to remake a film, wish they do it with full justice to the original version.

"Unnai Pol Oruvan" Or "A Wednesday" - The Hindi Version Leads!

I was eagerly waiting for the release of Unnai Pol Oruvan, the reason was; i was left with a feeling of awe when i watched the Hindi Version of the movie titled "A Wednesday".

Both are equally good in its own style and my choice would be "A Wednesday" just for the severity of the Mumbai blasts which disturbed the entire nation.

Nevertheless, Kamal Hasan and Mohanlal were great donning their role brilliantly. The only issue is the sensitivity of the Mumbai blasts where it was more intense among common people. Even though i am not from Mumbai, i felt the Mumbai blasts was somehow more disturbing in the life of a common man. Having said this, i am not denying the fact that people from Kovai or a common man who felt the pain of Kovai blasts only must be knowing the pain of the same. The only difference is when it happened in Mumbai the pain was even more severe and the entire country was disturbed by the incident. This role was very well enacted by Nasiruddin Shah in the Hindi Version. I blame myself for not even knowing anything about the Meenambakkam blast. Of course, it was an eye opener when Kamal Hasan brought this point in the movie. Am not sure how many people knew about this incident!

I somehow do not like Kamal Hasan claiming that Unnai Pol Oruvan is different from the Hindi version which had come first. The credit has to be given to the original version as the entire movie was based on the idea of the same. The only difference between the two versions are, the Hindi Version considering the Mumbai blasts and the Tamil Version considering the Kovai and Meenambakkam blasts. Having said this, Kamal Hasan ofcourse is a boon to the film industry and no hard core hatredness towards him in anyways!

The casting for the Tamil version is brilliant! I must mention a few people who have done a great job apart from the legend of Tamil and Malayalam Industry. The Cop role played by Ganesh Venkatraman of Abiyum Nanum Fame and the journalist role played by Anuja Iyer was Fantastic. Both seems to have an immense potential in acting. I could come to this conclusion by observing the differences in role played by them and their flexibility, comparing with their performances in other movies. Wish they go a long way in the film industry.

The screenplay is equally good in both Tamil and the Hindi Version.

Lastly, the background score for the film is just apt in the Tamil version. When i first listened to the songs after the audio release function of the movie, i thought Shruthi Hasan is going to screw up the movie with her western music influence. I must say, what i thought was wrong and the music is just perfect for the movie. No songs in the movie except Allah Jaane which goes along with the story, it just appears in the audio album. Allah Jaane with Kamal Hasan singing in Nasal voice is not sounding great in a few places, however it is a good try.

In short, Unnai Pol Oruvan is definitely a worth watch while the Hindi version "A Wednesday" is one step ahead in the race!

Airtel Super Singer 2008 Adieu : Not a Fair Conclusion?

It has been close to one year since Airtel Super Singer (ASS) 2008 started and the D-Day was on June 03, 2009 in YMCA Grounds, Chennai. The Grand Finale took place with so much of hype that viewers probably thought a deserving contestant would win the title! Majority of the Indian viewers across the globe were in track of the show. The channel tried out all possible ways to increase TRP. I must say many of them enjoyed every bit of it and the TRP for this show did increase inspite of the gimmicks played by the channel till they reached finals. The finals changed the perspective of many of the viewers about the show and the show ended leaving negative remarks among many of the viewers. I have come to this kind of conclusion only after browsing through various websites, blogs, communities in the social networking websites and comments of the viewers in the channel's forum and other websites.

Considering the individual talent exposed in the show, each of the final five had their own speciality:

Ranjani is both technically and singing wise great. One of the most versatile singer in the female contestants during this season.
Prasanna brings out the feel in the song so perfectly in any kind of genres he sings, however, was strong in Kuthu songs! Technically needs improvement and voice imitation has definitely gone down which is appreciable. So, he just needs improvement technically in singing.
Renu has a honey like voice and any kind of genres suits her voice. She has got all talent to get used to other kind of genres with sufficient time for practice. Undoubtedly a playback material as everybody says! She has a long way to go. Her strength is Melody genre. One of the most expressive singers during this season of ASS.
Ajesh is good both technically and singing wise with a great voice. The question is if his voice will suit today's heroes in Tamil industry. May be very soon as his voice matures, he will make a good playback singer. His strengths are Melody and classical/Semi-classical genres. My opinion is he has to open up more wherever necessary.
Ravi attracts every single person with the way he sings! His dedication to music is impeccable. The most versatile singer out of the lot. According to me, he is the most expressive singer in the ASS journey so far. Technically and musically strong and has been the most consistent singer throughout out the journey. Never in the verge of elimination throughout the journey which is commendable.

That was all about the final five in a nutshell.

My order of the contestants would be:

Ravi
Ranjani
Ajesh
Renu
Prasanna

I would prefer Renu in the third position. The reason being Ajesh needs time for his voice to mature. Moreover, Renu is the ideal voice, the playback industry might need.

Few of the awards ignored by the panel:

Magical voice of the ASS 2008 - Renu and Rohit deserves this one.
Super Singer title - Ravi deserves this one. Since, he did not make it, he should have been given the best performer award throughout the journey.
The most expressive singer - Aishwarya or Deepshika

My thoughts on the judgement and validation of votes:

All the five finalists performed the finals in their own special way and we did enjoy the performances. Regarding the judgement, when the super singer is to be decided by the public, then why to get comments from the judges. If at all they want the judges comments, it should never have an influence on the public voting. Also, the comments should never be biased. All this happened in ASS finals. Oh my god! Why am I writing about the public voting when the whole point of voting has been ignored!

You will understand more clearly from the validation of votes. Here are the statistics on number of votes disclosed by the channel

At the end of Grand finale Ajesh alone gets 2,50,000 Votes
Renu and Ravi's votes were not disclosed.

The positions after Grand final 1 at the end of 1st week
Ajesh - Not disclosed
Ravi - Not disclosed
Renu - 4 times Prasanna's votes
Prasanna - 39249
Ranjani - 31179
One of the anchors of this show Malini told Renu's votes were 4 times Prasanna's, which means 4 times 39,249. So, Renu's votes should have been 156996

Total votes at the end of grand finale ( All the three rounds put together) - 5,70,000

As mentioned earlier, Ajesh himself got 2,50,000 votes which means the rest is 3,20,000
Ranjani got 31179 in 3,20,000 which brings down the remaining votes to 2,88,821
Prasanna got 58623 at the end of second week before he got eliminated and the remaining votes comes to 2,30,198
Renu got 60,832 votes is what they say, however at the end of first week itself her votes were 1,56,996 or does it mean that Renu's votes were less than that of previous week. Utter non-sense! Renu's Grand finale 2 performances were fantastic when compared to Grand finale 1. Did people vote reversely? :-) Quite baffling here! Vijay TV please clarify!
If the left over votes are more or less what Ravi could have got, it is crystal clear that they have fooled the viewers big time!

Now, people who read this post would have come to conclusion, why the hell am i concerned so much. As i have mentioned in one of my other posts about Ranjani's elimination, there are a few things in life which haunts you so much. The result is you can't be keep your mouth shut and nod your head for whatever crap is happening around you. Injustice is something very difficult to accept in life to whomsoever it happens!

In my opinion, even though i have enjoyed some of the best performances in the show, they have become baseless now. Anyways, I must thank the channel for giving such a great exposure to all these talents. They have been known to people because of the channel. Gimmicks - they did it successfully, however, not smart enough in getting a positive remark among the majority of viewers across the globe.

Atlast, I must tell you that I am not against Ajesh in any way. I love his voice and what a soulful singer he is! It is just that Ravi is one step ahead in the race. His dedication to music is incomparable and no way less than Ajesh.

My heartfelt wishes to all the contestants who gave a few wonderful performances and delighted so many Indian hearts across the globe. May all your dreams come true and wish you good luck in all your future endeavours.

On Paati’s Rememberence…After her death!

I just wrote about my Thatha a few months back and now my Paati is no more! Quite shocking, however, felt she is a blessed soul again like my Thatha. She fell down when she was back from the restroom and there ends her life on May 20, 2009 9 pm IST.

It is so paining that I couldn’t see her face at last and living so many miles away has lot of disadvantages in emergencies. I wanted to talk to her and something in me was telling me that I should call and talk to her. Somehow, I missed it! I have no reasons for this. I had a hatredness towards myself that why the hell did I not call up? Sometimes in life, you should do things immediately when you feel like, otherwise you end up in never doing at all and repend for it for the lifetime. Calling up your dear ones whenever you feel like talking to them is not a big deal, however, I did not even do that! You feel for a few things for the entire life and this is one for me.

Paati has always been kind and good to everybody in our family. She has been a great and sensible lady throught out her life. Flexibility to any kind of family style made her to blend with the entire family – This includes all her three Sons.

She was a good artist. May be she did not develop the talent to that extent. She was also good at Origami and for her level of education in those days, she used to read English, Hindi and Tamil all the three languages. Not an avid reader though! Tamil and English are okay. I thought reading Hindi was a bit difficult in those days without formal training.

I should definitely be thankful to Paati for being one of my Maanasika Guru in learning Lalitha Sahasarnamam. When i started to learn i thought, it is going to be difficult than Vishnu Sahasarnamam, however, things changed once i think about how my paati and another family friend of ours used to recite in their own way. You get inspired by a few people in your life for many different things. Paati was one among them for me. Atlast, i myself couldn't believe how i was able to get the hang of it. I thought considering somebody as your Maanasika Guru definitely makes a difference. Kandha Sashti Kavasam was one which she taught sitting with us (me and sister) way back. Thanks for spreading a few good things about what you learnt - Paati.

I can never forget the days when my Paati used to give curd rice with Maavadu to all of us – This includes my cousins as well. Lovely and great moments with her that I can always treasure for the entire life.

There were tough times in her life and she has done so much for the family and relations in the earlier days of her life. Off late, she had problems in the hip and leg as she fell down quite a few times here and there. Inspite of all this hardships, she was strong and never used to express her feelings out. Her patience and tolerance level is impeccable I should say! Admire her for these two wonderful qualities. She has been very strong even in tough times in her life.

Anyways, I felt she was not bedridden and suffer for a long time. Those sufferings are still more worser. When I think all of that, I think god has taken her or rather she has joined my Thatha soon after my Thatha passed away. According to me they both are a few among the blessed souls on the earth.

I must thank my Mother and Perima who have served her offlate for her health conditions. For the past 4.5 years she has not been able to walk properly. All the credits to them for having taking care of her without much snag .

Thatha and Paati – You both are definitely special to me as always. Your memories will always stay with me.