The Myth behind her ....

Well this is again my personal experience in the recent days on my way to my workplace..


The Myth behind her ..

From the moment I left my house;
The thought of her let my spirits arouse
“I ought to see her on time today” I would say without coy,
My instinct said “No time to waste, Come on my boy”
I was counting those stops in my route as they were ascending;
In a way they bought me closer to her in an order descending
Alas! Came that beautiful spot where we both usually meet,
Unfortunately she hasn’t turned up yet to let me greet
Just like me, waiting for her arrival was a big group,
I let go my jealousy, as I don’t want to be in the soup
Now that, more men joined that already anxious crowd;
“Come on, I’m waiting for you” I wanted to cry aloud
There she came, close to after a quarter to hour wait;
I wished, I ‘ll let not miss her in the evening entreat
Then came the evening, I was quite early this time now,
“Oh my God”, her absence was on me like a strong blow
Though I found her usual companions already impatient to leave;
“She hasn’t left?” someone said which came to me as a relieve
Again she was late but swift enough to run past from where I stood;
I ran behind her, and managed to board her with a little thud
BTW, She is the M City Entrance Shuttle
And that was my morning and evening juggle.
The myth behind her delay is still a puzzle
I’m no Robert Langdon to crack it impeccable.

My Daily Trip to M City..

This is about my daily trip to my work place.. It's not that i face these problems daily..but quite often ;)...

The longest day before that previous night,
Left my eyes closed still very tight
Before that alarm gave it’s next cry,
I was out from my bed looking wry
The sooner I got ready, now out of my house
“is this a share auto?” was my usual clause
Running after those buses painted red and white
My next Q was “this bus stops at Mcity right?”
Now came the reply “no it is not”
I waited for the Tambaram shuttle to be out
This one packed full to it’s capacity,
Back I go to find a bus to M city
Having bought my ticket until S.P koil
My shirt was wet by now with sweat like labor on toil
Here comes the stop of the once shuttle hub
Time to wait for the next MTC bus to turn up
This particular session at times is quite short
At times this may be the longest of the lot
Here comes a crowded bus..Come hither , Come hither, Come hither
“OMG.. there goes the shuttle”.. don’t know if there is a next one whether
Time to wait again for the next shuttle in line
By the way.. it’s already half past nine..

NewYork – Movie Review

The News articles and documentaries about the 9/11 had enough to tell about the rise of terrorism. But what was the aftermath? Or how did it impact on the innocent muslims of foreign origin in the US? The movie answers the above but leaves you with a heavy heart in the form of a tale involving three University students.



Sameer(John), Maya(Katrina) and Oman (Neil Nithin) get to meet each other in the Newyork State University and fun is the only word which is omnipresent in their world until the collapse of the twin towers. It’s when their lives eventually collapse. As a victim of the torture in the detention camp Sameer becomes a terrorist. Oman is forced to play an undercover FBI agent spying on his own friend Sameer .

Though Oman is convinced that Sameer could have not become a terrorist, he later discovers the consequences which had made him one. Oman ‘s contemplations between saving his friend, his wife Maya at the same time carrying out his entitled task by the FBI agent Roshan(Irfan Khan) forms the rest of the movie. The climax does leave you with a serious emotion.

The first half of the movie is never short of fun and frolica, but it’s the second half wherein which the movie scores. Thankfully not much time or effort have been spent on the love triangle between lead trio while at the university. With a photogenic star cast added with some excellent cinematography the entire movie was a visual treat.

Katrina as Maya is adorable. Be it the college lass with scarlet red highlights, or the gracefully attractive mother, she is awesome. Whatever clothes she wears, it quite underplays on her flaunting over her flawless figure. Added to her cockney accent she completely outwits you. ( I guess I would give my drooling a halt here ;))

John is beyond those brawns, he ‘s an actor who could be vouched for a powerful performance like this. Neil fits in the bill well as the troubled soul between friendship and duty. The little anecdotes render some humor in the otherwise serious movie. Plaudits to Kabir Khan for bringing out a different facet of the 9/11.

Watch this movie, for it’s an entertainer with etched emotions.

Philadelphia

Hmm.. well to start with.. I had known “Philadelphia” as the name of a University and a vague mention of it as High class society in Titanic .. Wondering what the ostentatious
cruiser has got to do with Philadelphia ??…On their second meeting, Kate Winslet aka Rose would say to Jack aka Leonarda “..500 invitations have gone out and the whole of Philadelphia society would be in.. “ So much very little was my knowledge about this city before watching the movie starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Antonio Bandareas.

The original Home video CD which i bought recently termed this movie as “ A landmark film that dazzles with deep emotion and exceptional acting” and the two Oscars, which the movie won for “Best Actor” for Tom Hanks and “Best Original Song” in the then Academy Awards. “Streets of Philadelphia” is the song and it’s played while title cards are put. It hails Philadelphia as the “City of Brotherly love”.. Errr.. of course the movie is about the plight a lover.. but he’s a same sex lover who is infected with one of the deadliest diseases. Released at a time when the epidemic AIDS ‘s outbreak was more and the stigma discrimination of the people infected by the same was very much in vogue, this movie had indeed thrown light on the painful perils of discrimination of the AIDS infected and their acceptance in the then society.



Andy (Tom Hanks) is a successful lawyer and works for one of the prestigious Law firms in Philadelphia. Shortly after the discovery of his illness, his employers fire Andy cooking up a Cock and Bull story about a missing document. Andy join forces along with his lawyer Joe Miller(Denzel Washington) to sue the firm for discrimination. Antonio Bandareas plays the role of Andy’s partner Miguel. As the lead characters are lawyers, a majority of the happenings are in the court room.

In terms of acting I found Denzel to have excelled better than Tom Hanks. Keen on winning the lawsuit in favour of his client and at the same time trying to balance his marital and public life, Denzel has indeed proved his mettle. Though initially reluctant to argue in favour of a gay lawyer infected with AIDS, Denzel steps in to help Tom, against his very own bias . Tom on the other hand is an equally competent actor. Be it the ailing patient or the active lawyer he leaves you with a heavy heart during the climax. The biggest strength of the movie happens to be the dialogues and excellent acting by the lead actors. Thankfully the same sex orientation and the acceptance of the people are portrayed in better optimism. A wide contribution has been done in condemning AIDS discrimination.

It ‘s a must watch movie if you are a penchant viewer of drama. Watch out for those strong arguments and equally potential counter arguments during the trial.

Haroun and the sea of stories - A read worth..

This is the novel which I have completed recently. Though it was from a TV anchor’s interview I came to know about this book and not by my own preference to read it, but I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. As it ‘s written in the perspective of little boy, I loved it the most and now it’s in the list of one of my most favorite books.

The last time I read a “Salman Rushdie” was almost four years back. It was “Midnight’s Children”, and the language was too high and I could neither enjoy it nor read further after a couple of chapters. But thankfully “Haroun and the sea….” Was in a simple language. As the author dedicated the book to his son, he chose to write it in a lucid language making it an evident choice for ‘Books for Children’..

After reading some of those NRI authors who claim themselves as new age writers, who write nothing more than stereotyped melodrama which predominantly has Male chauvinism, freedom of a married women etc as the central theme but contributing nothing to either to the theme or to a fine read, I was not interested in the so called contemporary writing. ‘Everything happens for a reason’ by kavita daswani, French lover by Taslima Nasreen are a few to name. Infact after reading French Lover, I tore the first two pages and threw it away. Actually I have the habit of writing my name or putting my signature in the first two pages of the novels I buy, but this novel was such a bad one and indeed the worst of the novels I have read until date.



But “Haroun and the sea…” which I started with no anticipations turned out to be an alluring plot which talks about a virtual world where is totally out of the earth :).. Well the “Kahani” is not a part of the globe but comes as non-explored cosmic body where in you find a sea made of numerous streams of stories and a villain who tries to destroy the epicenter of the source with anti-stories.

Though I’m not good in deciphering metaphors and allegorical scripts, the underlying thought in this novel didn’t require a great intellect to reveal it, but even a guy with a small-town breeding like me could even understand it. Not to forget the analogous characters which reside in the “kahani” have shared a lot or to be more appropriate have borrowed a lot of characteristics from their counterparts in the real world.

One such example would be the shadow warrior. His face paint is green and lips are scarlet, May be it’s a striking semblance with the made up face of a “Kathakali” Dancer who expresses with his “Mudras”. Though the climax is more predictable, the virtual world brought in by the author with all those close-to-real life characters made it a worthy read.

Thiraikatha- A story off the "thirai"

There was lot about this movie as it was termed as one of the "off - beat" type of movies. Also to add to it, the movie starred Prithviraj, my favourite actor.

It was the day of diwali, i was all alone in my apartment in Chennai as my housemates have left to their native for the celebrations. Too much of time to kill..

I remember seeing in the dailies that "Thiraikatha" was released in Chennai.. But was apprehensive if the new releases would have replaced this movie.. Anyways this time i was completely relying on the yellow page websites.. Well they said it was "Sangam Cinemas" where the movie was scheduled.. The sub- urban train was moving at a snail's pace for me and i was cursing my ownself for not starting a little early for the evening show.. No time to spare, i just got into an autorickshaw from the Chetpet station..

Alas !! Disappointment.. there was no Thiraikatha but some diwali releases... Atlast it was only on this sunday i got to see this movie after i got the original VCD from Music World..

Review:

Thiraikatha - As the name suggests, the movie is about the celluloid world. Not that, it completely revolves around the tinsel town, but on the life of an actress from her bloom to the gloom days.

Akbar @ Akki (Prithviraj) is a young director who is keenly working on the script for his second movie. For Akki movie-making is not a profession but a passion. He runs a restaurant along with his crew despite his successful debut. He narrows down to the life of an actress of yester years, Malavika(PriyaMani) for the storyline of his next venture.

As he explores more about the life of Malavika, the movie unfolds to the happenings of the recent past. As a reluctant actress Malavika debuts as the lead lady alongside Ajaychandran(Anoop) as the bad guy in her first movie. Despite her mother's disapproval the actress falls for the struggling actor Ajay. The movie turns out to be a success and so does the career bloom of the actress. With more films opportunities pouring in Tamil and Malayalam the actress is quite a star among the masses, but for Ajay is yet to get his bigger break as a hero.

Thanks to a common friend between the two, they get to act together in a movie in lead roles and end up in a secret marriage. But the marriage is short lived following difference of opinions and they soon part ways. Ajay's career takes an upturn and he grows to become a super-star who reigns on his popularity even in his 50's. Ironically, on the other hand Malavika's fades and due course of time she is totally forgotten.

Akki's inquisitives leads him to the ailing actress who is totally withdrawn from the gaiety and the glamour. This makes a transition to compassion and he persuades her to come with him for betterment. He also refrains from his decision of making a movie on her life. The actress who quite envisions her last days wishes to see her long lost love and the aftermath marks the climax of this touching movie.

Though based on a true story, the director has to be lauded for the impressive screen play. In fact he has given enough room for showcasing some excellent acting from lead characters.

In terms of acting it is Priyamani who omnipotently steals the show. Be it the glamour girl malavika or the ailing actress she excels in both. Next in line would be Prithviraj and Anoop. Well the rest of the characters like Samvrutha, etc complete the package of the decent movie.

Unlike most of the movies which throws light on the darker side of the actors, this one seems to have potrayed the emotional turmoil esp. that of the actressess in their fading end of careers.

The songs are good but the background score could have warranted more attention. Also the second half seems to drag a bit but the climax does the expiations for the little of shortcomings. A decent entertainer, infact the typical malayalam which vouches mainly on a solid stroyline.

Thiraikatha - The thiraikatha(screenplay) in deed shines bright in the thirai.

How Opal Mehta got into a painting ??

When i was in my final year @ college, this was the latest buzz news about an Indian origin Havard Sophomore, Kaviya Viswanathan.. On the first week i happen to read a full page interview with the girl about her debut Novel "How Opal mehta got kissed, got wild and got a life".. in the next week she was termed a "Plagiarist"..with her contract with some movie production company being annulled.. More pages found to be similar to various other novels.. and the book was pulled off shelves..

Enough were these reasons to increase my inquisitiveness to read this but unfortunately i could n't manage a copy of it .. Well I was out of college got myself a job in chennai.. In my agenda Weekends are meant for long shopping schedules.. i don't mind even shopping in the subway pavements, a posh mall with all major brands or the over/ever crowded Ranganathan Street or the little market area in Tambaram.. In one such shopping visits i found a copy of this book in a road side shop with the following cover pic..

Though the prime reason for choosing this book to read was the controversy surrounding the book, i liked the plot the novel. But this cover pic was different from the ones which made rounds in the internet as shown below

I had a team mate who was leaving our company to join a firm in her home town. I decided to gift the person something different. Infact she often reminded me the cover pic of the book and so i decided to gift her the same as my memento.

Well i have done some alternations in the painting as well :).. Well that's the story of How opal Mehta got into a painting :)