Ladies and Gentleman. Sit back. Sit tight. This is strictly for the fanboys.
The Dark Knight is the best superhero movie ever. It makes Spiderman stand on his knees and weep. Definitely, one of the most stylish, rivetting and brilliantly directed action movies. If Christian Bale went a notch above Daniel Craig for all that debonair, Heath Ledger went a notch above Jack Nicholson. Both of them are that good. It won’t even be blasphemous to say Christopher Nolan went a notch above Tarantino. Probably he always did.
The film started at #4 on the IMDB Top 250. And unlike other hyped movies, I am guessing it is going to stay there for a long time.
So, I’ve been listening to the music of Sakarakatti- the new Tamil album from AR Rahman with all new faces. I don’t know much about the movie but the music sure is Rahmanesque!
There are 4 new songs and 2 old ones by Rahman rehashed. Taxi Taxi that is a fun number relating friends to Taxis offering a free ride or something like that(huh moment!). Nothing new there but quite catchy. Then there is Marudhani which has a very Sandakozhi(Azhutha Ezhuthu) feel to it. A very similar arrangement with the same singer, Madhushree with her sometimes squeaky but likable voice with Rahman chipping in with an alaap here too. This one is very nice.
Elay is a number that is probably the pick of the album. The song starts off with a Roobaroo feel to it and maintains the same till the end. It swings between amateurish to imaginative lyrics but the vast arrangement and Naresh Iyer, Krish vocals lift the song to a new level. Note the harmonica and violin in the background. Quite brilliant.
I Miss you da is probably the lowpoint of the album but Chinmayee makes sure it deserves a listen. There is nothing much to write about this song though. Some may really love it, some may hate it ourtright.
The other 2 songs are Chinnama and Naan Eppodhu. Chinnama is a rehash of Meenaxi’s Chinnama Chilakka, which surprisingly, has come out very well. The Hindi original is a brilliant song and though the same cannot be said of the Tamil version, it is not bad. With a female voice replacing the chorus in Hindi, it sounds authentic in Tamil too. Unlike other such songs, here it is possible that you’ll like both the versions. The other rehash is again from Meenaxi. Naan Eppodhu is a Tamil version of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata and has the same singer, Reena Bharadwaj. The song is as lovable in Tamil too!
With Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Ada and now Sakarakatti, Rahman is in top form! And three amazing albums in a span of 2 months is quite a treat!
As I was listening to Meenaxi after a long time, I just fell in love once again with this lesser known Rahman number. Listen to it here if you haven’t. It is definitely one of his best creations but very few are even aware of it: Do Kadam
Completely unrelated, I came across this super galeej song! I don’t know how I missed it. I heard it only weeks back. It came earlier this year I believe. It is from some movie named Kadhalil Vizhundhen, apparently! Max, how did you miss reviewing this flop movie?!
I love clothes. I give this undue importance for an individual’s dress sense which some may consider to be unnecessary. The idea of being up to date on fashion, wear good clothes and look good all the time didn’t come out of choice but was a habit nurtured and cultivated.
Mom grew up with a lot of Indian pop culture influences. She, being a good dresser, is always up to date on the latest fashion fundae. Fashion used to be very subjective and still is. For most belonging to the middle class and upper middle class society in India, fashion meant the latest from the Indian film industry. So, the legacy carried on. Mom often used to look at the latest Yash Raj movie or any of the then current hits and say, “I am buying you that for next Diwali”, “I am buying you this for the birthday”. I grew up from saying, “Ok fine” to demanding, “Ok, I am going to get that next Diwali”. It is a very simple example of how influential an upbringing can be.
Fashion, sadly and arguably, starts and ends with movies in our country. It is not seen as something that suits you best and something you feel most comfortable in. I digress to a totally different topic altogether. It was still cool, for a boy of fourteen, to see “Wardrobe: Options” or “Wardrobe: Boy London” on the bottom of the screen on Channel V just before the VJ says goodbye. The eyes lit up on realizing that the clothes he wore during Diwali were from that same shop in Juhu. But it was no less trendy to walk around with those printed T-shirts from Fashion Street. After all, the city was Bombay.
It was not all western. Mom and my aunt, time and again, stress on the elegance of the veshti(dhoti). They often talk about how a shirt and veshti could, as a matter of fact, be sexy. The amazing world of movies came to their aid once again. The sight of Madhavan and Jyothika in Dum Dum Dum, clad in trademark engagement attire of veshti and saree, both made of silk, struck in their minds. It was an epitome of beauty to witness two good looking people clad in traditional attire in a complete natural setting. I did carry my one and only silk veshti all the way to the US.
So where did it all start? Mom has her reasons. She has a regret somewhere in her heart that she has two sons but not a daughter. She often used to tell my friends and young girls she knew, how she wished she had a girl. Why? So that she could dress her well and make people go awe. She never missed a well dressed woman whenever we strolled through Lokhandwala Complex. She loves the tank tops, the short kurtas, the silhouette tops and the works. She admonishes women of her age who never let their daughters experiment with clothes. The farthest thing my mom and I could do for my cousin when she was 15, was getting her a top that had “HOT” printed in bold sparkles. It was an inexpensive one that was a rage in Bombay after Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta endorsed it in some movie. We never saw it again.
Certainly, dressing up and looking good is a trait often condemned and termed waste of time. Some even misconstrue the attitude coupling it with a very negative take on metrosexuality. Luckily, the parenting I experienced(and continue to do so) had temperaments opposite to that of such naysayers. It established the fact that looking good is not natural, but an art.
Why is it that when you spot desi log in a huge gathering in this country, with most dressed traditionally(especially, the women!), they look all the more beautiful? Is it because it is your first such event in almost a year? Is it because the event was high profile? Is it because they are, well, desi? Or is it simply because, they are all affluent?
Well, the above picture, is as far as I can go! It was at the Wright Brothers Memorial. The trip was good, maybe just because, I got to drive. After about an year. This hiatus began just after being on a high. June and July last year were spent driving between Hosur(it’s near Bangalore) and Madras. Sometimes twice a week. And then this huge unfortunate break. So, the excitement.
Did anyone check out the trailer of Rock On? It’s over here. The trailer is quite impressive but the music that starts at 1.30 is too familiar. Is it the background score of Lakshya? I am not sure.
And Sunday blues. Work again from tomorrow and also going back to total economy mode. Two months of uninhibited fun just got over. Or rather am ending it. Have to mellow down before school starts once again. All the other things should settle down by themselves once that happens. Aiyo!
I think the movie works. It’s full of cliches, but that’s the best part. It makes a mockery of itself and everything around it. With some awesome actors, awesome music and the most often beaten yet awesomely executed climax!
Someone tell me how come Genelia is suddenly so beautiful? I just found out she is two years younger to me. Brilliant! Hmmmm!
I can definitely take more Jaane Tus and Jab We Mets than Kabhi Alvida Na Kehnas, Dhooms and Jhoom Barabar Jhooms.
Nothing to write now. I fiddled with few of the themes and settled for this one. But I guess I’ll change it to a better one after some time. There were many issues concering readability in the old theme. This serves the purpose for now. Hope it makes Maami and others happy!
And I just heard one uber cool song. It is nothing new, in fact, quite an old one. I don’t know how I missed it all these years but now thanks to Chandra, I have a new song for my megalomaniac self. And as usual with the songs I like, it has brilliant lyrics. Sample this:
Holiday quiet on these streets, except for some stubborn leaves
That didn’t fall with the fall, and now they clatter in vain
Holiday sky, midnight clear
Wind is high, hard to steer
Old muffler rumbles like an old fighter plane
In search of some rest, in search of a break
From a life of tests where something’s always at stake
Where something’s always so far
What about my broken car?
What about my life so far?
What about my dream?
What about…..
Get away and come with me
Come away with me and we’ll see
If I was right on that night, that a future was made
Before time takes each year, like a knife cuts it clear
It’s school, then work and then life that just sharpens the blade
I think about time for fun
I think about time for play
Then I think about being done, with no resume
With no one left to blame
What about fortune and fame?
What about your love to obtain?
What about the ring?
What about….
– What about everything by Carbon Leaf
Wonder how it’ll be if everyone is able to sing “I am not in need”. I don’t think this is the original video. In other news, I got my driver license. Finally. Hopefully I’ll get back to one of my passions that was missing since last July. Driving. And we’ll most probably be hitting the beach this long weekend. A friend is coming down from Buffalo. Tell me what you think of the song.
BG’s little experience in a mall in Delhi got me thinking. Prejudice shows its ugly face everywhere. One of the most often discussed topic in our country is that divide between the so called South Indians and the so called North Indians. It is such an interesting topic that all those funny comments to articles in Rediff lead there no matter what the issue was originally to start with.
The nucleus of the prejudice, quite obviously lies in the language barrier. The fact that one community cannot understand the other’s language leads to baseless assumptions, ridicule and fantasies. The oldest example I could remember was Mehmood making fun of the south Indian accent, way of life in Padosan. All in good humor.
So, what’s this prejudice? Having lived in both the societies and been in the receiving end of both the forms of partisanship, I believe I understand them both quite well.
The Hindi speaking community looks at South Indians as backward, narrow minded and a disconnected lot of people that at times suggests an alienating behavior in ones own country. Blame it on the language. All said and done, it is indeed a fact that Tamil Nadu at least, where I come from, has been disconnected from rest of India. But it by no means gives an excuse to cultivate such pedestrian opinions about a community that is very much Indian. As soon as you land in a city beyond the four southern states, you are branded a “Madrasi” in your school, you are ridiculed for the way you pronounce thoda. You may argue it is childish and probably a thing for kids, but everything, like charity, begins at home. If a matured twenty something has the audacity to ask a decently dressed woman, “Why are you dressed like that, you look like someone from South India”, it speaks volumes about what that woman has seen and understood of India as a whole.
The people down south look at Northies as a community that places importance on show, splendor, outlook and all other things considered trivial down under. The people from Bombay and north of it are more exposed to fashion, lavish spending, highly westernized influences in daily life and an undying urge to stand out in the society. The people down south consider themselves to be leap years ahead when it comes to the topic of gray matter and achievements in education and personal lives. They speak better English, are widespread in the fields of engineering and entrepreneurship and are well read individuals. These are some of the factors where south Indians seem to think they are one up compared to the north.
The issue comes down to a debate of priorities and perspectives. It really depends on an individual’s choices and emphasis on what is important to his/her life. It may be a thing of the past but today when people move around, live in other states and countries, together with different communities of India, they realize how wrong they were. It still pains to hear about men and women like the one BG met. They not only need to open their minds, but also take a look at themselves. Maybe wearing Manish Malhotra and sitting inside Cafe Mocha for hours is more important to her than wearing Naidu Hall and flipping through J.K. Rowling and Thomas L. Friedman inside Landmark. The perspectives differ with individuals and not with communities. At least not anymore.
(But trust me, the first and only time I met BG, she was dressed pretty well. Actually, really well!!)
He sings the songs that remind him of the good times,
He sings the songs that remind him of the better times.
Alcohol is enjoyed, revered, praised, abused, all in equal measure. It is quite interesting to study the tastes of an individual. Especially when it comes to us Indians, galeej boys and the idea of making “plans”.
Whiskey
This was my first ever exposure to alcohol. I had little bit with lots of Pepsi and it tasted pretty good(obviously!). Since it was the first time, I cared only about the taste. But whiskey, as far as I’ve seen, was not much revered by the galeej boys. It remains an initial fantasy to always buy quarter MC to drink alone. This is potent enough to lead our thalais to half boil. It so happens that in a group, you always separate the half boil “putters” from the cleaners. There have also been cases of really good hearted galeej boys who manage to find their way to the closet to deliver. Once in the US, the boys swear by the spirit from Tennessee. I have not tried it yet so unqualified to comment. In India, RC still rules the roost. It was reserved for special and/or important occasions. That scene in Chennai 600028 where Premji Amaran, realizing he is on the verge of winning 600 bucks, exclaims, “Iniki night RCCCCCCC”, is classic!
Vodka
This is probably the most popular drink thanks to it’s lightness and pleasure factor. At least among us Indians, it has attained the status of a very girl thing as most girls prefer vodka. But there are a lot of boys who nurture a secret liking for it and a lot more openly swear by it. And in case you want to protest, you can always argue about Russians. Romanov is an eternal crowd pleaser. I have been exposed to Absolut ads in quiz contests but never had a chance to get my hands on one of them. The boys even try galeej brands like MGM. A memorable event was when MGM mixed in a sprite bottle was taken to college one bright sunny afternoon. A friend grabbed the bottle, thinking it was water, as soon as the boys entered and gulped down most of it. Of course, his face was priceless the next instant.
Brandy
Now, who ever has it? Well, yeah, no one I know of. Some galeej boy, hoping to act like a dude, will order a brandy in a dingy bar. Steaming brandy. Apparently, the boy is suffering from cold. It tastes like shit, I tell you. First hand experience of finishing that brandy the wannabe galeej boy ordered. There are also certain uncles(ex-galeej boy??) who always have a bottle of brandy at home to give it to the wife in case she is suffering from any ailments of the ear, nose or throat.
Rum
Rum is the best “hot” stuff in my opinion. It tastes awesome and it gets you high almost instantly. Kaun Banega Crorepati told me it’s made from sugarcane and probably that’s why it tastes so good. But I’ve met a lot of people who don’t like rum. Old Monk was good enough until a certain famous pirate brought cult status to it with immortal words like-”Why is the rum always gone?” The combination of rum and bread omelette at 2 am outside IIT Madras remains unmatched and unbeaten. Anyone remember that pop culture laden ad of Old Monk? With Pele, Sean Connery et al? I was probably 10 back then. Cult it was.
White Rum
Aiyo, it sucks! Some people really like it because it gets you high very quickly. But the only time I had it, was during daytime and probably because of that, it was bad. It’s like they really mixed something lethal with vodka. Recently, my friend told me it tastes just like rum which really got me thinking, what was it that I had then! I don’t know many people who have experimented with it a lot. Girls seem to love it. There was an instance when five quarters vanished between four girls. But we’ll stick to galeej boys to avoid getting into any controversy for defaming the chaste Indian female.
Beer
Among Indians, you can pick out the guys who like beer and guys who do not and study some characterization. I am sure the two have different set of ancestors. Imagine their plight when they come to this country. They’ll be worthy of being castrated and pulled down by donkeys. Beer rocks and there is nothing like pissing the night away looking at noobs drinking and throwing half boil around. Madras lacks some kind of a beer fest. The galeej boys have always looked for “Free Beer” signs all over the place, only in vain. They cringe to hear the sexist offers of certain pubs and discs that provide free drinks to women on a certain day of the week. WTF!
The much celebrated OH- has been successfully avoided by yours truly for more than a year. Except for a couple of beers. Thanks to the erstwhile “I am already a kadankaran” mentality. But I got to go. Someone who is known to be a very good leglimens just took advantage of my bad skills in occlumency and pinged on GTalk. The name is mom. My mom.
I am getting mixed response for Dasavatharam. And one of my friends told me my review was the only positive review she read. And this is what butterfly thinks. She is confused. Lol! Where is wickedtaurus? She is one person in the US who has seen the movie and the one I haven’t heard from. The movie does confuse you. It takes a while to sink in. You have to think for two minutes to decide whether you liked the movie or not. Another friend couldn’t decide and this is what I replied- “It’s kinda confusing. The movie, story, concept, idea is good. And because they also wanted it to reach the masses like a Rajini movie, they’ve done a lot of things(including mallika, himesh, the hype etc). Kamal confessed this on ndtv. So i am guessing it didn’t turn out how he wanted it to be but he doesn’t mind. This is how kamal would make a super hero mass movie, in my opinion. With everything thrown in for good measure.” But I do think it’s a good movie. Kamal also said he wrote all the 10 roles with him in mind. I don’t think it’s wrong if he wanted to make a movie that is so full of himself. I like that in fact. I think Sudhish puts it very nicely!
And I saw Aamir. It is probably not entirely original but the movie rocked. It would probably turn out as the Johnny Gaddar of 2008. It has an equally good soundtrack. And the movie is definitely way better than the ok-ish Sarkar Raj, which I thought was good, only in parts.
Update: I just heard the complete soundtrack of Aamir and it is chingmingphingzing awesome!! (celebrating someone’s return :p) Do get your hands (or ears if you will) on it soon!
