3 Movies.
3 Languages.
3 Genres.
3 Results.
3 Movies.
3 Languages.
3 Genres.
3 Results.
🤖 AI is becoming all-pervading. AI star, 20-something Aravind
Srinivas (of Perplexity), has become India’s youngest billionaire with a
comet-like 😉 rise. For context, almost-60 Shah Rukh Khan became a billionaire only
last year. Funnily, SRK was pipped by a Physics teacher, Alakh Pandey. Age of
knowledge, anyone? #MainBillionaireHoonNa
💍 Two incidents last week would have caused much chagrin to the
youth of South India, specifically Karnataka. OG #Srivalli – Rashmika Mandanna
and OG #ArjunReddy – Vijay Devarakonda – are engaged and will tie the knot next
year. As if that were not enough, booze company Diageo intends to sell the
much-beloved-but-with-only-one-title #RCB to Covid vaccine maker Adar
Poonawalla at a $2B valuation. #SendingShivers
🌍 Politics did not stop in the White House, Tel Aviv or Gaza.
Trump was upset with Netanyahu, forced him to apologise for the Qatar bombings,
and drew up a plan that was three-quarters ultimatum (to both sides) and
one-quarter statesmanship (funny, I use that word in a sentence with DJT in
it!). Hamas and Israel seem to have agreed, though a few dozen lives were lost
yesterday. But this 7th October is likely to see the end of the war—at least
temporarily. Oh, by the way, Trump is not too worried about the US Government
shutdown. “It will burn the excess fat,” he would say! How far will a man go to
get that Nobel Peace Prize? #NobelHostage
🏯 But Sanae Takaichi did not win a prize. She earned it. Set to
become the first female PM of Japan (a mentee of the late Shinzo Abe), the
64-year-old former bike chick and rock/heavy metal fan will start ruling Japan
in about a week’s time. Times are changing! Given India PM Modi’s closeness with
Abe-san, he will find in the conservative Takaichi-san someone easy to work
with and move things faster. The only question left – will the Modi
memes now retire Meloni and start featuring Sanae riding a motorbike with a
guitar in hand? 🎸🏍️ #TakaModi
💬 One can’t end this week’s chitchat without talking about #Arattai.
Ever since Indian minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tweeted endorsing Zoho’s ‘Swadeshi’
products, Arattai (a WhatsApp/Telegram wannabe) from #Zoho has skyrocketed in
its usage. Infrastructure is being poured in; bugs are fixed even before people
are finding them. Individuals and groups on WA and TG are shifting loyalty in
droves. (Remember Signal?). Given Sridhar Vembu’s inclinations and measured
approach, this can be a winner. Requests: Don’t change the name. Make UPI
payments possible. Don’t compare yourself with WA or TG. Be better than WeChat.
#MeaningfulChat
🙃 Personal opinions. Any hurt,
unintentional.
🕊️ Peace – GBUF signing off… before AI decides it can do this better. 😂
#GBUF #sriGINthoughts #26May25 #GoodBadUglyFunnyTrusk
Last week, education found itself in the spotlight – twice, through
incidents that unfolded tens of thousands of miles apart.
📕 In Singapore, the prestigious National University of Singapore (NUS), currently ranked 8th globally, decided it was time for some spring cleaning. Unfortunately, this meant literally dumping over 9,000 books from the now-defunct Yale-NUS College library—into the bin. The university cited an “operational lapse” while following “standard library practice.” Many, however, saw it as a “1984” moment of historic revisionism: throw away the books, and perhaps you can erase the memory of the Yale-NUS experiment altogether. After a solid public furore (and a lot of egg on the institutional face), NUS salvaged most of the books and is now giving them away for free on May 28. #ShredEducation 📘
🏠 As NUS shredded its books, Donald Trump attempted to shred
Harvard—by attempting to block it from enrolling or hosting foreign students.
While a judge has temporarily stalled this draconian measure, the damage is
done. Thousands of students are now left uncertain about their academic
futures. Universities across the U.S. are on tenterhooks, waiting for the next
political guillotine to drop. Students across the world are looking more
seriously at alternatives in Europe and Asia. O #MAGAEducation, what a rage! 🛫
🚙 Speaking of rage, road rage is universal. Someone overtakes you from the wrong side. Someone honks incessantly. Someone else flashes the middle finger. Your blood pressure spikes. You breathe in, chant “All is well,” and slowly return to normal. Unfortunately, elephants don’t quite work the same way. On a Malaysian highway near an elephant crossing, a conscientious driver stopped and turned off his car’s headlights to let a herd pass. The impatient drivers behind him, however, honked—startling the pachyderms. The result? Three elephants ambled up and smashed the first car to smithereens. Rage is truly universal. #ToughTuskers 🐘
🐶 In Singapore, the rules around pets in public housing (HDB flats) are strict. Only certain breeds of dogs are allowed, and only one dog/cat per flat. It’s a no-pets policy otherwise – much like that infamous condominium in Bangkok that made news last week. But humans being humans, rules tend to get bent. One flat owner housed a noisy, rule-breaking dog, much to the frustration of a neighbour. So, what did the neighbour do? He took matters into his own hands, or more accurately, his own fangs. He released two large snakes into the corridor, declaring: “I couldn’t carry the bigger one today!” Somewhere, Salazar Slytherin is smiling. #EyeForAnEye 🐍
🟠 Meanwhile, in the U.S., the political corridors are shifting—yet again. Elon Musk, once an ardent cheerleader of DOGE and certain political figures, appears to be stepping back. Following the passing of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” Musk is apparently disillusioned. He has hinted at reducing his political involvement to focus instead on achieving a “sustainably abundant future.” But Trump is sustaining his abundant rhetoric ensuring the future is a guesswork for all. He’s threatened a 25% tariff on phone makers, called Putin “absolutely crazy” (pot, meet kettle?), and delayed tariffs on the EU after their calls for “respect.” #SwampIsThick 🦌
₹ And India, now the world’s fourth-largest economy, ahead of
Japan with a GDP of approximately $4.3+ trillion, is on a diplomatic overdrive. She
sent out envoys all over the world on a PR blitz to tell the world on how Operation
Sindoor was a necessary and repeatable action against a truant Pakistan. Naturally,
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, the diplomat-par-excellence is drawing all the
attention with his suave and eloquent deriding of DJT, sitting in NY. #DipOps 🗣
And finally, the best for last.
🏎 Kush Maini just became the first-ever Indian to win
an F2 race at Monte Carlo. That alone is a tremendous achievement. But the wag
had a little extra spice: “He’s from Bengaluru. After navigating the
moon-craters they call roads over there, Maini must’ve become ‘bahoot khush’ at
seeing a proper, smooth road, and floored it!” 🤣 I am sure people would hope that
some of the enhanced GDP would flow onto the roads & not just flood waters!
#SmoothRace
Views are personal. Any hurt unintentional.
#sriGINthoughts #GoodBadUglyFunnyTrusk #GBUF #19May25
While India was busy juggling a prickly western front (hello again, Pakistan) and a pesky eastern one (yes, Bangladesh—please lah!), cricket fans were hit for a six: IPL was paused for a week, and worse, Rohit ‘Hitman’ Sharma and Virat ‘Cheeku’ Kohli announced their retirement from Test cricket. Rohit’s decision was understandable (you can ride that ‘selfless’ horse only that much!) but Kohli still had some firepower left, methinks. Two greats leaving the format quietly. A bit sad, but perhaps inevitable. #ErasEnd
Speaking of inevitable exits, Warren Buffett—the Oracle of Omaha—is finally retiring at year’s end. At 94, it’s not his billions I admire most, but his diet: burgers and Coke. Legend! He’s probably had more people hang onto his words than their spouses’. #HealthyReturns
This fortnight also brought two major legal cases on sexual crimes—one ending, the other just beginning.
In the U.S., Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing a barrage of lawsuits
involving assault, trafficking, and coercion. Allegations include
drugging women, using firearms for intimidation, and a disturbing culture of
abuse spanning decades. Over 100 alleged victims are preparing to sue. If
things go south, only a diddy would bet on him walking free.
How do we deter such predators from prowling again?
Speaking of prowling, a Mexican Navy tall ship—Cuauhtémoc—lit up
in full glory, sailed into the Hudson a couple of days ago… only to smash into the 142-year-old
Brooklyn Bridge. Turns out, tall masts and old bridges don’t mix. The
incident caused significant damage to the ship and tragically cost two lives.
In a poetic twist, the mishap seems to echo Trump’s rhetoric: You want to
come in from the Mexican border? Here's your bridge... blocked! #DoNotPassGo
Till next time.
Views are personal. Any hurt unintentional.
#sriGINthoughts #reviews #Tamilmovies #LubberPandhu #BlueStar #Viduthalai2
tl;dr (On comparing two similar Cricket-themed Tamil movies of 2024, one feels that Lubber Pandhu is better than Blue Star for various reasons.)
3 min read.
#sriGINthoughts #Tamil #Reviews #Amaran
All the Indian military films that one has watched so far
tend to be jingoistic, sermonising, or over-the-top in various ways. Amaran
could have easily fallen into that trap, but fortunately, it didn’t. The story
sticks closely to the events of Mukund’s life, with a strong emphasis on his
army exploits.
Sai Pallavi should be boycotted—for acting so well! 😊
As Indhu, she shines: bubbly in her "chettan's" shirts, falling head
over heels for Mukund’s charms, standing strong as a "half-widow"
when months and years go by without knowing where he is or what he’s up to, and
displaying steely resolve and resilience when tragedy finally strikes. Her
brilliant moments keep stacking up!
There was even a scene reminiscent of Premam—I half-expected
a Mammootty song to start playing and she would jive for it! But the filmmakers
must have thought it would be too corny. Sensible! 😉
If this performance doesn’t win her awards, I don’t know
what will.
Sivakarthikeyan, as Mukund Varadarajan, is more than
adequate and has done a wonderful job portraying a hardcore military man. This
film is a good crossover for him into more serious roles. If he wants to climb
further up the cinema charts, he might want to shed the mantle that the GOAT
seemed to have handed him a few weeks back! After all, he gave him a gun to
guard a guy in the loo!
Some lines in the film stand out: Indhu’s father tells Mukund, "When you walked in to seek my daughter’s hand in that uniform, I was defenceless!" Mukund, when casually asked by his dad why Kashmir is a problem, responds, "What’s the use of us talking about it when the ones who need to talk aren’t?" And then there’s the moment Mukund asks for his wife’s scarf in the theatre, pretending it’s too cold—a man who spends 90% of his time in Kashmir! 😊 Delightful.
Of course, Mukund's mother was left to repeat the same dialogue a few times: 'டேய், இதுக்காகவா உன்னை அவ்வளவு கஷ்டப்பட்டு பெத்தேன்?' (Did I endure the pains of your birth only to see you head off to the war front?) And the presence of those Tamil spelling mistakes (e.g. களங்கம் was கலைங்கம்). One spends millions, only to slip up on the basics.
The close-quarters action sequences in Kashmir are very well
shot, though they could have been a bit crisper.
The filmmakers have largely stuck to the facts, basing the
movie on Shiv Aroor + Rahul Singh’s book India’s Most Fearless. Social media warriors have already trained their KB-47 guns at the makers, about Mukund’s family not being portrayed as Brahmin (why, one wonders?) as
they were in real life, but controversy, as always, only adds to the buzz. 😊
There is this wonderful Tamil movie called ‘Sathi Leelavathi’ where Kamal did more than
a cameo as a bumbling-Kongu-speaking-doctor. We watched that movie many times
only for Kamal’s portions, well, even for Kalpana’s portions and for that dog
Sabapathy. 😊 Such was the gravitas that the man had
and the adoring following that he commanded.
Indian 2 promises
to deliver a Double Track Mission, where a centenarian Kamal twists his digits
to Varmify the big baddies while he exhorts the ‘gullible’ youth to use their
phones to fight the baddies at home. Swachch Ghar. Swachch Bharat. Swachch
Duniya. Right? Right.
As viewers
we are also taken on a Double Track:
And
honestly, the second track was better than the former!
There, I
said it. Here is a Kamal movie where one did not look forward to him appearing
on screen. What a great downfall?!
It is not
as if the second track is something worth watching. It was kitschy,
mega-serial-like, you-knew-everything-including-the-camera-angles-beforehand,
the big reveals were yawn-inducing – come on, I am getting tired just typing
all that. Yet, it was just that bit more watchable purely for the premise of
how a family/society would react to one of their own turning against the family.
One could
relate to that portion as I was reminded of a recent interview by an Indian influencer
saying that corruption is the oil that runs the machinery of the government! Corruption
is so all-pervasive, that people are even questioning how a vigilante movie
fighting corruption can succeed!
Perhaps
this is the worst album of Anirudh. I guess he was fell asleep by what he saw
on the screen – so much so, he had the same BGM on loop for the entire 2nd
half!
No, I am
not going to talk about the garish sets, more garish costumes, unwanted
Bolivian ‘item’ song with a Miss Universe 2017 thrown in, irony of CBI
convincing the judge to release Indian…
I thought that Billa2 was the worst sequel (or was it a prequel?) ever made in Tamil movies. Now it can rest easy as the second worst.
Indian2 –
Double Track Mission – Both Unaccomplished!
PS1: KH
said that he did this movie because of #Indian3. Will people be so naïve to
come and watch anti-aged KH doing the same thing again, i.e., serving trash? I
doubt it.
PS2: The
subliminal message of Gandhi-track (go the non-violent way) and Netaji-track (unweed
through violence) is a good premise. It is easy to pick up the knife and kill the
baddies. Quite digital, it is. But to resist it and take the Gandhian approach
in life – so wonderfully captured in History of Violence/Leo - is fraught with
extreme struggles and one must face numerous greyish situations inducing oodles
of self-doubt; often one will be tempted to #GoBack and once you do so, it is
so difficult to #ComeBack as well. It is tough to be a Gandhi. (Well,
I had to think long and hard to write something good about the movie. So,
appreciate me for that! 😉)
#sriGINthoughts
#reviews #Tamil #Indian2
…where Manoj misreads a question and fails one of his attempts, the educational exasperation just hits the roof.…where a privileged student disses a Hindi-medium multi-attempter as 'waste of resources' only to get lectured passive-aggressively by the tea-stall-owner-cum-UPSC-coach.…where Manoj’s father wants him to give up, oh so reluctantly, the son turns it back nicely on how he learned to be stubborn from his father…where in the final interview scene (not sure whether it followed the real one or not), how Manoj turns his weakness (being a 12th Fail) into an advantage – good writing that!…where Manoj struggles to write about himself in 200 words within 8 mins and 20 seconds, you realize the need for the crazy preparation on all topics under the sun!