Alexperience - A Successful Experiment

Towards the end of #Alexperience yesterday (Singapore, Carnival Cinemas; 21/Jan/23), Alexander Babu won me over completely.

Not because he was energy-personified for over three hours having a 1000+ audience spellbound.

Not because he touched up on subjects dear to one’s heart – music, Ilaiyaraaja.

Not because he was making fun of ‘Ji!’ and complimenting him in a back-handed way!

Not because his humour was clean and did not make you squirm in your seats.

But because he used the second line of the great Kaniyan Poonkundranar’s Purananooru #192.

*****

We all have heard and even used it (without realizing its full potent):

யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளிர்

Well, it is perhaps the most cliched Tamil expression (or a line from a verse) after வாய்மையே வெல்லும், கற்றது கை மண் அளவு, வீழ்வேன் என்று நினைத்தாயோ… you get the drift.

You see, Mr Poonkundranar wrote this poem more than 2.5 eons ago. But it kind of became famous after it was inscribed in UN HQ in NY. More famous after Kalam spoke about it in a conference in Europe and of course entered pan-India (!) mainstream after Modi referred to in his speech during 74^th UNGA.

What does it mean?
Simbly and Humbly:

Every place is ours. Everyone is our kith and kin.

(Maybe Putin took this to his heart and forgot that it takes Zelenskyy also to tango! 😊)

*****

Using this as the starting premise, Alex in his new show #Alexperience (after the wildly successful Alex In Wonderland – subtitled in 10 languages on Amazon Prime – Dei!), dived headlong into his USP: Music.

Instead of ploughing through many songs, he chose to stick to one song (whutt?) and map from there.

The song was தேர் கொண்டு சென்றவன் from the movie எனக்குள் ஒருவன்.

He got into it proper & finally went west to God’s own land & picked up a song from ஙஞணநமன Malayalam: Vaalittezhuthiya Neela Kadakannil from the movie Onnanu Nammal with the same tune/raga.  😊 That பீலி வீஷி ஆடும் மாஆஆமயிஇஇலோ briga was hilarious!

Discussed it threadbare too and finally allowed us to go – reluctantly – for both parties!

Here is the YouTube of the song... (read it like Blue Sattai Maaran 🤣)

The show had everything that you can expect from Alex.

• Music – his voice is a marvel - pitch-perfect even after three hours of standing and walking, jiving and doing some Mohanlal moves (actually those don’t count!).
• Instruments – Slew of percussion instruments including the beauty -Parai: பறை, harmonium and what not.
• His knowledge and faultless execution: singing and playing of the instruments were above par for even ‘paarsaarathyswamisabhamaamas’ like me 😊
• Clean humour – Except for the short 30 seconds when he had to kinda explain/unexplain Vairamuthu’s touch-and-go line in the first stanza of the Tamil song, the humour was clean as a whistle. Of course, being from Tamil Nadu, you have the liberty to pull Modi’s legs and have no elbow room even to talk about Stalin, which is a bit… பிழைப்பு நடத்தணும் இல்லையாப்பா! (Interestingly, some of those jokes about Modi did not elicit as much a response as he would perhaps have got in Chennai or Madurai, I felt!)

He did touch upon a few elephants in the room - #MeToo (start from your home!), #WomenEmpowerment (we will get there; but don’t take away our benefits 😊)…

Yeah, he could have gone easy on the ragging of Malayalam language in itself. After the initial laughs, poor Gayatri and Gowri – perhaps the only two Mallus in the crowd felt like the punching bags. That cute rejoinder by someone in the crowd, ‘Alex! Your Dubai programme is cancelled!’ kind of summarized it!

Some of the flows were predictable – Vairamuthu and #MeToo, the picturization of great Ilaiyaraja songs being screwed up badly, Malayalam language/movies and their making… But then, I am perhaps an old 90’s kid! 😉

And whenever he played the Tabla & Dholak, the words were drowned out. Can correct it by Monday, I suppose?

*****

Coming back…

So, what was the second line of Mr KP that Alex used to end the programme?

தீதும் நன்றும் பிறர் தர வாரா!

(Good and Bad don’t happen due to others – it is all yours!)

This has been my go-to axiom for long and has helped me to approach life in a much better manner. It is all in your hands and as Alex said, ‘Experienssss is a choice!’ (No, Nithy was not spared; neither was Ravi Ashwin who made it to the programme – அவராலே மட்டும்தான் தூஸ்ரா போட முடியுமா?!) and it is the ‘pattern’ one must seek to follow!

Thanks for that, Alex. 🙏

It was my first live stand-up comedy show. I thoroughly enjoyed it with good company and popcorn, of course!

I believe Monday’s show is sold out. I am sure you will get it on OTT at some stage. Have fun!

#Alexperience 3.5/5 #sriGINthoughts #standup_comedy

When Abused Women Go Martial!

An edited version of this review happened on Tabla! - The Heartbeat of the Indian Community dated 13th Jan 2023. Screengrab at the end of the post. 

Violence against women, whether at home or outside is something that is deplorable and disgraceful. Yet, we see news pieces that sprout often in the media about the ‘freak fire accidents,’ ‘violence-induced abortions,’ ‘broken bones due to beatings,’ ‘active and passive sexual abuse by caretakers,’ the list goes on. A study even went ahead to establish that during large international sports tournaments (FIFA World Cup, anyone?), domestic violence increases manifold. Oh! The testosterone-high alpha male cannot take his country’s loss in a mere football game with equanimity, can he?

Got to watch three movies recently.

All three of them had the woman as the oppressed party; men of different shades: downright bad to half-good-half-bad; chauvinistic, abusive etc.

All three of them had Malayalam roots. (Surprise, Surprise!)

All three of them talked about how women escaped the clutches of abuse from their partners, parents, and society at large. No, they did not just walk out of the relationship after things came to a pass. Neither did they traverse the labyrinth of legal systems to seek succour. Yet, they took the justice into their own hands, literally!

I am tempted to say that the heroines of these three movies took a leaf out of Agent Tina’s handling of baddies in last summer’s blockbuster #Vikram. The lady in question there used the humble fork as a deadly weapon to show men on what would happen if they misbehaved!

*******

Teacher

(Malayalam; available on Netflix)

A PE teacher Devika (Amala Paul) gets drugged and raped - naturally, she does not know who did it. After tracing the culprits, she talks to her 'loving' husband. And he does the usual: denial, victim-shaming, worry-about-society, staying away.

Writers Shajikumar and Vivek (who directed the movie as well), have built a taut two-thirds of the movie where not only the protagonist but also the viewers have an uneasy sense of foreboding.

As they unravel what had happened – with no gory details, thanks for that! – one braces for the usual sermonizing and even expect that the husband will change.

Yet in a classic twist, the mother-in-law comes to Devika’s rescue; sows the seed of revenge in the woman’s mind; pushes her to use her martial arts skills to bash the rapists.

The cameo by Chemban Vinod Jose was classic Mollywood writing (when Devika talks to him cautiously lest he also molests her, he deadpans, 'I am not into women!').

After all the build-up, the ending was a bit unsatisfactory. The fact that Devika was adept at using nunchaku was contrived and forced. So, you know what would happen as soon as she picks the weapon up. Instance justice outside the courts!

But for that unsatisfactory ending, Teacher is okay.

3/5 #NunchakuKiller

*******

Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey

(Malayalam; available on Hotstar)

What do you do when you are constantly put down for being a female?

You get your elder brother’s broken toys to play. You get his tattered clothes and books. Your name is a fraction of his name – Jaya for his Jayan!

The need for your education is questioned. Your relationships are microscopically analysed exploited, and you face physical abuse. Duh!

Yet you bite the bullet; roll with the punches and agree to the next forced move: marriage. You hope for the best.

Then as you enter the husband’s house, you notice that the glass panes on the tables, cupboards and windows are cracked; you notice that the TV remote control is broken and is held together with rubber bands.

Remember the sense of foreboding? Yes, that is the one!

Soon you find the husband is a habitual beater and says, 'I will hit you when I am angry and then shall take you to the nearby restaurant to feed you chicken curry and you should be happy!'

The camel's back breaks: Karate kicks in & the house comes down - literally!

Directed by Vipin Das who wrote JJJJH with Nashid Famy, this movie is a light-hearted take on a very heavy subject of wife-beating. Of course, one gets reminded of ‘Thappad’ by Taapsee Pannu, but the treatment is entirely different. Again, the extent to which the families don’t even realise that they are gaslighting a woman to be subservient is brought about in a striking manner.

Darshana Rajendran as Jaya and Basil Joseph as her husband Rajesh have lived the characters!

Yes, the ending was a bit contrived though the court scene prior to that was a scream! Yet, JJJJH talks about the victory of a woman who does not take physical abuse silently and is definitely the last line of the Indian national anthem!

3.75/5 #KarateMeetsThappad

*******

Gatta Kusthi

(Tamil; available on Netflix)

There was Dangal then. There is Dangal now. Girl gets into wrestling from young. Can't get her married off. Lie about everything from hair length to education to skills. Get married into a chauvinist environment. In a transformation scene worthy of repeat viewing, saves her husband from the baddies. Husband sulks. Throws her out of the house. Do they unite?

That is Gatta Kusthi (Tied Wrestling) for you.

Aishwarya Lekshmi as the wrestler Keerthi from Palakkad (where else but from Kerala!) and Vishnu Vishal as her boastful, husband Veera do grapple hard to pull the movie forward. But it is Karunas, the male-chauvinist-par-excellence uncle of Veera who steals the show in the scenes that he appears – especially the scene where he convinces the officer to register Vishal for a wrestling match against his own wife!

Yes, several dialogues are misogynistic – but they only make you root for Keerthi more. Yes, they took the commercial route (wrestling matches; bad, lecherous coaches; intermission-block transformation scene; hero changing mind over five minutes of sermonizing by someone…)

But what made it enjoyable was that except for one (mandatory?) fight sequence in the end, the hero had to play the second fiddle throughout to the heroine.

2.75/5 #CommercialKusthi

*******

So, dear men! If you are about to throw some tantrums and get physical, be ready to get some punches thrown at you too! Teacher, JJJJH and Gatta Kusthi have shown the way! 😁

#sriGINthoughts #reviews

Nalla Mittai - Tasty Journey

 

A few days back, JD ‘Grab’bed a pack out of nowhere.

The pack contained several packets of sweets and snacks. I called up JD to thank for the sudden largesse. He did the usual ‘No problems, Sir! It is my pleasure!’ and then uttered those words, ‘அப்படியே கொஞ்சம் ரெவியூ பண்ணிட்டீங்கன்னா நல்லா இருக்கும்!’ :-0

Well, he can’t be blamed. One’s paunch makes people feel that way, perhaps.

Anyways, here it goes, Joel! You asked for it!

{TL;DR. Amazing sweets and tasty savouries. Created with care and natural/organic/rare ingredients. Many hits among the 9 items that we sampled. New tastes. I loved Palm Jaggery Kaju Kathli and Rose Halwa; and would keep munching Little Millet Kara Boondhi & Ragi Mixture, the bomb! Nalla Mittai is here to stay. Caution: Can be addictive 😉 So eat in moderation.}

@Nallamittai (Facebook & Instagram) promises you the unpromisable – healthy Indian sweets and snacks! 😎

Originating from Hosur, India, Nallamittai’s paradigm seems to be:

• Use Organic ingredients
• Shunning white sugar,
• Think native (palm jaggery, cane jaggery, கருப்பட்டி, வெல்லம், cold-pressed groundnut oil etc.)
• Think rare ones (foxtail millet: தினை, ragi: கேழ்வரகு, little millet: சாமை etc.)

After going through the various items presented, I must say that they have #succeeded in sticking and delivering to that paradigm. 😊

Items

Savouries (salted snacks): Foxtail Millet Murukku, Ragi Mixture, Little Millet Kara Boondhi (individual packs of 100g each)

Sweets: One box containing a few pieces of: Wheat Badhusha, Palm Jaggery Kaju Kathli, Coconut Barfi, Palm Jaggery Mysore Pak, Fried Gram Flour Laddu, Rose Halwa

Packaging

The savouries (salted snacks) were nicely packed, with bold lettering and clear text about the contents, manufacturing and expiry date. Personally, I kind of liked the maroon background away from the usual blue ones.

The sweets came in a small plastic box with a latch to open the sheer plastic lid. We struggled bit to open the lid until we figured it out eventually. This box did not contain any literals except for a sticker tape of Nalla Mittai to hold the lid together with the bottom. 😝⌧ Perhaps it was for the sample box only.

Colour & Presentation

All the sweets and savouries were darker than your usual run-off-the-mill A2B, Krishna Sweets stuff – mainly because of the use of jaggery – palm or cane variety. For the ‘Fair and Lovely’ generation this might be a bit of a dampener, but then we are Tamils: Land of the dark-skinned & even the ever-loved Superstar Rajinikanth is dark-skinned! 🖤

Taste & After-taste

I started with the sweets.

#WheatBadhusha was sufficiently flaky; less sweet as Badhusha’s must be. Could feel the taste of jaggery and at times I could taste my mom’s Krishna Jayanthi Vella Seedai (வெல்ல சீடை). #six

#PalmJaggeryMysorePak reminded one of the Krishna Sweets’ Mysore Pak albeit made of jaggery and with less ghee than the SKS variety. It broke in slabs instead of into some congealed mass and that was welcome. It was a bit raw for my taste where I could feel both the besan and jaggery. #five

#PottuKadalaiLaddu (Fried Gram Flour Laddu) had so much good going for it. It was the quintessential பொருள் விளங்கா உருண்டை that your mum and grandmums make. With the flavours of the flour, cardamom powder, ghee and the right amount of sweet additions, it took me back to many decades ago. Sure winner. #four

#CoconutBarfi – With the fine and crunchy shavings of copra (?) this sweet was divine. Maybe me being a coconut buff made me rank this feller above PKL! #three

#PalmJaggeryKajuKathli – You have been there and done that. Peeling one KK after another and devouring them. The overwhelming sugar rush after eating each one of them was overpowered only by the desire to have one more. What is your sugar level, again? 😊

But this PJKK is a different powerhouse. With the right amount of sweet induced by palm jaggery, this KK wins over one important aspect. 

In the usual sugar-based-KK, the taste (and after-taste) of raw cashews would always be there. While I love munching cashews, this used to annoy me a bit. But Nalla Mittai’s Palm Jaggery Kaju Kathli has cracked it quite nicely. The taste of cashew is just about right and that is quite key in my opinion. A sure winner. #two

And to top the sweet list is #RoseHalwa. Mind you I did not know what type of halwa it was until I found out later from Joel. So, when I was sampling it for the first time, two things knocked me out: 

1) texture – right amount of gooeyness; right amount of stickiness and 

2) splash of rose on the palate! 

Yes, Tirunelveli Iruttu Kadai is THE benchmark for halwas. But, no, I am not comparing Nalla Mittai’s Rose Halwa to it. But this guy here can stand on his legs. If only the Rose Halwa had a few tiny cashew pieces in them… #ONE

Then we moved onto the fried snacks.

#FoxtailMilletMurukku tasted like normal besan murukku; the pieces were a bit thicker than usual for my liking. Tasted nice though. #three

#LittleMilletKaraBoondhi had the pepper powder flavour and had the right amount of oomph to go with both both curd-rice and sambar-rice. #two

#RagiMixture – the class topper. Complete with the ragi ompodis and a special home-made masala mix and organic peanuts, this fellow was a real bomb! This mixture is a must if you are to spend an evening with friends mixing a few ‘beverages’! 😂🍻 #ONE

The best thing about the savouries was that the usual suspects will have a bitter after-taste – perhaps due to the oil that was used for the frying – palm oil, sunflower/canola etc. But the groundnut oil, cold-pressed one at that, leaves a fantastic flavour which I have not experienced in ages, not since my Vellore days. 💗

Verdict

The sweets are not cloyingly sweet. There are different varieties to suit different tastes. For the health-conscious (which we must all be), the ingredients are natural, organic and not run of the mill.

The salted snacks are regular with the novelty of newer grains which will gain some traction among people as there the fad for the exotic grains is definitely on; but here again the natural and healthier ingredients such as the type of oil used, the home-made touch etc. are what is going to differentiate their offering.

It will take some time for people to wean away from the normal stuff and taste. But wean, they must, as Nalla Mittai has a sure set of winners here.

நல்ல மிட்டாய் – நல்லதொரு சுவைப் பயணம்.

#NallaMittai #Reviews #sriGINthoughts #IndianSnacks #unpaid

Kantara? Can!!

(an edited version of this review appeared in Tabla! 21-Oct-22 Page 12; screen grab at the end of the post)

 Kantara - The Legend - Kannada - 2022

One must say that Sandalwood, hitherto considered as the poor cousin of Kolly- and Tollywood has grown up. Over the last few years some notable movies such as U-Turn, RangiTaranga, Ulidavaru Kandanthe, and well, the KGFs (yeah...) have caught the pan-Indian (!) imagination.

So, when the wife’s Bengaluru college WhatsApp group went gaga over Kantara, we decided to check that out too. No better way to gain some brownie points, you say? Absolutely!

Kantara was, as they say in Hindi, paisa vasool!

What do you get when you grind mythology, crime, folklore, indigenous sport, caste exploitation and environment sustainability together?

You get, Kantara - The Mythical Forest.

Oh, I forgot a few other key ingredients: fantastic locales, unobtrusive yet hard-hitting cinematography, distinct & original music, and a fantastic climax picturisation.

Beneath all the veneer, Kantara is a revenge thriller. Villagers in a remote corner off Dakshina Karnataka (think pristine forests near Mangaluru) live a carefree life bound by their traditions and associated superstitions. They live off the forests surrounding them in a sustainable way. However, they are troubled by two elements – one in the form of a Deputy Range Forest Officer (DRFO) (played by a strict Kishore) who wants to establish the rules of the government and the other in the form of high-caste land usurpers (a syrupy Achyuth Kumar). Hero Shiva (Rishab Shetty) stands in between the baddies and a peaceful existence of the villagers. Throw in the villagers’ belief in the local demigod Panjurli (a boar-shapedVaraha incarnation) and how Panjurli will save them from all troubles, you get a heady concoction of a movie which ends with a predictable yet spectacular finale.

Three things stood out in Kantara.

Rishab scores 3-in-1

Rishab Shetty has poured his heart and soul into the movie. To have given something from the Sandalwood cinemas to fight the gargantuan PS-1 is a wonderful achievement. But this is not a token fight. The way Rishab has scripted the story as a fabulous interweave of mythology, current day politics and social exploitation, revenge, and rural sports augurs well for Kannada cinema.

Yes, the lines were quite raw – the only beings that don’t cuss in the movie are the buffaloes; the love-angle was contrived; the DRFO’s character swings like a yo-yo; you can predict the flow of incidents easily; But those are not deterrents, as one was able to sit and enjoy the 135 minutes of Kantara without checking the phone! Success, indeed!

In front of the camera, Rishab brings the right amount of nativity in his portrayal of a happy-go-lucky youth, who is ready to pick up fights and is troubled by visions of his priest-father vanishing when he was young. He ably treads the line between naivete and indifference – especially in the caste discrimination scenes. 

Hero-centric movies thrive on making the ‘transformation’ scene of the hero memorable (Remember the ultimate Baasha, the exotic Viswaroopam/Salangai Oli, the 'therikka vidalaama' Vedalam et al.? Okay, fans of other heroes can open the can of worms!) Here Shiva’s transformation in the end was expected all right, but the depiction was top class and therefore will be talked about for some time. 

Colourful Music

Ajaneesh Loknath has scored a fantastic mix of traditional (Kundapura folklore), classic (Varaha Roopam; video below) and breath-taking background music during the last 20 minutes heightening the excitement with an excellent mix of modern and conventional.

Ajaneesh’s discography of about 25 films is not that huge. But if he continues to produce such seminal work, we will hear more about this young man.

Mesmeric Cinematography

I thought that Girish Gangadharan’s cinematography in the Malayalam movie Jallikkattu is a tough act to follow. But Arvind Kashyap has truly excelled himself here.

Firstly, capturing the entire essence of Bhoota Kola (Festival of Spirits), an annual celebration of local demigods in Dakshin Karnataka; then providing an immersive experience of the Kambala Buffalo race, an annual rural sporting event where intrepid men race a pair of buffaloes in a slushy, water-filled field (check the video below on the making!); and rounding up with the resounding climax where a chaotic skirmish between hundreds of people ends in that primal dance-cum-punishment by the hero.

Whether it was the lighting – mostly natural, or the movements through the forests, or the colours – vivid and yet gloomy reflecting the mood of the film, Arvind was to the fore!

In all, Kantara was an enjoyable watch made poignant by the focus that it brought on almost-forgotten traditions and culture, man’s avarice, and exploitation of the poor through a masala pot-boiler.

Kantara?  Can!!

#sriGINthoughts #reviews #Kannada

PS-1: Not a postscript

PS-1: Not a postscript

(an edited version of this review appeared in Tabla! 14-Oct-22 Page 8; screen grab at the end of the post)

Four of us watched PS-1 last weekend.

My mom, who got more up to-date through the incessant promotion on social media; a Telugu-speaking friend, who was curious about all the hullabaloos; wifey who came with a blank mind ready to absorb what is thrown at her; and finally, myself – a two-time PS reader with a decent idea of what to expect and of course extremely curious on how the book has been adapted to screen.

At the end of the movie, the reactions were:

Mom: Nice. They have worked hard and well.

Friend: PS-1 means ‘Pothumda Sami – 1’ roughly translated to ‘Enough dude – 1’

Wife: I liked it; but Baahubali was catchier. The movie ran in a jerky fashion.

And then yours-truly: I loved the movie. 

As usual, here is listicle of five thoughts:

How could a movie look so understatedly grand?

The comparison is inevitable. With Baahubali still fresh in people’s minds, PS-1 will be a let-down for people who were looking for CGI-produced huge palaces, mountains, waterfalls, weird animals etc. PS-1 scores so beautifully by focusing on giving the right amount the grandeur that is necessary for the scene, and it looked so real – which they were. #AuthenticArtPS

How could the female characters look so gorgeous?

The female leads Kundavai (Trisha), Nandini (Aishwarya Rai), Poonguzhali (Aishwarya Lakshmi), Vanathi (Sobhita Dhulipala) – each of them looked like million bucks with those fabulous hairdos, real gold/diamond jewellery, pleasing costumes… #SplendidSartorialPS

How could the dialogues be so insipid?

While the faithful-to-the-book screenplay worked for me despite its jumpy nature, the lines were… sorry Mani and Jeyamohan. Didn’t work. Movies are a visual medium. But to move the story, one needs dialogues that are strong and sharp. Unfortunately, Mani Ratnam resorted to his staccato style of dialogues; it worked partly as it did in the scene where Vanthiyathevan (Karthi) meets Kundavai. But to colloquialize the dialogues in the name of making the frontbenchers understand? Sigh! #DepletedDialoguePS

How could so many stars be assembled under one roof and yet not enough light?

If one were to look at the cast of PS-1 (and 2), the sheer number, as Wodehouse would put it, boggles the mind! Yet, only a few stick to mind. Vikram as Aditha Karikalan lives the character, Karthi rides, jumps, flirts, fights, carries the movie with elan, Trisha, despite her anglicized-Tamil diction (dubbed by Krithika Nelson I understand - then why not make it a bit cleaner!) sways in and out efficiently, Aishwarya Rai with a smouldering mind behind that serene visage… Again, no over-the-top histrionics. Just what is needed to move the story. (The acupuncture scene gets a special mention where Prakash Raj tolerates the pain of both the needles and his ministers' treachery!)  #SubduedThespianPS

How could the music be so sublime – well, for most part?

AR Rahman devotes special attention to Mani Ratnam’s movies. PS-1 is no different. The background music here is outstanding: scenes of Nandini, Trisha-Karthi combo; the action blocks etc., are just a scream. 

Yet the songs are a bit of a damp-squib except the peppy Ponni Nadhi; and a different Devaralan Aattam (the choreo for this was on point and reminded me of Veera Pandi Koettaiyile from Thiruda Thiruda!) #NearPitchPerfectPS

***

Ponniyin Selvan as a novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy is a tome of more than 2500 pages. Some people compare it to Game of Thrones – in terms of complexity, number of characters, the intrigue, the tension and what not – all for the sake of attaining the throne. It is a meandering story – much akin to the Ponni aka Cauvery River, with so many key characters that vie for one’s mind space.

To bring it all together; make it into a cogent screenplay; assemble an almost-right cast and crew; work through the pandemic; shoulder the extra-ordinary expectations of the legions of readers; and fight the nay-sayers who were cross with Mani Ratnam for interpreting the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata in a different manner – it is a fantastic achievement.

But for a few shortcomings, PS-1 is a worthy watch for bringing a much-beloved classic to screen beautifully. I am confident that this and the second part scheduled for 2023 will not be delegated to the PS of Indian movie history.

Go watch!

#sriGINthoughts #reviews #PS1

(From Tabla! 14-Oct-22)

Vikram: Baby's Night Out!

 It is the age-old story.

Drugs are a menace. So, one can do anything to gain control of it. Good Side (GS) and Bad Side (BS) fight over it. They do everything. Target families. Don’t let cousins use toilets in peace. Don’t let infants sleep in peace. Don’t let wives pack in peace. All hell breaks loose. Kill at will. ‘Yada yada hi dharmascha…’. ‘Satyameva Jayate’. ‘Vande <insert your country’s name here>’. Read the first sentence. Subham.

Of course, it is a medical movie. 😉

Kamal keeps checking his pulse in the movie with that e-watch of his (no, it isn’t an i-watch!). Even VJS sports a tattoo of Caduceus – symbol of doctors & spouts IUPAC names and chemical formulae (C12H21…) of drugs to his illiterate family (power of education, anyone?); LK and his team have worked hard to raise your BP to dangerous levels. Drugs are a cancer to the society. Someone does a CPR – although after about ten minutes since they’d flatlined.  People talk about bone replacement surgeries. Pathala song lyrics has references to COVID. So, in that spirit…

🔫#NormoTensionMessage: (Kamal’s movies can’t NOT have a message) It is not about drugs. It is about ‘catching them young’. Children learn by induction. If you smoke, they start with pens as mock-ciggies and graduate soon to the real deal. I am sure you are carrying some habits that you learnt from your parents when you were a toddler. If Amudha from Kaithi is all innocence, (remember Karthi’s பெற்ற தாய் தனை மகன் மறந்தாலும் #revisit), the infant plays with the guns here - with his namesake. The fact that the kid is afraid of sudden noises and sounds & had to wear ear muffles is symbolic of how we as parents want to bring up our children in the Gandhian way (See/Hear/Speak No Evil) – there is even a juicy reference about how drugs will convert us all back to monkeys! Of course, the message is not Gandhi’s 3 Monkeys here…

🔫#RacyAction: There are some fantastic set action pieces in the movie which really raises the pulse of the audience – but not Kamal’s, (that e-watch again!) It is one of my pet peeves that all shield carriers are safe from all bullets, even though their legs are exposed. (Remember that Beast scene?) Thankfully after almost three hours, BS realized that one can shoot some one’s legs as the 3.5 feet shield can cover only that much. 😉

🔫#PalpitatingMusic: Anirudh is definitely on a roll. The BGM (songs don’t get any screen space; thanks.) just rolls on and on with almost no respite and respect towards our tympanums. The EDM version of ‘Porkanda Singam’ in the 735^th action sequence of the movie was fun.

🔫#TachycardiaInterval: I hate watching movies as two parts. And Singapore has helped alleviate that by having no intermissions in movies. In India, it is always a Tale of Two Halves. So, the audience will have to hit the urinals and popcorn vendors, not necessarily in the same order, on a high. Vikram achieved that fantastically. The movie, which was slowly building Kamal’s character until then, suddenly shifts gears and runs at Mach2. It was almost as if LK suddenly realized that Kamal must be brought to the stage-front-and-centre. So, those ten minutes do raise the pulse like crazy. I would have preferred the editing to be a bit crispier there.

🔫#ArrythmicActing: Except for Fahadh Faasil, all others could have done better. Sacrilege! How about Kamal? Well, apart from the occasional tear and an unwanted ‘Maiyam-induced’ sermon on drugs, he wasn’t at his best in my opinion. VJS was reprising Bhavani from Master including punching people to glory and munching drugs like ‘Irumugan’ Vikram (the real, other one 🙃) to gain instant energy. Suriya? Well, apart from increasing the sales of fake Rolex watches & fake Marshall speakers, not much to write home there. (But the dude looks menacing though!) One other scene which had a potential to be a powerful one was when FaFa meets Naren (‘One man’s revolution is…’) but it fell flat. Both of them were perhaps still in a Mallu movie scenario. The scene required a bit more oomph and explosion and the timing was off. LK had a ready reference in Kuruthi Punal…

  🔫#RestlessGunSyndrome: Of course, guns, Guns, GUNS! Even a cannon! And it is the old men who wield the armoury! It is indeed a country for old men! 😊

🔫#DeepVeinWriting: In one of the interviews LK had said that he spent more than two months after the initial one-liner to prepare the bound script (with all his 16 assistants). It shows. Lot of care has been taken to make the movie cogent, intelligent, and with never-a-slack moment. You almost always feel that every scene/frame has some meaning or other. So…

🔫#FinalDiagnosis: Kamal’s, strike that, Lokesh Kanakaraj’s Vikram is not a fanboy ‘sambhavam’ about his love for Kamal. He has weaved his love and affection through the characters and dialogues than making it a crass ‘Petta’. One small thing: Don’t do the sequel immediately. You will be labelled as a ‘one-trick-pony’.

Vikram is worth a watch in the theatre (no, not OTT!). If you like some intelligent writing and enjoy the many ‘wow’ moments & some hidden nuggets, you can do it twice also. I will.

#sriGINThoughts #reviews #Vikram

PS: Oh, don’t look for the much-touted anti-ageing technology, unless it was the kid himself who is a anti-aged Kamal! LOL!🤣

Storming Thomas Cup #IndiaStyle

 

When I was completing my secondary education in that great school - N KrishnaswamyMudaliar Higher Secondary School, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, 'PE periods' as the 'physical education' sessions used to be called, were both a terror (we were made to run and do stuff in the hottest of days!) as well as a relief (how else can you live down a dreary geography lesson?).

The PE teachers (a wiry Loganathan Sir & a bulky Dakshinamoorthy Sir), used to make us do some mandatory stretches and then ask us to choose our games. Cricket was a strict ‘no, no’! So, it used to be Volleyball, Basketball, Football, even Softball and if we are lucky, Ball Badminton!

While all the other games had just one or two implements, Ball-Badminton required a few racquets (almost always the strings were gone!) and a sorry-looking spongy ball.

Yet, for the remaining 30-odd minutes, we will play BB: smashes will end up in the ball smashing the smasher’s face (we miss the aim, you see!), drops will invariably be dropping in our own side of the court, points scored were celebrated more vociferously than the EPL goals…

And then the annual Teachers' Day used to happen with some of the teachers showing off their hidden talents in a fantastic manner – high serves, spinning serves, deft drops, exploding smashes... Oh! that was the first time I saw girls squeal with glee on some young able-bodied men smashing an yellow ball around. #ToSirWithLove

In those days, shuttlecock (usually pronounced as ‘sattil cork’) used to be a really rich man’s game. Well, I had seen the shuttle then; but never seen it being played. Reason? No indoor courts! In the outdoors, the damn thing would fly away! All of that was due to the impact that Prakash Padukone had (90’s and 2K-Kids: that is Deepika Padukone’s dad!) – newspapers and radio made us to memorize his exploits against Liem Swie King, Morten Frost etc., and that All England victory!!

Only after coming to Chennai did I get to see the game being played live; naturally, the game was still too expensive and anyway in Santhome Higher Secondary, Cricket took a more centre-stage due to some stalwarts including the great singer P Unnikrishnan. Cricket’s Loss. Music’s Gain!

Fast Forward to Singapore. Singapore has numerous fantastic indoor badminton courts that have kept most of the pot-bellied and sometimes fit young/old people honest in their attempt to keep it going. However, until LKY took the shuttle world by storm recently, no noteworthy player surfaced.

As for India, after Prakash Padukone, there was a long gap. Academies came up. Bureaucratic lethargy crept in. Then P Gopichand happened early this century. Yes, it takes that long for organic growth 😐 

And then slowly the stream started getting bigger and bigger. 🌊

Sanias happened; Sindhus leapt up; slowly but surely the rabbits multiplied. 🐰🐰🐰🐰

And after 73 years of hegemony by Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Denmark, and Japan, today, India has made that Elite-5 into #Elite6. Well, did a wag say that it is like entering the Badminton Security Council? Perhaps true! 😊

A fantastic shot-in-the-arm for the Badminton fraternity in India –  en route the title win, they had to beat Malaysia (5-time winner), Denmark (1) and Indonesia (14) to achieve Thomas Cup,  the ‘Unofficial World Cup’ in Badminton - in style!

Great work by Prannoy, Lakshya, Reddy&Shetty and Kidambi to have managed this. Plus the entire team. Of course the coach is Gopichand!

Indian sports is reflecting the new India – confident, bold and never-say-die. Be it the over-powering IPL in Cricket, the gungho way that Neeraj Chopra won the unlikeliest javelin Gold in Tokyo Olympics last year and now this set of ‘saattil corkers’!

In a world that is polarising by the minute, this is a uniting silver-lining that we all deserve to have.