'And the award goes to':Kathryn or Cameron

How do you feel when your 'ex' gives you problem on stage?!Sounds different?That is what award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow is doing to James Cameron,her ex-husband.She not only posed as a stiff competitor in the recently held British Academy of Film and Television Arts(BAFTAs) awards but also won the Best Director award for her war-thriller movie,The Hurt Locker.Her movie also piled up awards in other categories such as Best Film,Original Screenplay,Sound,Editing and Cinematography.At the other end,James Cameron took home awards in the Production Design and Special Visual Effects categories for his $237 million(official estimate) sci-fi mega block-buster,Avatar.Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production, and at $150 million for promotion.

The hurt locker,entirely shot in Jordan portrays the lifestyle and mindset of the members of the US ARMY Explosive Ordnance Disposal(EOD) team.This is a war thriller movie showing the tactics used by the Army team in detecting and diffusing bombs.The title is slang for being injured in an explosion, as in 'they sent him to the hurt locker'.
Avatar,set in the year 2154, when humans are mining a precious mineral called unobtanium on Pandora.The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi.The film's title refers to the genetically engineered Na'vi bodies used by several human characters to interact with the natives of Pandora.

Now everyone's eyes are on the the most prestigious awards,The Oscars.
Kathryn has won 5 BAFTAs and James Cameron 2.

The Hurt Locker has been nominated in the following 9 categories:
Writing (Original Screenplay),
Sound Mixing,
Sound Editing,
Best Picture,
Music (Original Score),
Film Editing,
Directing,
Cinematography,
Actor in a Leading Role.

Avatar has been nominated in the following 9 categories:
Art Direction,
Cinematography,
Directing,
Film Editing,
Music (Original Score),
Best Picture,
Sound Editing,
Sound Mixing,
Visual Effects.

So, as you can see both the movies have been nominated in 9 categories each.These movies have locked horns in 6 categories.I'm dying to see which movie will sweep the Oscars this year.Let us wait and watch....

Vinnaithandi Varuvaya!!

Cast:Simbu,Trisha

Director:Gautham Vasudev Menon

Music Director:A R Rahman

Cinematographer:Manoj Paramahamsa

Art director:Rajeevan

Producer: Udhayanidhi Stalin

Before starting off with my review,I've to say that this movie is THE best performance by the lead actors Simbu and Trisha till date. It is also one of Gautham's and Rahman's best.

I can say that there hasn't been such a light,romantic and feel-good entertainer for the past decade in Tamil cinema.

Jessica(Trisha),a Malayali Christian and Simbu(Karthik),a Hindu live inside the same compound.When Simbu sees Trisha for the first time,he falls for her.But Trisha isn't quite comfortable citing her father's(Babu Antony) non-acceptance as the reason.They try to continue as friends and things change over gradually...

Karthik's friend,Ganesh has donned the comic cap and his one-line dialogues makes you burst into laughter. K S Ravikumar who does a cameo role cruises with ease.

Gautham has come up trumps with his maiden romance flick.He has done a perfect casting and all credits go to him.Kudos to Nalini Sriram,the costume designer as the outfits had been light-colored with a classy urban touch.Art Director Rajeevan is an as'set' for Gautham as he has done a fabulous job. Be it the heritage boat-house or the interiors of Ganesh's house,he has done it with perfection. Music composer A R Rahman has given his best and all songs are chart-busters and they'll surely be this year's top picks. His BGM gives a lively feel and goes down well with the romance.Gautham has given extra freedom for Rahman and ARR has utilized it well. The choreography of 'Hosanna' resembles Gautham's earlier flicks and that gets you a bit boring.

Overall,VTV is an awesomely well-made romance movie.It is light and can make up your weekend if you watch it with your loved ones.

TWO THUMBS UP for VTV!!!!

Rating:4/5 :)

The Sena-Shah Rukh face-off:How it began?

The Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackarey and King Khan have already had heated exchange of arguments many times over the difference in their so-called 'ideologies'.So a small spark would be enough to light a wild fire between them and that came in the form of IPL-3 auction.

This year's IPL auction began in a great mood with the franchise owners cautiously picking up talented players from different countries.Many Pakistani players were also included in the auction.But none of them were picked up by any of the teams citing their 'unavailability' for the entire season as the reason.Hence strong reactions echoed from PCB officials,Pakistan government and the fans fraternity.

While this was going on on one side,Shah Rukh Khan who is the owner of The Kolkata Knight Riders gave an interview that he was unhappy about the non-inclusion of Pakistani players in the IPL teams.He also said that he was interested in picking up Abdul Razzaq but could not.

The Shiv Sena which was waiting for such comments burst out at Shah Rukh Khan asking him to apologize for such comments. Shah Rukh,who was in NY at that time,refused to do so clarifying that his comments were clean and there was nothing wrong in that.Every Indian felt the same way because it was a Fundamental Right of Speech. The sena even went to the extent of calling him a "traitor" and his Indianness was questioned.Shah Rukh Khan further clarified that 'Arts and Sports' were the best mode of maintaining a healthy relationship with any country and asked the Shiv Sena not to politicize the issue.

The Sena finally got a target:My Name Is Khan(MNIK), Shah Rukh Khan's movie that was planned to be released on feb 12.The Sena sent letters to all multiplex owners threatening them not to screen the movie and if they do so their theaters will be vandalized by the Shiv Sainiks,the emotionally 'strong' and 'sensitive' workers of the Shiv Sena.The sena claims that they cannot be held responsible for the activities of their workers and the reason being that they're not directed and they do it because of the "emotional outburst".

The Maharashtra government then promised to all multiplex owners and the public that full security will be provided during the film's release.In spite of the tight security arrangements, the Sena activists were arrested for inappropriate behavior.Advance bookings were cancelled in many multiplexes.

But on the day of it's release,MNIK had tremendous response from the people.The citizens of Mumbai thronged the theaters to watch their hero set the screen on fire.The movie was set to release in 64 theaters in the metro city but only 13 screened the movie on the opening day.Even Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and his colleagues managed to see the movie on it's first day thus conveying a sense of "NO FEAR" to the people throughout the state.

The King Khan and their fans all over India were happy.

This brave act of the people of Maharashtra sends a strong message to the "divisive" forces of Mumbai that they are not afraid of this kind of violence and they 'do not' stand by those parties that spread hatred among the people.

Well done,Mumbaikars!!!!

United we stand,divided we fall!

An article in The Hindu starts with these lines:

"It is classroom in January 2012 and the student says there are 29 states in India.The teacher corrects him that the number has increased to 100.If the prevailing situation persists,this could happen."

As the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi(TRS) chief K Chandrashekara Rao was on a fast unto death and the situation in Andhra worsening, the government at the centre had no other option but to 'abide' by his demand for a separate state of Telangana.The Home Minister P Chidambaram immediately announced the initiation of the process of carving out a separate state from Andhra.

As the news spread,violence echoed in West Bengal where the Gorkha community started demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland from West Bengal.They have threatened that they will take to the streets in New Delhi. The 2010 Common Wealth Games are round the corner and this kind of protests will not only be a scar on India's image but will certainly be a security issue. On the other hand,UP Chief Minister Mayawati is demanding the formation of two states,Purvanchal and Bundelkhand.

Why is this type of separation taking place in a diverse country like India where people from various community,speaking different languages survive together?.The main reason behind this separation is 'Selective development' ,'inefficient allocation of funds'and 'ineffective administration'. Mumbai,the financial capital of India is located in Maharashtra.But a remote town called Vidhbhara in the same state is facing neglect.Why is this kind of imbalance?

One way of keeping the states undivided is to offer 'Special Economic Packages' to the under-developed and neglected regions of each state. Then special committees must be formed,reporting directly to the Prime Minister or the Finance Minister,to ensure that those allocated funds are used as intended. These committees must not be answerable to the State Governments.

So separation of states is not the only answer for development because states like Jharkhand,Utharakhand and Chatthisgarh have not developed after their separation. The politicians are doing this for political gain and we must not become victim to this.

Fighting for statehood has to stop and our ideas be put forth 'together' for a bright future!!!

JAIHIND!!!

A Spoof of Tamil Cinema:Tamizh Padam

Cast:Shiva,Disha Pandey,MS Bhaskar,'Vennira Aadai' Moorthy,Mano Bala,'Paravai' Muniamma.

Direction: CS Amudhan.

Cinematography:Nirav Shah.

Music: Kannan.

Production: Cloud Nine Movies.

As the trailer indicated,'Tamizh Padam' is a spoof on some of the earlier tamil movies.It is the desi version of the 'Scary Movie' series.This kind of an out-and-out spoof movie is new to tamil cinema though some of the spoof TV shows like 'Lollu Sabha' have already won the hearts of the viewers.

The story is a thin line and the debutant director Amudhan has tried to balance the spoofs of all famous movies. The story begins in a village called 'Cinemapatty' where the hero is born. The nattamai had ordered that all boy children be killed because they grow up,migrate to Chennai with a dream of becoming a hero and bring bad name to the village.When Muniamma is about to kill the baby using a 'branded' kallippaal, the child comes up with a punch dialogue and pleads for life.

So 'Paravai' Muniamma brings the child to chennai and finally the child grows up as a hero.The hero's introduction is itself a spoof on 'Chandramukhi'.He starts fighting with the 'goondas' in a typical tamil cinema style. Shiva's(shiva) friends are none other than Siddharth(Mano Bala),Nakul(MS Bhaskar) and Bharath(Murthy) and they are the 'Boys'.

As the story moves on,the hero falls for a girl(Disha Pandey), also in tamil cinema style.But the girl's father has some other plans. If Shiva wants Disha,he has to become a crorepathi. Shiva earns a lot in a time span less than the time taken to prepare 'coffee' for the girl's father with 'Oru Sooravali' in Shankar Mahadevan's powerful voice in the background.

In the second half,Shiva goes to his village to find his parents.How he finds them and fights the 'evil' power in the society forms the remaining part of the story. And the climax has a predictable twist. The movie loses its pace post-interval but picks up near the start of the climax.

Movies like Chandramukhi,Kadhalan,Anniyan,Mozhi are spoofed and the industry big-wigs like Mani Ratnam,Rajnikanth are'nt spared either with some of their movies taking important place in "Tamizh Padam".

Debutant CS Amudhan has taken a bold step and has done a commendable job because it is not easy to enter the cinema field with a spoof movie.Shiva carries the movie on his shoulders and has come up with flying colors with his unique dialogue-delivery style. Mano Bala, Murthy and MS Bhaskar could have been used in a better way but they've done their job well. New-face Disha has passed the litmus test with her facial expression being good. Music Director kannan has given us some foot-tapping music with chart-busters like 'pacha tamizhan' and 'o maha zeeya'.This lad has a bright future in the industry.Nirav Shah has also done a decent job.

Tamizh Padam has no logic in it(Of course you cannot expect logic in a spoof movie!!) but if want to laugh your heart out,go for it!!!

Verdict: 3/5

ARCANE 09

Arcane 09 is a national-level technical symposium conducted by Computer Science Engineer's association of B S Abdur Rahman University,Chennai.

My friends and I had been to this college symposium in 2007. We were about an hour late. We reached at 1030 hrs against the scheduled time of 0930 hrs and were not allowed to register for the events.So we returned with sheer disappointment. I accept my mistake for not being punctual because this was my first symposium.

About 10 days back,we were informed about this college symposium.I was not in a mood of attending it as the above mentioned incident flashed in front of my eyes. My friends were all pumped up about the symposium as their only aim was to taste the 'Mutton Biriyani' which will be served for lunch.After a lot of convincing by my friends,I agreed with half-mind.

We came to know that we had to register online for the events. A good job done by that college students was making the registration online to avoid commotion at the registration desk.The registration was very easy too.The symposium was scheduled at 1000 hrs on 25.09.09 and we reached there by 0930 hrs to avoid any disappointment or frustration. We showed our ID card for verification. The registration was over,phew!!

They gave us a file,a pen and a notepad.We were also given a sheet containing 20 questions and the title read 'SURPRISE EVENTS-PRELIMS'. We settled down at the A/C auditorium, one of the best I've ever seen. The inauguration ceremony started with an urdu recital and then the Chief Guest,the Secretary and HOD of CSE department gave a speech. We were busy answering the questions given to us and didn't even listen to the speech. We dropped the sheet in a box outside the auditorium as instructed.

We were given 'refreshments' after the inauguration ceremony and were asked to move to a building for taking up the written 'quiz'. Maximum participants in a team was 2. So we paired up.The sheet given to us contained 30 questions and we knew the answers for only 10 and the allotted time was 30 mins . The quiz was very general,but tough. I liked it.

We rushed to the other room at the corner to take part in the 'puzzle championship'. It was as tough as the quiz. In fact,tougher. Our next target was 'debugging'. But by the time we reached the spot the time was up for debugging. We were late :(.

All our stomachs gave an "I'm empty" signal. So we then headed to the canteen and had our stomach full of Biriyani. Later, we took a slow walk to the auditorium with a hefty stomach. The finals of quiz and mock interview were scheduled to be held at 1400 hrs on stage.The quiz and mock interview were very interesting and informative. I even tried to answer some of the questions in the 'audience round' of the quiz. As time passed by,I was getting restless. Thank God!! The valedictory function commenced and the dignitaries on the stage gave a commendable speech once again. The Chief Guest from TCS gave an inspiring speech with his idea centered on OPEN SOURCE. We enjoyed his speech a lot.

We came out of the college with a fully satisfied mind and 'stomach' :).No complaints...

Visiting other college symposiums is always FUN!!!

Remembering a legend...

I'm a little reluctant to mention the King of Pop as "Late" Michael Jackson because i believe he lives and will continue to live both in our memory and heart. There has been no scientific discovery till now to control both birth and death, isn't it. But only thing i can say is that 'a star has passed away from the earth and a new star is born in heaven'.

History in Brief : MJ was born on Aug 29 1958 as the seventh child in the Jackson family and made his debut at the age of 10 into the music world as a part of Jackson 5. After learning a lot in this troupe,he separated from Jackson 5 and started giving solo performances from 1971. He then gave the world some best music in the form of albums such as Off the wall(1979), Bad(1987), Dangerous(1991) and HIStory(1995). The Thriller(1982) album broke all records by becoming 'The world's best selling album of all times'. MJ performed numerous stage shows world over which had mind-blowing response from his fans.The King of Pop's unique dance steps such as 'robot' and 'moon walk' are popular everywhere in the world. Often changing of his physical appearance and eccentric behavior drew criticism from the media and that damaged his image.

A bigger shock shook USA in 1993 when a child reported of being sexually abused by Michael Jackson and Jackson was arrested on charges of child abuse. The case went on for months before it was closed for lack of evidence and the King of Pop was cleared of all charges. This further damaged his image.

In 1994, he married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of renowned singer Elvis Presley. She divorced Jackson less than two years later for unknown reasons. Later, MJ married dermatologist Deborah Jeanne Rowe and had two children with her. Michael Jackson's third child, Prince Michael Jackson II was born in 2002. This child was a result of artificial insemination from a surrogate mother.

Michael Jackson had a series of health problems since 1990s. Finally on 25 Jun 2009,a legacy came to an end when MJ collapsed at his mansion in LA due to cardiac arrest. Even immediate medical help could not save him and he died in UCLA hospital in LA. Pain-killers were administered to him for quite some time and medicinal overdosage is said to be the reason for his death. The Post-mortem revealed that MJ's death was natural and there was no "external hand" involved.

I'm not a great fan Michael Jackson till his death.This may be because of his not-so-good public image after the child abuse controversies. In fact, I even had a bad opinion about him despite the contribution of his soul-stirring music to this world. Whenever I thought of him, my memory retrieved only bad images of MJ. Obviously bad things cloud over good things and dumps it. When the news of his death was flashed in the media, I felt extremely dejected because the world has lost a legendary performer!!

It was after which i started surfing the net about MJ. I got to see some rare home-made videos of the King of Pop. These videos where from the time when MJ was a kid to the time when he became a globe-trotter. These videos implied he was a down-to-earth person who loves his family and enjoys the time he spends in his home. The video clips also showed that he was an extreme hard-worker, an inventor who'd love to enthral his fans with his mind-blowing music. I also got to see some interview videos of the legend. In one them, he was talking about the police brutality and the inhuman manner in which they treated him when he was jailed on charges of child abuse. He was even hand-cuffed so tightly that he was left with bruises on his wrist. MJ even narrated one incident in which he was purposefully locked in a "stinking" restroom for 45 mins. The way in which he narrated this brought tears in my eyes.

In that interview he said he loved children and that was evident from another video where he cared so much about a child with a damaged liver and asked the nurse about the child's health. The nurse said the child is in need of a liver without which the child will die. I saw MJ down with tears, literally. He was very concerned and was very keen on the child's liver transplantation.

I don't know why the 13 year old boy, Jordan Chandler accused MJ of sexually abusing him. The boy was supported by his father and a friend of MJ,Evan Chandler. In my personal view, I think Evan did not like the way MJ was gaining popularity and was extremely jealous.This was done for "personal gains".This statement is backed with a quote made by Evan Chandler after MJ's arrest. Evan had said "If I go through with this,I win big-time.There is no way I lose.I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever... Michael's career will be over".

We, as fans of MJ, don't believe in Jordan Chandler's accusation because we know about our "Hero". I personally extend my deepest condolances to MJ's family members and hardcore fans. I also wish them strong heart to bear this irrepairable loss.

"Eventhough your soul has left the earth, your soul-stirring music will continue to rock this world. May your soul rest in peace,MJ".