I didn’t have any hope for the film knowing that it was a re-make from the remake king Raja. But it turned out to be the exact opposite. It was fun, pure fun and clean entertainment for a genre that’s out of fashion in Tamil cinema. Priya’s Kannamochi Yennada couldn’t bring back that classic romance-family combo. Yaaradi Nee Mohini attempted to do that and failed badly. Not only Santhosh Subramaniam kept me awake for the entire span of the movie but it also brought back memories of yesteryear films that were mere theater plays made for the big screen.

In what seems like an acting competition between Prakash Raj, Geetha and Boys fame Genelia D’Souza, Genelia wins hands-down. She will probably walk away with the heroine of the year award, if Asin wouldn’t match her performance with Dasavathaaram. Genelia seems very natural and the major part of her success in this movie should go to Savitha, the dubbing artist. Genelia is becoming a talent to watch-out for. Watch out.

Prakash Raj wasn’t spontaneous in Mozhi and even in Vellithirai. He probably takes too much of importance in films he produces and I didn’t like his performance in those movies. But in SS, he rocks. Thanks to his controlled act as a strict father, I am starting to like his performance, again.

Geetha, one of my all time favorites in Tamil cinema and a much under-rated actress makes an impact with her stereotyped Kamala Kamesh role as the Kollywood mom. Everyone including Balachander[Azhagan] to Mani Ratnam[Thalapathi] under utilized this great performer and its one of the many shames of Kollywood.

Jeyam Ravi delivers a better performance than what one expects from him. And that’s good for his career. Santhanam cracks a dozen wordplay jokes on others. Another talent to watch out for. I’ve saying this from the days of Sagalai Vs Ragalai. And what was Sadagopan Ramesh doing there as the brother. Dude, aren’t you supposed to play cricket ?

The editing by Mohan(father of director Raja) is just perfect. He has to be thanked for the crisp climax, just like Chennai 600 028. T Kannan’s camera and combined with Mohan’s editing makes the film an easy watch. Two neat tunes by Devi Sri Prasad.

I haven’t watched the original Telugu movie, Bommarillu and so I am not sure if this is a scene-by-scene remake. But I’m sure Raja has sense of the big screen. He brings back Kollywood’s classic formula of bubbly romance mixed with family drama in a perfect fashion. This is a perfect rich-family-boy falling in love with single-parent-middle-class-talkative-girl story. For the fun filled first half, thanks to Genelia and Director Raja. Paisa Vasool !!

In a recent interview to Ananda Vikatan, Gautam Menon talks about Vaaranam Aayiram in length. Vaaranam Aaayiram is rumored to have the storyline of Forrest Gump. This is Oscar Ravichandran’s second big movie of the year after Kamal’s Dasavatharam. The movie’s website is almost ready to go.

Gautam’s calls Vaaranm Aayiram as a man’s saga and he is appreciative of Surya’s effort in the film. The interview doesn’t end there. When the interviewer asks if he is Surya’s director, Gautam blasts kollywood heroes for dicatating terms to directors. He accepts that Sarathkumar in Pachaikilli Muthucharam was a bad choice.

This is what he has to say about Vijay -

இன்னும் சில ஹீரோக்கள் பொழுதுபோகலைன்னா கதை கேட்கக் கூப்பிடுறாங்க. நான் கதை சொல்லி முடிச்சதும், அவங்க எதிர்பார்ப்பு நான் சொன்ன கதைக்கு எதிர்திசையில் இருக்கு. விஜய்கிட்டே கதை சொல்லப்போனேன். அவ்வளவு அமைதியாக, எந்த எதிர்க் கேள்வியும் இல்லாம கதை கேட்டார். சொல்லி முடிச்சதும் ‘அருமையா இருக்கு. உங்களோட வேலை பார்க்கிறதில் ஆர்வமா இருக்கேன். இந்த டிவிடிக்களைப் பாருங்க. இதில் உள்ள கமர்ஷியல் அம்சங்களை உங்க கதையில் கண்டிப்பா சேருங்க’னு அவர் கொடுத்த டிவிடிக்களை வெளியே வந்து பார்த்தேன். ‘திருப்பாச்சி’, ‘சிவகாசி’ டிவிடிதான் அது. என்னத்தைச் சொல்ல..!

BTW, Gautam’s next film is with Ajith. Should that say something about this comment ?

Thanks for keeping us entertained.

[Click image for a bigger view]

Thanks to Anoop for de-constructing the trailer.

Flying cars, Kudumi mama, Mottai paati, Daler Mehndi, Apollo 13 and the Oval office. It’s an all encompassing, a very shankar-like, trailer. Hurray !!

Himesh sure did his job pretty well, atleast in this trailer. I’m sure Rahman and Kamal, mutually missed each other.

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From Kamal’s recent interview -

With an ambitious storyline featuring 10 characters, ‘Dasavatharam’ will have contemporaneous messages encompassing such concerns as the environment, science and faith. “Dasavatharam has a lot of Al Gore in it, and also Ramanujar,” he says.

Describing the film as “honest to the core,” Kamal says he has explored religion at length. “Are we going to continue using the same blunt tool…religion,” he asks.

Is there a strong story line that elevates it from other blockbusters that we have seen in recent times? “For one, there are 10 characters, ranging in scope from a Ramanujar and a Galileo to a particle physicist. Computer graphics bring to life many of the scenes.” ‘Dasavatharam’ has convinced him that audiences were ready for good film stories even a decade earlier.

Shot using the flip and edited for a one minute clip.

Again, I wasn’t trying to say much. Just another editing trial to see if i can actually fit some narration into one minute.

“I haven’t died yet,” said Michael Arrington, the founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, a popular technology blog. The site has brought in millions in advertising revenue, but there has been a hefty cost. Mr. Arrington says he has gained 30 pounds in the last three years, developed a severe sleeping disorder and turned his home into an office for him and four employees. “At some point, I’ll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital, or something else will happen.”

Info Overload has been a recurring theme in this blog for the last 2+ years. Info overload is nothing but a heap of nonsensical stuff that you read/write(blog) online everyday.

NY Times has wake up call for bloggers and I’m sure it should also include blog readers and web wanderers.

Too many blogposts on a single blog makes no point. As the information gets more and more duplicated over the web, some one has already written about what you want to write about. The ad revenues or the number of people reading your blog feed is not significant than one’s health.

So as said before, don’t read this blog and more inportantly take it easy.

Writer Sujatha’s dialogues on science of love from Mani Ratnam’s Aayitha Ezhuthu.

And yes, the video was recorded from dvd using the flip video camcorder and runs from flickr. Didn’t you know ?

Sequels don’t do really well in most cases. Be it books, movies or even kids. And so is Koffee with Anu. I really enjoyed Anu Hassan’s interviews with gliteratti of Tamil Nadu and the format of the first season was really interesting.

Last weekend, when I watched the first show of the 2nd season, I thought they spoiled the format and made it much more formal. From the sets, to the props on the seat, everything reminded me of Star TV’s Rendezvous with Simi Garewal. Except that the sets weren’t painted white.

Anu was as at her usual best but the format of the show lacked the exuberance. Plus, for the first show of their next season, Simran and her husband Deepak were the guests. Though both of them were enthusiastic, given the fact that Tamil was their first language and Anu had to adjust her discussion partly in Tamil and English, made the program seem ordinary.

However, the last section called Koffee Tarot cards, looks like a cool idea and will be successful only if the guests share juicy stories of the personality behind their tarot card picks. When Simran picked up her first tarot card having Jyothika’s picture on it, I was expecting something more juicy than the normal goody-goody talk.

Let’s see what the coming weeks have in store for us.