Mock-ie Takies

Thotti Jaya(TJ) - A story of a person caught in the web of underworld dons. What would happen when a henchmen fall in love with the daughter of his boss ? That is what TJ is all about ... The movie is taken with a good amount of style and genuinity, but still gets caught in a Quagmire of stupid sequences that is so common with any action movie...

From yesteryear's Jaishankar till the latest sensation Chimbu, nothing has changed about tamil action movies :

1. Hero is always a superhuman and villain will be a most stupid comedian.
2. Hero will rarely be armed, but still would escape from any number of henchmen with deadly weapons.
3. The villain and hero will not kill each other until climax, even if they had an option of doing so. The main idea is to make the viewers sit for 3 hours.
4. There can be no fight sequence without breaking a dozen of glasses.
5. The Heroine will be chased in the main road in busy hours and nobody will come for her rescue. Right at the time when the villain get close to her, the hero will emerge out of nowhere and blast them down.
6. The hero is the only guy in this holy earth who can catch a bomb being thrown at him and throw it back on the sender(lol).
7. Hero can talk with animals and can get the help of a monkey to him get out of the jail.
8. The climax will always be preceeded by a dance by the hero(preferably with a vamp).
9. The hero will confront the villian with an extra scar or beard. The villian can never find this out, when even the stupidest of the audience can get a feel of what is going on.
10. For every car chase, there is a 100 % possiblity of breaking all of them except the hero's car. Sometimes even the heros car will be torn apart, but he will emerge out of it without even a smallest cut.
11. The hero can run non-stop from madras to pondicherry(140 Kms) and still sing a duet sequence with ounces of energy.
12. Every horrible villian or an action hero will have a damn funny flashback.
13. Every dual hero subjects will have a flashback where the heros got seperated in a train journey(The train left when one of the twins got down from it). So far, I have a never seen(have not even heard about) a twin looking like photocopies(??)
14. Hero can run across the villains' henchmen armed with AK-47(The only machine gun code known to tamil movie viewers). All of them will shoot simultanesously. But the hero can run in such a way that the bullets fall an inch behind his leg.
15. Not every henchman will confront the hero together. They will give him a concession. They will stand in a line and attack him only when the the guy who went last is down on the ground.
16. Heroine's dad will never give way for love.
17. Atleast one of the Hero's family member will have to be sacrificed for the hero's love. After all, atleast one have to die from the hero's side for every 100 deaths from the villain's side(an essence of fairness).
18. The villain will prefer chasing the hero than shooting him with the gun that he has in his pocket.
19. The Action sequences in any action movie will have only one reason : Love or revenge.
20. The terrorist will always be a pakistani(accoridng to india, its the only country where terrorists reside). He would have no other job and will come all the way to chennai and rape the hero's sister/girl friend. Nothing can beat the repercussions .... The hero will go to kashmir to kill him and will talk patriotic punch-lines when the real intentions happens to be different.

Coming back to TJ, It also has all the similar things that I had written about. The director seems to have been impressed by movies like Kakha Kakha and he tries to keep the cinematography as a good realistic shoot. Chimbu has been terrific in this movie and he has very less dialogues. He looks splendid when he doesnot talk in front of the camera. He comes in a black-coloured dress through out the movie and gets most of the emotions right with his eye movements and body language.

Chimbu has tried hard to look and move like a gangster. He looks very natural through-out the movie. Heroine fails to impress and the villain looks threatening until he opens his mouth. There are some very stupid sequence which makes us feel sorry for the director. Most of them are the regular action movie Goof-ups ..... But this one takes the cake. " Kharaghpur's railway station is shown in the movie. The director has shown it as a station which is look like a station of a village in deep south India with just one platform and 2 rooms. But in reality kharaghpur railway station happens to be India's pride. Its the worlds longest railway station where there are 2 adjancent platforms in the same row. It takes a minimum of 30 minutes to walk end to end of the platform." Some one should have atleast told him about this. There are a lot of small things that could have made a difference had they been taken care of.

As Alwaez

JK

Whew ..... 12 Movies in 3 Days

The three months that i had spent in XLRI has not just deprived me of Mom's Food, but also some good movies. There was a huge Movie database in college. There were a lot of awesome movies and to say the least, It was a lovely compilation. But still something was lacking at Jamshedpur and i was never in a mood to see movies. Not in a mood to analyse what was that lacking substance in XLRI, I decided to Use my 2 week vacation to quench my thirst for movies.

I have not watched any movie alone till date. It is very tough to even imagine that situation when i am stranded without any friends to give company for movies. Back home in chennai i had lots of friends and we used to grace every theater in and around chennai atleast within the first 4 days of the release of a movie. Watching a movie before anyone else has always been on the top my passion list. What to do ?? I am typical chennai-ite, whose world of fun starts and ends at movie theaters.

In my college days, It would be a movie every week and I have seen most of the movies(awesome, good , horrible etc....) in theater. First day - First shows have been such a predominant word in my dictionary that my life at XLRI was not gratifying sans movies that has been a pacemaker of my life so far ...

This time around, the Grind started with "Anbae Aaruyire" with sathish at Udayam Cineplex. It was followed by Attagasam, london, New, The Chinese Connection(Bruce Lee), Bose, Anniyan, Oru Naal Oru kanavu, Naayagan, Finding Nemo and Dus. Everything culminated with a grand (Night-)show-down at Sangam complex(Here is a snap to mark the end of my conquest) with the lastest hit "Thotti Jaya".

May look like a long list ... Yeah ! 32 hours of movie in 72 hours(3 days). What a 3 days it has been .... Doing my favourite thing without my parents shouting at me for all this ..... It will remain in my memory for a long time. Long live chennai and its theaters.

JK

Happiness .... Take your pick

Disclaimer : The following are nether my original ideas nor borrowed ones ...... These are some things that i personally felt are essential requirements to lead a happy and fulfilling life. I have compiled the following from variety of places. This is no way is conclusive or exhaustive, but just subjective.

1. Look at people in the eye and offer a firm handshake.
2. Forget yourself and Sing in the shower
3. In a fight, hit first and hit hard.
4. Keep secrets and remeber promises.
5. Never give up on anybody .... Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
6. Keep your options open and never have unrealistic expectations.
7. Be brave. Even if you're not, pretend to be. Be at your best while acting so that no one can tell the difference.
8. If you cannot convince someone confuse them.
9. Avoid sarcastic remarks and never get into arguments. Everytime you win an argument, you lose a couple of friends.
10. In case of a compromise, be happy to sacrifice first. At the end of the day, its more satisfying.
11. Make it a habit to do nice things for people and Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all that they have.
12. When playing games with others, let them win. You ofcourse do win hearts .......
13. Give people a second chance, but not a third. Forgive and forget when you can.
14. Be romantic.Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
15. Don't let the phone ruin your work. It's there for your convenience, not the caller's.
16. When someone hugs you, do pat them on their back..... It feels great.
17. Be modest. A lot was accomplished before you were born.
18. Don't burn bridges. You'll be surprised how many times you have to cross the same river.
19. Think before acting and never think after you are done.
20. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.Remember no one makes it alone.
21. Have a grateful heart and be quick to acknowledge those who helped you.
22. Its your attitude, not your aptitude that decides your altitude. Remember that.
23. Begin and end each day with some of your favorite music.
24. Once in a while, take the scenic route and enjoy nature.
25. Do spend a few minutes walking alone and contemplating on who you are and what you are doing.
26. Answer the phone with enthusiasm and energy in your voice.
27. Show respect for everyone who works for a living, regardless of how trivial their job.
28. Remember that 80 per cent of the success in any job is based on your ability to deal with people.
29. Don't expect life to be fair ... accept failures gracefully.
30. Atlast, Its your Life .... You know what you need.

Its me ......

JK

Critical Analysis of Anbae Aaruyire ...

From the director who came up with un-conventional hits like Vaali, Kushi and New, comes a new movie with a claim of having tried some new concept. It was the same kind of promise that S.J. Soorya gave when he presented NEW. But this time around he has not delivered on that promise. A pathetic movie right from the beginning, etches a contemporary story of love in which, the protagonist lives with his gal friend (Its more of a living relationship that bond them). But the hero's possesiveness and lack of faith leads to a break in that relationship.

Then comes the most comical part of the movie when the hero and heroin dressed in blue colored (BF ??) outfits roam around to represent some pleasant memories held by the lead pair. Dejected with each other, the hero and heroine decide to part ways. But the memories (which have been given some form) get them back on tracks.

"Wow" is the statement that you would mutter when surya introduces the story right in the beginning of the movie (His unique style which had worked wonders in his last two movies). With a lot of hype and hoopla surrounding the movie, naming controversies and a revealed theme/plot, surya should have taken sufficient care about the implementation of such a fantasised theme in the second half.

In his first movie(vaali) with a very serious concept, Surya was able to handle the emotions subtly and get the best out of the performers. He followed the good work with an awesome second movie. He has the nack of getting a very natural performance from the artistes. But, he has not been so natural when performing. It will be a welcome change if he decides not to act in his next movie.

His body langauage is the only good thing that serves his case. His voice and his face haunts the viewer even after walking miles away from the theater. He appears very old and cannot really match the cute and graceful heroine. Probably a different hero could have made the movie more enjoyable.

He has also resorted to excessive double entendres in many places. NEW's sucess has reportedly sent him a wrong message that every movie with an overdose all these sensual elements will go well this the audience. "NEW" was a very novel concept and it had a storyline which demanded these elements spread across the movie. But this movie requires nothing. A Taut screenplay and a different hero would have done the trick.

But still the movie is definitely worth a watch if you had no better things to do. First half was indeed decent and the movie lost its pace, power and track after the intermission.

Santhanam's comedy is also another thing that was thrown in for no reason. He has been trying to do another "lollu-sabha" genre of humour which ofcourse tickles but continues to appear trite. This man has got a lot of potential and he should try for better things than the usual "kalaai" brand of comedy. Similar statement could be made about the inclusion of santhana barathy as the villian. Urvasi, mayilsamy and others also appear only to fill some vacant slots and none of them sink with the storyline.

But the heroine is simply awesome - be it her looks, her body language, her acting in some emotional scenes. She has got all the other required qualifications to stay for long in kollywood. She is exemplary in those climax scenes and looks angelic in those blue colored outfits. Cinematography and music are cool, but Surya has screwed up the picturisation of the songs.

This movie clearly looks like a product spoilt by a sense of urgency and a lack of vision. S.J. Surya has done it in the past and i dont like to take away any of his credits. He can get back into his ways if he can sacrifice his wild dreams of becoming the hero. This will elevate his position as a good director and also spare the tamil audience who had till date been generous enough of having accepted people like vijayakanth, ramarajan & dhanush as their heros. God save the People of TN ...... May Surya save his name as a director ......

JK

What love means to me .......

Haven't really been in love .... So I dont exactly have had first hand knowledge about pain of love, agony of seperation, dejection after being ditched and the rest ....

But yes .... I have seen too many ! To be more precise, 60 % of my friends had gal friends and I also had the chance of getting many of them together(a sort of social service). I have seen many of them going through all stages of love, dejection, resurrection, etc.... But have never really understood if it was really worth the problems and pains in the process involved.

Not a long back, one of my closest pals fell in love with a gal who i felt was not his perfect fit. I used to frequently tell him about getting out of the relationship. Despite both us being so close, he used to react histerically and our friendship began to get soar. With an intention of not letting my intrution affecting his personal issues, I decided to leave it to his finess and the fate.

Later I decided to analyse this case and understand what people really want and get our of these realtionships .... When i began digging into the relationships, i came across some similarities ...

Disclaimer : What follows is not applicable for infatuation or crush (Thought i felt both connote the same thing, my friends had varied interpretations)

1) The gal / Boy whoever was emotionally weak was controlled(read victimized) by the other.

2) The Controlled component(lol) of the pair begins to lose its way and gets detached from its previous companions(read friends) and gets driven towards the new controlling component with all the due force(read love)

3) In most of these cases, the love is created with some bottomline/tagline attached to it which can range from Money, Car, Looks, sense of humour, modesty and even some totally stupid things like Hair(not kidding at all). But something seems to get clear. Its a persons selfishness to own something which had attracted him/her sometimes in the past.

4) Loyalty is something that generally goes for a sixer in most of the occasions. When the Controlled component's attracted factor sometime gets exposed or proven "not so good" when stood close by, the controller wastes no time in regearing its fortunes.

I may appear to be a love-o-phobiac or may also seem like a person seriously maddened by the failure of my lost last love. But i am trying to put things from a perspective of a guy who has been strong enough till date of not having succumbed to the attraction of the stronger components.

There is always some incentive associated with love. Nothing comes or appears without a reason. After all we live in a age of business. How many relationship breaks do we see in everyday life ? When does a boy / gal break a relationship ... Only when he / she finds that this person has more unattractive factors than the few things that attracted them. Eventually it all boils down to some specific trading rules and exchange regulations.

I have come across some of the most funniest things across many of them caught in the entanglement of love. I was lectured about the purity of love by a gal who has ditched some 7 guys and is currently searching for the 8th Fool. A friend of mine was telling me about a gal who attracted him at the first sight(basic instinct). I was told that the love emanated not by her looks but by the gals character(poor fellow ... he has mastered the art of telepathy). I still dont get the logic behind love at first sight (probably that will be the topic of my next blog). In a Nutshell, I intend to say that "Love is a Business of sorts that takes control of the emotions and is sustained by the attraction" .

Most of you who had patience to read so far and are already in love will be waiting to pounce on me for the most obvious reason of having hurting your emotions. But my reasoning or the reason behind my rationale is not intended to do that. Ofcourse I do respect(err... atleast i will try to from now on) real love(something that i doubt exists and haven't really understood so far).Dont really try to refute for what all i have said above. Just look at it without making judgements .... I am very sure most of you will agree with me .....

And ... Please dont brand me as a heartless/emotion-less soul .... I welcome more insights ...

JK

... As alwaez

XL ka special moments :

XLRI is a place where

1. You will never feel bored ... Will always have some thing to do for the next 4 hours ....

2. Even if walk out of your room at 4 or 5 AM in the morning, you can still find a pack of familiar faces waving hands at you in the canteen or in the lawn.

3. You will always have 180 Odd Glass-mates, who not just drink with you, but also dance with you the entire night.

4. Your Roomie also stays awake with you when you are tied up with some pending submission, even if he has nothing to stay awake for.

5. You meet sharpest brains from all over India, who also know the human side of life.

6. Your Best friend could be a guy from a totally different course (Sathish ... Its U buddy).

7. You always are in search of a reason to go out and avoid the mess food.

8. You will not be in a mood to eat the mess food even if someone out there is willing to pay you for that.

9. Many of us celebrate the birthday party of a guy who we have hardly talked to.

10. You admire a gal and love to talk with her sometime. You later curse yourself for wasting time as the gal who you admired is damn affable and cool.

11. You go to the night canteen at 2 AM to drown in some tea to stay awake for a few more hours, but land-up drowsing off there.

12. Take a bath at odd hours like 3 AM to stay awake for a few xtra hours.

13. Work Full night and continue to stay awake for the mess breakfast (The best product of XL Mess).

14. Being pissed off with Financial subjects, you decide to take a walk downstairs and come across IR guys studying labour law. You are suddenly feeling better as BFA is on any day better than LAW.

15. You work really hard for a paper despite being sure of the fact that what ever you do, you will only get a single digit score.(cutie :(..)

16. Despite having a huge hindi population, You will find more tamil movies than Hindi movies in LAN (Thanks Srihari).

17. The first benchers get the best possible sleep.

18. The last benchers are not always the last rankers ....

19. The best of your performances get the worst of your scores.

20. You have so many people to chat and have fun with. But still lack a friend who knows your personal self.

21. You dont attend classes for attendance.

...... Thinking abt the rest .... Will articulate them soon !

JK
` The Last Man Standing `