Thanks, Sorry....oh wait, thanks again !

Thanks a lot guys (of course, it includes the gals also. How would I forget you all?). I am really really really touched after reading the concerns left by you all in my previous post. Infact , I now feel proud of myself to have started a blog, for I wouldn’t have got such good responsive friends in a short span. Thanks a lot everyone, thanks for being there for me.

I am also sorry for the telecast (as if it was in my hands!). Till Tuesday; ie, 23rd, I was informed by the people behind Raagamaalika, that the show would start from 28th. There were some last minute changes, (probably, they happened to see these posts and decided to edit all my portions. LOL) that made them shift the telecast to Oct 19th. I would keep you all informed and will upload a youtube video here once I catch hold of the DVDs.

In the meanwhile, I happened to receive a couple of awards (with palms on my chin). I don’t know if I actually deserve all these but they sure did create an excitement (yeah ! yeah ! the usual award receiving dialogues).

I received my first award from Anniyan(Pavan) of a couple of months back and the award had been on display ever since then. Thanks a ton, Pavan.

My good friend, well-wisher and V-lokam regular Reets/Reeta gave me the second award. Thank you Reeta.

The next award was by ‘Kismate Blog Konnection’ fellow blogger Oxymoronic. Thank you Oxy boy.

Smita of gave away an award and a 'Blogging Friends Forever' card. Thanks a lot Smita.

The last two awards are supposed to be passed on as a part of the blog tradition. I believe most of them would have already received it by now and in case you haven’t, please forgive me and feel free to grab it from here.

Nevertheless, I choose the following ones to keep up the tradition :
Pavan, Su, Vinu, Apar, Aparna, Archana, Rekha

Speaking of awards, guess all of you are aware of the marvelous attempt by Poonam in recognizing the bloggers – Avant Garde Bloggie Awards. My best wishes to all of you !!!

Part 5 (b) - They finally shot me - Final post

continued from Part 5 (a)

It was declared earlier that only the top three would qualify for the final rounds. As of then, Vikram, Aishwarya and me were in the top three. Vikram is a terrific singer and to beat him with the scores was next to impossible for any of us. Aishwarya, the daughter of the program co-ordinator, was also too good. She only selected the toughest of songs but sang it with élan. All they had to do was to maintain our scores to reach the finals and for me, I just have to make sure that none of the songs are messed up.

Day 2 – July 23rd : Reached the place quite early again. I wasn’t tensed this time, rather very excited. All the three songs that I chose were quite simple and very catchy.

We had the regular pitch check for the songs; SB, who by the way is the director of the show, was impressed with my performance so far and started speaking to me normally, the 6 of us became good sportive participants; Vikram claimed on stage that he liked my voice the most (receiving such a comment from a singer like him was more than enough for me). Had some real fun on stage with Balaji; hope all that gets aired. Infact, Balaji and myself shared a good rapport on and off stage.

All the three rounds went well. No one of us got eliminated and I maintained my number 3 position. At the end of the day, I guess I got carried away with all the appreciations, that, I developed interests to be a part of the finals. I desired to win.

The song for the 9th round was still not known. We were told that it would be an impromptu Duet round, but for some reason, they decided to go ahead with a ‘Best of Ilayaraja’ round instead and asked us to prepare a good melody.

Day 3- July 24th : During the practice session, I had given ‘Vellai Pookal’ from Kannathil Muthamittaal as my choice for the 8th round.. But I decided to sing 'Ninaithu Ninaithu Paarthen' from 7G Rainbow Colony because through out the rounds, I wasn’t singing even one melancholy track.

After the pitch check with the orchestra, the cameras started rolling once more for the 7th round. I did really well and managed to maintain my 3rd position yet again. Sudhakar got eliminated this time; based on his low scores. It was five of us then; in the order of the scores - Vikram, Aishwarya, Me, Rajeshwari and Gayathri.

Vikram and me after dressing got into the studio while the rest were checking their pitch with the orchestra. To my surprise, Vikram was made to check his pitch and I wasn’t. I asked SB but she smiled and said I don’t need a check and that she believed in me. I took that as a compliment and delivered my best on stage.

Whatever followed after that, left a permanent scar in my heart. I wasn’t hurt, but I didn’t expect this kind of reaction from the judges, especially for that particular song. According to them, I was affected with something bad that they couldn’t find out. They asked me if I knew where it went wrong. I shrugged and replied that I didn’t. Worst part was when I had to say ‘Thank you’ for the horrible score that I received.

I became 4th in the order - Vikram, Aishwarya, Rajeshwari, Me, and then Gayathri.

Usually, after each round, all of us would be made to stand on the stage and declare our total scores till that respective round. The judges would then declare the elimination and the bonus points. For some reason, after this round, that wasn’t done (Its going to be evident on TV too). We waited to hear from the judges :

Judge-M.V. : We have decided to eliminate Vimal.
I involuntarily went one step back; literally, taken aback.

Balaji, who kept a note of everyones scores, immediately waved at SB who in turn stopped all the cameras.

Balaji to SB : “ How is it possible ? Gayathris scores are lesser than Vimals. Ideally, she should be eliminated, right? Is there anything wrong with the calculation ?”

SB : No. Judges decision, Balaji.

Balaji seemed helpless. I smiled at him and said ‘the show must go on’ (dialogue from a Malayalam movie ‘Joker’ delivered at a similar situation)

Camera rolled, retook from where it was stopped and Balaji continued his job as a host.

Gayathri, who was in the fifth position, got in and I went out. No one knew the actual reason for my elimination. All of them including Balaji said I performed well. I was upset, didn’t express it there though, it wasn’t about getting eliminated. I wanted a perfect reason, that’s all.

According to Vikram and Gayathri, I would’ve got eliminated because the succeeding rounds required technical knowledge in music. Their logic was that I did well and since they couldn’t find a reason to eliminate me, this was the only way. Some of them even claimed that I would have been a part of their script right from the beginning of the show. The makers, probably, expected me to create a fuss on stage after my elimination, which they could use for publicity stunts to increase the shows TRP. Damn, I am still not convinced with any of the pacified remarks. I have to watch myself on screen to console my conscious.

I stayed back to watch the next round. I was so impressed with Vikram that I gifted him the shirt that I was supposed to wear for the 9th round. With my elimination, all of them were a little tensed especially Gayathri.

Result for the 9th round – All four got through for the finals (when it was earlier declared that only three would qualify). A blow yet again; I was number 4 and I should have been there. It happens all the time; I get things unexpectedly, and don’t, when I really need them to. Bid good bye to all of them when they were on the stage and left the studio.

Went out, looked up, and realized, I don’t even have a God to ask him, why me?

The finals were shot on 28th July. They did have classical round initially, for the finals, but due to time constraints they decided to replace it with a Melancholy round. I did go to the studio to watch the finals and also to collect my consolation prizes. Vikram got hospitalized and could not make it for the show. Now, that’s even worse than my situation; he truly deserved to be the winner.

The rest is for you all to watch; who wins and who else gets eliminated.

Show details :

Jaya Tv – Raagamalika; airs at 9 am only on sundays. Repeat telecast on saturdays at 11pm.

Try watching the entire series and please do not stop with the first episode of mine, which, according to me, is horrible. I would be on air from this Sunday, ie, 28th Sep to Nov 16th.
Thanks a lot for being so patient in reading these posts and commenting here.
Its just the beginning…..

Also read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3(a), Part 3 (b), Part 4 and Part 5(a)

Part 5 (a) - They finally shot me !!!

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (a), Part 3(b) and Part 4, or else you wouldnt understand a thing !!!

As far I am concerned I had to undergo a couple of sacrifices for this show. I was already under a diet and was working out a little inspite of the torn ligaments in my leg. The diet began well before my first audition, and I decided to continue it so that I looked trim on TV. I stopped consuming oily, junk and creamy foods and had only bland food most of the time. I only had hot water, most of the times, with honey and lemon (this not only helps u in burning fat, but also clears your throat). Eventually, I reduced 5 kgs and I did look trimmer (Gained all that in a months time though). I kept a time limit (5-10 mins), had time slots to speak to my friends and family and some of my friends remarked that I am acting like one of those snobbish celebrities before even entering the show. Stopped watching movies for a week and listened to only those songs that I chose to sing for the show; initially 24 songs and after the practice session, the 9 songs.

It would only be appropriate if I briefed about what happened when the cameras weren’t rolling. The shot portions are anyway going to come on TV.

Day 1; July 21st – Though we were asked to reach the studio at 9 am, I made my presence there at 7.30 itself. I was the only person who went there all alone, the rest of them came with their parents. After dressing up, we were made to check our pitches with the orchestra. We were allowed to take the lyrics on stage and I didnt understand why Sb created a fuss on the first day. The judges were Malaysia Vasudevan and Uma Ramanan; two famous singers in the Tamil film industry. The intro song was not included for the judgement and so we were asked to relax and shed all those stage fear that we had. I was called fifth, after Vikram, Aishwarya, Sudhakar and Rajeshwari and this order was followed through out the show except for one round. The host Balaji (he is one of the best RJs in Chennai and now also a small time actor), called my name, “Vimal”. But I insisted him to call me, “Vimal Vijayan”, (for people who don’t know, that’s my full name). I am a little superstitious at times; including my dads name has always brought me luck. The cameras rolled again and I was welcomed with my full name with a little bit of sarcasm from the hosts end (I loved it though!)

There was a short intro on the stage about my whereabouts, likes and dislikes and after that I was asked to sing. Took a deep breath and when the music started, I gulped (yeah! the mike was away). As mentioned in my earlier post, I wasn’t quite happy with the intro song that I chose out of frustration. Unless I am convinced with the song, I wouldn’t be able to render it the way I want. According to the rest of them, I sang well, but personally if you ask me, I wasn’t happy. Well, it’s the intro song; no judgement and no more stage fear !!!

I passed the mike to Gayathri who went after me. Both Vikram and Sudhakar said I sang well and that I was getting worried for no reason. Lets see, its going to come on TV and I cant stop it !!

After Gayathris, we packed up and got ready for the next round. Each round is one episode and so we had to change our dress. This was the only round that I was tensed from the very beginning. 1940’s,(Thyagaraja Bhagavathars Naatiya Kalaye). Balaji asked me if I am all ready for the song. I replied saying that I was and since I hadnt learned music, I was a little worried. He then asked me to think positive and boosted my morale (I don’t know if all that would appear on screen, but the conversations happened when the cameras were rolling). I started off , not very confidently, but somewhere in the middle, I started getting into the groove and I am sure I ended it well. The judges gave some good comments and so did Sb.

Result for round 2 - none eliminated, and I was ranked #3.
After the shoot and before the pack up, Balaji called me separately and injected me with a few good thoughts on confidence. I owe a lot to him for this gesture of his.

Confidence level—increased. Stage fear –nil. I am sure I did the next round- 1950’s(Paattu Paadava) well and according to some of them, its my best performance. Balaji was dancing like crazy when I was rendering it and I hope they show it on TV. Judges were happy too and again got some good comments from them.

Result for round 3 – none eliminated and I was still #3.

That’s it for the first day. Next shoot was on July 23rd.

Trailor for the final part
Judge (after the 8th round) : We have decided to eliminate Vimal.
Host Balaji : How is it possible ? Gayathris scores are lesser than Vimals. Ideally, she should be eliminated, right?

What do you do when......you are tagged !!!!

I knew I always invite trouble, otherwise I wouldn’t have ended up with this tag ! Its funny and equally weird; I ended up in Aparnas WTML after blog hopping, left a very casual comment and the next thing I understand is that I am tagged. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, especially when I set my own rules for the ones whom I tagged.

What do you do when..

---You see a man making a pass (trying to woo / flirt / impress) on a woman you like?
Like or love ??
Like – I wouldn’t bother, everyones got a chance !!!
Love – Again, I wouldn’t bother. Whatever he does, she is ultimately mine. (Gosh, why am I still single ??? )

--Some one you like, is not attracted to you?
Try one of those Axe Dark Temptation Deos (the one which has that chocolate man in the ad !!)

--You are attracted to some one, but both of you are in two different cities?
If its love, then I wouldn’t mind going and meeting her once in a while.
But if it’s a stupid one-sided attraction, I would rather find someone in the same city !!!

--You are reading a book, and your best friend wants to borrow it and can’t wait for you to finish reading, ‘coz he/she has been looking for it for all their life?
I don’t read books, so cant relate to this question (Unless, she is interested in my comics)
But if it comes to chocolates, sweets and ice-creams, it’s a big no-no. “Joey doesn’t share fooood !!!”

--You help plan his / her career, and then, they go on to achieve it, leaving you behind, alone.
His – “You too, brutus!!! “
Her – “Please send me your number once you reach there “

My question – What do you do when you have something to tell but no one around to listen ?

Start a blog!!!

The chosen victims are :

AlliRekha, Arvind, Smita, Harsha, Bedazzled and Mystique Dew

And now for my Rules :

• Atleast one among the above should tag Aparna. She cant get away just like that !!!
• You are supposed to adhere to Rule No.1 and can create your own rules.
• You have to add a statement " The one who created this tag is smart but not as smart as the one who tagged me" in your post.
• You should insert or add your own questions at the end.
• Rules set by Aparna hereafter would not be considered.

Song : Vellai Pookkal; Movie : Kannathil Muthamittaal (2002)

This song is one of my all time personal favs.Composed and rendered by A.R.Rahman, it has been beautifully picturised by director Mani Ratnam and cinematogrpaher Ravi.K.Chandran for the movie Kannthil Muthamittaal. The movie is considered to be one among the best works of Mani Ratnam and went on to win several awards at various film festivals and award ceremonies. Read more about the movie and the awards it won here.



The lyrics can be found here.

Trivia:
I have also sung the title song from this movie along with my good friend and V-Lokam regular Reeta. I am just waiting for an occasion to introduce her voice here.

To listen in a better way :

• Please wait till the entire song streams.
• Try using a headset/earphone for the overall sound clarity.

Love is in the....tag !

Nikhil tagged(read dragged) me into this. This is the least expected out of me- writing a post on love but it was fun and I thank Nikhil for giving me this opportunity. Some of the answers here are purely fictional and some of them, right from my heart; I am leaving it to the readers to make their own judgement.

RULE #1 : People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.
RULE #2 : Tag 6 people to do this quiz and they cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
Simple. I will make sure that her happiness is screwed for the rest of her life !!!

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
Sharing my life with the girl whom I once lost. (That’s going to remain only as a dream now)

3. Whose butt would you like to kick?
My lovers butt. For not coming into my life earlier !!!

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Buy some junk made in platinum, take her to space and propose; give her an ‘out-of-the-world’ experience.

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
Of course. What are best friends for ? hehehe.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
I prefer the second one. Its always a wonderful feeling when you know that you are being loved by someone.

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?
Patience is my middle name and so I would wait for that special someone till my last breath and in all the births that I am permitted to have.

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
Tell my feelings to the person with whom she is attached - make him feel inferior – with this new complex of his, a tiff would generate between them(natural, na?) - parallely act innocent with her and do all the pacifying acts - finally get her for myself!!! Wow, that’s like the meanest thing I have ever thought.

9. If you like to act with someone, who will it be? Your gf/bf or an actress/actor?
Why should I act with my GF ? I do that everytime. LOL.
I would die to work with my all time fav actor- Jayaram.

10. What takes you down the fastest?
Fake attitude.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?
Obviously, in a mirror.
Ok.... jokes apart. In ten years, married (cant say happily though) with a kid or two, trying to make so many ends meet !!!

12. What’s your fear?
Getting hooked up with a girl who remembers the time, dates,events and incidents like a historian.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
A person whose life is a play ground for God ji. I know him only through his blog; the most hilarious person I know in blogosphere and after reading his take on this same post, the most romantic too.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
Any time, single and rich !!!

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
I try to look at a photo that’s on my wall which has my loved ones; dad, mom and bro. Otherwise, it would be my mobile to check how many missed calls / sms I received.

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
Everything except my individuality.

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
The one who doesn’t give up on me… ever !

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?
Ya, I would. But also re-check my answer for Question no. 1

19. What are your three most important expectations in love ( Original Question: Will you marry me?)
Mutual Trust, mutual understanding and personal space.

20. List 6 people to tag:
3 women and 3 men. I had a random check with this tag on other blogs , and I found some of them in my blog roll already tagged for this post. My chosen ones are :

Poonam, Oxy, Priya, Anniyan, AV, Varun
(People, please read rule no.2, you cannot refuse. All the best!)

PS : Anyone else who wants to do this tag is welcome to do so.

S.i.B - 5

Verude Oru Bharya (A wife, just like that!)
A clean family entertainer with a strong message. Jayaram steals the show as an egoistic husband and this is supposedly his first hit in 5 years. It takes guts for an actor of his caliber to portray a character with negative shades. Hats off to Jayaram and his power packed performance, especially in the second half. Gopika isn’t bad too, but doesn’t look matured for her character. A must watch for all husbands who are inconsiderate towards their wife. Recommended. Rating - 3.5 / 5

Mumbai Meri Jaan (Mumbai, My life)
A remarkable attempt at providing good cinema, but a little too documentary-ish. The movie tells the story of five individuals who fall under the different strata of society, people with different approach towards life, with different dreams, and all gets connected by one common incident. The message in the movie comes straight on the face, thus being a little preachy at times. Paresh Rawal and KK Menon excels. Director Nishikant Kamat strikes again after Dombivilli Fast / Evano Oruvan. Recommended. Rating - 3.5 / 5

Dhaam Dhoom (Chaos)
Like its name, the movie is a total chaos. A clear example of how story telling could conflict when the makers change. Jeyam ravi tries his best to get into the character and so does Lakshmi Rai, unfortunately the script destroys everything. What still remains a mystery is how the makers even thought of casting Kangana Ranaut as a village belle!!! Jayaram character is a surprise but is wasted. An illogical first half and a horrendous second half; that’s how the movie is. The only saving is Harris Jayarajs music, but the picturisation disappoints. Avoid. Rating – 1.5 / 5

Rock on !!!
A well made cliché movie. A story about four friends, their past and present with rock music in its backdrop. After DCH, there hasn’t been any movie in Bollywood that made friendship look so beautiful on screen. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loys music simply rocks throughout the movie, though they were subjected to a lot of criticisms initially when the album was released. Performance wise, this movie deserves special mention. Recommended. Rating 3.5 / 5

Jeyam Kondaan ( Have won )
The movie started well, stands still at a particular point and then goes haywire. A different plot on brother-sister relationship; but written with no interest and care. The heroine, Bhavana, had absolutely nothing to do and the movie would have remained the same without her presence. Vinay Rai and Lekha Washington, brother and sister in the movie, looked wooden throughout the movie. Avoid, at all cost. Rating – 1 / 5

A Wednesday
Mind blowing. A must watch for all cinema lovers, leave alone those meaningful ones. Naseeruddin Shah is simply superb; the rest of them are good too. The movie holds you onto the seats till the end and would wish if there wasn’t an interval in between. The face of Bollywood is changing and this movie is an example for that; 100 mins of thrills, no songs, not even in the background, no vulgarity, and no wasted characters. Kudos to the entire crew of this movie, for coming up with something original. ‘A Wednesday’ is one hell of an experience. Highly recommended. Rating 4.5 / 5

Saroja
If not for the same team that gave us Chennai 28 last year, this movie with fairly new faces would have been a washout at the box office. The movie falls under the comedy thriller genre, and the director balances the comedy and thrills perfectly. But certain scenes in the second half get repetitive making it a little dragging. The climax to an extent is unpredictable. RJ Siva and Premji is superb with their comic timing and dialogue delivery. Out of the 4 songs, two are good and fans of Yuvan shankar Raja could also get to see him in one of them. Watch it with your friends and you will never get disappointed. Rating 3 / 5

Not an impressive Robot

Endhiran- The Robot (Tamil)

Endhiran is touted to become the most expensive film (140 crores) ever made in India which is going to be made in Tamil and would be dubbed into Hindi, Telugu and English. Honestly speaking, its one of the worst movie posters I have ever seen in recent times.

I just hope the one in the poster isnt Director Shankars idea of a Robot. It looks more like a factory worker than a Robot. This is supposed to be Shankars dream project and if I quite remember from the press releases that came out during those days, Shankar had approached Kamal Haasan a few years back (after the release of Nayak) for the title role. Proper funding did not let the project take off as expected. Shankar then kept it in the back burner and revived it, once his Sivaji became a blockbuster. The role was offered to SRK and a public annoncement was also made by both parties. SRK even offered to produce the movie. Creative differences arose between them and the movie was on the verge of getting shelved once more when Rajnikanth agreed to be the 'Robot'. Personally, I feel Rajnikant looks too old for this role. Shankars initial choices, Kamal or SRK, would have been perfect. There were also rumours that Shankar had approached Aamir and Ajith Kumar for the title role before Rajnikanth signed on the dotted lines.

Eagerly waiting for the music as its going to be ARR's first sci-fi movie. The details of the crew are mentioned below :

Starring :Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Direction :Shankar ( Gentleman, Kadhalan/Humse hain muqabla, Indian/Hindustani, Jeans, Mudhalvan, Nayak, Boys, Anniyan/Aparichit, Sivaji )
Music :A. R. Rahman
Cinematography :R. Ratnavelu
Art :Sabu Cyril
Lyrics :Vairamuthu and Pa. Vijay
Choreographer :Raju Sundaram
Editing : Anthony
Costume Design : Manish Malhotra
Scientific Outfits :Mary E Vogt ( Men in Black, Batman Returns, Inspector Gadget )
Animatronics :Stan Winston Studio (USA) ( Predator, Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor,Terminator )
Stunt : Yuen Woo Ping ( Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Matrix and Kill Bill )
Hollywood companies : ILM, Tippet, Café EFX (Field of VFX)
Hong Kong companies: Centro and Menfond (Field of VFX)

Image and Crew detail courtesy : Behindwoods.com

They came...…they saw…...they slept !!!

We were excited; it was supposed to be a get together, a reunion, after 4 years. All of us wanted a nice, private place to hangout and my apartment was everyone’s first and last destination. Reason being, I am the only unmarried person among them and I stay in a huugge apartment all alone. Their only aim was to booze as it was impossible for them to drink with thier families around. I am a vagabond, and people know it very well. So far, there hadn’t been any such get togethers/parties conducted in my place and so at the back of my mind, (since I had been a quiet soul so far) I had the fear of how my neighbours and house owner would take this. But who cares; I just paid the rent a few hours back !!!

We planned the meeting at 8pm. I waited patiently till about 10.30 pm. Called up each one of them to ask if the plan is still on and everyone had the same reply, “ We are on our way”. The clock struck 11.30 and there was absolutely no sign of them coming. I don’t know when I dozed off, but I got up at 12.15 when one of them called up to ask where my house was. WTH, all these while, they were on their way, and now they don’t know where my house is!!! Guided them to my street and also asked them to get slice or any other drink that’s non-aerated (Keeping up my new year resolution to not have aerated drinks for one year). I didn’t want to be left alone when the rest are going to be drinking merrily.

Finally they arrived at 12.55, in a Maruti 800, wearing shorts and Tshirts; looking all gay and happy. One of them carried a carton of Heineken Beer and a cover of Lays chips on top of it; I thought to myself if they were really going to finish all those that night, oops, morning. Another had a cover that looked a little weird from outside; he had brought his Nintendo Wii game console for all of us to play. How sweet, and yeah how dumb too; it was one in the morning and what was he even thinking!!!

After playing for sometime, each one of them grabbed a can for themselves. I asked them where my juice was and none of them had a proper answer. They said they didn’t get it anywhere, as it was too late. Shit! Should I be drinking flavored glucose now to give these guys company??? Damn you guys ! Compromises ,Vimal, compromises, and as if I had a choice; I cant drink just plain mineral water, right ? Moreover glucose keeps you fresh and so thought could stay awake along with them. Honestly, we had fun pulling each other legs during the drinks, talking about college, our current profession, movies, Deepika Padukone..... After the first round, one of them started stretching and before even we could stop him, he began snoring. Well, One down !

The rest of them asked me if there was anything in the house to eat. They snarled at me when I said the only thing I had was corn flakes, no, wheat flakes. A couple of rounds later, one of them said he would like to drink while lying down (Man! The wishes these drunkards have ! Weird, isn’t it? ). I said its fine as long as he doesn’t spill it anywhere. Believe it or not, he drank one complete can without dirtyng the floor. But with that, he was all flat and went on to sleep ! Now, two down. The rest continued their drinks, looked at each other, smiled, drank again, looked at each other, smiled and drank once again. This went on for some time, probably they got bored and slowly retired. But what about the rest of the cans, they drank less than half of what they brought in. Why bother! My glucose packet was empty !!!

We had to sleep in the same room, as there weren’t enough mattresses. By the time I cleaned the room, all of them were fast asleep. Needless to say, the room was stinking as the AC was on. I somehow managed to get a teeny-weeny space to lie down. But that’s about it. I just lied down; wasn’t able to move here and there. Hmmm, now I know how it would be for dead bodies to lie inside a coffin. It was 2.45am; I tried my best to catch some sleep. All of them, and I am not kidding, were snoring as if they were a part of some kind of competition. And also thanks to the flavored glucose; it keept me fresh!!! I was jealous, angry, desperate for sleep and ya hungry too. I should have slept after 4.05am because that was the last time I remember looking at my mobile for the time.

“Vimal, we are leaving, get up….Vimal, get up da, we have to leave, our wives will kill us….Vimmmmmmallll, we are leaving,, come and lock your door”. Heard those morning slogans and opened my eyes from the coffin posture to see two of them bending towards me, trying their best to wake me up. Got up from my previous nights glucose hangover. It was 5.50; they wanted to leave immediately. Never seen these guys terrified before. Man! marriage sure does change people. In my half asleep mode, I remember to have told them this, “Guys, I remember sleeping just 5 mins back . If you don’t mind, please get your asses out of here ASAP so that I could get back to bed. Thank you !!!” Silence for sometime….and then, “ and yes, don’t forget to take back all those that you brought in here.”

Hmm…Now that’s one much awaited get together, wasn’t it ??

That afternoon, the guy who dozed off immediately after the first beer called me up and said it was fun being together after a very long time and blah blah. He said we should plan a similar hanging out session once again and that too very soon.
I promise, I heard the sound of a glass breaking at that time !!!

S.i.B - 4

At last, I am getting this series updated now. Also made the title short from Small is Beautiful to S.i.B. The fifth part will follow this post with the latest releases including Rock On and Dhaam Dhoom.

Subramaniapuram (Name of a place in Madurai) - Tamil :
Quite a few movies leave you in awe after coming out of the hall and Subramaniapuram is one of them. First time director Sasikumar excels both behind the camera and also on screen as one of the lead protagonist. The music and BGM goes well as a part of the movie. With an 80’s backdrop, and with each character and sequence well written, this movie is definitely one of the best Tamil movies to have been made so far. Highly recommended. The Non-Tamil viewers should catch it once a subtitled DVD version releases. Rating 4.5 / 5

Kismet Konnection (Connected by Fate) - Hindi :
Yawwwwn ! One of the lousiest movies that has ever released in Bollywood. We have Shahid doing a SRK, just when we were getting a lot used to SRK’s antics and Vidya Balan, yaawwwn, doing a role similar to the one she did in LR Munnabhai. Hindi should be the second language in Canada, everyone seems to be knowing the language there; even strangers, yawwnn, greet each other using Hindi words like Betaaa (referring to the scene when Vidyas waving friend meets her for the first time). Please yawwwn avoid. Rating 1/5

Singh is Kinng ( Uff!!!) - Hindi
The new Akshay is getting as stale as SRK. When it is an Akshay movie, we know what to expect now. Hope this doesn’t continue, as each movie of his is getting crappier. Katrina smiles, dances, try to look sad and that’s about it. Ranvir Sheroy in a cameo was fun to watch. But why the double role for Javed Jaffery??? The first half was bearable and the second half, a sheer torture. Avoidable. Rating 2 / 5

Kuselan ( Name of Lord Krishnas friend) - Tamil
P.Vasu sure knows how to rape a malayalam movie by remaking it in Tamil. He turned the masterpiece Bharatham into a horrible Cheenu, the classic Manichitrathaazhu (Bhool Bhulaiyya in Hindi) into a bizarre Chandramukhi and now the soulful Kadha Parayumbol (getting remade in Hindi as Billo Barber) into a rotten Kuselan. Cant waste time to write anymore on this. Avoid at any cost. Rating 0 / 5

Bachna Ae Haseeno (Escape, oh ladies!) - Hindi
Watch it with zero expectations and you might end up liking BAH. It was a pleasure watching Ranbir out of his blue image (Saawariya). Out of the three leading ladies, Bipasha had the best role; Minisha looked too old to pass off as an 18 year old in the initial portions of the movie while Deepika had too less a screen space to comment (she looked good in the song though). Ranbir had the same expression throughout the movie when his character was supposed to have two different shades pre and post interval. Except for two songs, the rest were passable. Average. Rating 2.5 / 5

God Tussi Great Ho (Bruce Almighty) - Hindi
If GTGH had its release somewhere in the early 2000’s, it would have been a run away hit. Still wondering what made all the lead actors agree to be a part of this when the face of Bollywood is slowly changing. Salman was good, Priyanka as usual is wasted and someone please ask Sohail to stop acting. Oh, wait, AB Sr. also does an inconsequential role as God ji. A lot of side characters, which could have been written well, pass off without notice. Music can never be as pathetic as this. Avoidable. Rating 2 / 5

Current Favs : Aug 1 - Sep 1

1 Tum from Rock On (Hindi)
2 Ele Neram from Sakkarakatti (Tamil)
3 Amma Mazhakaarinu from Madambi (Malayalam)
4 Naan Varaindhu Vaitha from Jayam Konden (Tamil)
5 Aaja Milke from Chamku (Hindi)
6 Khuda Jaane Kyon from Bachna Ae Haseeno (Hindi)
7 Enna Pulle from Raaman Tediya Seethai (Tamil)
8 Cheeky Cheeky from Saroja (Tamil)
9 Singh is Kinng from Singh is Kinng (Hindi)
10 Aksar from Hijack (Hindi)