One-in-a-Thousand Movie

Chozhas and Pandyas still alive - vibrant with all their beliefs, ancient magic, warring to prove their supremacy?.. Chozhas waiting in Vietnam for 800 years for a messenger to take them to their own Kingdom?....I bow low to Selvaraghavan's imagination and his decent attempt to convince us of the same. I didn't expect the man to come up with such stuff after his previous realistic movies. Who would have thought he had 'No messages, only imagination' up his sleeve after the 'No messages, only realism' theme in 7G, Pudhupettai ? I'm both impressed by R.Ravindran's guts and also fervently hope that he doesn't go bankrupt.... I just had a vision of how he would have felt after watching the film for the first time and felt sorry for him.... (R.Ravindran is the producer of the movie!)

The actors - they must love Selvaraghavan to have put in 2 years of their career in this movie. I strongly doubt that the 2 years must be due to the number of retakes they had to film cos of the actors laughing helplessly in the middle of the scenes - Especially Parthiban - I had another fleeting vision of how Kamal Hassan would have reacted had Selvaraghavan offered the same role to him and made him do the dance moves, the scenes with Reema Sen... LOL...and the best scene in the whole movie - Parthiban's scene with Andrea - flawless timing!

Karthi is so adorable in the first half... Andrea makes an impact with solid, no-pretense acting.... Reema Sen - is so comfortable and brave in acting some scenes that leaves you uncomfortable..... The visual effects are bad.... Esp in the beginning when they near the island. Why did the soldiers with automatic weapons have to 'hold the line' against warriors with spears? Andrea knows to speak a tribal language but cannot understand or talk ancient Tamil? Then how did she read the scriptures in the previous scenes? When Chozhas know so much magic, why couldn't they use it in war against the guns? Parthiban held the enemy up in the air by holding her shadow; ppl disappear into sand when confronted by enemies-- why couldn't they win the war? The gladiator scene failed to impress-- it turned into a joke!

Had the movie ended in the first half, it'd have been a commercial hit, which it sadly is not meant to be... The second half would not have been so bad had it been made racier, giving us no time to muse over the glaring loopholes....

Where is 'Maalai neram'??? :( I'm sorely disappointed... BG score - I hated the unnecessarily soft,romantic notes during the fight between Parthiban and Reema..... 'On mela aasadhan'-- the video rocks!.. But the tune is similar to the Sarvam song 'adada vaa asathalam'-- Same source of inspiration for both Yuvan and G.V.? 'Thaai thindra mannae' was good... Hats off to the lyricist...

A period movie definitely needs more research, a stronger storyline... It should take the breath away from the audience - out of awe, not out of endless laughter.... But still, I LIKED IT! It's a brave attempt and I'm wondering - how did Selvaraghavan manage to make this when Kamal lacks producers' interests for 'Marudhanayagan' and 'Marmayogi'??? THAT itself is Selvaraghavan's victory-- he convinced a producer to make his random dream with haphazard scenes, come to life on the silver screen....!

Effect Change

I cannot start or stop a war. I don't want to. Wars come and go. People remain. I want to effect a Change in the people. I want the Change to last and spread. I want the person sitting next to me to Change. I'm hoping he'll pass it on. I'll ensure he does. 'Cos pushing this mighty mountain needs a lot of hands.

My previous post was not about the value of Money - it was about making use of it to achieve a purpose in life. I won't donate whatever I earn to the less privileged. That would not be achieving my purpose. I'd rather use whatever I have in excess to make a Change in the lives of one or two or a few kids. I'd help them seek their dream and teach them to pass on the Change. It won't break me. It would rather fill me with the happiness that I did my part in effecting the Change. I'd make my friends realize that happiness too. The Change would take place - slowly but surely.

The Change would break the illusion of materialistic happiness ( it wears away with time). The Change can be initiated only by those who have a purpose in life. When I have a purpose in life, I'd do whatever I can to keep me going towards it - Money would help me , moral support from family and friends, a healthy body.... The following is from a random site that explains what I mean by purpose :

"The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has spent over 30 years studying the question of what makes human beings happy, and has also come to the conclusion that happiness is not, as he says, 'the result of good fortune or random chance,' or 'something that money can buy.' According to him, we come closest to experiencing true happiness when we experience the state of flow, which he defines as 'a state of concentration so focused that it amounts to complete absorption in activity.' When we're in flow we forget ourselves, forget our surroundings and the circumstances of our lives. The negative self-talk which normally fills our minds fades away and we feel that we are one with the activity we're performing. We experience flow when we have challenging and demanding tasks to do at work, when we play games, sports or musical instruments, or even when we become absorbed in household chores like mending a fence or doing the garden. And it's always a positive experience, generating a powerful sense of well-being. A chess player told Csikszentmihalyi, for example, that when he plays the game, 'I have a general sense of well-being, and a feeling of complete control over my world.' A dancer described to him the state of well-being she experiences during a performance: 'A strong relaxation and calmness comes over me. I have no worries of failure. What a powerful and warm feeling it is! I want to expand, to hug the world. I feel enormous power to effect something of grace and beauty.'"

Not everyone has the opportunity to realize this true happiness. When I feel that enormous power, I'd use it to effect the Change.

What is this Change? Behind all the 'happiness and love' thingy, it is to realize the plain truth - to survive. Man is a social animal. He just cannot survive by stamping on and ruling over the others of his kind. He also cannot sit back and watch others doing it. A war might help snuffing out the stupid ones. But it can never produce the Change. The Change has to be in the hearts of people. In the hearts of the common people - to make a happy society. In the hearts of the people in power - to do what they are commissioned to do - serve the people, punish the stupid ones and keep the society stable.

Why haven't I blogged till now?

I like to think that I can write well (atleast to keep ppl engaged)... I'm quite vocal about my thoughts too... Then why haven't I been able to keep up a blog till now ? (I'm puzzled!)... Is it because I like penning it down in a diary, privy to myself rather than typing it in a blog for the whole world to see?... May be.... Looking from another perspective, I like talking to the world about my life through photos... I have unusually huge albums on the networking sites and I pester my friends to see them all ( and comment on the photos!) .... I have never bothered about not blogging -- till I read a friend's blog a few minutes back(www.lifeandspice.wordpress.com)... She has been blogging regularly for 4 years!! And is still going strong! It's such a delight reading her old posts..... Made me regret for not having a blog... Let me start one before it's too late.. I don't want to regret on my deathbed for not having left a legacy-- totally useless, but atleast permanent ( hope so!).... So this is my resolution for 2010..

'Time, Stand Still!'--- The reason for this title is that I make the best out of every moment in my life... I'm often confused - am I really lucky that I have only good times or is my mind trained to think that way? ( aal izz well) Anyways, I cherish every second and hence wish all the time that time would stand still...