The four-letter word !!!

It really is surprising to note that four letter words play a very important role in our lives. Call it co-incidence or superstitiousness or crap [ another four letter word :-) ]. The very word life also happens to be a four-letter word. When things happen to go your way, people around you would say to themselves that its all due to luck. Similarly when things aren't going the way you'd like them to be, they'll just call it bad-time. It's the permutation and combination of all these factors that decide yet another four-letter word - FATE.

It's pretty common that four-letter words are used to shower abuses on others & we've got a cluster of words to make up that list. But one word that every student dreads the most & would love to avoid is exam. The mental stress that one undergoes in that particular phase during every semester is just indescribable. It is every student's desire to flush out the concept of exams from the curriculum. But life would be best only if it were like a roller coaster ride. Afterall, it's challenges like these that bring out the best in a person. To chase my dreams, I had to take up not one but two exams namely the GRE and TOEFL.

Having done with the exams, I thought the path was clear & the stage was set for my dreams t o come true. It was then that I realized that the exams were just stage one of one hell of a long process. So what was going to be next in the list ? The acronym that I hate the most - SOP. I had to spend sleepless nights preparing this wretched document, which many say, decides your admit. Another word that I'd like to curse is the word ~ reco in short for recommendation letter. Gee, I had to cook up stories to get the most prized document in my application package. So what's so special about this document ? It's one of those rare documents where you have your staff showering heaps of praises on you !!! Special indeed . . . Dispatching the application packages was another major headache that I had to deal with. The numerous address, envelopes, transcripts . . . Oh my God ! I'm glad that I'm done with this thing.

The most annoying four-letter word according to me is the word - wait. Any student having applied for his/her Masters would agree with me. As the saying goes, Patience is the greatest of all virtues. Alright, but the wait for an admit just seems everlasting. To make matters worse, if a known fella happens to get an admit before you do, that's it. To put it this way, all hell breaks loose. We would ve been very confident during the time of applying but as days pass by, the confidence dwindles gradually and desperation sets in. During this period of inquietude, the first thing that one does after geting up in the morning is to switch on the computer & log into their mail account. Your heart skips a beat for a second when you read the message - You have 1 unread message, only to find that its some useless forward from one of your friends. Or when you read the message - You have 0 unread messages, the vexation swells further & the instant reaction would be to bang your fists on the keyboard giving vent to your distress. I pity the keyboard for it has to bear all the frustration.

As of now, the vapid stage is on and I continue to wait for that elusive e-mail stating "Congratulations !!! You have been admitted to our university. " Hmmm . . . Wonder when I'm ever gonna get one such e-mail. Only time will tell !!! I remember Madhuri singing " Dhak Dhak Karne Laga . . . ' for a different reason though, but mine's definitely going Dhak Dhak for this reason :-) . . .

Poem on Friendship

It is by chance we met, by choice we became friends.
Friendship is a strange thing---
we find ourselves telling each other the deepest details of our lives,
things we don't even share with our families who raised us.
But what is a friend? A confidant? A lover?
A fellow email junkie? A shoulder to cry on?
An ear to listen? A heart to feel?...
A friend is all these things...and more.
No matter where we met, I call you friend.
A word so small yet so large in feeling,
a word filled with emotion.

It is true great things come in small packages.
Once the package of friendship has been opened,
it can never be closed.
It is a constant book always written
waiting to be read and enjoyed.
We may have our disagreements, we may argue,
we may concern one another,
friendship is a unique bond that lasts through it all.

A part of me is put into my friends,
some it is my humor, some it is my listening ear,
some it is real life experiences, some it is my romanticism
but with all, it is friendship.

Friendships forged are a construct stronger
than steel built as a foundation,
necessary for life and necessary for love.

Jab We Met - Movie Review

I had no idea of what this movie was all about, until I happened to a grab a DVD of this movie yesterday. When I saw that the lead pair was Shahid Kapoor & Kareena Kapoor, my first reaction was this was going to be the same old boy meets girl, falling in love and culminating with marriage. Yes !!! my surmises were there in the movie after all, but not in the conventional manner in which they have usually been portrayed.

The movie begins with Adithya Kashyap ( Shahid Kapoor ) being plagued with problems. Trying to step into his father’s shoes, Adithya is left in a deep crisis, as his company’s shares hit an all-time low, products failing miserably and to make matters worse, his girlfriend dumps him and gets married off to someone else. Looks like the off-screen affair between Kareena & Saif seems to have hit Shahid hard as he wonderfully portrays the expressions of a stressed person. Seeking solitude, the despondent Adithya then begins his journey to nowhere. Enter Geet ( Kareena ), a total contrast in character to that of Adithya’s. The loquacious Geet, who is on her way to her hometown Bhatinda, pesters Adithya with her non-stop talking. Kareena fits the role of a talkative Punjabi girl to a T.

Her introduction scene where she gets into a running train, panting, and says her record of never having missed trains is still intact probably epitomizes her innocence. The scene where she gets down the train to pursuade Adhi to get into the train seems absurd. But the director compensates for that in the following scene where she again misses the train as a result of haggling with a vendor.

Adhi helps Geet get back to Bhatinda and is made to feel at home by the warmth and affection shown by Geet’s people. But Geet is bent on eloping away with her boyfreind Anshuman and seeks Adhi’s help. Chaos and confusion builds up when people in the house mistake that Geet has eloped with Adhi.

Humour is a strong-point of the movie and Kareena comes out on top with her goofiness. Scenes like the one in which they rent a room in a hotel and Kareena gets mistaken for a call girl makes you laugh your heart out. Also scenes like Geet’s relatives pampering Adhi to eat, Geet’s suggestion to Adhi that he marry her sister Roop, her drama to cancel the marriage by moving closer with Adhi stand out.

Nothing special about Pritam’s music. Background music too isn’t worth mentioning. Yeh Ishq Hai rendered by Shreya Ghoshal is the pick of the album. Screenplay is a huge letdown in Jab We Met. After the interval, the pace plummets and you can easily predict what’s going to happen next. Director Imtiaz Ali could have concentrated more on the second half. The manner in which Adhi dramatically changes his attitude seems way too cinematic. A better transition could have helped the movie’s cause. Influenced by Geet’s cheerful nature, Adhi restores normalcy in his problem-ridden life by staging a remarkable turnaround in a matter of few months.

Nine months after parting with Geet, her father happens to meet Adhi & asks for her whereabouts. Adhi promises to bring her back to Bhatinda in ten days. So Adhi goes to Manali to fetch Geet back to Bhatinda. But he’s in for a shock as he finds out that Geet hasn’t been with Anshuman all these months. Adhi eventually finds a grief-struck and gaunt looking Geet compouded with misery.

If it was Kareena who hogged the limelight in the first half, it’s Shahid’s turn in the second half. Shahid emotes excellently and overshadows Kareena in each frame, especially the scene in which he says to Kareena that she have her first affair with him after her marriage. Adhi reciprocates in the same the manner in which Geet helped him to regain lost confidence. Just when Adhi is about to join hands with Geet, Anshuman enters into the fray and all three make their way to Bhatinda for a wonderful and hilarious climax.

Many illogical scenes, dull music and faltering screenplay mar the beauty of the movie, which still comes out on top due to the chemistry of the lead pair. As far as Jab We Met is concerned, it’s the Shahid-Kareena show all the way !!!

Kalloori Movie Review

Balaji Shakthivel does it again !!!

Watching movies has become my favourite pastime now. I ve been watching a movie almost everyday & suddenly this brainwave of writing reviews for movies hit me. Today I watched the movie Kalloori and decided to step into this new avatar of writing reviews starting with this movie.

To be honest, it was because of Tamanna, that I was lured to watch this movie. The promos claimed it to be an ode to friendship and love, and they didn't disappoint me either. Director Balaji Shaktivel has once again carved out a realistic story in the form of Kalloori. If Kaadhal, his earlier movie, was considered good, he goes one step further in Kalloori. The maturity and experience that he has gained is clearly evident in all the scenes. Casting the right people is always a difficult task and the director pulls it off with ease in this regard. All the characters, seem like real life characters that we see in our day-to-day life. I guess this is probably the reason why the director went for such never-seen-before faces. All of them seem to have done justice to their role. Tamanna's casting is probably the director's master-stroke as she fits into the bill perfectly. Having seen her in a more glamorous and metropolitan kind of roles earlier, I wondered whether she would fit into the plot. My apprehensions were put to rest after watching the movie. Had any other current actress in the Tamil Industry being pitched in, instead of her, I don't think they would have carried out the role properly. Her fresh face suits that of a girl out of school and ready to enter college.

The very first scene stuck a chord in me. My gang of friends (10 as in the movie) too had the same wish - all of us joining the same college, but having had to take up engineering, our dreams still remain a distant dream. In this movie though, 9 students from class XII of Govt. Higher Secondary School get into the same course BA History in the same Govt. Arts College. Each one of them, being of different nature - a morally strict person, a glutton, a gullible person and so on. Circumstances force the Bangalore bred Shobana ( played by Tamanna ), an IAS aspirant to enter Govt. Arts College in a remote district in Tamil Nadu. The somber and sullen looks sported by Tamanna initially and the reason she states for being so moves you. Touched by the kind gestures and warmth her fellow classmates exhibit towards her, Shobana develops a rapport with the remaining 9 members and there begins a strong friendship amongst them.

Ramesh played by Bharani is the standout artiste amongst the new faces. His timely dialogue delivery and expressions has you in splits during the first hour of the movie. Muthu ( played by Akhil ),the hero who plays a sprinter in the movie, has very few dialogues but his performance, on the whole is good. The trauma that he undergoes when deciding between friendship & love has been brought out well by the director. The head-banging by the old man in the introduction number is also worth mentioning here. The cultural event where Muthu's friends perform the western & Bharatnatyam dances are rib-tickling. Ramesh's Bharatnatyam jig, in particular where he forgets the steps, and does the dappan-kuthu movements are a delight to the viewers.
The inseparable duo, who appear in the movie raise a smile on your face but they could have underplayed a little during their introduction scene. Certain scenes seem a bit monotonous and on a few occasions, the inexperince of all the artists is pretty evident as well. One particular scene where Shobana arrives almost immediately after Muthu misses the bus and offers him a lift, could have been portrayed in a better manner. Also the scene where Muthu lifts his performance on the track after hearing that Shobana was waiting for him seems a bit artificial.

Scenes like the one preceding the climax, where Shobana speaks her heart out to KayalVizhi and the scene where Salima loses her father had me in tears - particularly the latter. Why I liked the movie is because I was able to corelate the scenes of the movie with incidents amongst my friends. I had gone to the movie without reading any reviews, as I felt that it would dampen the expectations. The director, I should say, has definitely exceeded my expectations.

The storyline is very simple and natural. The dialogues deserve a special kudos. Cinematography by Chezhiyan is good as well. Sasikumar's editing is probably at its best in the Sariya Idhu Thavara number. Joshua Sridhar's music complemented well with Na. Muthukumar's lyrics captures a place in your heart. It is the lyrics that keeps the music alive. Lines like "Unnakul Olindhirukkum Unadhu Thiramaigalai Natou Inam Kandu Uyarthumey . . ." ( meaning the hidden talents in you will be brought out only by friendship ) in the June July number stand out.

Just when you think that this is going to be yet another . . . "And they lived happily ever after" kind of ending, the director springs a surprise in the climax scene. The climax scene, which blends well with the story, leaves a huge lump in your throat and you will feel that chill race during your spine during the climax sequence. Today was one of those very rare days where I was in tears after watching a movie. So realistic !!!

Amidst a plethora of movies today, which are merely a conglomeration of action, romance, sentiment, meaningless punch dialogues, unnecessary item numbers and obscene scenes, Kalloori is definitely a cut above the rest.