Thou Art Beautiful

Had an opportunity to take part in a sensory experience this evening, at a combined "performance" of an artist (painter) and a South Indian classical dancer. A very thought provoking session as we settled down to think of arts and appreciation in general.

On the way back, the Mrs started a spirited chat about how Indian classical dance forms are quite complex in that both movement and expressions mattered. (Gross generalisation alert) There aren't many other dance forms we know of that can narrate stories with as much detail and embellishment as them. That led us to discuss further on about the dance forms, and then came an "aha" moment for me - when I realised that to be a true connoisseur of, say, Bharathnatyam, you had to be able to appreciate:

- Dance movements and grace

- Expressions - face and body

- Language - to appreciate lyrical quality

- Classical music - to appreciate the arrangement of the swaras

- (Hindu) mythology - to appreciate the stories being narrated

- And a sense of "fashion" - to appreciate the clothes and ornaments

If that isn't a rich (albeit esoteric) treat for the senses, what else is!! I don't think I will ever find such a recital boring in the future. In fact, if anything, it's an overwhelming sensory offering that might make one sweat at the task of having to receive, assimilate, and appreciate all this awesomeness in parallel.

The more I thought about it, the more it hit me that this is yet another memory of India's exuberant past  - when people were fed, clothed and housed enough to be able to think beyond the essentials, and afford the luxury of nurturing such composite and complex art forms. And when one looks at the quality of our commercial artistic expressions these days, one wonders where we went astray in these past 1000 years, to end up playing to the gallery at this scale. When artists have started dancing to the tunes of audiences, as against taking the lead in sensitising them to more mature and advanced expressions. Beep songs make a lot more noise than December season performances - literally and otherwise.

As an allied train of thought, I began wondering what "beauty" really is. Why do any of our senses find something beautiful?

My dad often describes symmetry as a synonym of beauty. As a photographer who swears by the rule of the thirds, I couldn't take that.

My "Creativity in Arts and Sciences" prof at IIMB (Mr B Sekar) found beauty in contrast, among other things. As a big fan of high key photography, I couldn't buy that in its entirety either.

And as it stands now, my definition of "beauty" of any kind (visual, aural, oral etc) is: equilibrium / balance - which envelopes symmetry, contrast and any other definition I have come across.

What's your view on this?

Pasanga

He was a rank enemy.
As in, we fought for the first rank.
And when you are a 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 year-old nerd, that’s quite serious business.
But that wasn’t the only issue with him.
He was a natural leader and was quite popular in school. The sort who knew quite a few 12th standard guys while he was still only in his 5th. And for the detail oriented – ya, they knew him well too. Why, even the Principal knew him by name and would often call out for him in public, in implicit acknowledgement of him being a star.
So my association with this fella didn’t really start sweet. It was all of anti-incumbent disregard. And the reciprocation was equally ill-willed.
It couldn’t have been any other way, as we often grabbed the least opportunity to get at each other’s throats (WWF was our PT period sports activity). He was IRS, and I don’t think I called myself anything at the beginning. Not that I wasn’t dramatic; it was just that I didn’t follow WWF until later.
I particularly remember a session of fisticuffs that started during a lunch break in class. Our conversation had started out in a rather civil fashion. But when he made fun of Karate, it awakened the “sleeping lion” in me. All because I had just joined Karate classes around then, and considered myself the global guardian of general respect to the art form. Although I didn’t know much more than “ose”, I couldn’t bear the ridicule. What followed was 15 minutes of juvenile entertainment for the rest of the class.
Trust me, I was generally a “good boy” throughout my childhood. The kind of ar****le that every parent liked and most kids abhorred. The male version of Hermione Granger. Prim and proper. Not a toe out of line.
But something in him brought out the Satan in me.
So much so that the only prank I have ever played in life outside of home was on him.
One day when he was off sick from school, I hatched a master plan. After school, I went over to a friend’s place. This was a guy with the proud privilege of being one of the few folks in class who had a phone at home. And my archrival was among the others. With the customary handkerchief covering the mouthpiece, I dialled him up:
Trrrinnggg…
Him: Hello?
Me: Hello.. Unga veetla fan sutthudha?
Him: …… Neenga yaaru? Ungalukku enna venum?
Me: Sollu da.. Fan sutthudha?
Him: ……. Hmm… Sutthudhu..
Me: Appo neeyum kooda saendhu sutthu po
[Click]
Ok, I must admit it wasn’t my idea. I borrowed it from someone else.
Ok, I must admit now it doesn’t seem like an idea at all. But back then, for whatever reason, it felt brilliant.
[Facepalm]
My first ever school play was in Tamil - “Ellaam avan seyal”. It was a story of the fall of arrogance. And my role was that of Kuberan – the Lord of Wealth, the King of Yakshas. Having grown half a foot taller than the rest of the class did have its perks.
And He was in the play too. As Naradar.
Day 1 of rehearsals. Scene 1 starts…
Kuberan caresses mounds of gold coins and looks around with an arrogance that only rich folks in Tamil cinema could match.
Naradar walks in.
"நாராயண நாராயண"
"வாணியின் புதல்வரே.. ஆணி முத்தைப் போல் அழகு சொற்களால்  அவனி வாழ நல்வழி காட்டுபவரே.. தங்கள் வரவு நல்வரவாகுக"
“STOP”
That wasn’t Naradar. It was Tamil Ma’am – our director.
"என்னடா குபேரா இது! இது தான் அகங்காரமா? வீரமா? உன்னை விட நாரதனுக்கு வீரம் ஜாஸ்தியா இருக்கு. ஒழுங்கா நடி"
[Followed by customary giggles of girl gangs around]
I went red-faced in public embarrassment at having been one-upped by Him, as He carried a smug look around.
Thus began an artistic association that went on for a while. We were standard lead fixtures in any play in the school for the next few years, and even won a few inter-school competitions. Agarwal Vidyalaya was a particularly prestigious stage for us.
And all of this went on for 4 years, at the end of which I moved on to a different school.
Thus bringing to an end, years of nasty stares and under-breath mutters as a daily activity.
Thus bringing to an end the rivalry too.
It’s hard to compete when you aren’t both in the same battlefield. The warcries make no sense then.
When it came to our careers, we went different ways too. I followed the conventional route of “success” – Engineering >> MBA at a premier B-school >> Going abroad. But he has always been out of the ordinary. A nomad. The kind who would cut himself away from all human contact for a few days and go out in search of his destiny. So it’s no surprise that after starting out conventionally successful in a top-tier T-school and moving on to a plush role in automotive S&M, he gave it all up suddenly. To go in search of his higher calling.
Film making.
It’s been a couple of years now I think, since he gave up boring daily routines, and jumped into a field that’s a lot more risky and fulfilling to the creator all at once. And when a married man from a middle class family does that, all you can do is look on in awe and salute in respect.
And it wasn’t a baseless risk. He does have the flair when it comes to the visual arts. Flashes of brilliance were evident in his debut shortfilm, shot with friends “with-whatever-I-have”. But when he took the giant step ahead into professional short film making of the kind Tamil audiences have recently been generally blessed with, it all became a lot more evident.
When he released the teaser for “Yavarum Kelir” a few months back, it made one wonder what it was going to be about. Where it left no doubt was that this was going to be an intense little piece.

I made a mistake.
Of watching this during a service break on a long motorway journey. And it took a long time for me to recover from the impact, wipe my eyes dry and carry on with my journey. The treatment to the story jolts you up from your reverie. So make sure you are ready to take it on when you watch this:

முளையில் தெரிந்தது இப்பொழுது விளைகிறது.

All the best da Harish. Rock on!

Movie Review: 7aam Arivu

Hiya Folks!

This time am back much quicker - thanks to 7aam Arivu.

The movie was such a profound effort at utter stupidity that it's one of those things that wake you up in the middle of the night squealing in self pity, months after the experience.
Ok, am exaggerating.
Maybe just weeks.

After purchasing tickets for "Seven-A.M. Arivu" (else the Scottish guy at the counter wouldn't have understood), we went in all eager to drink in the magnum opus it was billed to be. And the first few scenes quite lived up to that hype. They added to the sense of magnificence that surrounded the movie before its launch.

But the moment Circus-wala Surya appeared on screen, looking like a Liverpool Chav, my heart sank. If they could do this to a guy who is among the better-lookers in Kollywood, woe-be-me!!

The plot:
Bodhi Dharma is a Tamilian who went to China 1600 years back and started the Shaolin Temple, and is still regarded a 'God' there - for his medical, martial & hypnotism abilities. Shruthi Hassan is a present-day PYT in India doing some DNA-level maha-research, which is meant to reintroduce lost traits in your DNA/genes/whatever. And if that succeeds, she would be able to recreate Bodhi Dharma from one of his descendants. Just like that. So she goes around looking for the descendants and finds them quite easily (next target - Maddie McCann?). As you rightly guessed now - modern-day Surya is one of them. And she immediately decides that he would be the guinea pig for her research. But she does it all on the sly, so the poor lad doesn't know all this background info. He duly falls for her and sings a couple of duets, taking breaks from his circus routines. Later when he gets to know that she had befriended him not to get into his jeans, but rather his genes, all hell breaks loose.
Not.
Where you would expect him to exhibit vertebral capacity and stand up to his own dignity, he continues to be Junior Hassan's Beeyaatch, virtually peeing at her bidding, after a brief display of salt-induced-sensitivity.
Meanwhile, the bleddy Chinese government (verbally censored, but the subtitles spelt the word out! DUH!) makes secret plans to do something that will get India to dance to its tunes very shortly: that is to release a very deadly virus in India, get the epidemic to spread, and later come and get Indians to lick the medicine off their palms. Their extremely well-informed intelligence has warned them about this girl in India whose research will be the only stumbling block for their grand designs - as she is trying to recreate the legendary medical expert Bodhi Dharma with the aid of genetic engineering. So that's how the dots connect.
To make this happen, the Chinese Govt selects the best student from Shaolin and sends him across to India with some money that permits him to buy a Hummer, and lots to buy the fuel. His motive - to spread the deadly-disease, and to 'find them, kill them' both. While he does have the appearance to shiver-you-timbers, all he does is to walk around with a stern look on his face - the kind I have when I try to choose between noodles and spaghetti for dinner. Vetthu Vaettu Singaaram.
(Him. Not me)
He does succeed in spreading the virus. As all hell breaks loose in Tamil Nadu, a half-baked gang of 5 take it upon themselves to save the nation. By recreating Bodhi Dharma from Surya. It's a process that will take days and they need to get it completed before they get caught by the China Man. So they put a brilliant getthu plan, use a hitech lab at IIT for a hideout, and make one of their friends stay in the 'outside world' to support their external needs. And they change SIM cards. But still, the China-wala starts finding and killing them all one by one. He eventually reaches the last remaining warriors, only to find Surya being pickled in a large glass jar in the name of DNA-revival - the result of a long and extensive research by Shruti Hassan that lasted threeeeeee fullllll years. Then comes the climax - the man generally known for his short-term-memory-loss, wakes up with very-long-term-memory-retention suddenly "remembering" Bodhi Dharma's powers. He annihilates the villain and the disease, and then you are given a sermon on Tamil / Tamilan / Ilangai / etc.
And Murugadoss appears for a brief while on the screen (with the same noodle-spaghetti look), which serves well to remind you of the numerous vows you took during the movie around this very fellow.

If you think this was a spoiler, you should see what Murugadoss has done to the movie. Not many people can succeed in messing up an interesting story-base as this. But this fellow has done that in an unparalleled fashion. If at least this had been a Gaptun-Baagistaan-Tamil movie, most of us would have escaped watching it until the scenes get on youtube. But whattodo!

• What truly irked me was the fact that soooooo mannnnnny trivial things were beefed up in the movie to appear like significant stuff. I could find it all through the movie. Remember the scene from Singam where Vivek says "Tea kudikka polama?", and the constables reply, "YESSSIR!" in all earnestness? Much of 7-am arivu felt like that. Sappa matterukku over soundu.
• He says "Lift vara late aagudhu.. Lets take the steps" - and everyone responds like it's a decision of utmost brilliance requiring immense analysis
• "SIM cards change panniralaam.. Appo avanukku namma enga irukkom nu theriyadhu".. And they proceed to show every step in the supply chain of sim card delivery that makes you wonder if it were truly a tough thing to do
• And many many more that I couldn't care to note down
• What also irked me equally was the complete lack-of-sense in so many things:
• "IIT la lab irukku.. Adha use pannikalaam.. 18 days leave, yaarum irukka maattaanga" - WTF!!! WWTTFF!! WWWTTTFFF!!! Next thing you know, they will be showing IIT-guys throwing ink on each others' uniform shirts on the last day before Annual Holidays
• He and she are sitting in an auto - virtually visible from all directions. Suddenly spotting the villain in the vicinity, he tells her "avan varraan.. keezha paaru" ?!?!?!?!?! As if they were playing peekaboo..
• Why the hell would the fantastic-few want to leave one person "outside" to support them? If the allakkai fellow anyway had to get out of IIT to receive all the stuff, can he not go to the shops directly? Unnecessary red-tape I say..
• After a night-ful of knowing that they had to meet the fraud-Prof in the morning, the Hero and the Heroini discuss strategies at 9 o clock on the way to the meeting "seri.. ippo Prof-a paakka porome.. Enna seyya porom?"..
• One particular stunt scene around containers was the ultimate insult to the movie-going crowd. They have used 'hypnotism' as if you could transfer knowledge wirelessly. One look from the villain, and old men and young women start performing anthar balti and back-flips..
• Really.. 3 yrs of PG-research to make DNA-level tweaks? Really?! I mean.. Ok, forget it..
• Shruthi Hassan is quite photogenic, but not video-genic/audio-genic if you get what I mean. Acting and her - 7aam poruttham only. You almost immediately start feeling sorry for Kamal Hassan. 
• And looks like she wasn't paid enough - I could only find half of her in the movie.
• I didn't know iPhone is so common in India! Everyone has one. And surprisingly, Blackberry has THE iPhone ringtone
• To be brutally honest, I did enjoy some parts of the movie.. 
• Surya as Bodhi Dharma has good screen presence.. He commands attention.. Unfortunately those scenes dont last too long..
• Dialogues sparkle in a couple of places: Uyiroda post mortem panni vechurukke...... Foreign pona first doctor aa?... Etc

But these were so few and far between, that throughout the movie you find bitterness spreading through the length and breadth of your being.

Final Verdict:

7-am Arivu: Moolai Ketta Mundam

செல்வராஜ் மாஸ்டர் - II

Part 1 இங்கே.

ஆக, நான் கீபோட் வகுப்பு சேர்ந்தாகி விட்டது.

வாரத்திற்கு இரண்டு-மூன்று வகுப்புகள் நடைபெறும். அன்றைய தினங்கள் காலை முதல் கடைசி மணி வரை என் நினைவெல்லாம் Casio SA-10 தான். பேருந்தில் செல்லும் போது கைப்பிடியிலும், வகுப்பில் அமர்ந்திருக்கும் போது மேசையிலும், நடந்து கொண்டிருக்கும் போது மனதுக்குள்ளும் வாசித்துக்கொண்டே இருப்பேன். I was completely overwhelmed. By the instrument, and the master.

கீபோட் கட்டைகள் அவர் விரல்களுக்கு சிறிதாகவே தெரியும். இருந்தும் அனாயாசமாக வாசிப்பார். கத்துக்குட்டிகளான எங்கள் விரலசைவில் தேவையற்ற அழுத்தம் இருக்கும். ஆனால் மாஸ்டரின் விரலசைவில் ஒரு வசீகரமான அலட்சியம் தெரியும். நினைத்த பாடலை நினைத்த நிமிடம் வாசிக்கும் வேகம் எங்கள் அனைவரையும் கவர்ந்தது. And he was a very friendly man. "கடிச்சு கொதறிபுடுவேன்" என்று எங்களை கண்டக்டர் அண்ணா மிரட்டும்போது, எங்களுக்கு ஆதரவாக இரண்டொரு நல்வார்த்தை பேசுவார், சிரிப்பார். பொடிப்பசங்கதானே என்று நினைக்க மாட்டார், நாங்கள் சொல்வதையும் கவனமாக கேட்பார். எங்கள் நேரு மாமா.

என்ன காரணமோ தெரியவில்லை, அவருக்கும் என்னை பிடித்து விட்டது. மற்றவர்களை விட என் மேல் அதிகமாக கவனம் செலுத்துவார். எனக்கு அதிக நேரம் சொல்லித்தருவார். கீபோட், ஹார்மோனியம் என்று மாற்றி மாற்றி எனக்கு பயிற்சி கொடுப்பார். Inexplicably, it looked like the respect was mutual!

நான் மேலும் மேலும் கற்றுக்கொள்ள, எனக்கு ஈடாக அவரும் மகிழ்ந்தார். நேரம் காலம் கண்டுகொள்ளாமல் எனக்கு பயிற்சி கொடுப்பார். ஞாயிற்றுகிழமைகளில் நான் அவர் வீட்டிற்க்குச் சென்று ஐந்து-ஆறு மணி நேரம் டேரா போட்டுவிடுவேன். சலிக்காமல் கற்றுத் தருவார். ம்யூசிக் கிளாஸ் இல்லாத வார நாட்களில் நேரமிருந்தால் அவரே என் வீட்டிற்கு வந்து கீபோட்-ஐ என் கையில் கொடுத்து விளையாடச் சொல்வார். அவர் பர்சனல் வேலையாக எங்காவது சென்றால், என்னையும் கூட அழைத்துச் செல்வார். அவரது லூனா-வில் நாங்கள் உக்கடம், சாய்பாபா காலனி, நூறடி ரோடு, RS புரம், என்று கூகிள் மேப்பில் பெரிதாகத் தெரியும் அனைத்து இடங்களுக்கும் சென்றதுண்டு. எங்கு சென்றாலும் சாப்பிட ஏதாவது வாங்கித் தருவார். "வீட்டில் டின் கட்டுவார்கள்" என்று எவ்வளவு சொன்னாலும் கேட்க மாட்டார். பயத்துடன் சேர்த்து அவர் வாங்கித் தருவதையும் தின்று தீர்ப்பேன்.

எல்லாம் ஓரிரு மாதங்களுக்கு தான்.

அதன் பின், என் அப்பாவிற்கு மாற்றலாகி, நாங்கள் சென்னைக்கு சென்று விட்டோம்.

ஜிமெயில், ஆர்குட், பேஸ்புக் இல்லாத  காலங்கள்.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

2002 - கோவையில் PSG-யில் சேர்ந்தேன். எனக்கு அந்த ஊரின் மேலிருந்த ஈர்ப்பிற்கு ஒரு காரணம் - செல்வராஜ் மாஸ்டர்.

முதல் செமஸ்டர் முடிந்த நாள்.

விடுதி வெறிச்சோடிக் கிடந்தது. ஈரோடு, மேட்டுபாளையம், சேலம், திருப்பூர் மக்கள் விடுமுறைக்கு பறந்திருந்தனர். சென்னை, நெல்லை போன்ற தூரப் பிரதேச மக்கள் மட்டும் இரவு வரை நேரம் கடத்திக் கொண்டிருந்தோம்.

"டேய்.. சாய்பாபா காலனி-ல ஒரு வேலை இருக்கு. கூட வர்றியா?" என்றான் லவா. கூட பல்குன் மற்றும் டெல்லி அருண்.

"எனக்கும் 8 வருஷ பெண்டிங் வேலை ஒண்ணு இருக்கு. வா போலாம்" என்று கிளம்பினேன்.

இரண்டு மூன்று பேருந்து மாறி சாய்பாபா காலனி சென்றடைந்தோம். ராஜா அண்ணாமலை ரோடு. அங்கப்பா பள்ளி தூரத்தில் தெரிந்தது.

"என்னாங்கடா இவ்ளோ மெதுவா நடக்குறீங்க. நா முன்னாடி போறேன்" என்று மற்றவர்களை விட்டுவிட்டு வேகமாக ஓடினேன்.

பள்ளியில் கடைசி மணி அடித்திருந்தது. அன்றைய தினத்தை வெற்றிகரமாக கடத்திய மகிழ்ச்சியில் குழந்தைகள் வெளியேறிக் கொண்டிருந்தனர். பள்ளிக்கு அருகில் சென்று பார்த்தபோது,  பரப்பளவு குறைந்தது போல் தெரிந்தது. கண நேர ஆச்சரியத்திற்கு பிறகு சிரித்து கொண்டேன். The wonders of relative magnitude. மாற்றத்தை ரசித்தேன்.

அப்பொழுது அங்கே நின்றுகொண்டு குழந்தைகளை வரிசை படுத்திக் கொண்டிருந்தார் ஒரு அம்மையார். எங்கள் PT மிஸ். அவர் ஒரு டெர்ரர். ஒற்றைச் சொல்லால் ஒட்டு மொத்த கும்பலையும் அமைதியாக்குவார். பழக்க தோஷத்தில் அவரைக் கண்டதும் மிரண்டுவிட்டேன். அப்பொழுது அவர் என்னைப் பார்த்தார். யாரையோ தேடி நான் வந்ததை புரிந்து கொண்டு, "சொல்லுங்க சார். யார் வேணும்?" என்றார். 

"சாரா? நானா? ஹா ஹா ஹா ஹா ஹா!!" என்று மனதுக்குள் சிரித்துக்கொண்டேன். மாற்றத்தில் குதூகலித்தேன்.

அப்பாடக்கர் எண்ணத்தை அடக்கிக் கொண்டு, "பஸ் டிரைவர் செல்வராஜ் அண்ணா இருக்காரா? அவர பாக்க தான் வந்தேன்" என்றேன்.

"கேட் முன்னாடி பஸ் நிக்குது பாருங்க. வந்துருவார். இப்போ கெளம்புற நேரம் தான்." என்று எனக்கு வழிகாட்டினார் அந்த முன்னாள் டெரரிஸ்ட்.

எதிர்பாராமல் கிடைத்த மரியாதையின் மமதையில் லேசாக சிரித்துக்கொண்டே பேருந்தருகில் சென்று நின்றேன்.

"எட்டு வருஷம் ஆயிருச்சே.. ஆள் எப்டி மாறி இருப்பார்? கண்டிப்பாக நான் வந்து பார்ப்பேன் என்று எதிர்ப்பார்த்திருக்க மாட்டார். இந்த நேரம் ஒரு கேமரா இருந்துருக்க கூடாதா? அவர்  ரியாக்ஷன படம் புடிச்சுருக்கலாமே!". ஆயிரம் எண்ணங்கள் மனதுக்குள்.

அப்போது அவர் வந்தார்.

அவரே தான்! மாஸ்டர்!

அதே ஒல்லி உருவம். முகத்தில் அதே தாடி. அதே அமைதி.

ஓடிச் சென்று, வாய் நிறைய பற்களுடன், "எப்டி இருக்கீங்க மாஸ்டர்?" என்றேன்.

முன்னறிவிப்பின்றி வந்த சத்தத்தில் திரும்பி என்னைப் பார்த்தவர், சற்றே குழப்பத்துடன் "நல்லா இருக்கேன்...." என்று இழுத்தார்.

Of course! How can he recognize me at sight! எட்டு வருடங்களில் 4' 5" இலிருந்து 5' 10" ஆகி இருந்தேன். கம்பளி பூச்சி மீசை வேறு. எடையில் இரட்டிப்பாயிருந்தேன்.

"நாந்தான் சார்... விஸ்வநாத்.. 8 வருஷம் முன்னாடி உங்க கீபோட் ஸ்டுடென்ட்.. அப்புறம் சென்னை போயிட்டேன்.. இப்போ இங்கதான் PSG-ல  சேந்திருக்கேன்"

"......."

"VCV லே-அவுட்ல எங்க வீடு.. அப்பப்போ வந்து சொல்லி குடுப்பீங்களே சார்?"

"......"

"எங்க போனாலும் என்ன கூட்டிட்டு போவீங்க சார்.. செலீனா மிஸ்-க்கு அடி பட்டப்போ போய் பாத்தோமே? உங்க பிரெண்டு பாஸ்டன் வீட்டுக்கும் கூட்டிட்டு போயிருக்கீங்க.."

"......"

"ஹேமாம்பிகா கிளாஸ்-ல தான் நானும் இருந்தேன்".. She was his neice..

"இவ்ளோ ஞாபகம் வெச்சு சொல்றீங்க.. சாரி, எனக்கு சரியா தெரியலீங்களே.." என்றார், ஒரு வித குற்ற உணர்வுடன்.

"......" - இம்முறை, அமைதி காத்தது நான்.

"இன்னும் இன்ஸ்ட்ருமென்ட் ப்ராக்டிஸ் பண்றீங்களா?" - அவர்.

"... ம்ம்ம்.. பண்றேன் சார். ஸ்கூல் மியூசிக் டீம்-ல இருந்தேன்.."

"ஓ.. நல்லது.. நேரம் கெடைக்கும் போது வாங்க.. சேந்து ப்ராக்டிஸ் பண்ணலாம், சார்"..

சார்? சார்?!?!

அமைதியாக தலையாட்டி விட்டு நகர்ந்தேன்.

சற்றே தொலைவில் நின்று பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருந்த என் நண்பர்கள், அருகில் வந்து அமைதியாக என் தோளைத் தட்டிக் கொடுத்தது எனக்கு தெரியவில்லை.

மாற்றத்தின் மறுமுகம்.

செல்வராஜ் மாஸ்டர் - I

நவம்பர் 2002.

கோயமுத்தூரில் பொறியியல் படிக்க நான் சேர்ந்து நான்கு மாதங்கள் ஆகி இருந்தன. சொந்த ஊரான சென்னையில் அண்ணா யுனிவேர்சிட்டி-யில் இடம் கிடைத்தும் பி.எஸ்.ஜி தான் செல்வேன் என்று அடம் பிடித்து வந்திருந்த காலம். பலருக்கும் அந்த முடிவின் காரணம் புரியவில்லை. உண்மையை சொல்வதென்றால், எனக்கும் ரொம்ப புரியவில்லை. It was probably not a very logical decision. Though one I have never regretted.

"பி.எஸ்.ஜி. தான் உனக்கு ரைட்" என்ற என்னுடைய வகுப்பாசிரியரின் advice, தாத்தா-பாட்டி இருக்கும் பொள்ளாச்சி-க்கு பக்கத்தில் இருக்கிறது என்ற கூடுதல் ஜாலி - இது போன்றவை முக்கிய காரணிகளாக இருந்தாலும், இன்னொரு சிறு காரணி: அது வரையில் என் வாழ்வின் மிக்க மகிழ்ச்சியான நாட்களை நான் கோவையில் தான் கழித்திருந்தேன். 

From 2nd standard to 4th standard. என்னுடைய ஆட்டோகிராப் தினங்கள் (without the slew of heroines).

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அப்பொழுது நான் சாய்பாபா காலனி-யில் அங்கப்பா-வில் படித்து கொண்டிருந்தேன்.
நாலாம் வகுப்பில் இருந்தபோது, பள்ளியில் extra-curricular activities என்ற பெயரில் சில class-களை அறிவித்தார்கள். வீட்டில் அப்பாவிடம் சொன்னேன்.

"நல்ல விஷயம். என்னென்ன class நடத்த போறாங்க?" என்றார்.

ஒப்பித்தேன்.

"ம்யுசிகல் இன்ஸ்ட்ருமென்ட் ஒண்ணு கத்துகிறது நல்லது தான். பெர்கஷின் லாம் சேந்தா மத்த இன்ஸ்ட்ருமென்ட்-ஓட தயவு தேவைப் படும். ஹார்மோனியம்-னா, வேற யாரும் இல்லைனா கூட நீயே கச்சேரி நடத்திரலாம். ஹார்மோனியம் சேந்துக்குரியா?" என்றார்.

"ஒண்ணும் புரியல OK!" என்றேன், அனுமதி கிடைத்த மகிழ்ச்சியில்.

மறு நாள் class துவங்கியது. எல்லா மியூசிக் ஸ்டூடென்ட்ஸும் ஒரே இடத்தில் குழுமி இருந்தோம். 

மிருதங்கம். ட்ரம்ஸ். கிடார். கீபோட். ஹார்மோனியம். டபிள் பாங்கோஸ். எல்லாம் அடுக்கப் பட்டிருந்தன.

சிறிது நேரத்தில் பஸ் டிரைவர் செல்வராஜ் அண்ணா வந்தார்.

'அட. இன்னிக்கு நம்ம ஸ்கூல் பஸ்-ல போக போறதில்ல-னு தெரியாம நம்மள தேடிட்டு வந்துருக்காரோ?' என்று நான் நினைத்த நேரத்தில், "எல்லாரும் வந்தாச்சா? நான் தான் உங்களுக்கெல்லாம் மியூசிக் கிளாஸ் எடுக்க போறேன்!" என்றார், என் அதிக பிரசங்க எண்ணத்தை அடியோடு அழித்தவாறு.

பஸ் டிரைவர் செல்வராஜ் அண்ணா. 

ஒல்லியான உருவம். neat-ஆக சீவிய முடி. பிரபுதேவா தாடி. முகத்தில் ஒரு அமைதி. புன்சிரிப்பு.

"யார் யார் என்னென்ன இன்ஸ்ட்ருமென்ட்-க்கு பேர் குடுத்துருக்கீங்க?"

"கீபோட்", "கிடார்" என்று எல்லாரும் modern-ஆக சொல்லிக்கொண்டிருக்க, அமைதியாக "ஹார்மோனியம்" என்றேன், வேறு யாருக்கும் கேட்டுவிடக் கூடாதே என்ற பயத்தில். அந்த நேரம் பார்த்து குரங்கு சேஷ்டை கணேஷ் டபிள் பாங்கோஸ்-ஐ வெளுத்து கட்டி கொண்டிருந்ததால், நான் சொன்னது மாஸ்டர் தவிர யாருக்கும் கேக்கவில்லை. சில நொடிகளுக்கு கணேஷ் என் மானசீக best-friend ஆனான்.

எல்லோரும் instrument-choice சொன்னவுடன், குரூப்- குரூப்பாக பிரிக்கப்பட்டோம்.  தேசிகனும் நானும் மட்டும் தான் ஹார்மோனியம். partners in self pity என்று ஒன்றாக உட்கார்ந்து கொண்டோம்.

சிறிது நேரத்தில் செல்வராஜ் அண்ணா.. அல்ல.. செல்வராஜ் மாஸ்டர் எங்களிடம் வந்தார்.

"என்ன.. ரெண்டு பேரும் ஹார்மோனியம்-ஆ? கொஞ்ச நாளைக்கு கீபோட் குரூப்-ஓட உக்காந்துகோங்க. ஹார்மோனியத்துல ரெண்டு கட்டை சரி இல்ல" என்று எங்களை சுய பச்சாதாபத்தில் இருந்து விடுவித்தார். இருந்தாலும் அப்பா-விடம் சொல்ல வேண்டுமே என்ற பயத்தில் "இல்ல மாஸ்டர்.. அப்பா ஹார்மோனியம் தான் கத்துக்க சொன்னார்" என்றேன்.

"ஹா ஹா.. ரெண்டுமே ஒண்ணு தான்! ஒண்ணும் வித்தியாசம் இல்ல. அப்பா-கிட்ட நான் சொல்லிக்குறேன்" என்றார்.

அட்ரா சக்க. அட்ரா சக்க.

ஆர்வத்துடன் கீபோட் பக்கம் சென்றோம்.
பளபளவென்று இருந்தது.
Casio SA-10.

இன்று அது சின்னதாகத்  தெரிந்தாலும், அன்று இம்மாம்பெரிசாகவே  தென்பட்டது. பயபக்தியுடன் தொட்டு கண்களில் ஒற்றிக் கொண்டு மாஸ்டரை நோக்கினோம். கரும்பலகை ஒன்றை வைத்து, அவருடைய trademark புன்னகையுடன் C, D, E, F, Staff, Stave, G-Clef, என்றெல்லாம் தியரி நடத்தினார். பின் முதல் பாடலாக 'ரகுபதி ராகவ ராஜாராம்' சொல்லிக் கொடுத்தார். (இன்று வரை, நான் கண்ணை மூடிக் கொண்டும் வாசிக்கக் கூடிய ஒரே பாடல் அதுவே). ஒரு மணி நேரம் நாங்கள் மாற்றி மாற்றி கர்மசிருத்தையுடன் ரகுபதி ராகவா ராஜாராமினோம். அதன் பின் வந்த மாஸ்டர் "Ok, இன்னிக்கு இது போதும். Tune கரெக்டா வாசிக்கிரீங்களோ இல்லையோ, fingering ரொம்ப முக்கியம். கொஞ்ச நாளைக்கு இதையே practice பண்ணுவோம். இப்போ எல்லாரும் வீட்டுக்கு போங்க. நாளைக்கு பாப்போம்!" என்று அனுப்பி வைத்தார். 

தங்க ராஜ பஸ் ஏறி 80 பைசாவுக்கு டிக்கெட் வாங்கி, ஷண்முகா தியேட்டரில் இறங்கி, மீதிச் சில்லறை 20 பைசாவுக்கு 2 பிஸ்கட் வாங்கி தின்றுகொண்டே வீட்டிற்குச் செல்லும் வரையில் அந்த கீபோட் ஒலி என் காதில் ரீங்காரித்துகொண்டே இருந்தது. மாடிப் படிக்கட்டுகள் என் கண்ணிற்கு அடுக்கி வைத்த கீபோட் கட்டைகளாக தெரிந்தன.

அப்பா வீட்டிற்கு வந்ததும் விஷயத்தை சொன்னேன்.

"அப்படியா. அப்போ சரி கீபோடே கத்துக்கோ. ஆனா என் கிட்ட வந்து வாங்கி குடு-னு கேக்காதே" என்று எனக்கு பெர்மிஷனும் குடுத்து, அவர் பாக்கேட்டிற்கும் safety பண்ணிக்கொண்டார். அனுமதி கிடைத்த மகிழ்ச்சியில் தலை கால் புரியாமல் ஆனேன். மறு நாள் மியூசிக் கிளாஸ் துவங்கும் வரையில் அதே ஞாபகம். ஒரே ஞாபகம்.

****

அன்பான ரீடர் பொது மக்களே..

இன்னும் சொல்ல வந்த விஷயத்தையே ஆரம்பிக்கல!

'ஸ்ரீரங்கத்து தேவதைகள்'-ஐ ரிவைஸ் செய்ததன் வெளிப்பாடாக வந்த இந்த பதிவின் introduction-ஏ இழுத்துகிச்சு. படிக்க நீங்க இருக்கீங்க-ங்கற தைரியத்துல பெப்பரபேய்ங்-னு எழுதிகிட்டே போயிட்டேன்.

அடுத்த பகுதியில சுருக்கமா விஷயத்த சொல்லிடுரேனே, ப்ளீஸ்!!

Notes from an overgrown island - Part II

Part 1 here.

Ok this time I am not going to ramble. Hoping to note my observations in some quick points:

• Until I landed in this country, English spoken with the 'r's mauled beyond recognition was all "Foreign accent" to me. But now I think I have started distinguishing English accent from American. For starters, watch the "Byeeeeee" comedy scene in Baasha. That's the kind of bye everyone sings here. Every single time. Had NSYNC been an English boy-band, 'Bye Bye Bye' may have been set to Maya Malava Goula or Kaambodhi, for all you know. (To think of it, it's not just with 'Bye'. These people sing all courtesy phrases the same way - good morning / good evening / bye bye / etc)
• In most places here, everything closes at 5 PM in the evening (except the pubs/bars/supermarkets). The whole place becomes very quiet after 6. Which indicates the amount of research that has gone into the making of this.
• If you own a car, you would always worry about finding 1) a car park, and 2) a parking spot in the car park. It is an overwhelming worry that overwhelms you. Every time we plan a visit to some place, much of my intensive online research (which involves checking Google's first page results) revolves around locating convenient (and free) car parks. And finding a parking spot at office every morning is quite a worry for me. Whatever time I reach office, everyone seems to have gotten there before me. It's almost like they all have sync-ed their alarms to mine minus a few minutes. I remember reading an anecdote somewhere: about early-arrivers parking far from the building so that latecomers could find a nearer space and get to office quicker. That's effing bullshit. துண்டு போட்டு எடம் புடிக்காத கொறை. (The missus often suggests leaving the stepney behind to hold the space for the next day)
• Graffiti seems commonplace along the rail routes here. But I haven't found any posters of SRMU Kannayyan yet. (Or maybe I haven't seen well enough yet)
• The other day I looked out from home to find someone cleaning the bushes outside patiently over a few hours. I had almost offered him பழைய சோறு and சொம்புல தண்ணி when I realized it was my landlord. Do-It-Yourself is such a popular concept here. Primarily because labour is very expensive. We once had to get a locksmith over. He charged 45 pounds for a 10-min job, ending up making me question my career choices. Imagine - 45 pounds! For a 10-min job! In Indian Rupees that's, well, 45 x 70 (sorry, am lazy). So it's not surprising to find people here doing everything by themselves - washing, ironing, cleaning, gardening, growing fat etc.
• Indian food is very common here. And 'parcel' shops are called Takeaways. Most takeaways here are Authentic Indian Takeaways run by Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. So you get more types of Indian food that you get in India. I hadn't heard of Rogan Josh back at home - but it's possible that it may be popular outside of the South. But am bleddy sure there is no such thing as Madras Curry even in Madras. And the natives here perform anthar-baltis for the Chicken Balti - it's too popular here.
• On a serious note - one stunning feature of this country is the independence with which disabled and the elderly lead their lives. A colleague at office is blind - and he is able to do everything by himself! He uses his mobile phone, comes by bus and whatnot! His guide dog is the only being whom we takes support from. Another colleague is wheelchair-ridden, but comes by a special car which she can wheel into and start driving! And the elderly here have to be seen to be believed - the way they live on their own, carry out all their travelling / weekly shopping / etc without any support whatsoever. Once when I offered to help carry bags for a very frail old lady, she smiled in response over her pain, and took time and effort to say: "I am fine, thanks all the same", when it was utterly clear that she was not fine at all. Phew.
• And while on the topic of disabled-friendliness - even movie halls are so! Special shows are run with subtitles for the deaf; and there are "Audio Described" performances for the blind - a voice overlay would narrate the visual scenes of the movie as things happen. Check this sample from 00:18. (Now let your imagination run wild and let me know in the comments section, how you would audio-describe this video! You may want to start with a note on grizzly bears, maybe?)

So well, that's that!! Bye byeeeeeee...

Notes from an overgrown island - Part I

Hiya there!

Ya I know - I have not been posting much since my landing in this country. Been planning to post something about my first views of the place for about 3 months now. But you know how it is with blogs - you always wish to post something, and you keep delaying, and before you know it, you keep delaying even further.

As is customary with any blogger who has shifted base to a new location, I shall now pretend possessing total knowledge of everything about the place I am in and deliver verdicts with the apathy of those suited reviewers on Sun TV movie reviews.

So this is my FIR about my experiences in England. Or United Kingdom. Or Great Britain. Or whatever else this place is called. Trust me, I don't think many natives here know the difference between UK and GB. Being a consultant, I had to illuminate a Brit friend here  with that knowledge (that I myself had acquired from Wiki) to get "Oh is that so? Never knew that. Thanks!" for a response. God promise!

In the months I have been here, my biggest learnings have been about the social customs of the place.

Being polite to others is a way of life here. I suspect if they don't perform any act of kindness to others in a day, they'll end up with digestion problems in the night. The most common 'act' you will find here is - opening doors for others.

Back home, opening a door was a simple process.

1. Reach the door

2. Open

3. Exit

Here, people have a fairly elaborate procedure for this.

1. Reach the door

2. Open

3. Wait like a sentry until someone else turns up

4. Then smile at them, and say 'After you'

5. They will smile back at you and insist that you go first

6. Smile, shrug, and go over to the other side

7. Then hold the door open for the other to pass through

8. Say "Cheers" and leave (not "What ho" or "Pip pip" or any of that stuff you read on PG Wodehouse)

I have had some fairly interesting experiences with this protocol.

Once after an unduly long meeting, I had to rush to the restroom (don't snigger, grow up). As I reached for the door and opened it in a hurry, I saw that it lead to a small passage with another door at the other end. And as providence would have it, at exactly the same moment, someone opened the other door from the other side. I know this might sound confusing, so I have taken the pains to draw out this complex graphic for you:

I guess you got the point now - there were two of us standing at the two ends of the passage, each holding a door open for the other. Remember multi-threading deadlocks? Exactly that. The atmosphere was tense. The air was crisp. Sweat covered both of our foreheads. Our brains were trying to work a way out of this stalemate. Furrowed brows. (But still, smiles on the lips). After a volley of "After you"s from both of us, we made a mutual decision to 'do it' in sync. Falling just short of counting to 3, we left our doors and lunged to reach the other door at the same time.

And we succeeded. 

As the other guy heaved a huge sigh of relief and turned back to smile one more time at me, I had already rushed in to reduce my weight by a few grams.

Then there was the time when another complex situation arose cos' of this protocol.

I was just reaching the entrance to my office and was about to push the door open, when it opened by itself. There was a man on the other side wanting to get through. As I smiled and stepped aside saying "After you", he smiled and stepped aside saying "After you". And a lady joined in from his side, also wanting to get out. That's 3 people trying to get through 2 ways of 1 door. If that wasnt complex enough, add in the "After you"s and the fact that 1 of the 3 is a lady, you get a potboiler.

Eventually we guys somehow sorted it out and went on our paths relieved, but confused if we had followed the right protocol. And no - I don't remember how we really got ourselves out of the tangle.

But I had learned an important lesson that I have been putting to good use ever since - now if ever it looks like I would be reaching a door at the same time as someone else, I would dish out my phone with nonchalance, move away from the door with nonchalance, and nonchalantly start speaking on the phone until the moment of embarrassment passes by.

Yet another social custom I took some time adjusting to is: the greeting. On my second day at my client's office here, as I reached my seat, my neighbour looked at me, smiled, and asked "Are you alright?". I froze in my tracks, and wiped my face, checked my hair and de-creased my shirt and responded to him with a very doubtful "Well.. Yeah.. But.. Why?". By the time I managed to say all that, he had turned away. The incident affected my balance - was something wrong with me that I didnt know about? Shortly, I rushed to the restroom and checked in the mirror. Everything seemed fine. Perplexed, I returned back a confused man. It was much later that day that I realized that this was the standard greeting here; their means of saying "How are you?". And it is meant to be responded with "Not bad". Felt like an idiot when I learned that.

Again, I did not make any of this up.

To be continued (hopefully)...

Endhiran: Movie Review!

As a kid I was mad about Rajini. God knows what I liked about him, but I used to be a die-hard fan.

20 years later, after DAV, PSG and IIMB, I am still the same. If only more in awe of the man for his reach across A, B and C centres.

Literally couldn’t focus on work at office the whole day! All my thoughts were about this movie that I had booked tickets for. With the added excitement that I had no feelers about how good the movie was (except that lone indiaglitz article that I did not really trust). And the additional excitement that I would be helping to form public opinion on something for the first ever time in the history of my blog :P Ulaga laptop-galil mudhal muraiyaaga....

As I type this, am just settling down after all the euphoria.

The movie was brilliant stuff.

Of the kind never seen before in Tamil film history.

It sure takes production standards to a totally different plane!!

Frankly, after Sivaji, I was quite ‘worried’ about Endhiran. I did like watching Sivaji, but somehow I felt it lacked a certain something that defines any Rajini/Shankar movie. Was quite disappointed. And I couldn’t bring myself to believe that this was going to be better. I knew this would be entertaining; but would it be a movie that I would like to watch in 2025? Or would I still have to stick to Baasha to up the spirits? THAT was my concern.

Now, having watched Endhiran, I should agree am a trifle disappointed. No typical Thalaivar stuff. No entry song. No ‘mass’ signature tune. No punch dialogs. And an extremely simple opening scene (I had a more gethu opening scene in my marriage video)!! In fact, the audience was largely silent through out the movie. None of the euphoria one would expect from Tamil-movie-hungry audiences getting to watch a thalaivar padam FDFS in faraway land. In fact, the whole mass of people moved out in silence after the movie.

But I just loved the movie.

This was a great Shankar film; not so much a Rajini one. After the movie spoof that was Sivaji, this was like the good ol’ days – a usual Shankar movie with all the right ingredients. (Maybe lot lesser comedy than is conventional, but it still makes the cut). Welcome back, Shankar!

Any review is supposed to have spoilers in the form of a story brief. Here goes:

Dr Vaseegaran (Chandran Rajini) creates Chitti robot (Indiran Rajini) – the most human adro humanoid ever made. His aim is to get the army to use the robot to avoid human losses in war. In an attempt to make Chitti understand the importance of human life, Vaseegaran injects peelings into the robot, who then promptly falls for Vaseegaran’s daavu (Aish). Soon comes by evil Doctor who injects powers of destruction into Chitti and refurbishes him into Chitti v2.0. Then comes the standoff between Vaseegaran and the immensely powerful robot he himself unleashed on the world. Who wins in the end and how, forms the rest of the story.

End of Spoiler.

I generally am not a big fan of Aishwarya Rai. I never find her gelling with the character she dons. She ALWAYS appears like Aishwarya Rai the beauty queen who endorses numerous products like Pepsi, Nakshatra and Abhishek Bachchan. She always seems to carry around a halo that says “Ok, am supposed to be stuck with ruffians in the middle of nowhere, up some mountain that has a geographical identity crisis, but I have none; I know am THE Aishwarya Rai. You may go.” In this context, I always felt hurt and couldn’t understand why Thalaivar was hell bent on casting her in his movies. Especially when she has always spurned his offers.

(My theory is that this is Thalaivar’s way of putting an end to the age old ‘Amitabh Vs Rajini’ argument.

Amitabh: Mere paas North hai. East hai. West hai. Central hai. IIFA hai. Blog hai. Tere paas kya hai?

Rajini: Aishwarya Rai ke saath movie hai. Hey hey he he he. You can never hope for that now)

Anyway, I digress. The fact of the matter is, I hate Aish.

But I have to admit, she was just perfect for this role. Had any other heroine been cast in a character that is supposed to make a robot fall in love, it would have been hard to believe. For once, I give her some credit. Also, she looks sizzling hot in some songs.

Don’t have much to say about the music – didn’t really notice it in the movie, but the songs were all great and picturized well. ‘Kilimanjaro’ was top-class for the location, music and costumes. Would like to watch it on the big screen again!

As the scenes unravelled one after the other and one realized that this was a full-blooded sci-fi in Tamil, one realizes how Sujatha must have added strength with his presence in the team. We do not know how much he has exactly contributed to the movie, but I feel this is a great farewell movie for him. Typical Sujatha stuff.

And I just adored the stunts! Especially the ones in the first half with Chitti v1.0. Am sure the stunts were performed by Peter Hein and Rajini’s face was morphed in. But I care a damn. It sure looked good. And credible too, as it was Chitti and not Vaseegaran who was performing them. Good stuff!

These days it’s become fashionable to hail movies for the production cost. Every now and then some movie comes up, that’s supposed to be the most expensive movie made in this side of the planet. When Endhiran was credited to be that, I didn’t really give it a thought initially. But now I agree. The money and effort showed on the screen. And for once it didn’t seem like superfluous spending.

Graphics itself would have cost fortunes. Am sure the quality of CG in the movie was comparable to any recent Hollywood fare. Of course there were a couple of ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’ style comedy cartoons too. But they were just that – a couple. The rest were all incredibly credible and life like. Hats off for the effort!

Mattha ellaattha patthiyum paesiten. Now moving to the point.

Pinnittaaru. Pattaya kelappittaaru.

The thing with Rajini is, he may never give a Kamal-like performance where his histrionics set the screen on fire. But he is an amazzzzzzing actor all the same. All the hype about his style makes one overlook his acting skills.

But everyone will take note, in this movie.

He more than adequately differentiates between Vaseegaran and Chitti v1.0.

And Chitti v2.0 was terrifyingly terrific!!!! Seemed like an encore of Vettaya Raja. Ennaaaa oru villaththanam! My most favourite role in the movie is Chitti v2.0 for the pure ‘Rajini’ness. Awesome stuff. Sometimes I feel Rajini’s Superstar image has taken away an excellent villain from the industry.

Chitti v1.0 was likeable. When I saw the promos, I thought he looked like a uricha kozhi (much like I do now). But as the movie unfurled, one starts liking the way Chitti looks. Young and refreshing. And he does ‘feel’ different too – an evidence of Rajini’s subtle but excellent acting skills. And it was good to watch him do all those stunts and perform those dances. The graphics was wonderful - didn't feel artificial at all (largely).

Vaseegaran was fine as well. But nothing much to say about the character. Usual stuff.

But the icing on the cake was the pleasure of watching 100s of Rajinis fill the screen in the second half, led by Chitti v2.0. 7 pounds worth for sure!

In all, Rajini bears a movie on his shoulders, yet again.

Bottom line: Superb Shankar movie. Interesting story line. International class Indian movie. Chandramukhi kinda character for Rajini – less of style and more of content initially, and a negative shade towards the end.

MUST WATCH.

Now I MUST SLEEP.


----- UPDATE -----
Watched the movie a second time on day 2 :) Some notes:
- There are a couple of signature tunes in the movie.. for the two chitti versions..
- There is a wee bit of mass entry for both the chittis.. Not usual thalaivar level.. but something at least..
- Chitti v2.0 was all the more exciting in the second run, cos I knew what was coming.. So right from his entry, it was andrenalin-pumping..
- Most favo scene from the movie: the black sheep scene!!! Terrorrrr!!
- Chitti v2.0's laugh has to be seen to be believed. Nakkalaana oru kodoora kaara sirippu..
- Arima Arima rocked on the screen.. Wasnt a big fan of the song before watchin the movie.. But on screen Rajini adds so much power to the song.. And ARR's music fits the situation like a glove!
- Didnt realize Arima Arima was sung by Hariharan!! Superb effort..
- For the first time in decades, the 'SUPER STAR RAJNI' graphics had poor background music :( :( Feeling let down by ARR!!
- Dialogs sparkle in many places.. "Unakku unarvugal oru arivaa than kodukka patturukku".. Whattay!