Arrambam.... "thala" diwali to "thala vali" diwali!!

Expected a stylish flick with a decent storyline from VishnuVardhan

First half was ok.
I went to see this movie without reading reviews. So, the storyline was interestin.
The only unbearable feature being Taapsee Pannu... Yemma ponnu... yenna ma panreenga???? I think she s the upcoming Laila (loosu ponnu image) . Sema kodumai. Her accent, her voice, her acting ... thaangale!

First half raised the expectations for the second half.

Second half was too long.
Maybe it felt longer because of the stupid scenes and dumb story

Overall... rating 2.5/5

Plus
Ajith - For his acting ... stylish performance
Some scenes were good.

Minus
Ajith - Intha "salt-pepper" hairstyle with thoppai... Please boss....!
Story - very weak, lots of logical confusions esp towards the end
Taapsee (enough said)
Music - songs and BGM... a big letdown
Editing - Some scene lacked the flow... Like they cut abruptly. Also, length should have been reduced by atleast an hour
Comedy in serious scenes.

For example ...
Hacking the system of Swiss Bank was a piece of cake.... But hacking the system of a bank in Dubai... Oh Gawd!
Our Software geek, not only is able to find out that money has been transferred out of the Swiss bank, but also, is able to locate the account to which the money has been transferred.
To transfer the money... Both people should be in the same place. And , of course, the bank manager HAS to be there. Dont worry if he is some other new guy. Everyone believes a guy in suit and Ray Ban!
The time taken for money transfer is directly proportional to the amount that is being transferred!!
You can go to Dubai, hack the system, cheat a big shot there and kill lots of people... and just safely get back home in no time!! Yeppppudi??? (Antha ooru police yenna leave le poittangala???)

Lots more. But guess this is enough!
Looks like the director worked around the basic elements first and then found a story around it.
Like... Ajith, suits, sunglasses, arya, computer, nayanthara, guns, bank, money.... and ya, now we also need bike, car, boat chase... and hmmmm... ya, a foreign location... Ok... So, now we write a story around this!

Overall... Go if you like ajith... sorry... if you are a big time thala fan .... and dont expect anything else !

Onaayum Balakumaarum!!

Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum Vs Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara

First OA

It did not have most of the things that the usual masala stuff...
Almost for 70% of the movie, I was clueless about the story. But still, the screenplay was so nice and story was so gripping, that time just flew...

Great one by Mysskin.

I have liked his Anjaathey and Yutham Sei. But OA is just too good.

Plus
Mysskin - The actor and director
Shaji - Amazing acting. Just perfect for the role
Raja - Great BGM
Sri - Another good one from him, after "vazhakku yen 18/9"
Screenplay - Special mention , again for Mysskin for making an intense, gripping, no-nonsense movie... Keeping our interest for 3 hours is not an easy joke!!

Minus
Nothing about the movie...
This movie is not getting the attention it deserves.
Like all Mysskin s movies, I think this one will also not do too well ....
Guess,only "mokkai" movies will do well at the theatres...

Talking about mokkai... we come to IAB... the next movie
This was just what a movie should not be..

I don't remember the last time I saw a movie this bad...
It was just a big headache.

It starts with a hilarious track of Sumaar Moonji Kumar(Vijay Sethupathy).... Oh sorry, did I say hilarious? I meant supposed-to-be-hilarious.... Pasupathy, Robo Shankar and Pattimandram raja ... try to make this an ROFL comedy scene... But sathiyama solren, it only starts a headache... Lets say, this is level 1 headache....(1 being least)
Whenever Vijay Sethupathy says "Kumudha Happy", I wanted to scream... Not me!! Yennaala mudile...
I am not sure how irritated the heroine was... But the hero's tactics and idea of romance were just %^%O&*JHB%... Phew!!

Then, comes the track of Bala...
I don't know what was happening... but this seemed to be the longest movie . I thought they forgot to give a break during the interval... But no no no!!  This track with the bank and their lies... Just clueless about what is happening (Yenna da solla vareenga???) Headache reaches level 2

Now , we have a track happening in the bar... Nothing much to say about this except, headache level 3.

Now, comes the best ... chi chi... worst part... The one with painter rajendran... Aiyo aiyo... I was forced to bang my head against the wall...

I had so much hopes with this movie... I just wanted to laugh ... But no...It just kept getting worse... And now, we have this don's wife... Parotta Suri....Worshhhht track ever...  Now, headache reaches a level, which cannot be tracked!

The ending... speechless...

I found this in rediff review..
"Amidst all the fun and boozing, director Gokul has also cleverly managed to give an important social message through the film."

I was like... what???
Anyways, let me get to summarizing

Plus
You got to be kidding me

Minus
1. First, please don't make a crappy movie... and if you do, stop trying to become a hero by adding a social message, completely dumb... You make a movie, in which 90% of the characters drink booze 90% of the time and at the end, you say why people should not drink... What????

2.If you have a ten minutes script, please make a short film for "Naalaya Iyakkunar".Don't make it a 3 hours long movie. 

3. What is the story that is being told? The whole story line has so many characters .... Mokkai dialogues and irritating screenplay...

4. Someone needs to teach the director not to take any joke too far. Some scenes (I mean one or two) are hilarious for the first time. But you obviously cant laugh for the same joke when you hear it for the 5th time !!

5. Don't call this movie a comedy - in fact, don't call this a movie ....please!







 

To believe or not to believe!

Life teaches us so much!!

Ya... this one is a serious one from me...

I was brought up in a typical Tambrahm family.

Going to temple once a week and on special occasions (the list is biiiiig) So I never gave much thought to what I "believe" in.

Once I was on my own, going to temples and praying every night (applying "vibhuti") still continued.
Similar to what was taught in my school , I was taught at home (and made to believe) that those who do good will never face anything bad in life.

Then came series of mishaps. Each time I got the strength to pick me up from pieces and start anew, I fell steeper. Life was so tough... Now who else do I blame but God... So, I started avoiding everything that I used to do before. Going to temples became a once-in-a-year thing.

Last 3 weeks... Starting from July 24th... the day when my dad got a severe heart attack... were so hectic and strenuous. I had to manage lot of things and was under terrible pressure, especially when the doctor did not tell anything about appa s recovery for 4 days. (Now appa is back home, recovering)

Things started changing when I used to spend most of my day in the ICU waiting hall.
I met so many people ... people with various problems, a 5 days old kid, waiting for a heart operation, a forty year old man, who had an unsolvable heart problem, a 25 year old guy who had a major problem in brain....

I found one thing in common. Everyone was positive about God being on their side.

What made them think like this? What gave them so much belief? Why didn't they look at God as someone who gave them the problem and instead, someone who has the solution???

The more time I spent with them, the more I thought about all of this.

Here is what I understood.

I feel things are so much easier when we put the burden on someone else. Apart from positive thinking, thinking that God (or someone) is there to take care of our problems , seems to reduce the stress.

So... where am I now... Do I believe??? No idea... Just going with the flow of things... Have understood one thing though...

Life teaches us so much!!!

My first Bike Trip...! Legen......dary!!

Let me begin with a biiiiiiiiiig round of applause to Hari and Vandy for making me a part of this bike trip.... ;)

It all started when Vandy sent out e-mails about the trip. I had been pestering my husband about going for a bike trip since the last year, but somehow, nothing worked out. So we joined the gang and set out on a lovely trip....

Let me give a small intro on the gang

Prabu - My hubby. Needless to say, has great patience!! ;).
He loves driving and also likes listening to songs / singing or browsing about tech / gadgets !!

Santy Santy - The only girl rider in the gang. Nice singer. Sema mokkai party. Loves to be in the gang and also suddenly takes sometime off for herself with books / "Friends" videos. She loves to make the best of time and enjoys every moment!

Hurry, the anniyan - He is a fun loving person who loves to travel and explore all the places. Loves taking photos. Loves to dance (Dhanush style). Loves to sing (Simbu style)

Vandy - the "cool girl" -  The "appa-tucker" organizer. She knows how to get things done right. Whatever situations we had , she dealt with a cool head. Also, sema company for mokkais.

Velakku - The true wanderer. Drives cool bike! A great teaser(leg-puller!). Always makes fun of someone or the other...In the beginning, he looked like terror. Now, a good friend :).

Prati -  Such an amazing singer. Very cute and "chamathu" girl!

PK - Amazing talented guy. Plays flute so well!

Vishwa - The observer. The silent person in the gang ( I know it is tough to talk when I am around cos I hardly give a chance!!). But again, towards the end of trip, we became good friends:)

Vicky - The "bank robber" / ninja ! Loves making fun of everyone. But I keep making fun of him!!

Divs - We share one great interest ... Food!! Sweet girl. We met and almost very soon we became friends ... btw, it happened over a cup of coffee / tea , dosa, bajji, vada etc etc!!

We , along with 3 Yamaha FZ , 1 Royal Enfield Bullet , 1 Hyosung and 1 Indica were all set!!

Day 1 - Travel travel and travel

Started out by 8.30AM. About 2 hours late due to some technical reasons. Went through the typical Bangalore traffic. Took 1.5 hrs to reach the highway. Since it was a long weekend, even the highway was crowded.
Had breakfast break at an Authentic Iyengar restaurant. Nice dosa and coffee!
After few hours of journey, next break for lunch near Hunsur

Rode through the bad roads for sometime and reached the place (Vimla Homestay). Mr Narendra had arranged a wonderful dinner. The place we stayed was awesome. It was in the middle of a 20 acre coffee plantation

Day 2 - Safari ki sawari

Started for Safari from the guest house. The host was kind enough to offer his van as we could not go to the forest in bikes. Hubby had a tough time in maneuvering the vehicle which was in ICU! The safari was not very interesting. But the ride was good. Came back and had breakfast. Then left to Iruppu falls... We had the best time ever. Ice cold water!!! Sema company.... Didn't feel like coming out... but then felt hungry (of course!) . So, went back to the homestay for a wonderful lunch. Then after a short nap , followed by hot tea-biscuits, the host had arranged camp fire. All of us had super fun around it. It was a musical evening with me, sandy, vandy , divs and prati singing and PK with his flute!


Day 3 - The Beautiful Damn! Sorry Dam!

After the homestay host gave lot of description of the Banasurasagar dam, we all went with high hopes.. But it was mokkai! nothing very special. But as usual, the gang made it very interesting trip! We had a picnic lunch, again thanks to Mr Narendra! Came back tired. Then one more evening of camp fire. This time with Mafia. Played the game so many times. Each time atleast one comedy will happen, which would send us in a splits of laughter! We also had a dance session with Divs, Hari and of course, yours truly!!

Day 4 - Happys Endings!

So, as all good things, this trip also had to come to an end!! Like SRK said in Om Shanti Om, "If it is not Happy, then it is not the ending... Happys Endingsssss!"

We went for a walk in the morning. Then started packing up and started our drive back.Thjis time the drive was very nice. We reached Bangalore by 5. After relaxing for a bit, we all sat together to watch the videos and photos of the trip (BTW, this part was more enjoyable than the trip itself) .

Finally boarded the train back to Singara Chennai!!

This trip will be etched in my memory for ever and ever.
Strangers became friends. Friends became best friends.

Now, let us all plan for the next trip... Get ... set ... Gooooooooooooo!