Alaipayuthey

I watched Alaipayuthey after many many years over the weekend and was simply blown swept away & taken in, well and truly. I don't know why I am so intensely affected by this movie especially now, after so many years, when I, despite liking the movie a lot when it was released & also not missing it every time it was shown on TV, was never crazy about it. But I guess it's got something to do with my falling flat for Minnale a few weeks ago, again another movie I just "liked" before, but was nowhere in awe of it as I am now, after this most recent viewing. It probably also has something to do with Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya's release, a movie I'm looking forward to for many reasons - foremost of them being Trisha's ravishing looks followed by Simbu's remarkably different (& refreshing, if I might add) screen-presence, their exciting chemistry, Gautam Menon (obviously) and to top it, a wonderful sound-track by Rahman. It's also probably a (good?) sign that I'm rediscovering the romantic streak I once had, now at 25, which is rather nice in a sense, since I've been fretting about growing "older" ever since I turned 25 in November. That I can feel pattaam-poochi's parandhufy in my stomach & relate to the romantic overtures of a Chennai youngster like me (though much better-looking obviously :P) without my now-customary romance-associated cynicism & nakkal, is heartening for me. I am actually tempted to add my singularity as another probable reason for going sa-sa ri-ri ga-ga, but I don't think it is as relevant as the others, considering the fact that barring an amazing-yet-immature 5-6 months back in the beginning of last decade, I've been pretty much single all my life.

While my awe of Minnale was probably 75% Maddy, 5% Reema, 10% each Harris & Gautham, Alaipayuthey was more Shalini and simply the relatability of the amazing romance between the two. It also helped that I've grown up around trains all my life (thanks to my mom working in S.Rlys) and the fact that the Chennai electric train is one of the most identifiable & middle-classly-enchanting hang-outs for the Chennai youngster. But the primary factor, I think, was Shalini, who was simply outstanding as Shakti. Before I forget him, let me credit the genius of Mani Ratnam for the way he scripted the roles & brought out the best from everyone for their resp. roles, most notably, of course, Maddy & Shalini. Shalini's role is probably now my favourite female character, just pipping Jo's Maya & Laila's Ramya. And what do I say about her expressions... truly floored only. :D The best thing about her was that she is not this stunning or drop-dead-gorgeous girl, but a decent-looking girl, who, with a touch of simple-yet-elegant middle-class make-up (I simply loved the eye-liner when she speaks to Maddy in her college) and some terrific emotions & dialogues, with the right amount of reticence, interest & impishness, sent my heart into a spin. And that one scene where the girls search for Karthik from inside the train, and finally see him standing in that God-level-stud pose on the opposite platform, leaning on his friend's shoulders, coolers, et al, and the girls shout, and Shalini coyly smiles, and Rahman's "Sakhiyeee..." precisely starts, My God, that one scene is enough for me to live out any "romance" for the rest of my life. Not to mention the half-smile which she gives when Maddy calls her and waves bye after she cutely "admonishes" him in her college. And the way she looks at Maddy while singing Alaipayuthey Kanna song, sheer brilliance (of Shalini, Mani, Sreeram, Rahman). And then the first time Karthik calls her up, she responds "Aduppula Rasam vechirkken, amma vera ippo dhan vandhaanga, semester practicals irukku... irundhalum nee solradha porumaiya kekkaren," hayyo mudiyala ennaala. :) :)

Maddy was good without being great (which Shalini was). The thing with Maddy was - he has oodles of Iyengar khalai on him, and that "punnagai" which pretty much did most of what he was required to perform. Which is exactly where Shalini scores. Watching her act made me feel bad about such a brilliant talent being cut short abruptly, but then, the nice thing's that I will always remember Shalini as "Shakti", and not any other better/nonsensical role, which is bound to have come her way, had she continued acting.

Ok, not that the movie didn't have one or two flaws though - the 2nd half was quite melodramatic, especially the ending, but I wonder how else it could've been. For a second, you wonder if Mani intended to go somewhere else after the 1st half, seeing the drop in brilliance-level towards the end, but it's ok. Also, the September Madham song & Sophiya Haque's gyrations were quite unnecessary - for this "bit" alone, Mani disappointingly comes across as a director who feels the need to have one titillating song in his movie.

No discussion about Alaipayuthey would be complete without a mention of one of the most perfect songs in Tamil cinema. A spontaneous reaction entails falling flat for Maddy & Shalini, but on second thoughts, I guess it's quite possible the genius of AR Rahman+PC Sreeram+Mani Ratnam+Hariharan would've made the song just as stunningly exotic with any couple in it. That Maddy & Shalini are quite good-looking & had some incredible chemistry just enhanced the awesomeness of the song by a couple of notches.
For whatever reasons may qualify/disqualify Alaipayuthey as a classic, the movie surely is a classic for the singular reason of how endearingly (post-1990) urban middle-class romance has been portrayed.
And for this reason, it will always continue to make waves in the heart of any even half-romantic middle-class Chennaite. :-)

PSBB Teachers 16 - Prema Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 15 here)

Maths - '95-'96
Mrs. Prema Ramaswamy - Prema Mam was this small, fair, petite lady who reminded me a lot of my grandmother who brought me up. She was more the age of a perimma for me, I guess, but there was an unmistakable similarity. She was yet another of my Maths teachers who I enjoyed learning from. Her "and" was very distinct - it sounded like aaand (like the "aa" in "aam" or "aadmi") and her speech had this cute drawl to it.
Another wonderful teacher. :)

(to be continued)

Kahani Chaar Khan'on Ki

Aamir Khan: The original chocolate-boy of Bollywood & the best-looking Khan (at least back when all Khans were young & good-looking without make-up). Decent-enough actor, somehow shot into "brilliant" actor status thanks to his knack of choosing cheesy scripts. Now, the consummate marketer, he'd give IIM-MBA's a run for their money.
Note: Sarfarosh & RDB don't automatically imply he is patriotic (he might be the most patriotic of all the Khans but that's not much to go by, is it? ;)

Saif Ali Khan: Easily the least successful of all the Khans, he has exactly one good movie to his credit (where he didn't make an ass of himself, which is why I excluded Dil Chahta Hai). His only other notable Bollywood-success is hooking up with a 100-times more successful Kareena Kapoor.
Most Notable guest appearance: "The Buck Stops Here", starring Shirtless Khan.

Salman Khan: No shi(r)t. Aishwarya Rai. Drunk-driving. Katrina Kaif. Period.

Shah Rukh Khan: Easily the best actor among the Khans, sadly stopped acting in good movies after 2000. Currently trying very hard to emulate Aamir Khan in marketing, but falls flat. Where Aamir slickly markets his movies with/without controversy, this guy just Kkkk...Khan't do it without making noise.

It's a Guy Thing

How guys treat/interact with/behave with other guys with respect to girls (gyaan accumulated over my 25 years of existence)...

• Guys simply love other guys who make asses of themselves in (common) presence of good-looking girls.
• If a guy introduces you to a good-looking girl, at least one of them is committed (more likely the girl).
• If a guy invites you to a gathering of good-looking girls, he is either a fool or thinks you're one.
• If neither is true & he still invites you, then he is your best friend for life and the best man at your wedding.
• If there are 2 girls you're teased with, guys amplify the teasing-with-the-lesser-good-looking-girl so the better-looking one's available.

(might be continued...)

PSBB Teachers 15 - Meena [Jain?] Mam & Rama Devi Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 14 here)

Hindi - '95-'98
Meena mam was a slim youngish teacher who looked very South Indian (Tamilian, in fact), but never totally convinced me if she was one, especially because of the Tamil she spoke with the occasional peon - it wasn't Seth'ish, but it hadn't the colloquial "spashtam" that we would associate with native Tamil speakers. A nice lady and a wonderful teacher (for some reason, PSBB seems to have had this great set of esp. Hindi-language teachers). I also remember she took a break for a year when she had just given birth to a baby.
This one year was covered by Rama Devi mam, quite an old woman, who was quite puny. I think Meena mam was more liked by the class than Rama Devi mam, but she was also a fair teacher, nevertheless. I also remember that I got 98 in the Vth cycle test or something, which I remember her paaraattifying me or something, with a smiling face (not sure why I especially remember this "smiling face" thing, not sure if she was a generally serious-faced teacher or anything). :-)

(Part 16 here)

When Pictures are worth a Thousand Laughs

 

  

  

  

  

 

(Pictures courtesy an email forward)

Oosi Pona Chutney and all that...

Enough has been said about the "outrageous act of plagiarism" by bloggers bigger, older and a zillion times more famous than me. In any case, though Chutney was well within her rights to do whatever she did (which she did quite rightly too, IMHO), I don't want to add more publicity to an already oversized issue.

Nevertheless, I was particularly perturbed by one specific aspect of the plagiarizer's mindset, which, I believe, is more pressing than the actual act of plagiarism per se.

I am shooting my mouth off here (as is wont of me), but I think it's time we Indians admitted that the average creativity of our population ends waaay lower than the supremely creative beings we've been known to produce. Which obviously implies that a large number of us are quite non-creative souls when it concerns intellectual output, but compensate for this via our creative methods of copying/ripping off stuff - be it Lalit Modi's IPL or Ram Laxman's Mere Rang Mein or Harris Jayaraj's June Pona or Kamal's undoubtedly brilliant Anbe Sivam or yet another term paper which we Indian grad students in the US routinely rip from a zillion sources courtesy Google (is it time to Bing yet?). Well, with regard to what I am trying to say here, the last example might be the most easily-relatable, but with a little creative thinking, you'll realize the others too are.

So then, we must admit we do rip stuff to do usual things. When a desi grad student tries to do a term paper, it's just a term paper. It's not like he's going to send it to IEEE or ACM as part of personal work/research (of course, he'd be screwed mightily enough if he did try to do that, but that's a different issue). So what we understand is that the guy that's doing whatever little/much ripping/plagiarizing is doing so just to get done with some basic requirements. It's not like he seeks some elite glory or recognition for the ripped work. This is also probably an indicator of a bigger problem - the flawed system, but that's beside the point, and besides, a flawed system is, by no means, a valid enough justification for whatever small act of plagiarism a grad student (or anyone else) indulges. But this is....ummm...overlook'able.

Which is where what our dear friend did with Chutney's post is especially condemnable. He picked a winner (that's the creative bit) and plagiarized it (the dumb bit). One read of Chutney's post in question is enough for any half-current_state_of_the_urban_Indian-aware person to realize that the piece is brilliant (though I confess that's definitely not my cup of humour, but this is again irrelevant). The girl is right up there, as far as wit and eloquence of language is concerned and her piece is as original as it is entertaining. The dude who ripped it obviously knew if this was made into a short film, it would definitely make some good noise, and no doubt, enhance his prospects. This is where the Epic Fail bit kicks in. You make use of someone else's work for something to ensure your survival or help you achieve something ordinary - no it isn't acceptable, but it isn't at least condemn-worthy and spit-worthy. But you make use of someone else's creative gift, pass it off as your own AND try to make good mileage of it, even the average desi grad student who used a zillion different journals for his term paper will put his thumbs on his nose at you.
Get Original. Respect Creativity.