Shahrukh detained at the airport is not a National calamity
August 20, 2009 at 8:30 am | In Entertainment, General, Immigration, Languages and Politics, Music, Real Life | 1 CommentTags: Abdul Kalam, Airport, America, Bollywood, Cinema, Immigration, Movies, Security, Shahrukh Khan, US
Shahrukh Khan was detained at the US Airport for 2 hrs for interrogation
No news has grabbed the headlines in the past few days more than Shahrukh’s detention at the US airport. Even swine flu had to take a back seat on the Indian media. Was the Indian superstar making a huge deal of the incident to promote his upcoming movie which is based on the same theme? May be, but Shahrukh has denied such claims. Yeah it was bad that Shahrukh was detained at the Airport for couple of hours but it’s not a National disaster. It was funny when a famous Bollywood actress claimed that Shahrukh is a “World” figure and should not have gone through such treatment.
The above statement is all that is wrong in India. If she had said something like any Indian should not be subjected to such treatment based on his religion or race, I would have had more respect for her sentiments but that was not what she meant. There were lots of reactions from Bollywood after the incident which only showed arrogance on their part. I know that there are millions of Indians who go through such hell everyday around the world and none of us complain. Maybe we should, but who will listen? If I had been detained at the Airport for any reason, it would have been difficult for me to even get hold of our Indian consulate.
The VIP, VVIP, VVVVIP etc culture in India is sickening. In know that the Indians are now used to that culture but why do you expect the same treatment in a foreign country. The comparison with Brad Pitt was another dumb statement by yet another Bollywood bigwig. If the Indians treat Hollywood superstars differently then it’s our problem and the US immigration should not be blamed for that. The Indian security check is a joke and lots of Americans (not only Brad Pitt) are let through without even being checked. The problem with this incident is that no one has spoken on behalf of the entire Indian community who undergo such checks and interrogations every other day, it’s all about one superstar detained for 2 hours for the first time in his life.
Since becoming a superstar in Indian cinema, he was made to feel human for the first time which the star did not like. Now the stars should realize the predicament of common Indian who goes through such scrutiny everywhere in the world. If Dr. Abdul Kalam can be stopped at the Airport then why not Shahrukh? Is Shahrukh bigger than our former President? Our defense minister had to go through the same problems, so is our Bollywood superstar bigger than the above two National leaders? No he is not, at least not for me.
Yeah I know that this is not an ideal scenario and discrimination based on caste, Religion and race has to be questioned but why only when a high profile star is detained. What about the common Indian man? I guess it’s okay that our over the top superstar was brought down to earth for couple of hours, I don’t care if that happened. Nothing is going to change here. Even if the US immigration apologizes for their act, Indians are still going to face these checks, so why worry so much. The incident is done and dusted and Bollywood has to realize that this is not India and the immigration officers across the world don’t recognize Shahrukh Khan.
Kandhasamy makes it to the theaters at last
August 18, 2009 at 8:01 am | In Entertainment, General, Music | Leave a CommentTags: Hrithik Roshan, Kandhasamy, Krish, Movies, Shreya, Susi Ganesan, Tamil Cinema, Vikram
Kandhasamy hits theatres this Friday
Kandhasamy is set to hit the theaters this weekend after lots of postponements. The movie has been in the making for over 2 years now and it has generated lots of hype in the media and also among the public. Vikram’s last movie Bheema which also released after a huge delay in 2008 was a big dud at the box office. This movie is touted as the first super-hero movie in Tamil cinema and hopefully the director has justified the hype associated with the same.
As with lots of movies released in Tamil with big stars, this one also comes in with a huge budget. We just have to look at the money spent in the launch and audio release function to gauge the budget on the actual movie. Director Susi Ganesan has made some decent movies in the past such as Thiruttu Payale and Five Star but none as big as this. For Vikram this is an important movie and so is for Shreya. Even though Vikram is still popular with his fans, this movie can further enhance his status as a superstar in Tamil cinema. Shreya though has had a disaster at the box office since Sivaji as her movies such as ATM and Thoranai have been colossal flops. She would want Kandhasamy to resurrect her career in Kollywood.
The last time I saw such an attempt in Indian cinema was “Krish”. That movie came as a sequel to “Koi Mil Gaya” with Hrithik Roshan in the lead and was a disaster. Even though the movie itself was reasonably successful at the box office, it was a sad example of a super-hero movie. I hope that Kandhasamy doesn’t fall in the same category. Vikram though can be expected to give his all in his movies. By looking at the rushes and the trailers it seems like he has put in a lot of hard work and the production of the movie looks rich.
Kandhasamy is one of the most expected movie in the industry and the biggest one this year. I hope that it doesn’t disappoint the fans.
Achamundu Achamundu is refreshing
August 10, 2009 at 8:30 am | In Entertainment, General, Music, Real Life | Leave a Comment
Prasanna and Sneha in Achamundu Achamundu (Pic courtesy Indiaglitz)
I watched “Achamundu Achamundu” over the weekend and I felt that it was a refreshing way of movie making by Arun Vaidyanathan. The movie deals about a sensitive theme which is rarely touched in Indian films. So it was actually a brave attempt by Arun to take up such a subject and present it in a way which will not make the Indian audience uncomfortable. To be frank I am not a critic and I don’t want be one too. This is the first time I am writing about a movie on my blog.
The reason I wanted to write about this one is because of the close to reality presentation of our life in the US by the director. I was plainly irritated and frustrated by the way Bollywood has been depicting an NRI life on the screen in the past few years and I am happy that Arun Vaidyanathan has stuck close to reality. The interactions between the lead pair, Prasanna and Sneha were sweet and it reminds us of our day today life here in America.
The movie was a short one and except for the last 20 minutes or so there was not much action or any notable twists but the way the director moved the story along keeps us interested. After I finished watching the movie I was wondering how the director manages to make a 1 Hr 40 min movie with such a storyline which could have been a short film at best. The thing that works for Achamundu Achamundu is the realism. As a IT professional muself living in the US for the past 7 years, I could relate to the day to day activities of the lead pair in the movie.
The movie also deals with a subject that is rarely touched upon in Indian cinema. But the unfortunate thing for Arun will be that not many people will actually understand what John Shea’s character in the movie is in India. The educated audience might get the hang of it but I would feel that most of the Tamil audience might assume him to be a kidnapper at the best. Until the movie ends and the paper clippings are shown there might be a small confusion for the common man in India.
But as far as I am concerned the movie was fantastic. It kept me glued for the duration and even though the climax was rushed and finished abruptly the overall effort was commendable. Prasanna and Sneha performed brilliantly and gave a very subtle performance. Prasanna as an IT professional was convincing and so was Sneha as a house wife in the US. Arun couldn’t have picked a more appropriate cast for the movie.
The rest of the caste was adequate. John Shea as a child molester was wooden at most times but was adequate and so was the guy playing Prasanna’s friend. The girl who acted as the lead pair’s daughter was very good as a kid brought up in the US. The way Sneha keeps reminding her kid to talk in Tamil was sweet and reminds me of lots of parents here in the US who want their kids to stay in touch with their roots. The subtle things like that have made this movie different from the other NRI based movies.
All in all it was a wonderful effort and kudos to everyone who were involved in making this movie. I hope that Arun Vaidyanathan goes from strength to strength after this one and gets the right break he so richly deserves. As far as Prasanna and Sneha are concerned, they have once again proved that they are the two most natural actors in Tamil cinema.
Airtel Super Singer Junior begins
June 30, 2009 at 8:32 am | In Airtel Super Singer, Entertainment, General, Music, Reality Show, Television | Leave a CommentTags: Airtel Super Singer, Airtel Super Singer Junior 2009, Ajeesh, Anitha, Mahathi, Malini, Raghini, Vijay TV, Yugendran
Airtel super singer junior’s season two began yesterday and the schedule in the USA seems to be in sync with India this time. This week it’s just a fun round with the last year’s junior contestants going against the best from 2008 Airtel super singer seniors.
It’s a great thing for the super singer fans that the junior version begins just 2-3 weeks after the 2008 competition ended. So this gives us nice filler and also a chance to see the kid talent of Tamil Nadu before the Airtel Super Singer 2009 begins again later this year.
From the next week onwards we are going to see the auditions starting first with Coimbatore. I will be watching it for sure as yesterday I got a glimpse of how the last year’s juniors were. The two kids who sang were brilliant and were really confident on stage. Mahati and Anitha were the judges and we had Ajeesh and Raghini competing yesterday with the two kids. The hosts were Malini and Yugendran as usual.
I am waiting for the main competition to begin as its going to be a fun few months with the best kid talent on view. Vijay TV talent shows are the best and it has become a trendsetter for the other channels to follow.
I will be working on my yard today
June 19, 2009 at 9:19 am | In Entertainment, General, General Lunch Time talk | Leave a CommentTags: America, Client, Consultants, Desi, Friday, India, IT, Leave, US, vacation
Well it’s a typical Friday morning at work, lot of empty seats, lots of free parking spaces and yes lots of OOO (Out Of Office) messages. I have been working here in the US for the past four years and this is my second client location and some things remain the same. The current client I work for is a giant corporation and is spread across the US.
I work for a typical “Desi” company where billing is everything. I have been amazed by the type of OOO emails we get at the client location. This morning my lead sent an email stating that since it was too nice outside and he wants to work on his yard. This was funny as working in an Indian company you would never even think of giving such a reason.
I work in a company where my manager told me that I shouldn’t take a day off when I was really sick. He said that having cold and fever is not a good enough reason to take a day off. Even though I was angry at that point when I think back it was really funny. That’s the difference between an Indian firm and an American firm.
I have seen so many different vacation emails with reasons such as “I am playing golf tomorrow”, “I am working on my Yard tomorrow”, “I have to collect Fedex package” and many others which will seem ridiculous to us coming from India. In India the only valid reasons for vacation or a day’s leave can be health or functions.
For us consultants at a client place it’s just a dream to be able to give such reasons for taking a leave. It will not be received that well from the managers of my parent company. Well even though I may never be able to work on my yard on a sunny day during a working day, the reasons for leave here in the US never ceases to amaze me.
Ajeesh wins the Airtel super singer 2008
June 11, 2009 at 10:13 am | In Airtel Super Singer, Entertainment, General, Music, Reality Show, Television | 13 CommentsTags: Airtel Super Singer 2008, Ajeesh, Prasanna, Raghini, Ranjani, ravi, Renu, Rohit, Santosh, Vijay, Winner, Yuvan Shankar raja
Airtel Super Singer top 6 (Before the Recall round) Top (From the left): Ranjani, Prasanna and Renu; Bottom (From the left): Rohit, Ajeesh and ravi
Well at last the Airtel Super Singer winner was declared yesterday here in the US after almost a year of the competition. The week began with Prasanna being eliminated and the final three remaining were Renu, Ravi and Ajeesh to compete for the title. It was a really good run for Prasanna and he surely won many hearts with his entertaining performances.
Monday and Tuesday of the competition was basically a tribute to the top 22 contestants and awards were given to best performances in a particular genre. Ironically all the award winners were from the top 10, Santosh, Prasanna, Raghini, Vijay and Ranjani. Even though the others did not win any awards, it was nice to see all of them together in the Airtel super singer set for one last time.
Now coming to the actual finals which happened on Wednesday there were three contestants and it was good that the results were announced on the same day. I unfortunately was not aware of the change in timings and missed the entire performances of the contestants. I just saw the final song sung by Ravi which was from Dasavatharam.
Yuvan Shankar Raja was there along with other celebrity singers such as Chitra, Mahati, Karthik, Krish, Sunitha Sarathy and few others to grace the live event. Finally after few performances from the other super singer contestants the results were announced and Ajeesh was declared as the winner based on the viewer votes. Ravi came second and Renu ended up in the third position.
Personally I would have preferred Ravi to win the competition as he was a better all round singers but Ajeesh wasn’t too far behind. I am not that disappointed with the actual result as Ajeesh also has had a wonderful super singer 2008. Renu for me did not make the cut and I did not expect her to win the crown. I know that I have been really harsh on her in my previous articles but to be frank she did not possess the variety the other two brought to the table. She is a good singer but one dimensional but I think she will be successful in play back singing in the Sujatha mould.
Coming back to Ravi, he is a fantastic talent and has a great range. He has proven his caliber in western as well as folk and classical and would be very successful in the music industry. I wish him all success and hope to hear him sing in the movies.
So the Airtel Super singer 2008 winner was Ajeesh, a fantastic singer with a great voice. Had some issues with the open singing at the beginning of the competition but overcame the same with the help of the voice trainer Ananth I guess. Great future ahead as he is guaranteed a song in Yuvan’s music.
All in all it was an incredible journey which lasted for almost a year. I enjoyed watching the same and I hope that everyone following Airtel super singer had a blast too. I think next we have the super singer juniors and hope it’s also as entertaining as the senior version. Till then this is Giri signing off.
Airtel Super Singer Finals – Round 2 – Ranjani goes
June 2, 2009 at 7:57 am | In Airtel Super Singer, Entertainment, General, Music, Reality Show, Television | Leave a CommentTags: Airtel Super Singer, Ajeesh, Finals, Prasanna, Ranjani, ravi, Renu, Round 2
The first day of the round two began yesterday here in the US the show began with the elimination of one contestant who got the least votes after the round 1 of the finals. Surprisingly Ranjani was the one to receive the axe. Airtel super singer never ceases to amaze me. Ranjani is one of the best singers in Airtel super singer this year and I have told this numerous times that she is much better singer than Renu. In spite of that she got the lowest audience votes. I guess she isn’t a very popular singer among the viewers.
The fact that she received around 4 times less votes than the third placed Renu is hard to believe. Anyways the initial part of the show was a tribute to her and a much deserved one at that. All the other contestants spoke about her and Ranjani bowed off in style singing “Maiyya Maiyya” song from Guru. Good luck to Ranjani and I am sure that she will be singing in movies soon.
Prasanna was in the bottom two along with Ranjani and I heard that he is the one eliminated next week. Even though he is my favorite contestant, I don’t think that I can complain on his exit. Ranjani’s exit was more shocking than Prasanna’s. Well good luck to Prasanna as well as he was one of the most entertaining contestants in this show and won many hearts with his brilliant performances on stage. I am sure that he has a bright future in the music field as he has started learning music already.
Okay now coming back to yesterday’s competition, unfortunately I was just able to see the performances of Ajeesh and Ravi, the top two voted contestants from round 1. Both gave brilliant performances and especially Ravi’s performance was out of the world. He was able to get the entire audience involved and everyone enjoyed his performance. Ajeesh was also very good. He sang with an open voice and sounded very good.
I was not able to see both Prasanna and Renu’s performance yesterday as I had some issues with my internet but probably will try and catch the same on YouTube some time later. Anyways that ended the day one of the finals and it seems like the Airtel super singer will be crowned next week (This week in India). So that’s good news. At last the organizers have decided to end the competition. Best of luck to Ranjani who unfortunately got eliminated in round 2 and good luck to the other contestants.
Airtel Super Singer – Finals week1 – day 3
May 29, 2009 at 7:52 am | In Airtel Super Singer, Entertainment, General, Music, Reality Show, Television | 1 CommentTags: Airtel Super Singer, Ajeesh, Prasanna, Ranjani, ravi, Renu, Srinivas, Sudha Ragunathan
The week 1 of the finals completed here on Wednesday and the third day was very impressive. It was a round where the contestants had to sing classical compositions in movies. The two contestants who I was very interested in were Renu and Prasanna as they were the least trained in classical music.
It was a brilliant night with Sudha Ragunathan as the chief guest. Ravi was brilliant in this round as expected. This is his forte and he did not disappoint. The judges were all praise for him and Sudha Ragunathan said that he has a bright future in music.
Ajeesh was also brilliant. I would say that this was better than the new song round on day 2. Even though the judges were over the top and praising Ajeesh on day two, I thought that it was a okay performance. But in the classical round he was brilliant. He was rightly appreciated by the judges and the chief guest.
Ranjani was good too. Ranjani is a versatile singer and is a trained classical singer like Ravi and Ajeesh. She gave a good performance too. Sudha Ragunathan called is great and so did the judges.
Okay now for the interesting part. Before the round began I knew that the above mentioned three singers will not have any issues in this round as they are all classically trained but Renu and Prasanna were not. I was very interested to see how they would perform.
The first one to perform was Renu. She sang pretty well. Sudha Ragunathan said that her voice was sweet but she had some issues with the classical part of it. She felt that all the Sangadhi’s did not come out well. The judges too felt the same but they kept on saying that her good voice masked the errors. I have never heard more absurd comment in a talent show. The judges are there to judge a singer in comparison with the other singers in the competition. Yeah it was a commendable effort from Renu considering her little training in Classical music but that does not mean that the judges find excuses for her.
I am fed up of Srinivas saying that Renu has a good voice. I think we have heard that thousand times and I am basically fed up of that line. Anyways it was a good performance by Renu.
Next came Prasanna, who like Renu has limited classical training and he sang a not so classical song. The judges rightly criticized him but said that he is a good entertainer. Srinivas also said that it’s not easy to dramatize a song in front of an audience as Prasanna does so successfully. This time I totally agree with the judges and the chief guest that considering how the other singers performed, Prasanna’s song choice was little bit off. Anyways that ended the week 1 of the finals.
I saw few rushes of the performances from the week 2 and the notable absentee is Ranjani. It seems like the contestants are going to be paired with a playback singer. Karthik, Harini, Tippu and Mahati seemed to be the play back singers. Anyways the rushes seemed brilliant and I am really looking forward to week 2 and I hope that the competition crowns the super singer pretty soon as I think that we are nearing 1 year since the 2008 auditions began.
Airtel Super singer – Finals – Day 2
May 27, 2009 at 9:48 am | In Airtel Super Singer, Entertainment, General, Music, Reality Show, Television | Leave a CommentTags: Airtel Super Singer, Ajeesh, Ananth, Prasanna, Ranjani, ravi, Renu, Srinivas, Sujatha, Unnikrishnan
Well at last I got to see the finals and it was the “New Songs” round and what a great night it was. 5 finalists performed with professionals providing music around them and it was absolutely brilliant. Especially Stephen on Piano was unbelievable.
Coming back to the competition itself, the first singer of the night was Ravi and he started off with “Uyirile” (Movie Vellithirai I guess) and he was brilliant. It was one of his best for me. Expressions were so good and the way he carried the entire song was awesome. Overall it was a mind blowing performance and the judges were all praise for him.
The second singer was Ranjani who sang “Ulundhu Vithakkaiyilae” from Mudhalvan. She gave a good performance. The judges liked her performance and called it brilliant.
The third singer of the night was Ajeesh and he sang “Poi Solla” from Run and gave a good performance. I for once thought that it was okay and nothing extraordinary but the judges though gave him a standing ovation. Well I would say that in comparison to Ravi, Ajeesh’s performance was just okay. But that’s my opinion.
The next singer was Renu and her performance was ordinary last night. I don’t even remember what song she chose. She had severe breathing issues and it was very obvious that she was nervous and it did not sound that nice to me. Srinivas was honest in stating that this was not one of Renu’s best performances.
The final singer of the night was Prasanna and he sang “Piraye” (I don’t know the movie) song and gave a soulful performance. The judges were all praise for him and Sujatha took a cheap shot at him saying that he could have avoided the humming at the start. Unni though said that he liked the performance overall and Srinivas said that he could feel Prasanna’s sincerity towards music in this performance.
All in all it was a brilliant night with some great performances. I would say that Ravi’s was the best performance of the night and Renu’s was the worst. All in all looking forward to the day 3 of the finals as Ananth said that it’s going to be better.
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Too much hype for the Ashes
July 15, 2009 at 9:08 am | In Cricket, Cricket and Sports, Entertainment, General | Leave a CommentTags: Ashes, Australia, Commentators, Cricket, England, English Media, Urn
The Ashes Urn
The Ashes 2009 is currently going on and the first test at Cardiff just ended last weekend. The series is just 1 test old and the hype surrounding this one is unbelievable. I can’t believe that this is a follow up to the 2006/07 series where England lost 5-0. I guess the English have selective amnesia as they have completely bypassed that series in between almost making everyone feel that this series is right after the 2005 one. I have been following this series for the last 15 years or so, not because I have a favorite team but just for the love of the sport. Since the time I started seeing the Ashes it’s always been a one sided contest. Yes there was one great series in 2005 but that’s about it. I did not watch the 1986-87 series and the one before that when England had won the Ashes back to back. But since then it has been just a one-way traffic.
While the British media blows this series up out of proportion, one can’t stop thinking, is it really this big? Yes probably for the English and the Australians but to call this as a series for which the entire world is waiting for is bit of a stretch. To be frank for the last 2 decades England have been a mediocre team except for the one which played in the 2005 Ashes. The English media is generating all this hype for the current series from England’s 2005 ashes win, meanwhile completely ignoring the 5-0 bashing which they received in 2006/07.
I recently saw few of the SKY commentators calling the Ashes as the definition of test cricket, yes I agree but for only England and Australian supporters and not for the entire cricketing world. For the others, it’s just another cricketing series between two teams. As far as I am concerned the Ashes has been too one-sided over the years to be called a great competition. Australians have been too strong for the English teams of the past with the likes of McGrath’s and Warne’s in their team.
The current Ashes series though can be called as a series between two even sides. The contest becomes even only because England are playing at home. The over hype for the series is sometimes hard to take. Yeah I agree that this is one of the oldest series in the history of the game but that doesn’t automatically make it a great series, does it? Since 1989 until 2005 both these teams have played 43 times and England has just won 7 and the Australians 28 with 8 drawn games.
The 2005 series was great and England played brilliantly to win a close series to claim the ashes almost after 2 decades. In spite of that it still remains 34-9 to the Aussies since 1989. The series was great prior to 1989 as the teams were close, the games were even, the head to head more close 87-86 to the Aussies but since then it has been one-sided. Even though this will remain as one of the oldest and historic series in the cricketing circles, it is hardly a great contest anymore. The English probably would like to believe that the entire world is waiting with bated breath for this contest but that’s not true.
Yes I agree that we do watch it and enjoy the series but same as any other contest. I think that the English always want to hold on to their history and would want to believe some things are more important to others than it actually is but that’s not the case with the ashes. The Ashes is equally important to the Australians but you will see that once the series is over they will start concentrating on their next assignment and you will not see any Aussie talking about the Ashes until they meet again for the trophy. The English though live for the series, so it seems. Once the series is over they keep thinking about the next one, meanwhile ignoring the series in between.
English media by talking all the time about the 2005 series is trying to make this current series bigger than it actually is. This series will be good but will never attain the greatness of the 2005 series as the Aussies are a young team and no matter what people say England an ordinary team. I will be following this series for sure but I don’t think that this particular series deserves the hype it has got.