Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category
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Hariyudan Naan elimination round has gotten me really confused. First of all let me explain the concept of the show from the round before the current elimination round. Hariharan judged the contestants and gave them different coloured badges according to their performance on that day. So according to color, green you were safe, yellow you needed improvement and red you are in the danger zone. So that wasn’t the issue for me as it was a straight forward exercise.
But the confusing part starts in the next round which is called the elimination round where anyone who performs badly on the day gets a red badge and gets eliminated. This happens even if you had green badge from the previous round. So why wasn’t this used as a yardstick in the previous round? I feel that this is really unfair to the contestants who got the green badge in the previous round. This means that people who received the red badge in the previous round get another chance to redeem themselves but the ones who did great in the previous round get eliminated based on just the one performance?
I am not sure who came up with the concept but this has lots of flaws in it. If the producers/organizers of the show decided to eliminate contestants getting the red badge then they should have followed that in the previous round and a natural progression would have been a better method. The concept should have been such that you cannot be eliminated unless you are in the yellow zone. Let me explain it more clearly. The singers who sing brilliantly according to the judges should be given green badge, the ones they think need improvement but were not that bad should get the yellow badge (which almost says that you can be eliminated if you don’t do well in the next round) and finally the people who get the red get eliminated.
So this way you cannot eliminate the people in the green zone just after one bad performance. They would have to get to the yellow zone first, get to prove themselves in one more round and then get eliminated if they don’t pull it off. This will make for much fairer judgment. Currently what the show is doing is ridiculous as they have given people with red another chance and have eliminated green after one bad performance. I hope that the producers take this to note as this does not make any sense to me. You cannot introduce the badge in one round and then change your policy in the next round.
- In: Ajith Kumar | Cricket and Sports | Formula 2 | General | Motorsport | Movies | Real Life | Sports
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Armaan was brilliant again in Monza as he achieved his first top 5 finish
It was a brilliant weekend for the Indian contingent at Monza this weekend when we had 2 top 10 finishes by Armaan and Parthiva respectively. Armaan Ebrahim who is currently at 7th in the overall standings was unlucky to crash out of the race one after starting 7th on the grid. He more than made up for that with a brilliant 5th place finish after being 16th on the grid after the qualifying. This was Armaan’s best performance in F2 till date and he is getting closer to the podium finish which we have been waiting for.
Ajith and Parthiva at the autograph session after their brilliant show in Monza
Parthiva Sureshwaran also had a brilliant race where he achieved his first top 10 finish in F2. His race 1 was little disappointing as he finished on 15th but made impressive run in the race two to get his first top 10 finish and thereby grabbing his first points for the season. He will surely want to build on this confidence to climb up the rungs and aim for consistent top 10 finishes for the remainder of the season.
For Ajith Kumar though this was a weekend of another consistent performance as he finished 14th and 15th in the race 1 and 2 respectively in Monza. Considering that he qualified at 21 in both the races this was a brilliant achievement by the Tamil movie superstar. Ajith will be proud of finishing ahead of Parthiva in race 1 who is a more experienced racer than the star himself. Ajith seemed extremely happy with his performance and said that he was really proud of what he has achieved this season in the formula two championships,
Speaking after the race Ajith said,
“I feel proud and privileged to race amongst some of the best drivers in the championship, especially our own country’s Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaran. I am thrilled to be racing on this excellent circuit in Monza, Italy and am happy that I have completed the race in 14th Position”
So a satisfying week for the Indian racers in F2 this weekend in Monza and this sets up the next race at Zolder brilliantly for the 3 of them. Let’s hope that we have another brilliant race at Zolder.
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Entertainment | General | Hariyudan Naan | Jaya TV | Movies | Music | Reality Show | Television
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Hariyudan Naan - Unique in concept, repetitive in execution
I started watching “Hariyudan Naan – Yaar andha Naan?” about couple of months back and it does come with a unique concept. This is yet another singing competition but with a difference in what the eventual winner or winners would get at the end of it. Hariharan himself would be mentoring the top 5 winners and few of them will be even singing in his album along with him. So the concept is good and is unique compared to the other shows across the country.
The other good thing about the show is Hariharan speaking to the contestants after each performance and giving them tips as to how they can overcome their flaws. That actually is a very good thing as it will be a great learning experience for budding singers from one of the greats of Indian music. Even though the show has lots of good things going for it the execution of the same is still following the dead beat formula. It seems like the aim of every talent hunt show in India is to stretch it as long as possible.
We saw the same with Airtel Super Singer and countless other talent shows on Indian television. It gets irritating for the audience when they are expecting the winners to be announced in a week or two and there props up a recall round or a wild card round thereby increasing the contestants. This show initially is following the same principle. 16 people eliminated from 50 odd contestants and then the eliminated contestants competing again for 5 spots. The reason given for such a decision was childish too. It seems like Hariharan and Jaya TV thought that the 16 eliminated contestants were good but had one off day, so they deserved another chance to get back into the competition.
If they are going to follow the same yardstick throughout the show then I see a lengthy one year competition with numerous recalls and wildcards. The positive aspect of the show is the way Hari Ji has been judging in the past couple of rounds and also the talent pool has been fantastic. If only they can avoid the minor glitches and give us a short and slick competition it has a potential of becoming a trendsetting show. The way Hariharan has been mentoring the kids has been fantastic and is really different from the other shows.
He has been crisp with his comments and has never come of rude with any of his negative comments either. My only disappointment in the earlier rounds of the show has been the judging panel of James Vasanthan, Tippu and Harini. I can understand them being forthright and honest with the contestants but making fun of them and laughing at them is not on. Every contestant there comes with a dream and most of them have never been in front an audience before leave alone the camera and television.
People react differently to pressure and sometimes even the best talents have off days so the judges should be mindful of that fact. You can provide your critique to the contestants without being rude which they can learn from Hari Ji himself. So James the hate mails are not because you have been calling “Spade a Spade” but it’s because the way you have been calling it.
Well that being said the competition has been fierce and the top 40 contestants have been really good. Hariharan taking over the judging has brought a new lease of life for the show as the initial judges were too full of themselves. That’s the reason he is a legend. All in all a great show and I hope that they iron out the few flaws and make this a short and sweet competition.
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Entertainment | General | Movies | Music | Reality Show | Star Vijay | Television
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Airtel Super Singer season 3 auditions to begin soon
With the Airtel super singer juniors coming to a conclusion very soon, Vijay TV has announced that the Airtel Super Singer 3 would be beginning very shortly. Srinivas and Unnikrishnan made a special appearance on the juniors set couple of weeks back to announce that the auditions will begin soon. This is indeed great news for the Super Singer followers. It has been a year since Ajeesh was crowned as the super singer in 2009 and he has already lent his voice for a Yuvan Shankar Raja composition.
I am very eagerly waiting for the season to begin as I did not follow the Airtel super singer junior at all for the past one year and I feel there isn’t many talent shows as good as the super singer. I hope that we see great talent this year too.
Ajith Kumar's decision to take a break from movies to concentrate on racing is a bold move
Actor Ajith Kumar recently decided to pursue his dream of racing and is currently participating in the Formula two world championship. He declared that he is going to take racing little bit more seriously starting this year. Well to be frank that’s a bold decision. We all know that he tried his hand few years back and met with some success in the same but was back with the movies after that. I was reading some comments by few readers on a popular website who were ridiculing his decision and wishing him a failure in his endeavor. This shows how grown up these people are. It’s easy to sit in front of a computer and type away on your keyboard and criticize someone’s effort to be different.
All of us know that moving out of your comfort zone is not that easy. Ajith Kumar is a super star in Tamil cinema. He has his own fan following and supporters. He is a big name in the industry, so it would have been easier for him just sit back and go through the motions like most of us do in our respective fields. But he has decided to be different and is following his passion for racing. How many of us have the guts to do the same? How many of us have the courage to come out of our cozy jobs to follow our interests and passion? The answer would be a grand zero.
But we will make fun of someone who does, as it’s easier to criticize somebody who dares to be different. We have certain happiness in declaring someone a failure without even appreciating the effort that individual has put in. We have been taught from our childhood that if someone doesn’t win in something he is a failure and we grandly follow that yardstick in every field. As far as I am concerned there are few things which go beyond success and winning.
Harsha Bhogle, one of the best sports presenters in the world was a graduate from the reputed Indian Institute of Management. He did not end up in a stereotypical management job as most of the guys doing MBA end up in; instead he followed his passion with sports journalism and presenting. He loved cricket and he followed his interests.
Not a lot of us get to follow our dreams and interests. We are stuck in a typical 9-5 job, uninterested but keep doing it for the sake of our family. When someone dares to be different, we need not encourage them but can be without ridiculing their efforts. Ajith is just an example I took to drive home the point. Anyone who can leave their comfort zone has to be extremely courageous. Ajith surely is doing that right now.
Congrats to him for following his dream and hope that he has a wonderful season in Formula two this year.
Ajith back on (Race) track
Posted on: March 31, 2010
- In: Ajith Kumar | Cricket and Sports | Entertainment | Formula 2 | Formula one | General | Motorsport | Movies | Real Life | Sports
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Tamil Superstar Ajith Kumar (Thalai) to race in Formula 2 this year
Ajith has decided to give his passion of racing another go as he is competing in Formula 2 championship this year. We all know Ajith’s immense love for motorsports and Karun Chandhok’s entry to Formula 1 has inspired our “Thalai” to give his racing career another chance. Ajith though quickly dismissed any intentions of him trying for formula 1 and is much happier to be racing in Formula 2 right now.
He also says on his exclusive interview with Rediff that he is going to take racing career seriously this time. He said that he is going to concentrate on racing for the majority of this year and has plans to do just one movie with Gautham Menon later this year. Ajith has already raced in Formula Asia and Formula 3 before and he also had couple of podium finishes in the competitive British F3 championship.
Ajith was thrilled about his prospects with Formula two this season,
“I am really excited about racing in F2. I have a great regard for Jonathan Palmer – thanks to him and his efforts Formula Two is the next best thing to F1. Coming from India with a population of 2 billion, I want to take motor racing in this country to the common man. Right now, it is still a niche sport largely popular in the urban areas. Given my profile as a film star, I hope to use my status to popularise the sport in India.” he said
So best of luck to Ajith and I hope that he has a great season. It will be great to see our “Thalai” get couple of podium finishes this year.
You can follow Ajith’s progress this season at official formula 2 site. You can also get more information about his racing career at Ajith Kumar profile on the same website.
Ajeesh and Airtel Super Singer
Posted on: March 3, 2010
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Cricket | Entertainment | General | General Lunch Time talk | Movies | Music | Real Life | Reality Show | Star Vijay | Television
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Ajeesh enjoys most viewership on my blog
I started blogging about 5 years back but not until I started writing about Airtel Super singer and Ajeesh did my blog receive overwhelming viewership. During my initial days of blogging my views were limited to sports and occasional write-ups about movies but when I started watching Airtel Super Singer in 2008 I decided to write about the same.
Only when I started posting my views on the show I realized that I was not the only one who loved Airtel Super Singer. It’s amazing to see the kind of fan following Ajeesh enjoys after his victory in Airtel super singer 2008. Even after one year since his victory, Ajeesh still enjoys the most viewership on my blog. Any posts related to Ajeesh still enjoy most comments and most views on my blog which is quite extraordinary. His first song in the movie Goa seems to have had a brilliant response by his fans.
I write about Sachin Tendulkar, Roger Federer, Rajinikanth etc, but none of them receive the same sort of response on my blog as Ajeesh does. I wish Ajeesh who happens to be my favorite as well a very bright future.
My Name is Khan is different
Posted on: March 1, 2010
- In: Bollywood | Entertainment | General | General Lunch Time talk | Languages and Politics | Movies | Music | Real Life | Television | Terrorism
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My Name is Khan was a good effort from Karan Johar
After the hype generated for “My Name is Khan” by the Shiv-Sena threat and SRK himself after he got detained at the Chicago airport for questioning, I thought to myself what could be so different about a Karan Johar movie? But after watching the movie yesterday I was pleasantly surprised. I never liked Karan Johar type of movie making. His movies are monotonous and his hero worship of Shahrukh Khan often gets on my nerves.
This movie though was completely different from his other efforts in the past. The movie is heavily inspired by “The Rain man” where Dustin Hoffman had played the role of a person suffering from Autism brilliantly. Shahrukh has copied the mannerisms of Dustin Hoffman to perfection and also speaks and behaves exactly like Raymond (Name of the character Hoffman plays) of Rain Man. His repeating of some sentences, avoiding eye contact and also the way he walks are heavily inspired by Dustin Hoffman.
Even though MNIK (My Name is Khan) also has a Tom Cruise sort of brother for Shahrukh’s character, but the similarity ends there. This movie is mostly based on the 9/11 tragedy and one man’s endeavor to meet the president of United States to say “My Name is Khan and I am not a terrorist”. So this movie is about an Autistic Muslim man (Shahrukh Khan) who wants starts off in search of the president of USA after his step son’s death.
The movie on its own was very good and the lead actors performance was very nice. Jimmy Shergil as Shahrukh’s brother was absolutely wasted in a role which seems to have been created just to get the protagonist to US. Shahrukh as Rizwan Khan was absolutely brilliant and has carried off his role with élan. Kajol though doing a good job, has played a character which she has done before on numerous occasions in Karan Johar movies.
The others in the movie are just adequate and do their roles as required. Karan Johar as a movie maker has surely made me change my opinion about his capabilities and I hope that this marks a turning point in his career. Shahrukh also has gotten away from his stereotypes and has tried something different which he had not done since Swades. Overall MNIK is a great effort. Even though the movie suffers from certain clichés associated with Indian cinema, the overall message doesn’t get lost in the same.
I never thought I would ever say this about a Karan Johar movie but I definitely liked this one and I hope that this is his foray into meaningful cinema.
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Couple of days back there was a news flash which said actor Raghuvaran is no more. I was shocked at the news as there were no indication of his bad health. He was a fine actor with a wide variety of roles in Tamil cinema especially.
His best work includes movies like Puriyatha Puthir, Baasha, Mughavari, Run etc. He had his own style of acting and brought believability to the roles he played. Who can forget the role of a suspicious husband in Puriyatha Puthir or the Mark Anthony of Baasha. Whatever may be the character he played he always brought great value to the roles with his unique stlye of acting and dialogue delivery. His role as Madhavan’s brother-in-law in Run showed that he had great comic timing too and is one of my favorites of his performances.
He was and will remain one of the most versatile character artist in Tamil Cinema. He will be missed for sure.
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