!!!!!!!!Raavanan Finally

This could be pretty outdated a note, for the subject matter of the review released few months back and there has been umpteen number of relevant reviews on the same. Putting my version of it in black and white now, as i have always liked making myself heard!!!!



Despite the "making myself heard" factor, what prompts me is the fact that i i could accept the movie the way it was even if it dint bring in goosebumbs or the awe feel:) Well, i do agree that i had taken out the "manirathnam" factor and "movie of the decade" tags out of ma conscious for those couple of hours.



Story line to start with, the one heard as the "epic" since childhood. Recorded in the brain as the ancestor of all stories!!!!!!Hardly did my grey matter make an attempt to grade it good or bad. Koodos to grandma- who narrated the story to me- i had the "good Raavan" and that of the "bad" versions in my resolves. Quiet naturally, as in my case, i admired Raavan than Rama.....Well its vivid from my depiction of names that i had the basic story strongly suporting the craft:)



I do consider it good conviction on the part of the team( not to cal by writer, director, what so ever..) to have brought in the thread and woven a film of this kind. I think its redundant to be commenting that such a broad canvas was unnecessary, if so no one who watched the malayalam version of Devdas would have accepted the Sanjay Leela Bhasali's version of devdas. Experiments if advented, need not be necessarily on script,could be accepted, according to me:)

Cast of the movie did make it appealing:) Pritviraj was simply good and just had to put in his acting talents to suffice the role. Vikram, is versatile, beyond doubt.And that was pretty much shown again. I cannot join the faculty who says Aish has nothing in her, and i belong to the school that a beautiful actress with talent(a little atleast!!!) can support a male dominant cinema.



Cinematography was praised beyond limits and i dont have much to add on. I am one among many who holds a secret pride on the fact that Santhosh Shivan is a malayali!!!!!!Too ametuer to be commenting on Editing and the rest of the details...





On the contrary, i would also add on that i seriously dont complain about the "many" who said manirathram disappointed them:( I had conveniently placed him out of the canvas that i could write the above part of ma note. Had I placed him before, i would have said that it couldnt give me a feel which "Kannathil..." or "Bombay" transcended.

Neverthless, I guess, Raavanan was an OK one time watch if the movie comes to you and not the other way round!!!(I mean u dying in the queue for the tickets on the first day first show)

The "power" devoid welfare state

Back after a tiring day at office, i was greeted into the airconditioned car. Jiju, little Adi and Chandini had by then comforted themselves in the car. Adi had a burger, his evening snack. There was no way this evening he could sit naked on the cozy sofa with a tin of Milk bikies-his favourite- and a steaming glass of tea and enjoy the series in Asianet, Autograph.
Well, this is not a typical day in ma place of stay(Sharjah). But a typical evening in the "power" devoid welfare state Sharjah.
As always i dont want to probe into the details of "why" the power failure, as am not one among those RJ's who have promised the umpteen number of listners to let them know the reason. Tired i am listening to this complaints on the trip up and down. And after all what sense does it make to know the why, unless u can restore the power back and help out the lakhs of families who r in trouble.
My concern is on a different dimension. And indeed, orienting myself to the pleasures i had in the 'darkness'.
The last time power failed in Sharjah this year, i wrote
"They complained when he played hide and seek, but i dint, for i loved the nostalgia created with the smell of burning candle and the whispers of paper fan" . Agreeing to the fact that there was sarcasm involved, i was really loving it for a few factors.It was around nine at night and we were sure that the power would be restored in a couple of hours. The summer wasnt showing all its might and we could comfortably stand in the verandah. Adithya dragged a chair to the verandah and loyal to his Pappa, gave place to his dada and landed safe on his lap. Me and Sis were not allowed to stand der and comment on the people standing down.It was supposed to be 'boys' place, and we were girls. Jiju den spots his Paint canvas stand lying der which is untouched for months long. I felt happy that he recalled the magic his fingers are bestowed with. Chandini suggestes that it was killing space and got to be removed at the earliest. A small fight followed. But the ambience was too nostalgic that we dint stick on to it for long. We recollected those memories at home when power cuts used to be common, and we used to celebrate it with anthakshari. Idle until then , i used to sit down with a book claiming the kerosene lamp, sooner the power fails.Fun days.....
While we enjoyed Chapati and Dal in the dim candle light, i was equipped with the former statement as status msg for ma Facebook profile.

The time has changed and the summer is at its best now.Dispossesion, i saw, in a new style in the welfare city. Walking down the dreary dark steps- not suited to meet a power crisis anytime- people moved directionless. And i gazed,with lesser panic, thinking in 10 days time i would play anthakshari again under the splendid sky with the kerosene lamp on.....

(Adithya ..the "small big" teacher
( Friday, April 30, 2010 at 12:56pm
I lay on my cozy couch this morning enjoying and internalising The Motor Cycle Diaries, the one work i wanted to read for long. Unlike most times, i had my old Oxford Dictionary- the 1988 model paper back one which Dr.Patricia gifted Pappa-to supplement my reading . The one which travelled all the way from London to Muscut, then to India, comforted itself in ma book shelf at home then at my hostel and finally adorned my small book space here in UAE. He was my companion ever since I learned the alphabet. I still remember the excitement of finding a word for the first time for myself, and know what, the word was potato.ha ha ..Adi kept bothering me for reading on a bright day when i was supposed to play cricket with him. I comfortably ignored him. He wasnt ready to spare me.And what disturbed him more was that i had two books with me at the same time. The Question was sudden, why do u read two at a time?. And I replied, that I was referring the second one for meaning of words. He related them in the best ever way i had ever heard. "Is he friend of the first one?" I could do nothing but nod my head in acceptance of his realisation.He was amazing with that. And I learn from this little teacher that my dictionary is not only a companion to me and my word strength but a friend for all books and written words...One great lesson from a 5 year old.....Thanks Adi.....

A BIGMAC COMBO MEAL

Preface: A part of what follows was narrated to me. I understood what the protagonist in the malayalam movie, "Kadhavaseshan" might have felt when he killed himself "in the shame of being alive". An ametuer scribbler, like me, could articulate myself in this way as i dint want plagiarism to come in the way.

“Mc Donald’s corporation, one of world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, "serving nearly 47 million customers daily. Head quartered at…..” I blabbered at supersonic speed trying to reveal my proficiency on Wikipedia pages as Siddharth pulled me towards a McDonalds counter at a food court in Ibn Batuta. “Not Again” he said complaining about the boring lectures I gave him the previous evening at the ‘Starbucks’ on their strategy. He even doubted if I was in love with Howard Schultz. Not new to him, I have been acting this way as I just graduated a few days ago, and I never left an opportunity to irritate him with my management fundas. “One big mac combo meal, and what about you?” the question was to me. “One big mac combo meal” I repeated. An infrequent visitor to Mc Donalds, I wasn’t familiar with their menu. But this one, big mac combo meal, strode over my memory. I was lost in my thoughts by then and I heard Sidd vaguely, when he said that handsome youngman at the counter, to make it two. Sidd cant beat me on anything but blabbering. He was super excited that Friday as he was back jus the other day after his first ever European trip. And I was the victim for those stories about Glasgow. It was a kind of test on my patience as my ego dint let him win over me on talkativeness. One big mac combo meal, that kept my lips locked. I now recall, she ordered for a big mac combo meal that day. Siddharth scored over me as he went on and on collecting the meal and then at the table, a tide of memories washed my conscious. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. It was the monsoon of 2007. I had made a visit to that city of India, The city of dreams. The city whose spirit never dies. On a solitary exploration of Colaba, I had a jute bag, flat chappals , a glass which I felt made me look like a writer. I loved moving around in such disguise. Mc Donald’s was my last option for a meeting. But my friend, the SLt, under Training then, felt it was the most comfortable place for us to catch up. Give it a try, I felt, for I have always chosen book shops and beaches. Late as always, he joined me after 10 minutes of the scheduled time. Enjoying the burger that he ordered for us, he said: “ Paru, imagine, what if we were sitting like this at a coffee bar in our place?” I just smiled at him, trying to take the first bite of my burger. I spilt a little of mayonnaise on my dress. He was aquianted with the city for the last two years and had a lot to tel me about Mumbai. From the westernization to the so called modern ladies, from dharavi to the brothals, from the floods to the dry summer . “One bigmac Combo meal”, I turned back hearing a loud yet kiddish voice. I was taken aback with the attire of the girl that I saw there. A little girl in her early teens. Her hair unwashed and badly plaited. She wore a frock, a dark red one which was improperly zipped. An overheeled platform sandals. And makeup overdone which gave her an elderly look. I gave a puzzled look to Arun. “This is Mumbai”, he said as an answer to my puzzled look. I kept gazing at the little girl and to my convenience she came with her meal and placed herself comfortably opposite to me. As she started enjoying her burger, I noticed her untidy nails with nailcolours. She managed to finish it off pretty fast without spilling anything or licking her fingers. I knew she was used to it. “How can she afford it, and how often can she? It looks as if she is trained to have it and that she is a frequent visitor” my words broke and I have by then spilt the second drop of mayonnaise. “The ‘Bride of the town’, Nagaravadhu ” he said. “And the means of payoff have changed Paro” he completed to make it clear to me. The woman in me felt ashamed of being alive to a see a rather kid transform to a whore. I doubt she has even reached her puberty. An uneasiness crept in me. “This is life to many” he added as he wiped off the mayonnaise on my dress. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. “The Thousand Island dressing”, its just divine!!! Sidd said as he finished his Bigmac Combo meal and pointed out at the spilt over mayonnaise on my dress. My fingers loosened to leave the burger. “A bigmac combo meal”, her voice continued to reverberate.

Earth is round

Oasis do exist

Surprises make our lives complete

And Love is in every corner of the world….

Well, this may not make any sense to many. But describes a lot about how life turned to me positively from an internal conflict between need for existence and love for my interests. From an amazing spell of learning and more importantly orienting myself to lead a happy living I was brought to a terrain of hard living with the reality. May be days and hours of understanding what life really mean to many. From where I described me super adjustable, I started to doubt if I could really adjust. From where I described me strong and bold, moments of helpless feel. Thanks to the tears which ran down my cheeks, for I was ashamed of myself that I overcame.

Despair no more exist, for I really mean what I said at start.

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Months later when I get back to completing the note, I feel I should I should correct a few of the above phrases. But I am not doing it as I am certain that there is always a second oasis. And I feel that optimism is what keeps us all going inspite of setbacks and unpleasant surprises. But we really get to know who stand by you and who cares for you. This was a short span where I came to know how blessed I am to have parents like mine and friends like those of mine.

Might sound as if I have descended from a fantasy world of unrealistic dreams and is now feeling my foot on earth. I would say its not so. I was and is very pragmatic in my approach towards everything. But some dreams are too beautiful to ignore.

This has no conclusion as I donno how to…