Urban Guru

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This is Major Tom to ground control...

First, some relevant gyaan - never watch a Rajnikant movie any later than 2 days after its release!! Failure to comply will result in the movie being totally spoiled for you by everyone from your office colleage to the neighbourhood "kaigari-kaaran". Luckily, the suspense part of Chandramukhi is not the "point".


So, I finally watched my first Rajni movie in a theater, yesterday. And while I already knew how it would end, I totally enjoyed the experience. Although the theater crowd itself was surprisingly well-behaved for a thalaivar movie, the entertainment-factor was at an all-time high!

We havent had a tamil "haunted-house" movie in a long time!! And although I knew this wasnt a horror movie, I still hoped that the movie would shell out a couple of chills - it delivered...AND HOW!!!

• FREAKY FINAL ACT. The last 15 mins of the movie are pretty damn creepy! The beginning of the song where she sings "Ra Ra" is going to give me sleepless nights for some time now!


• PLEASANTLY FUNNY. There were a lot of funny moments throughout the movie - most notably the homage to Nagesh's "ghost" bit in "Kadhallika Naeramillai". And while they didn't make me ROFL, like the 2 scenes in Mumbai Express... they WERE chuckle-worthy.


• BEST RAJNI INTRO EVER? IMHO... no. I'm partial to the rain fight at the start of Dalapathi.


• CROWDED HOUSE. There were WAY too many people on screen for many of the scenes! Minor point, but I found it pointless and distracting. Many unwanted characters, and it felt a little like a Tamil "mega-thodar" with 10,000 people vying for the camera's attention.


• THE SONGS. They're really not as bad as some of the reviews I've read and heard. I don't understand why people hate it so much.


• MALAYALAM VERSION CREEPIER?? Man, if that is true I'm definitely checking it out!! I think we've established that I am something of a horror movie buff, and I'm glad that they got someone like Rajni to act in a "genre" pic. Yes, this is NOT your conventional Thalaivar movie! And it works!


• SOMEONE MAKE ME THAT PINK KITE, PLEASE! If I manage to get my hands on one of those kites with the yellow heart and the dagger through it, I'm hanging it up on my wall!!


• SIMRAN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THIS????? Oh man!!!! Why oh why did she pull out?? That would have rocked !!

The bottom-line is this: Chandramukhi is not a "novel" concept by any stretch of the imagination - the whole "ghost" story funda is a part of our very culture! But, its a refreshing change from the 1001 romantic movies that flood our theaters these days. I only wish they had stuck with the "possession" concept, instead of playing the "schizo"-card, which, in the words of Charlie Kauffman is "The only idea more overused than serial killers...". My guess is that they felt MPD is a more "realistic" idea than "GhostS"...but hey, if they think Rajni can pass off as a 30-something young doctor, then we can safely state that they have sailed FAR away from the shores of realism. Oh, and if you feel I have ruined the plot for you, you will soon realise (like I did) that that is NOT the point. All said and done, Chandramukhi is a highly entertaining movie and you will definitely get your money's worth. Rajni has proved yet again that he is here to stay for many years to come, and for his future ventures I wish him the very best of Luck-a-luck-a-luck-a-luck-a-luck-a. (3.5 out of 5)

This summer has been something of an enlightening experience, at least as far as Music goes. I've always considered myself to be an above average movie buff, and used to be a huge music fan. But with the music channels going to the dark side, and hip-hop replacing what little music was left in music, I think I can safely say that I haven't been "with it" for a long time now.

Until I discovered The Shins.



I first heard them on the soundtrack to the awesome Indie flick Garden State and was completely blown away. Soon after, a friend of mine recommended that I check out another similar band called Neutral Milk Hotel. Once I got over the ridiculous name, and listened to them...I found a band that was probably every bit as good as The Shins. A week later I came across a dozen bands with the same awesome sound, and realized that I had just stumbled upon a whole new type of music - Indie Rock!

Indie rock is just another "alternative rock" ... but what sets them apart is how they defy the traditional "genre" classification of music. They can be VERY "pop"-y at times and sometimes rely on a LOT of synthesizers. But thats not necessarily a bad thing. Not in this case at least. The music sounds like the kind that plays in your head when you're driving past a lonely stretch of road with just a handful of trees flanking the road on either side. Its the kind of music that you think would feature on the "original soundtrack" of the movie version of your life. In short, this stuff will make you want to cry... and sometimes it gets so beautiful, you just want to die. (yes, you may picture that plastic bag flying around in the wind)

But a word for the wise: Indie aint for everyone! (heck, it wouldn't be fun if there were't at least SOME elitism involved!) If you like Coldplay, Travis and Radiohead, there's a good chance that you'll enjoy the sounds. But if you think "In Da Club" is the greatest thing since sliced bread, you wont find happiness here.

The rest of you... trust me, this WILL change your lives!

Check out: The Shins, Badly Drawn Boy, The Postal Service, Death Cab For Cutie, The Flaming Lips, Neutral Milk Hotel

First, the traditional "suck-up" part where i explain at great length how I have always been a huge Kamal Hassan fan and how I have always admired his innovation and "out-of-the-reel" type of film-making. And as you read this part, you realise that I am a Kamal Hassan fan who has been sorely disappointed by his latest offering - Mumbai Express.

So lets just pretend that I have said all of those things

Just like Kamal likes to pretend that he has made a good movie.

Ok, I'm gonna keep this REAL short (considering people of our generation have the attention span of a goldfish... AND since my FULL reviews will appear on another site anyways) so I'll cut to the proverbial chase:

• The movie is HILARIOUS for all of 20 minutes of screen time. The remaining 5 hours and 34 minutes (cuz it really did feel that long) are so stupid, that you wont believe that this is the same Kamal Hassan who gave us Nayagan, Mahanadhi... and those awesome laugh-riots MMKR and Kadhala Kadhala


• Kamal needs an intensive course on how to shoot using digital media... i've seen home videos that have better picture quality than MXpress. ("The screenplay is very bad da machan!!") Learn from this guy


• Pasupathy is an awesome actor and should not be wasted in stuff like this!!!


• Ditto Nasser.


• Ramesh Arvind looks absolutely hilarious!! One of the few good things this movie had going for itself.


• What is with the airplanes flying by every 20 seconds... ok, so they're near the airport, I GET IT... can we get on with the movie now?


• A movie does not always NEED mummy-daddy sentiment...what it DOES need, is a coherent plot. A sexy dance by Jessica Alba never hurt anyone either


• Manisha Koirala still looks gorgeous as ever! But its probably not the best idea to close up on her face when someone is holding her neck thereby highlighting her neck-cellulite (double-chin fetishers may take note)

Now that i have spoken my peace, let me also say that MXpress is a decent crime-caper comedy for the brain dead. The phrase "leave your brain at the door" with respect to Indian cinema these days pretty much sums up the ideal way to enjoy them. But in this case, make sure your brain is locked away safely in your freezer and fitted with 2 layers of the best mithril money can buy... and you may just enjoy this movie. (2.5 out of 5)

Wow... its been almost a year since my last post. Now I know what Halleys Comet must feel like when it passes by the Earth. Sigh.... its an interesting feeling. Oh well, a lot has changed in this past year. For one thing I dont say "Ta" anymore when I want to say bye(look at the post some 5 inches below this one!). Oh and I am now one of the biggest Pulp Fiction fans around (I think when I first started this blog, I wasnt very impressed with it... I've wisened up since then.) So, ya... things have changed.

Lets see how long I keep it up this time. I'm taking bets.

So here's to a renewed blogging life.

The ULTIMATE watch-with-"the gang"-movie!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen... i give you.. JACKASS!


Oh man! Last night was the second time I watched this movie... and i STILL laughed my fuckin ass off!!! Seriously, this movie is the most revolting, disgusting, insane..and ultimately hilarious thing ever to be put on film! If you ever had doubts about the sheer idiocy of the Yanks - look no further than this movie! Calling it a movie itself is stretching the term - it should absoultely not be considered even remotely in the league of "motion pictures" like Casablanca or even Pulp Fiction. No sir.. this is just a collection of the stupid things that people do when they're either:

a) sky-high
b) piss-drunk
c) dead-broke
d) American

What does all that translate to?? - One hilarious movie to watch with friends over. People around me were like: "Is that guy a fucking idiot?" Ha ha!! Watch this movie, people - might touch you in some deeply philosophical way.... NOT!!!!

Huh?

Found this on the Orkut website:

Join orkut to expand the circumference of your social circle.

Did someone actually think this was a smart caption to advertise their portal. LMFAO!! Priceless... the kind of stuff u expect an SVCE guy to say!

Anyways, checked out this French restaurant in Alwarpet - Le Madeline. Classy place (read expensive as a mother#$@#$!) nice ambience (read dim lights and Beatles music) and Dosai with Ice-Cream (ok so they call it Creppes.. but its just a glorified Dosai with ice-cream... its not half bad though!) So if u wanna impress ur gal and/or shed a few pounds off ur wallet... this is the place to go to! Its somewhere in Poes Garden.. parallel to Tangerine.

more coming soon. catch u boys and gals later.
Ta!