Its midnight on Sunday and I am just back from watching Dasaavatharam a second time. A hundred questions and answers running though my mind, I just had to write all this down before I forget it.

1. What is the basic premise of the movie?

If you believe too much in something you will die due to that something. This concept is illustrated through characters dying: Rangaraja Nambi (dies after refusing to convert to Saivism), Vincent Boovaraghan (believes in universal brotherhood and saving the planet, dies saving an enemy’s kid in a planet-caused tsunami).

2. Why are the effects so cheesy?

Ignore the effects, lok at Kamal’s amazing body language for each character. That alone is worth the price of entry.

3. Is this movie ‘inspired’ by any other?

Kamal takes inspiration from all over the world, this cannot be dnied. It makes him a better filmmaker. The screenplay concept seems to have been lifted straight from Syriana and Crash, with disparate events being connected slowly, but the execution is authentic Kamal.

4. Why so many avatars when 4-5 would have been enough? And he could have just played Mamohan Singh as well, couldnt he?

No choice, my dears. 4 he has already done in MMKR. Naming a movie with 5,6,7 or 8 characters would have been a nightmare ( Try Anjaanenjan, Aarumthinai, Ezhaavthu Naal, Ettu Podu, horribe aint they?). Nine has already been done by the Nadigar Thilagam. 10 makes a lot of sense. It enables a period piece in the movie, it clearly conveys how many roles are there in the movie, its the highest number of characters played by one guy in one movie ever, its perfect! And if he had played Manmohan Singh as well, it would have been 11, not doable!

5. So does Kamal believe in god or not?

In his own words - ‘Kadavul Illai nu naan epo sonneyn? Irundhaa nalla Irukum nu dhaan sonneyn’

6. Why does he have to thrust his so called ‘message’ into this nice movie?

If there was no message, this movie wouldnt have been so nice sir! When Kamal says chauchaalayam is also an alayam, or when he questions the sanity of god for having used a tsunami to save Chennai from the virus, he makes us think, he makes us wonder. His questions are not mere rhetoric, they are voiced by a person who thinks about these concepts (god, religion, belief) a lot. And manages to convey his opinions about these concepts in a coherent manner, with a lot of humor and masala.

7. Why did it have to be KS Ravikumar?

I agree, it is a Shankar size project and would have benefitted from an expert hand like hm. But the issues are not the same. There is no ’shortcut to social development’ concept (Indian, Gentleman, Anniyan) being handled here. A lot of world issues are discussed, but no opinion is given, no solutions sugested. Shankar wouldnt have been comfortable with the treatment of the subject. K S Ravikumar is the best vehicle for this kind of message. Like a train full of masala taking some mineral water to thirsty minds worldwide. Sale of masala benefits the seller. While the sender of the mineral water is satisfied at having quenched the knowledge-thirst of many people.

8. There are too many logical incosistencies throughout the movie. Like Avtaar cured by the bullet and the Japanese Kamal knowing where exactly to come, to fight Chris Fletcher Kamal and many others.

Again, its a K S Ravikumar movie my dears, ignore the flaws.. Have fun!

9. Chris Fletcher Kamal looks very familiar. Where have I seen him before?

Michael Westmore seems to have modeled this one on Duke Nukem and Terminator. The resemblance to Duke is uncanny

10. Chris Fletcher Kamal says in one scene ‘You talking to me?’. 3-4 people in the audience reacted strongly to this line as soon as it was spoken, why?

Because it reveals one of Kamal’s influences. ‘You talkin to me?’ is an immortal line spoken by Robert De iro in the Academy Award Winner movie Taxi Driver. Kamal is simply payng tribute to De Niro.

I am going to stop with that, in keeping with the 10 theme. But as a diehard fan, what I felt is this.

I place Dasaavatharam, Hey Ram and Aalavandhaan on the same level of Indian cinema. They are not among the stars of world cinema firmament, but they are somewhere high up, in between the usual Indian masala fare and quality word cinema. The only difference is -

In Hey Ram and Aalavandhaan, Kamal was looking up to the stars. In Dasaavatharam, he is looking down into the gutter.

Yes, yet another enigmatic and stupid title!

It feels like  havent blogged in years, (months in actuality). With work pressures building up and no one to encourage me to write except myself, it has been a struggle to come back to the olde blog and put words into text box again.

Its a glorious Sunday morning, I woke up at 9. I always wake up at 9 nowadays, no matter how early I go to sleep or how late, always wake up at 9 AM. Of cours, there’s an alarm at 6. But I keep imagining it as a bell tolling while Kumbhakarna sleeps.

Brushed my teeth, drank the coffee. Where did we get this love for coffee? Not from the British certainly. Why does the north drink tea, while south swears by coffee? Coffee reminds me of the episode in How I Met Your Mother where Lily disposes of ol’ Shocky, the coffee maker whch gives Ted a shock every morning along with hot coffee. We stick on to certain articles, certain routines, certain people in life. These are the comforters of our life. They soften the passage of time. Time may be a great healer, but like tincture, it burns at first and soothes later.

Time. Its the stangest thing. Time moves without moving. Time makes things happen wthout doing. Time creates worlds, destroys them, and creates them again. Time is omnipotent! Almost feels like Time is God. I havent decided if God exists, but Time seems like a particularly good candidate.

I am sure, by now, you must be wondering why I am rambling away so much. Whats the point of the post? Whats the theme?

I am not sure this post has a theme. Its just words tumbling out of the mind of a guy in his late twenties, who’s fallen into a rut and can feel time go by without purpose.

So, you might ask, what are you gonna do about it old man?

I am going to a Blogger’s Meet.

Its not the sanest thing to do, but its all ‘ve got between me and a crash n burn on the freeway (i dont know of the Indian equivalent, even though I’ve never set foot outside of this lovely country)

When you’re down and all your friends are busy

When you have an entire weekend to party, but no one to share it with

When you want some company, but there is no one in town..

Go shopping! Take it from someone who’s tried it, it works! One Levi’s jeans, 3 books, and a trip around pondy bazaar later, i’ve become a happy proponent of Retail Therapy. Its the cheapest option compared to all the other solutions to the problem stated above. See you at the mall..

Unakkena Naan..

Yes, its a ripoff of Unfaithful. But that magical, strong, heart tugging female voice gave me goosebumps the first time i heard it. Another time, I just broke down and cried.

I dont care about the 8.5 months ahead, this one wins my Song Of The Year award.

Ah, I love it when the reader wonders what the title means. Makes people get off their ass and click through to the post in entirety.

So what indeed is the movie fish?

Many people are bitten by various bugs.

The photography bug (no Badri, you have rabies after being bitten by the photography dog :D), the western music bug (Vasu, both your guitars are gathering dust), the travel bug (not the Voyages or Discovery Travel &Living version) etc etc.

For me it was the movie bug. I watched movies like crazy till last year. Any language, any genre, anything that had moving pictures and sound was watchable.

(Reader: What the fcuk happened to the fish bro?)

Ok ok.. Since the new year, I havent watched a single movie. Not one. Zero. Zilch. The movie fish isnt biting. Am I to wait patiently like an angler? Or use the fevikwik (onnu, rendu, moonu,naalu, anju, hehehehehehe)? Its not that I have lost interest or gotten bored. I just stopped. For no reason whatsoever. It feels weird! But I dont feel like watching any movie. Hope my weight comes down because of this. I used to eat a lot of flavored butter popcon at Satyam..

Anyone out there who can drag me to a movie or two and break my untaken new year’s resolution?

And other hilarious gems can be found in the subtitles of this song..

dont mind the poliz maami interludes.. 

image courtesy xkcd

I watched this movie about 10 days ago. Wrote it off as reactionary bullshit. Now I’ve changed my mind.

 The first thing that strikes you about the movie is the simple way Nishikant drags you into Sridhar Vasudevan’s life. In under a minute, you are as bored, as tied down to routine, as hopelessly middle class as the protagonist. Vatsala is so typical, so blatantly real, I can see my mom mouthing the same lines 10 years ago (of course, I didnt fail in three subjects).

Yes, like any other creator, Nishikant takes a lot of liberties with his characters, giving them extreme reactions to mundane things, that make people like me shudder to contemplate. But do these extreme steps serve their purpose? Does Nishikant drive home his message?

 Oh, is there a message, you ask. Good question! My best answer to that is, maybe there is. For me, Evano Oruvan just raised  a hell a lot of questions and provided no answers, except of course, the easiest one.

Is the answer to life’s scary questions that simple? Is it, as Sridhar tells the street artist, just greed?

The character of Inspector Vetrimaran is a personification of our conscience. He questions his own actions, then proceeds to tow the line and obey society’s rules. For me, the most powerful scene in the movie was the one where he asks his wife, ‘Do you think it is possible for us to live honestly and comfortably using the salary I get?’. She laughingly says ‘I dont think so..’

Ah yes, back to the topic. Does Nishikant drive home the message? I didnt get the message. Didnt understand. I can understand the protagonist of Katradhu Tamizh going berserk due to the perceived unfair treatment he receives. I cannot digest a bank employee doing the same thing. Maybe thats Nishikant’s message? Maybe he is trying to say, ‘listen society, if white collar people start becoming vigilantes, we will descend into anarchy’. No, that doesnt seem to be his message.

Ok so I wasnt able to glean a message from the movie. But I wasnt able to enjoy it either. We’ve seen too many vigilante movies for us to enjoy this kinda deglamorised flick.

Evano Oruvan = Anniyan minus Shankar

Ok, you say, no message, no fun, whats the point of the movie then? The point of the movie, gentle reader, is to raise questions. A lot of them. Answers are your problem!

Go find out what the questions of life are, watch Evano Oruvan.

No, the answer is not 42!

I found this map on my friend Fever’s blog

The list can be found here

Thats right, we are at the bottom, my fellow Indians!

Question: Now what does this mean?

Answer: A number of things..

1. Indian boys suck at getting girls to do it.

2. Indian girls are the most cunning in the world.

3. Indians lie a lot about sexual habits

4. Indian teenagers are more into oral and anal sex

5.  Indian teenagers are so scared of their parents going kung-fu on their ‘life’, that they actually wait far beyond legal age to get laid.

6. Our oh-so-sacred religious traditions are taken very seriously and people tend to remain virgins till they marry in early to late twenties.

Can you come up with some more possible explanations?

Its that time of the year again.. Amateur singers and dancers start coming out of every crack in the woodwork, congregating in halls of indulgent deaf and blind people, to plan the worst assault on civil society each year - The New Year Party in the Apartment.

This is not their story (shameless nod to the Guide).

This post is about this.

Thats right.. song, dance, song, dance, HISTORY OF ALWARGAL!!!!!!

Even the free food wont tempt me to go to a party which has HISTORY OF  ALWARGAL in the middle of it.

Ans now that I have stopped drinking,the bleakest new years eve ever awaits.

Happy new year to you too.