B'bye TOI!

There is a nice little site on the web called aldaily.com which is a treasury of news, information and other such things. I had been checking this website out on and off over the past few years. Under the newspapers section it used to list the Sleazy Times of India. I always wondered if TOI was worthy enough to be listed amongst The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

I didnt access the site in a long time now. Today out of sheer boredom I logged on. Hurray! Guess what? Sleazy TOI has been removed. The Hindu is now featured. And I am really happy about it!

Wonderful!

Manoj

In the U S of the A

Am in the US currently. The place that everybody wants to be in. But do I? More on that later.
Its been 2 weeks since i have been here. The client's place has been a very rewarding learning place. Full of really nice people.

Some observations:

1. If you dont own a car in the US, you are as good as incapacitated!
2. People seem to be friendly but really are not.
3. There really is dignity of labour. No job is lowly. Everything is job and work. I just love this.
4. News in America means somebody is kidnapped or is dead. God I am sick of the Breaking News here.

I have started recording some "Letter from Americas". For the uninitiated, Letter from America is the famous 15-minute radio broadcast that used to be hosted by Alistair Cooke on the BBC radio. I hope to post these LfA's online soon. So stay tuned.

The best thing about my visit to the US so far has been the fact that I bought a new laptop. I love it. I am yet to name this little beauty. Will do that soon.

More detailed posts to follow. So stay tuned.

Random Thoughts – 08/22/06

• George Bush is reported to have told yesterday that the war in Iraq is “mentally straining the psyche” of the American nation. Yeah well, anything for oil. Right Mr Bush?
• The cruel war in Lebanon seems to be over. Images of innocent civilians uprooted from their familiar locations and young children in complete bewilderment have deeply affected me. What is the different between the terrorists and the good guys? Hamas used terror to threaten Israel and Israel has given it right back to Lebanon. So where is the difference? The only difference seems to be that the guy who strikes first is branded the terrorist. In that case the US should be considered a terrorist country as it invaded Iraq. Will anybody even bother doing this? Of course not! It’s the money stupid!
• I seem to have lost my interest in Cricket. After the fabulous world cup football in Germany, I have become a football fan. If only ESPN was available for viewing in Chennai without that damn CAS, I would have been hooked onto the EPL by now. :(
• AR Rahman still rocks! Sillunnu Oru Kaathal’s songs are amazing. New York Nagaram is just too good! Way to go Sir!
• Mani Ratnam is slated to do two Hindi movies back to back. That means Tamil viewers have to wait for a really long time for a Ratnam special. I don’t like this :(

More thoughts as and when I feel they are worth penning down :)

Manoj

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehena

*
(4 Stars being the highest)

Where do I begin to even reviewing this movie? Should I start by telling how poorly characters are etched? Or should I start by saying that the “acting” is getting too repetitive? Or should I conclude by asking my readers (Yeah right!) to stay as far as possible away from a movie theatre showing this movie?

Rani and Abhishek get married. Preity and Shah Rukh are already married and have a kid. Shah Rukh is a failed football star. Preity is a successful fashion magazine editor. Abhishek is a dashing PR executive and Rani is the silliest girl in town. By a supposed twist in the tale, Shah Rukh and Rani start having feelings and go all the way and consummate it in a hotel room, while poor Abhishek and Preity are singing “Where’s the party tonight?”. Kind of ironic! :)

I just looooooved Amitabh Bachchan’s character in the movie. I am sick and tired of seeing him play all these righteous roles. He seems to have really enjoyed this role and it shows. Abhishek Bachchan is dashing and is really likeable. I would actually go to the extent of saying that it is Rani who tortures Abhishek and not the other way round.

So Karan Johar wants to grow up and make movies on serious themes. Laudable effort, but should this be the way to start things?

All in all, a very disappointing movie. I wanted to see the movie for atleast Shah Rukh’s sake but even he is pathetic in the movie.

Verdict – Run, Just run away from the theatre.

Manoj

The DMK it is!

We now finally know which way the Tamil Nadu cliffhanger went. The DMK has won the elections based on arithmetic, charisma and a loophole-less script. Here are some random ramblings:

NDTV.com got quite a few results wrong. The most obvious being the one related to Vijayakanth. Ndtv.com said that Vijayakanth had lost from Vriddhachalam whereas he won from there. I even have a snapshot of the result to prove ndtv’s blunder. What happened Mr. Roy?
We haven’t heard from Vaiko yet! I am really waiting for this guy to resurface and make his speeches. Let’s see which way he speaks now!
Read somewhere in sify.com that the film world was unhappy with the DMK’s vault to power. They had been rooting for the AIADMK. I wonder what Sarathkumar and Radhika are gonna do now.
CNN-IBN got most of the results right. Wonder how Rajdeep managed to come up with such brilliant predictions. And by the way, I have become an ardent follower of Rajdeep and read his blog regularly. Here it is:
http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/author/1/rajdeepsardesai.html

Now starts the real test for the DMK. When will the color TVs be delivered and when will the landless get the land. It is going to be tough. Jaya TV will be waiting to pounce on the ineptness of the distribution or flaws in the television itself. This is bound to be interesting.

As for me, am I happy or sad with the results? I think I am happy. I have always supported the DMK and will continue to do so for some more time. That is till the Lok Paritran is able to create the necessary impact.

The "Free" Elections

Just couldn’t keep myself from not commenting about the circus that is getting played out in Tamil Nadu in the name of elections.

The most remarkable thing about this election has been the absence of any issue to drive public sympathy or outrage. Neither the AIADMK has been able to tarnish DMK nor has the DMK found enough reasons to create public uproar against the AIADMK.

Surprisingly though, the AIADMK’s and those who are joining that party’s wrath is being targeted at SUN TV. I guess nobody is able to digest the remarkable progress that Sun TV has had. Law-twisting or not, the Sun TV group is backed by solid mind power and business acumen. The whole opposition to Sun TV just cannot be considered to against DMK. DMK is not just Sun TV.

I think to start with it looked like the AIADMK was going to be sweeping these elections. But I am not so sure anymore. Somewhere along the line, the AIADMK’s image is getting hurt with a lot of foes turning into overnight friends. Sample this list:

Vaiko – This is the biggest joke of the year. He now calls Amma his “sister” and one new round of “Pasakkiligal” is being played out. But unfortunately this is going nowhere. Vaiko has spoken too many things against Amma just last year. I wonder how he sleeps peacefully at night.
Sarathkumar – he closely follows Vaiko as the second best joker of the year. To quit DMK just because he was sidelined in the party, smells of something. What does he think? That he will be able to shine in AIADMK? I predict that Sarath will quit AIADMK also very shortly.
Visu – His reasons for joining AIADMK are pure bilge. I am surprised that Amma even accepted him into her fold. He has got no political convictions. His decision was just driven by personal animosity with Sun TV and once that feeling passes, he is going to surely regret his actions.

The DMK on the other hand has not played the cinema-angle overtly. K Bhagyaraj has been campaigning with a lot of style for the DMK. I really love listening to his speeches. They are laced with naughty humour and biting criticisms.

So, which way will the tide go? I think as of now it is 50-50. And that means that Amma is losing, cos I thought that just a few weeks back, it was 80-20 loaded in favour of Amma.

With the promises of free TV, mobile phones and assorted nonsense, it is indeed turning out to be a real "free" election this time round!

One thing is for sure. Whichever party comes to power, Tamil Nadu is sure to lose.

- Manoj

I still dont know what I did last Summer!

This heat in Chennai is really getting to my nerves now. I just hate the months of April and May. But there are actually a few things to look forward to in these months, like:

1. Drinking liters and liters of Pepsi. I am a total Pepsi fan. I just hate Coke. Pepsi is just amazing. My consumption pattern just increases tremendously in these 2 months. Just can’t do without Pepsi.
2. Ice creams. These are the two months that I can really freak out and have as many ice creams as possible. Somehow I catch the cold and fever when I eat them in November.
3. April 14th releases. Superstar movies normally releases only on April 14th.
4. All the colleges in Chennai are closed for summer holidays and hence the roads are not congested with all the college buses.

If you can think of any other summer specials please do share with me J

- Manoj