Ludo Queen

So in lieu of my recent continued obsession with the game ‘Ludo King’, I have come to the conclusion that life is very similar to a game of  Ludo. Most people think it is the oversimplistic Snakes and ladders and a few would like to think that it is a complicated game of chess. The fact is that while in Snakes and Ladders we have ZERO control of the game and we are essentially leaving it to chance , in chess we are the masters of our own destiny. Neither situation really reflects life as it is.

 

Life like I said is a game of Ludo. It is the culmination of a seemingly predictable algorithm coupled with pure roll of the dice and strategic movement of your tokens. There are 2 ways to play it – either aggressively look to take out your opponent’s tokens to move forward or play the safe game and focus on the moves which will lead you to not be killed. It is fight or flee all over again. But again it is a question of responding to what the situation demands of you. Sometimes if you chicken out of taking the token which is right in front of you , others might start attacking you thinking you are a weakling . Or sometimes, while all your tokens are in the safe zone guarded by luck you might get cocky and try to grab what is not yours and end up back in square one.

 

So don’t be a cock or a chicken. Be your own wonderful self! Trust your instinct always. The gut always seems to process past defeats in a better fashion than your logical brain .

Earn your coins , enjoy the journey however tumultuous it gets. If all your tokens are back in the hut , don’t give up automatically. Atleast in the algorithm based universe perseverance has a price. Remember, giving up never has no upside! Also remember that this is just some elaborate game and it makes no sense to take it so seriously. Death might just be the end of a simulation for all we know. Okay. I am going to stop typing now :P

 

(365 words)

The Secret

By Samyuktha J

my response to the book I'm reading which really pissed me off with serendipity and positive thinking when what the world needs right now is constructive action. 

A picture speaks a 1000 words

An action speaks a 100 thoughts

How you treat your mother

speaks more than your tweets

On Feminism.

So rise and shine

And wake up to this universal truth

Packaged as a secret

To make you excited~

Action counts more than thoughts!

All the wishful thinking in the world

Will conspire against you

If you don’t walk the walk

Yellow brick road or not.

Serendipity may await the believer

At the end of the magical rainbow

Along with pots of gold.

Wash your face with the raindrops

And look at the reflection in the dirtypuddle

A lazy hypocrite praying without acting

Should not claim a windfall at all.

Also for Poet united's midweek motif The awakening

Mahanati Hangover

There is something about this movie. It has invigorated the romantic in me and stirred me so much that I have no option but pen my thoughts on it. It is not that the film is without flaws – the ‘innocent’ phase of savitri tests our patience , the film maybe guilty of being too in love with its protagonist and background score was sometimes just TOO loud and it ( perhaps understandably) hesitates to go too deep into the character’s psyche or action. However , the film soars above because of only one reason – Keerthy Suresh.

Right before I had the lucky opportunity to watch this movie (twice) , Keerthy Suresh was my least favourite actress. Maybe because she acted in Bhairavaa , Remo and Thodari – the three worst films inflicted on mankind. Maybe because she was more Loosu than ponnu in her loosu ponnu roles. She isn’t typically glamorous or stylish ( not that I particularly care) nor did she show any acting skill which would warrant her inclusion in all the latest films.

Until now.

She begun the movie with the usual bubbly , enthucutlet beats. I resigned myself for a dud. But then Gemini Ganesan A.K.A Dulquer A.K.A ‘Ammadi’ dropping Kadhal Mannan entered and the film sprang to life. We could see why she fell in love , even though there were huge warning signs everywhere. He isn’t a bad dude either. It is just life. Then comes her transition into ‘Mahanati’ / ‘ Nadigaiyar’ Thilagam’ . Although I haven’t watched any of the movies which she acted out in black and white I could see the greatness. I could see the Savitri in Keerthy. Ganga became Chandramukhi. There was something awesome about her walking elegantly to the Mahanati BGM. Like Rajini walking.

Then her heartbreak and downfall. Damn Keerthy is good. I’m assuming she used prosthetics for the heavy portions and she emoted so well. Maybe I am praising too much. But she was worth it.

Also , all this throws light on the fact that the tamil and telugu industry really need to pump out more scripts for their heroines. They used to in the 50’s, why can’t they now? When everything is apparently more advanced.

The sets and art design made me nostalgic for a time I know nothing about. Madras with trams and taxis looked so good, I wish there were more period movies made. They have a charm which we somehow are not able to capture in our ‘now’ movies.

The songs are so good. ‘Mouna Mazhayile’ is all shades of romantic and mesmerizing. Mahanati BGM is so regal and ‘ Irudiyil enna Minjum’ is just haunting…. The direction , shots were really beautiful. Telugu Cinema with Bahubali , Arjun Reddy and Mahanati now is showing how to be grand and good at the same time.

Little Maryam

Indian fiction seems to be in two ends of a spectrum – One covered by the fancy Salman Rushdies and Vikram Seths of the world who weave magical and complex tales encompassing an astounding breadth of narratives and on the other end we have our humble Chetan Bhagats who write simple stories for the ‘average Indian’. This is actually true for all literary worlds. There is a tendency to look down upon these simple tales , more so if they are ‘love stories’. Given India’s crowded average love stories , I wouldn’t even grudge the critics so harshly.

‘Little Maryam’ on first glance might come off as yet another love story. And believe it or not it is exactly that - but with a small difference. It is good!  Like my favourite character McSteamy aka Mark Sloan says to Mcdreamy in Grey's Anatomy  “Cliches became clichés for a reason. Because they worked. It is great isn’t it”

McSteamy Approves (y)

Simple stories written well which make you feel things are the best!

 Revealing anything about this book might come off as a spoiler. The premise is a rooted little love story between Saadiq Haider and a girl called Maryam , the twists of fate which befall them earlier and later. The official tag line reads - A second chance romance with a shocking twist. 

 However , if you are an experienced reader you can see these twists come a mile away.. but it still won’t stop you from feeling the very real emotions pouring from it and that is what I absolutely loved about this book. 

I tried narrating this story to a close friend and she just started laughing at how ludicrous it sounded. However , in Hamid Baig’s words it is all too real, intense and believable. The initial portions might seem like a stretch but the care and craft puts in helps the punch land strongly later. Even the word 'little' in 'Little Maryam' has significance,

The book is laser focused on telling the tale of Dr. Haider and Maryam so much so that it glosses over parts like say winning of a nobel prize!At the same time thanks to the well crafted initial portions there is a sense of rootedness permeating through the book (maybe stemming from the Banyan Tree which it so lovingly portrays). The emotions are authentic and feel earned . I went from frowning at it to crying over it much like the person who the story is narrated to over the plane!

And for the all the people who read this review and thought that maybe this is  coming from a typical senti romance loving girl , I swear it is not! I remember crying over only two books before

 1) Paths of Glory by Jeffery Archer and 2) Oath of Vayuputras by Amish Tripathi. 

I just feel that the earnestness of the book has rubbed off on me, to give it such a glowing recommendation. There were a few places where I would have liked a more detailed narration and some words which didn’t feel like it didn’t belong in the sentences but the fact that it made me cry like a baby makes me wanna not care about it. This is great work by a debutante who I hope will only get better from hereon.

Verdict – Give it a shot with an open mind

Stars – 4/5

My Bookshelf Challenge

So My favorite comic artist Grant Snider From Incidental Comics uploaded this marvellous work recently. The thing about his comic strips are that they are so detailed and the words have as much power as the images. I thought I'll do my annual book update via this structure. So Here goes..

2017 has been a disappointing year reading wise. I read only 13 books of my target 30. I also read out of my comfort zone. Sci Fi , Tamil fantasy , Rural based books and classics are really not my cup of tea and cold the cup remained till I gulped it like a medicine. 

Don't worry I also hate it when they make the movie poster the book cover

The Sci Fi book was Ender's Game. Not bad actually got sucked into the dystopian alien fighting kids fighting monsters schtick in the end. Apparently it is a whole big franchise. Read it if you are into that kinda thing. 

The two tamil books I tried this year were Ponniyin Selvan and Moondram Ulaga Por. 

Must Read

Ponniyin Selvan was every bit the epic it promised to be and I can't wait to read the next books in the series! Kalki is really an artist of mythical proportions. However , since I was reading Tamil after a very long time it took me time to read this book. 

Moodram Ulaga Por was quite honestly Moondram Ulaga Bore. While Tamil flows like poetry to our author Vairamuthu , the subject matter is handled very didactically. But lots of mann vasanai and muyal kari. I can understand why people would relate to this book. However , I didn't think we needed a literal white savior to fix our agrarian scenario. 

I read Gulliver's Travels finally. While it was fascinating at first , some of the adventures like meeting the floating island people and science hating people got boring real fast. Still a fascinating satire which makes us question the nature of Human Civilisation. 

Moving on to the challenge : - 

1) The Book I couldn't put down - Every Jefferey Archer book. Every Damn one. That man knows how to write a story. If I had to pick one , it will be Kane and Abel probably. 

<3

2) The book I couldn't pick up - My law textbooks are heavy af 

3) The book you gave me / which I haven't read - Oops. Quite a lot unfortunately. First on the line will be Jackdaws by Ken Follett gifted by Naveena which I will read ASAP. 

4) The book I brought to the beach - Who does that to books? :O Although when I was a kid I used to sneak Famous Five books into the bathroom so that I can read in between my bath. Yes , I was that kid. 

5) The book I tried so hard to like - More like the book I am trying so hard to like. War of the Worlds by HG Wells. My my I never knew end of the world can be this boring! Another book that I just couldn't sit through was Shame By Taslima Nasreen. How can someone cut paste stuff from wikipedia and call that a book?

6) Book I have multiple copies of - Only Time will Tell By Jefferey Archer. It came out in 2010 right around my birthday and suddenly everyone was gifting me the same thing! This made me lay down a rule that No more Jefferey Archer books as gifts on my b'day ( my brother was assigned to buy me them every year ^_^ somehow every Clifton Chronicle book released around by Birth date :D ) 

7) The Book that saved my life - Well a lot of books have shaped me as a person. Secret Seven Series by Enid Blyton opened the magical pathways to books for me. This saved me from becoming a Tamil Serial addict at the tender age of 8 :P 

8) The Book I lent you - I have a strict no lending policy and catalogue all my books. They are my treasure , how can I risk losing them? 

9) The book I fall asleep to every night - I never re read , there are too many books to be read out there! 

10) The book I mistook for a hat - Blasphemy!

11) The book I am desperately trying to write - History written as fun short stories for kids. 

12) All the books that changed my life - Oh boy. Five Find outers Series by Enid Blyton , Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling , Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer , Perry Mason Series by Erle Stanley Gardner , Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and Paths of Glory By Jefferey Archer. 

You can also respond to these questions in the comments! Will be fun trust me. 

What is the up

Hi guys. I have been trying to write a poem for the last half hour and have ended up deleting innumerable drafts already. That side of my brain hasn’t really been put to work in a good while and let’s give it some time to catch up.

So what are you all up to?

What Is the up

I am currently interning at a Tax law firm and I have to admit I am struggling with all the technicalities. But I believe learning is a long arduous and painful process and one day like the karate kid or Akshay Kumar from Chandni Chowk to China , I’ll be all ready and pro to face the world… or at least get a job.

Ponderings

I am back in Chennai for this month and I have to admit that it is very weird to be back in a place with only the skeletons of my past remaining… the souls have moved on to their respective futures and careers of course. Ah the other side of the brain is finally starting to flow guys!

It is so scary to think of the future and where I’ll be in a year. Out of college and with a job hopefully but where? Here where it all begun once and waiting to begin again? Or there? Or someplace which my brain hasn’t even processed yet?

It doesn’t help that the helpful elders keep throwing in innuendos about marriage! Like that is even in the horizon. I know that the voices will only keep getting louder and my poor grandmom is in for a rude shock when she finds out that it is not even in the outside of the picture haha.  

Latest Read

So I have been reading Patriot Games the book ( yes which became a movie with Harrison Ford in it) The book takes it own sweet time to come to the point and spells out too many procedures to be any fun. Worst is the casual sexism and racism which is just impossible to digest in today’s context. It was quite amusing and ironical to read about an America which didn’t fear terrorism and the philosophies which shaped the pre 9/11 era.

Latest movie

I watched the Hell and the High water yesterday and was really impressed by it. Jeff Bridges , Chris Pine and Ben foster star in the movie and the screenplay really does a good job of fleshing out their characters. So much so that even though you don’t agree with their actions you can still understand their motivations for the same. The move deals with Armed Robbery in a refreshingly honest way. Also , I think Chris Pine wins the Chris war with this one.

 Latest Show

I watch like zillion shows at the same time. Still I would recommend the Aussie show ‘800 words’ , It is a perfect replacement for Packed to the Rafters. It is about George Turner a recent widower who uproots his two teenage kids from Sydney to a small town in New Zealand called Weld. Doesn’t sound like much but the show has created a beautiful fictious land called Weld with a wide battery of characters who are all authentic. Each episode manages to be fresh and strongly thematic and I insist that you give it a watch.

So what is the up with you people? C’mon you have to warrant this earnest personal post with a comment atleast! Let’s build a tiny community J

13 questions why

Every blogger out there has that one eternal wish – to know that they are not rambling to themselves in this vast internet blog space. Pageviews and likes can only take you so far. It is all about comments and reader’s engagement. If a post elicits someone else to express a counter view it has done its primary job.

So today I am going to initiate and partake in a ‘fun’ activity with all you readers. I am putting up 13 questions and my answers for the same. You guys can choose the ones which appeal to you and answer the same. The answers need not be long – let’s have some fun with this!

       1)      Coffee or tea? 

       The classic way to segregate people. Espresso or earl grey? Filter Kaapi or Chaai? Caffeine fuelled mornings or Tea enabled evenings?  Well my answer is * Drum roll *  Coffee! No surprises there for people who already know me. You can take the girl from kaapi but not kaapi out of the girl ( did I say that saying right? I always mess it up!) But I have recently started obsessing over the milder teas too.

     2)      Cats or Dogs? 

       Another question which divides people across borders. Doggo or grumpy cat? Scooby Doo or Smelly Cat? Puppy or kittie? I am a dog person. I don’t really have a choice in this matter. If I think otherwise, my Laika will disown me :P

       3)      Game of thrones or Breaking Bad? 

       For reasons I cannot fathom , the world seems to pit a historical fantasy against a crime drama. For reasons , I have already stated  -> here I do not get Breaking Bad. The broader tapestry and more twisty turvy Westeros captures my imagination. And my House in GoT : Lannisters. Hear us Roar! I love Cersei Lannister and Jaime Lannister. Not together. As individual characters :P

          4)      TV shows or Movies? That is one Vague ass question. Who comes up with these? ( Ok I do. ) I personally prefer character development over the plot itself and that is why I love TV shows over Movies. 2 hours is too less a time to leave a mark on my soul. That’s my opinion

      5)      Marvel or DC?

That is a toughie since I joined the Superhero Bandwagon only recently. While I did enjoy the Avengers movie a lot , I have stated how I love TV over Movies. Hence my love for Flash , Arrow and Supergirl ( Berlanti universe) supersedes my love for Thor and Captain America.

      6)      Classics or Thrillers? There seem to be two types of readers – those who like their Dickens and those who like their Archers. While I like to read everything , I prefer courtroom dramas and investigative thrillers and modern drama over the more slow paced yet lovely classics. It feels like blasphemy to say this out loud

      7)      Kamal or Rajini?

       

One of the hardest questions of my childhood. While I fell immediately in love with Rajini’s charisma and style , Kamal’s genius and sheer versatility and what he has brought in to Tamil Cinema has made him edge over the former. I still will go FDFS for both their movies.

     8)      Ilayaraja or A R Rahman?

 This question was harder for the previous generation and will be irrelevant for the next one. Ilayaraja takes home the melodies but A.R.R takes everything to the next level. He was the man who gave me music in my growing up years – I stick with my Arima.

    9)      Dhoni or Kohli?

Both the players have made Indians believe we can win. I go with my captain 07 MSD. P.S – CSK IS BACK NEXT YEAR YAY

    10)   Morning or night person? I am a night owl. It gives you tranquility and space to think. No tick tock.

    11)   Poetry or Prose? Right now in this point in my life , I want to flow like poetry rather than end up like prose.

    12)   Saturday or Sunday? Saturdays are overrated. Sundays I vote! Laziness > partying

    13)   Was this Fun or not? I weirdly found this fun. ( Maybe because I created this game :P I guess I’ll know the answer with the corresponding response to the post)

So that’s all my friends! Share your answers in the comments below. Let’s get to know each other!

IPL auction 2017

We can all admit that the Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen its share of crescendos and crashes over the years. While the degree of interest for the event itself can be questioned , the life and story of its auction is separate and distinct in itself.

There is something very exciting and sad in watching  the ‘auction’ of  cricket players (as if they are mere livestock or something). Fortunes can be made and lost over minute strategies and major egos of the team owners and their strategies.

The seasons before saw atrocious amounts paid for players like Pawan Negi , Yuvaraj Singh , Dinesh Karthik , the Pathan brothers only for them to get weighed down by their exorbitant salaries.

Hitherto unknown players like Paul Valthathy , Praveen Tambe can thank the IPL for truly changing their life and bringing them much needed recognition. And that is the beauty of IPL , the conventional routes are so filled with politics and this is an alternate path which can boost you into the selectors radar or could set you up in a specialist T20 career of being good at one skill like bowling Yorkers or a specialist at slower balls ( Vinay Kumar comes to my mind immediately)

This year’s IPL auction was comparatively more subdued one since most teams are pros at knowing what they want by now. Coaches like Sehwag chalked out how teams stuck to their budgets and only bidded a bit outside of it. Also , next year we have the mega auction where players may only be retained minimally and everyone goes for sale! ( Can’t wait for that to happen xD)

Let us go on a small overview of how all the teams faired in their auctions.

1)      King Xi Punjab – This midlevel team usually punches above its weight but last year was abysmal for them. They didn’t have a captain coming in this year and they seemed to have solved it by buying Eoin Morgan ( whose performance in the IPL has not been so good and English players are only available for a limited period this season) . They have spent heavily on uncapped T.Natarajan , a Tamil Nadu fast bowler , interesting to see what he brings to the table and Varun Aaron could be their answer for frontline ‘fast’ Indian bowler. The kings xi selectors managed to buy Martin Guptill , the destructive opener and Darren Sammy the West Indies all rounder captain at throwaway prices. I feel that these 2 buys could alter the scales in their favour. However , Axar patel seems to be the only recognizable spinner in their line up. They could have invested in better known Indian spinners.

2)      Royal Challengers Bangalore – Usually known for its flashy team owner and exorbitant ego buys , RCB this year didn’t buy big ( in terms of glamour) . That maybe due to the fact that they already have to pay so much for their fancy players like Kohli and De Villiers. They seemed to have narrowed their problem to their Achilles heels – their bowling. They have tried to fill the big boots of Mitchell Starc with literally big men – T.Mills ( who was bought for a whopping 12 crores) , Aneekeet Choudary ( who apparently bowled to Kohli in the nets as proxy for tall foreign bowlers) and the foreign Billy Stanlake. They have also bought Pawan negi ( off spinner) and Praveen Dubey ( leg breaks) . Hopefully this solves their bowling woes for the forthcoming year.

3)      Delhi Daredevils – Usually known for their smart Indian buys , thanks to a certain Rahul Dravid , this year they have gone all out and filled all their foreign slots! They have bought the useful but injured Angelo Mathews , mostly misfiring Corey Anderson , pace machines Rabada and Pat Cummins . I think they are set on their Indian batsmen – Shreyas Iyer , Rishabh Pant , Karun Nair and Sanju Samson since the foreign players are mostly all rounders rather than traditional batsmen. Their spin is mostly spearheaded by Mishra and Jayant yadav , since they have bought only Murugan Ashwin as their known spinner. They seem to have a squad set for all conditions , hope they don’t fall into the pit of too many changes and fall short of playoffs like they usually do.

4) 

     Gujarat Lions – The Gujarat team had a very good campaign last year with a team which covered all bases. This year they managed to get the destructive Roy for his base price and have experiment with a lot of uncapped players. They also seem to have bought a lot of their captain’s former teammates!

5)   

   Rising Pune Supergiants – After boldly sacking M.S Dhoni ( no comments) , the team has gone big and bought Stokes for the costliest 14.5 crores. After which their purse drained and bought players like Jaydev Unadkat , Dan Christian and Manoj Tiwary ( should be given a shot) They have picked up a lot of uncapped players and a New Zealand quick Lockie Ferguson ( Stephen Fleming alert) Let’s see how it goes

6)    

  Mumbai Indians – Mumbai which more or less has a settled side bid for a lot of the exciting talent but pulled out of the race many times. They have welcomed back Mitchell Johnson to their pace department and Saurabh Tiwary to their batting ( remember the Rayudu Tiwary days?)  and bought Nicholas Pooran an uncapped West Indies wicket keeper ( because they always end up having problems with their wicket keepers) They have also bought Karn Sharma the experienced IPL bowler and Asela Gunarathne , a nod to his yesterday’s knock. Mumbai continues to interest with their buys.

7)     

Kolkata Knight Riders – KKR is a team which is going stale and I say this not because I hate them ( which I do) Narine is ineffective after his action was corrected and Russell is banned for now. Since they have relied majorly on these 2 they need a new infusion of blood to their team. So they bought the electric Trent boult and impressive Woakes. They have bought a R. Powell , maybe a straight up replacement for Russell and also Rishi Dhawan , Coulter Nile and Darren Bravo. Let’s see if the minor infusion reinvigorates them.

8)     

Sunrisers Hyderabad – Finally we come to the defending champions SRH. Their title win masked their fragile batting which was held up single handedly by the amazing David warner and their stunning bowling line up. They need Dhawan and yuvi to step up in a big way this season if they want to hold their title. They have shrewdly invested in the upcoming Afghanistan talent of Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi . They have also snapped Chris Jordan and Praveen Tambe and Ben Laughlin all good talents and good buys. Hope they hold the trophy for two years running!  

Sharikrida : A game of Political intrigue

It is not every day you get a chance to review a book before it gets officially released and I’m very pleased to announce that I got one such chance. So here comes , the first official review of the book!

Sharikrida , is a book authored by Krishna Trilok and published by Zuna Publishers. The book is set in the future where monarchy and kingdoms rule India ( now called Vehya ) again.

Btw don’t worry, this review is Spoiler Free!

The basic plot is that there are six kingdoms which rule the vehya subcontinent and the supreme ruler is chosen by a game of Sharikrida , a live action chess and strategy game. There is also a running thread about King Bharin Shah of the North fighting for justice against the evil supreme ruler Kesara Gaderia and his evil Shvagnin / Chessmaster .

As you can see , the book conjures up its own world effectively. The author has put in great effort constructing this fantastical realm so comprehensively that you want more stories from this world. Trilok should make a Trilogy!

Things which impressed me about the book especially were :-

1)      Original fantasy elements steeped in Indian mythology tapping into our rich culture

2)      The author’s English which is impeccable and beautiful. I love it that he hasn’t try to dumb down his language.

3)      The way he describes food. I had to constantly reach for snacks when he started describing lamb delicacies.

All the characters are well etched and the action set pieces were very thrilling. I felt that the book kept building its world and moving its story at an amazing pace. However , after it reached it feverish pitch and ultimate peak I felt that the sudden back story plateaued it a bit and made us think – which leads you to predict the twists.

That tiny complaint apart , this is an excellent book. I honestly think that the beginning portions were India’s answer to Game of Thrones ( a much leaner and focused version ) and the author has amazing potential to reach greater heights if he is ready to leave the safe road and start attacking ( like one of his characters said)

The book deals with governance and morality boldly and King Bharin Shah especially delivers a lot of noteworthy quotes. The implied Gender Equality in the book was beautiful to read too.

All in all , a wonderful book which you must read if you like fantasy or action or politics or thrill or just a different story. I also must say , I love the godfatheresque turn the book took and its ultimate ending. It was like there was always something up the book’s sleeve.

Loved the book!

Verdict : Read it. 4/5

You can pre order from December 22nd!

Cinema Kaaram Kaapi

I used to be a cinema paithiyiam. Used to know every Cheran movie , every random flick on K T.V and used to fill journals with my stray observations about a new film , gossip or even song lyrics. Then college happened. And I got more hooked to English T.V shows. However , this sem break I got time to catch up on tamil cinema and renew my love affair with Kollywood. And since I have my own blog now , I thought why not note my stray observations on this space.

1) The movie watching experience  :

  So a couple of days back I was poring through Baradwaj Rangan's blog on Wordpress primarily because I was bored. Also , I found the discussions under his review to be greatly informative and entertaining. Many people were attacking the critic for expressing his opinion over the film. But what else are you supposed to do as a film critic?
The movie watching experience is a very subjective one and depends on what you expect from a film. Brangan likes to watch movies which emphasise form over content , the making must be good. Most front row viewers care about their stars and how they are projected. Some people come to cinema to 'escape' reality and expect wholesome entertainment with no messages. Some people care about what a movie conveys even if the execution eg.Kaththi. And so I asked myself what do I look for in a movie?
For me the film should be engaging and there must be some care gone into it. When I sit in the theatre it should enthral me and hold my attention in some way. Organic twists are highly appreciated too :P If the movie is trying to be emotional it should go all out and stay true to its genre and not try to be reluctant attempt.
One person's mokka is another person's pokkisham :P

2) acham enbathu madamaiyada!

 I ended up watching my first Simbu film and first GVM movie in theatre ( I think) Did you know the film was originally titled to be ' sattendru marudhu vanilai'! I think that title would have been more apt for this film. While the first half of the film is a tad slow it is very natural and shows a steady romance brewing between the leads. The road portions of the movie were very picturesque , however back to back songs bore you after a point. Watch out for the picturization of Thalli Pogathey song ( getting polarising views - I liked it) The second half proceeds at a brisker pace with well staged action elements. However , the last 15 - 20 minutes of the film were utterly inorganic with the entire story , contrived and leave you very confused when you leave the movie hall. It actually ruins the decent work made by the rest of the film I feel. The audience I felt were all overloaded with random info when they walked out of the theatres. And that is why I gave such a detailed review of this film. I do not how to gauge it at all! A very decent experience till the climax and S.T.R at his natural best and A.R. Rahman god level as usual. GVM should really get new stories repeating the same plot and characters movie after movie is just sad when you have such good technical ability and execution.

3)  Kamal gautami broke up gaizzz!!

 More importantly Kamal lost his private space completely. I know even Brangelina couldn't escape it but why are people so obsessed with the personal lives of actors? Do we scrutinise the personal lives of our doctors? Maybe we should , they hold scalpels over our bodies after all. But no , we go fulla into why Kamal and Gautami. Is it because of Shruti Haasan or Gautami's daughter or Ramya Krishnan. Romba mukkiyam. And even if you read all this nonsense don't judge the actor or his brilliant work on the basis of such unverified nonsense. It doesn't make him look bad. It makes you look bad.

4)  Too much youth pa

 I don't want to sound like a paati but nowadays they make movies for the 'youth' pasanga only. While there is sudden acceptability for sci fi , thrillers and other experimental movies and the traditional action , romance being rock steady and horror of too many horror comedies , where are the Family dramas and genuine comedies? I'm pretty sure family audiences don't want to watch skimpily clad heroines and stalker boy romances and Tasmac scenes and unnecessary violence in the name of U films :P

5) Scriptu choose panrathu

While someone should start picking scripts for Vikram ( paavam he keeps wasting his talent in duds) and Surya is decidedly unlucky ( most of his movies sound good on paper) why can't the average star pick a better script or atleast ask for some kadai instead of 2 hours and 20 minutes of the same gangster/cop movie he did 2 films back? There are so many good directors in the industry now yet our star vehicles are reluctant to change.
Not everyone can be a Vijay sethupathi or Ulaganayagan and be ballsy but be a bit Vishnu Vishal atleastnu we are asking.

So what do you expect from a nalla padam?
Did you watch Aym? Ungal karuthu?
What do you think about this whole celebrity gossiping culture?
What kind of genre would you like to see in Tamil cinema?
Who did you think picks the best scripts and who need to improve?
Let's discuss xD