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

Devil's Paradise

So within a day of pitching the idea , I come up with my latest blog idea ' Devil's paradise' . Here , any original work which wants to get published anonymously gets a chance to be so published. I introduce to you , the first post - a fictional write up of a 11 year old authoress and her writing ethics. Please leave a feedback as the budding writers may continuing writing only on your honest feedback!https://semisharings.wordpress.com/2016/11/07/quandries-of-a-11-year-old/

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The monster

When you were a kid

You would search for me

under your bed

the same monster

is now lurking inside your head.

Count to 10

Shut your eyes tightly to no avail

I will grow my gospel

In the darkest zones of your soul

Self doubt , green eyedness and low self esteem

Are only some of the seeds I sow

Their progenies will never really let you grow

Poor you ,

think sleep is a sweet escape

You forget each time that

nightmares are my favourite landscape.

I am the evil landlord

That vanquished your brain

When did you become the benami

Against your own benefit?

My name is pessimism

Do you even remember yours? 

So Imaginary Garden with Real Toads had this topic which really piqued my interest , the real fear which lurks in the night, So this is my contribution towards the same topic.

Iraivi

They called me iraivi*

And put me up on a pedestal

Easier to throw stones

Be pushed down

They expected me to be grateful

For I was the goddess

Who ‘could’ do no wrong.

‘Should’ would have been more appropriate.

If I say yes,

I am a slut .

If I say no,

I am a bitch.

If I speak up,

I am a feminazi.

If I don’t speak ,

I am arrogant.

With eyes brimming with romantic paternalism

They revere me ,

And demand millions of sacrifices

That would befit a god.

Just treat me like a woman

I seemingly shout out with my studied silence

From atop the pedestal

Which was actually a golden cage

For the Iraivi can do no wrong

She is a goddess you fools!

Iraivi* - Tamil term for Goddess

So i wrote this during exam times and never had the time to publish it. Thought it would befit the poets united's 'pedestal' theme.  

The deep blue ocean

Sue Heck.

I have watched around 4 seasons of The Middle now and one character who fascinates me is Sue Heck. On paper , she is a stereotypical beliebing teenager who likes pink and who is what people may typically refer to as a ‘dork’. She tries out for everything and almost never makes any team. And that is what astounds everyone – Sue’s indomitable spirit. She NEVER gives up. Even when she sucks at it. Sometimes to her own detriment.

I am kind of her opposite. More like her tired Mother of three , Frankie. Frankie quits things when they get too tough. She plays out what ‘will’ happen in her head , arrives at her own foregone conclusion and quits. It is pretty sad considering that Frankie is in her mid Forties and that I have just started my Twenties.

Law school does that to you.

However , my slightly skewered to my favour contention is that , while being a Frankie is a big NO , aren’t we all really more Frankie than Sue? And what is wrong with quitting with something you are horrible at anyways?

Ok I sound lazy. Let me rephrase.

Isn’t being a Sue all the time a bit crazy and over virtuous? Knowing when to stop is  important too right? Using valuable time and resource running a cross country race which is already over by the time you have gotten up from your first mistake is just stupid. I know ‘participation is more important than winning’ and all , but sometimes smart work is better than hard work.

We are trying to be sharks in this ocean called competition but what if we are Harry Potter in his second task in the triwizard tournament without some Gillyweed? Totally useless. Is it better to drown than be equipped? Sometimes we know that we come to know that our oxygen cylinder is empty only after we jump in , we can never be pre equipped , we can’t just hope to life of pi our life away , waiting for a life jacket or divine intervention.

OR maybe that’s the difference? People with faith in a higher power tough it out in belief that they get rewarded in the end? Is this whole thing called life about that? Gritting your teeth through hurdles hoping for the light from above or any small sign?

So people who don’t believe are doomed from the beginning? So is faith going to be my gillyweed or am I just going to have to pre equipped and at my best if I am incapable of such massive trust in something I have no clue about?

What is your gillyweed gonna be?

As you can see I am more of questions than answers here. No I haven’t read many books by thinkers. I wanna reach there myself. And you are free to speculate with me in the comments column.