Kauai Hindu Temple

I was blessed to visit Iraivan temple in Kauai, Hawaii recently. The place is truly amazing both from its location and history. It was hard to believe that such a place would exist in remote parts of an island in Pacific Ocean. The atmosphere in and around the temple was wonderful and very relaxing. Amazing experience!

Neeya Naana

I am one of the regulars when it comes to Vijay TVs Neeya Naana, the chat show that is designed slightly differently from the usual Arratai Arangam or Patti Mandram. The topics are usually very interesting and there is a good mix of youth and old when it comes to participation. The highlight of the show is of course the anchor Gopinath, who not only speaks good, easily understandable Tamil, but is very intelligent in just acting as catalyst on most debate. He doesn'y try to steal the limelight or show any bias during the discussion. The other thing that I like about the show is that there is no judgement given at the end. This show is definitely a must see.

Ganguly's New Found Form & Tour to Australia

It is not surprising to see Ganguly making too many statements right after a good series. The fact is he still struggled against quality pace even in this series and he will no doubt be troubled in Australia.

Another great column by Anand Vasu in cricinfo on the selection of Sehwag and how India will struggle to fit him in playing XI in Australia. For the Boxing Day test, I would love to see Yuvraj in final playing XI. India might do one of the following:

1. Have either Dravid or Yuvraj open the innings to leave Karthik out of the team.

2. Have Pathan in team as opener and leave Ishant Sharma and Karthik out to have Yuvraj in the middle order.

India are probably better off doing option 1, but they will probably end up taking option 2.

The final playing eleven for Boxing Day test will probably be:

Jaffer, Karthik(or Yuvraj), Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Dhoni, Zaheer, RP Singh, Kumble, Ishanth Sharma (or Pathan)

Magical Murali and India's new coach

Magical Muralitharan becomes the world leading wicket taker. Absoultely fantastic cricketer! He continued with grit and determination after all the tough moments in career (action under scanner, no ball'd in tests) and achieved this feat in fine style. It's high time all those ex-cricketers and peers stop talking crap on Muralitharan. He's truly a champion bowler.

Gary Kirsten, tipped as India's next coach, has taken a step back at the time of accepting offer and has asked for more time to interact with senior cricketers before accepting the job. Our BCCI is totally a crappy organization which is not capable of delivering anything professionally. In first place, one has to question the decision to recruit Gary who has no major international/national coaching experience. BCCI is probably looking for a "YES" man and foreigner is only an added advantage in case the team fails. I am also not ready to buy Ajit Wadekar's crap that only an Indian can work wonders with Indian players. The selection should be based on who can deliver. I believe that if our cricket SUPERSTARS start to show some respect for coach and support staff, it would benefit everyone.

Remix Music

Happened to hear BILLA 2007 songs that just got released. Yuvan is slowly making the same mistake that his father did a decade or so back, quantity over quality. There is a title song remix of "my name is billa", which seriously could have been better and powerful. Other numbers of the album are average and now it is really up to the director Vishnuvardhan to come up with good picturization for this much hyped movie. Other remix that I heard recently is "Engeyum Eppodhum" from Polladhavan. Using SPB to render the remix number is little disappointing, especially since SPB has done various versions of the same song in the past which gives some kinda sameness in this song.

Kolkata Test

I was watching Kolkota test, day 2 yesterday and I was absolutely awed by the way Laxman played. Here's a guy who is extremely positive in test cricket, plays fairly consistent, yet was constantly under the gun at the beginning of every test match.

Interestingly there was another article where former Indian coach John Wright has written that India should play Yuvraj Singh in tests and there is a debate on who he should replace. Personally, I think Ganguly is a luxury in test cricket under Aussie conditions and even though Yuvraj may not be great (he is still susceptible early on in his innings and very vulnerable to spin), we are at least rewarding this talented guy a chance to prove under tough conditions. I am also very curious to see how Dhoni performs under Aussie conditions in both forms of the game.

Dhoda!

Thought of creating a blog for a while, but wondered if I will ever keep it active with posting. Have quite a few archives (written over last several years) that I can post. Why the name DHODA! In the world where everyone has a blog, this is the initial reaction I expect from people, "Innuru blogu, Dhoda!"

Sivaji - The Boss (Review)

Almost all of the websites has almost posted the entire Sivajistory in the name of review. My 2 cents:

Spectacular is what you fell when you watch the movie. There was no slack moment in the entire movie (barring a lengthy car fight at drive-in in the second half) that runs a little over 3 hours. Super Star is outstanding (especially in the second half) and some of the different styles, costumes and comedy that he has tried in this movie is commendable.

The songs in the movie - combination of extraordinary sets, camera work, music and picturization - is truly amazing. It is difficult to rank a #1 song for the movie, but personally "Oru Koodai Sunlight" was really a surprise number for the way it was picturized.
Sujata's punchy and witty dialogues is excellent and Vivek, who delivers most of them, is almost second hero in the movie. Suman, the villian, is very impressive and plays his part with real ease. Shriya is like a doll who looks great in songs but has little scope for acting.

Shankar has tried his level best to come up with a mega entertainer and I personally think he has come up with a winner. The effort and hardwork that has gone in to this project really shows up in every frame.

Verdict: This is a total Shankar movie acted by Rajini and you have to give credit to both of them for their courage to comeout with a movie with no inhibitions.

Sivaji - The Boss (Preface)

I have a friend's friend Krishna Swamy in Los Angeles(http://www.tamilcinemainla.com/) who is a close friend of Director Shankar. Krishna Swamy releases all Shankar movies in Los Angeles area (He still has the original reel box ofANNIYAN). The buzz was going around for a while as to when we'll have the "potti" for Sivaji and when it will be released in North America. I heard that there are 40 copies of the movie were sent to USA this week of which 10 were sent to Los Angeles and 10 to New York. Usually the movies are released on the sameday when it gets released in India. Swamy took extra effort in making it really big this time and went one step ahead and is releasing it today (6/14/2007) and the first show is at 9 PM. I have secured two tickets for this special preview show and have them in front of me as I type this. The rumour has it that Director Shankar will be here tomorrow for 9 PM show and Swamy has made "special" arrangements exclusively for that show.(I am planning to sneak in for that show as well, wife permitting)
I am reading stories that movie is already in all cinema hallsin India for the next 3-4 weeks at least. It amazes me reading all the attention that this movie is getting. I will post my spanking new movie review tomorrow morning.