Congratulations M(Master) S(Strategist) Dhoni!!

Congratulations MS Dhoni on being conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award!!

Though I am little against giving him Khel Ratna award, which IMHO is too soon and for too little achievement, I still love this shrewd guy and his street smartness. He appears to be a very good leader and he is able to get what he wanted from his team. He is able to get his teammates respect without much of a fuss something that past captains did not get all the time.

- Tendulkar is probably the worst captain India had produced in the last decade or so. He always looked tensed as a captain and it showed up on the team performance under his captaincy.
- Dravid was too timid and too conventional. Even though India had the most number of consecutive successful run chases under his captaincy, he still falls short when it comes to thinking out of the box.
- Ganguly is probably a better captain (compared to Tendulkar and Dravid) but his team's failure in the "FINALS" outweigh the overall success he had as a captain. He was also responsible for nurturing some abrasive characters during his tenure.

In the short span, Dhoni is able to get the players he wanted and he always seem to know the right team combination for a game. Getting Raina (and even Badrinath) and using Praveen Kumar as a front line bowler and sticking with Harbhajan are a few examples. Getting rid of Yusuf Pathan, Sreesanth (although I believe BCCI politics has a BIG role to play in his exclusion and that of Robin Uthappa) from ODI side are other good examples. Even in IPL, he was able to take his team to finals in spite of having limited bowling resources.

I recently wrote on FAB four's shelf life and I stick to it. Even though Dhoni's success has come only in the shorter version of the game and that too not so consistently, he has shown good early signs and positive indications to be a very successful leader.

Singh is Kinng - It's a poetry

Singh is Kinng - The Gang of Punjab will arrive with a bang!

Talk about inspiration - Movies and titles like this inspire you to do new things in life, Singh is Kinng made me a poet. Strong word of caution - This is my first attempt to write a poem. If Singh is Kinng is considered a blockbuster (At the end of first weekend, it's gross (no pun intended) is Rs. 29 crores ), then this should be considered poem.

Singh is Kinng, Singh is Kinng,
Movie is agonizing.

Akshay'a name is happy,
His acting is as usual crappy.

Katrina is paired opposite hero,
Her expression in the important scenes is close to zero.

There are a lot of characters in the movie that goes with male lead,
Most of them resemble a woodenhead.

Javed Jaffrey who is deaf and blind is the villian who is homegrown,
And he is not the only abscind clown.

Kiron Kher comes in as poor mother,
Her acting is better and character in the movie is a banter.

The movie has lots of singhs and handgun,
Watching them was not a lot of fun.

The movie is supposed to be funny,
But most of the sequences and events is phony.

Looks like they have spent more than hundred crore,
In the end the movie turned out to be a bore.

Singh is Kinng, Singh is Kinng,
Movie is agonizing.

சுப்ரமணியபுரம் - Quick Review

Here's a movie that touches the same old theme of youngsters falling prey to politicians and being used as pawns. But the execution of story by the director is brilliant. There is enough drama and improvisation right through the entire film that keep you interested in the film till the very end.

Actors - Jai is good but he needs to learn to modulate his voice otherwise he will sound the same in all of his movies. Sasikumar underplays his role quite well and it is difficult to judge him as an actor with just this one performance. Ganja Karuppu is a real surprise and he shows that he can do more than just comedy. The new heroine Swathi looks good but I have never seen any actress show so much வெக்கம் in one movie. Little overdose.

Camera & Music - Brilliant camerawork and lights right through the movie. I heard that this cameraman rejected an offer to do Dhanush's பொல்லாதவன் since he was already committed to this movie and badly wanted to do this movie. Great job. Music by James Vasanthan is a decent effort for a debutant. Kangal Iranda is very catchy (though it reminds us of several old songs) and BGM is adequate.

Director Sasikumar - Here's a new director who understands what cinema is and what's needed to make a film successful. His attempt in setting a story in 1980s and his attention to details is commendable. From fiat, ambassador cars to Dyanora tv to மாந்தோப்பு கிளியே poster to public buses (did you notice a man with glasses in the background chatting or waiting for a girl in all the bus stop scenes?) to background songs from 80s shows a lot of homework to get everything right. I loved the climax and the way it was executed.

We hear a lot of directors/actors talking about hollywood style movies and end up with cheesy CGI and plastic music. Subramaniapuram has no major commercial elements or hitech gimmicks, but the quality and execution of the movie can be compared to a hollywood movie.

Olympics TV Coverage

NBC did it again for west coast viewers. The LIVE coverage of Olympics shown for viewers in California and other west coast states is actually the recorded tape showing the already concluded event. They do this every year during Wimbledon where they would show the match during what they call "Prime Time" coverage. West coast is the worst hit when it comes to any LIVE coverage of any show. From weekly reality shows to annual sport events, most of the shows are actually telecasted late. You have to avoid all possible human contacts and internet to maintain secrecy if you want to enjoy the show on TV. I am reading that NBC paid close to 900 million for the exclusive TV coverage and if they continue this policy for west coast viewers, they are going to end up with unhappy viewers, sponsors and bad ratings. It makes absolutely no sense to watch the tape knowing that LIVE is not actually LIVE.

FAB Four

I think time has come for FAB four of Indian cricket team to move on and retire from active test match cricket and this includes Sachin Tendulkar. Look at how pathetic they are in the on going test series. Die hard FAB FOUR fans don't even think about saying "Don't judge by one series" or "this is just a bad patch" or "look at their contribution in the last 10-15 years". At the moment, they can neither negotiate experienced bowler like Muralitharan nor dominate rookies like Mendis or Prasad. If selectors were brave enough to send an inexperienced one-day side to Australia last year and say "baptism by fire", why not do the same for home test series this year against Australia?

THANKS SO MUCH to all the four players for all the memories over last several years. Time for new faces.

குசேலன் - திரை விமர்சனம்

Another much anticipated movie of தலைவர் was released yesterday and the movie had the usual hype and marketing that you will normally associate with Rajini films. Kuselan is an attempt to blend commercial elements and real-life emotions in equal proportion and still provide a family entertainer. Did P.Vasu succeed in doing that?

The movie kick-off in a beautiful village setting trying to establish Pasupathy's approach, attitude, social status - all in one letter that he writes to the local government officer. The first few scenes of the movie revolve around Pasupathy and his family and immediately you get an idea on his whole state of affairs. Right after that, too many characters gets introduced and finally after 20 minutes or so, you get to see Rajini with a very promising intro song.

What really follows after that is pesky screenplay and a lot of loose end events. The rest of the movie revolves around Pasupathy's several attempts to reach his old friend and how other characters flip-flop their attitude towards Pasupathy and his family.

Superstar as always excel on screen but he has only a handful of scenes in the entire movie . His only scene with Vadivelu creates enough laughter and the scene where he confront R.Sundarrajan really shows his versatility.

Pasupathy plays the simpleton quite admirably. Nayanthara was "effectively" used by P Vasu. Some of the camera angles and scenes picturized on her are atrocious. Meena as Pasupathy's wife fits in her role perfectly. Vadivelu's comedy is pathetic and talented actors like Livingston and Santhanabharathy are made to look like jokers in the movie. There are a whole bunch of stars who gets an appearance in the movie either as "real" or "reel" characters.

Now to the much hyped climax of the movie. Was it emotional? - Yes. Did Rajini and Pasupathy excel? - Absolutely yes. Did it justify watching the whole movie just to understand Rajini-Pasupathy's friendship? - Heck NO. What's the big deal in keeping the width and depth of friendship as suspense till the end? I really feel that the movie would have worked if they had established deep friendship upfront and then give a gap and then re-establish the friendship in the climax.

P Vasu had let everyone down with his shoddy screenplay and not so great dialogues. This movie equals his earlier offense "Seenu" (remake of "Bharatham") when it comes to Malayalam movie remakes. If you are a Rajini fan and watch the movie either as a typical or a non-typical Rajini fan, you will be little disappointed. You will be even more disappointed if you are a regular filmgoer.