Saturday, May 31, 2008
dhana124
The Name is Rajinikanth
Among the authors who have displayed ignorance on the central subject matter of their book, Gayathri Sreekanth displays maximum (in fact complete) ignorance. Her book 'The Name is Rajinikanth' is more idiotic than Rajini's super-flop movie 'Naatukku Oru nallavan'. I am not a fan of Rajinikanth, don't particularly like him. However, there are only 4-5 of movies of his that I haven't watched. With this as disclaimer, I say - This is the worst piece of writing I have read in any form of media. As far as I can recollect, I have not read such a poorly researched, poorly presented piece of work on any topic. To write about Rajinikanth without knowing anything about why people watch him is a tremendous achievement. In her preface, she says that her well-wishers asked her "Why write about Rajinikanth?". It seems her answer was "Why not Rajinikanth?". She then goes on to give a bucket full of clichés - "I believe him to be one of the best human beings. Vices don't maketh a man, quality maketh. Habits don't make a man bad, only his attitude. Rajini hasn't forgotten his roots; he is still basic well-grounded Shivaji Roa and enjoys the company of his driver, conductor and depot friends (huh?). He is spiritual, hate hypocrisy, love simplicity..." - essentially she is saying "bla bla bla, bla bla bla - I don't know anything about his movies". What her well-wishers were probably trying to say was "but.. do you know anything about his movies?". She indeed didn't know anything. And given the fact that this book has seen the light of day, she never got around to realizing that fact.
If I was asked use purely this book as my only source of information and speculate/ stereotype Gayathri's background/qualification to write this book, this is what I would conclude; Gayathri has written this book for North Indian/ North American readers, she hasn't seen many Rajinikanth movies, probably very few in a cinema theater. She is not a Thamizh movie fan or an avid Thamizh movie watcher. She has no idea why Rajinikanth clicks, why he has the pulse of the audience. Although she may not really be - She resembles the stereo type of a 2nd generation South Indian who grew up in North with superficial knowledge of Thamizh movies. She is probably wealthy, is related to (or in the same social circle) as movie big shots like AVM Saravanan etc. The only reason she wrote this book was because she was well-connected and was the first one to think of seriously implementing this idea. The success of Sivaji probably made her, a 'peter' puluthifying 'i don't see taamil moovies' chic to become aware of Rajinikanth or at least made her think she could put her "high society English knowledge" to write a book about him for N. Indian audience. Nobody I repeat nobody would write this in a biography on Rajinikanth; "His first film as a hero was block buster Apoorva Raajmangal. K. Balachander, his mentor, again cast him as the main lead in a slapstick comedy Moondru Mudichu.". If she is blaming people for "nit picking" on this error again and again, then it is time for her to realize why nobody else would have ever made that mistake. And this is not the only mistake. Her lack of knowledge brilliantly shines throughout the book.
She has a "screenplay" for her book. And it does not add any value except serve as a masala piece. Even-numbered chapters describe Rajini's childhood and odd-numbered Chapters describe his life as a movie star. And it is not written in a style that biographies are usually written. She fills the gaps in her knowledge about Rajinikanth's childhood by creating fictional "this is what he must have said as a child" and writes this book like a fantasy-fiction novel. This makes the book really horrible and completely unreadable. And then she makes it even crappier. She has little child Shivaji Roa Gaekwad, growing up in slums of Bangalore, saying phrases/words that suburban kids in Ohio would say - "I want summmmmoooh" (I want some more) etc etc - and you get the point. Maybe she wrote the book with the intention that kids, North Indians or worse North Americans would read it. All 3 categories would definitely not touch this book. And North Indians don't like Rajinikanth. Many make fun of him. Somebody needs to tell her that. I have no idea what made her think otherwise or why she thinks this is so important an aspect to exaggerate upon. Her idea of using Hindi words like 'ghas poos' to describe vegetarian food, 'hai hai', and spelling Latha as Lata (first, I thought it was the Thanglish word - Late'aa?) was probably with this audience in mind. No Thamizh speaker residing in proper Thamizh Nadu would speak like this. Certainly not the characters she mentions.
Don't expect a commentary on his movies, the movie phenomenon called Rajinikanth, why he decided to make a movie with xyz story Vs a movie with abc story, how he built his image, his 80s movies, his love stories, action movies, his 90s image-based movies. Don't expect to read anything regarding his movies in this book. Expect to read on Latha's father Rangachari, how handsome he looked, how he adhered to the 11-day 'vriddhi theetu' after Latha had a child and some such nonsense. Gayathri has got connections. That makes her aware of gossip - the kind that appears in Vaara Malar's thunukku mootai, Dhina thanthi, Rani and Devi. So she writes about why Rajini was not friendly with Khushboo or Sripriya, the fact that he slept around, how he almost divorced Latha (or should I say Lata), how K.B influenced his personal life, how Kamal influenced his personal life, Cauveri issue Raj kumar kidnapping issue, Aishwarya Rajinikanth's crush on Simbu, Rajini's psuedo foray into politics, relationship with Jayalalitha/Karunanidhi etc etc. Of course she also spends a few mandatory chapters on the boring oft-repeated topic of his spirituality, his gurus (some *.nanda is his guru), his good-hearted’ness and bla bla bla. Yawn!
Maybe, due to some irony, this bad book befits Rajinikanth and the legacy he will leave behind. The book indirectly leaves an impression that one cannot write a book on Rajinikanth with extensive details about his career/professional/onscreen life. While a biography typically touches on personal aspects of the person, it is irritating that this book does only that. Rajinikanth's fans will probably cringe on reading this book. On the whole - it is shocking that this book was not reviewed by Rajinikanth, his family members or any cine person this author "profoundly" thanks in her book. Should one be surprised that Rajinikanth will let such a poor book be called his biography and endorse it? It also tells me that if you have money, publishing a book is like publishing a blog post. This book is hastily written, poorly formatted, unedited, and has not been proof read extensively. Miraculously, at any point in time prior to it getting published, this book about a movie star has not been vetted with a person who knows or understands movies very well. I hope she never writes a book on Kamal Hasan. I have been duped. I want my Rs 500 back.
If I was asked use purely this book as my only source of information and speculate/ stereotype Gayathri's background/qualification to write this book, this is what I would conclude; Gayathri has written this book for North Indian/ North American readers, she hasn't seen many Rajinikanth movies, probably very few in a cinema theater. She is not a Thamizh movie fan or an avid Thamizh movie watcher. She has no idea why Rajinikanth clicks, why he has the pulse of the audience. Although she may not really be - She resembles the stereo type of a 2nd generation South Indian who grew up in North with superficial knowledge of Thamizh movies. She is probably wealthy, is related to (or in the same social circle) as movie big shots like AVM Saravanan etc. The only reason she wrote this book was because she was well-connected and was the first one to think of seriously implementing this idea. The success of Sivaji probably made her, a 'peter' puluthifying 'i don't see taamil moovies' chic to become aware of Rajinikanth or at least made her think she could put her "high society English knowledge" to write a book about him for N. Indian audience. Nobody I repeat nobody would write this in a biography on Rajinikanth; "His first film as a hero was block buster Apoorva Raajmangal. K. Balachander, his mentor, again cast him as the main lead in a slapstick comedy Moondru Mudichu.". If she is blaming people for "nit picking" on this error again and again, then it is time for her to realize why nobody else would have ever made that mistake. And this is not the only mistake. Her lack of knowledge brilliantly shines throughout the book.
She has a "screenplay" for her book. And it does not add any value except serve as a masala piece. Even-numbered chapters describe Rajini's childhood and odd-numbered Chapters describe his life as a movie star. And it is not written in a style that biographies are usually written. She fills the gaps in her knowledge about Rajinikanth's childhood by creating fictional "this is what he must have said as a child" and writes this book like a fantasy-fiction novel. This makes the book really horrible and completely unreadable. And then she makes it even crappier. She has little child Shivaji Roa Gaekwad, growing up in slums of Bangalore, saying phrases/words that suburban kids in Ohio would say - "I want summmmmoooh" (I want some more) etc etc - and you get the point. Maybe she wrote the book with the intention that kids, North Indians or worse North Americans would read it. All 3 categories would definitely not touch this book. And North Indians don't like Rajinikanth. Many make fun of him. Somebody needs to tell her that. I have no idea what made her think otherwise or why she thinks this is so important an aspect to exaggerate upon. Her idea of using Hindi words like 'ghas poos' to describe vegetarian food, 'hai hai', and spelling Latha as Lata (first, I thought it was the Thanglish word - Late'aa?) was probably with this audience in mind. No Thamizh speaker residing in proper Thamizh Nadu would speak like this. Certainly not the characters she mentions.
Don't expect a commentary on his movies, the movie phenomenon called Rajinikanth, why he decided to make a movie with xyz story Vs a movie with abc story, how he built his image, his 80s movies, his love stories, action movies, his 90s image-based movies. Don't expect to read anything regarding his movies in this book. Expect to read on Latha's father Rangachari, how handsome he looked, how he adhered to the 11-day 'vriddhi theetu' after Latha had a child and some such nonsense. Gayathri has got connections. That makes her aware of gossip - the kind that appears in Vaara Malar's thunukku mootai, Dhina thanthi, Rani and Devi. So she writes about why Rajini was not friendly with Khushboo or Sripriya, the fact that he slept around, how he almost divorced Latha (or should I say Lata), how K.B influenced his personal life, how Kamal influenced his personal life, Cauveri issue Raj kumar kidnapping issue, Aishwarya Rajinikanth's crush on Simbu, Rajini's psuedo foray into politics, relationship with Jayalalitha/Karunanidhi etc etc. Of course she also spends a few mandatory chapters on the boring oft-repeated topic of his spirituality, his gurus (some *.nanda is his guru), his good-hearted’ness and bla bla bla. Yawn!
Maybe, due to some irony, this bad book befits Rajinikanth and the legacy he will leave behind. The book indirectly leaves an impression that one cannot write a book on Rajinikanth with extensive details about his career/professional/onscreen life. While a biography typically touches on personal aspects of the person, it is irritating that this book does only that. Rajinikanth's fans will probably cringe on reading this book. On the whole - it is shocking that this book was not reviewed by Rajinikanth, his family members or any cine person this author "profoundly" thanks in her book. Should one be surprised that Rajinikanth will let such a poor book be called his biography and endorse it? It also tells me that if you have money, publishing a book is like publishing a blog post. This book is hastily written, poorly formatted, unedited, and has not been proof read extensively. Miraculously, at any point in time prior to it getting published, this book about a movie star has not been vetted with a person who knows or understands movies very well. I hope she never writes a book on Kamal Hasan. I have been duped. I want my Rs 500 back.
dhana123
This week, a movie festival was organised at my company. Originally, 2 Tamil movies, 2 Hindi movies and an English movie were planned to be screened. Because of some unforeseen circumstances, one of the promised Tamil movies could not be screened. And this happened to Chandramukhi - the Rajnikanth starrer, the most successful Tamil movie ever.
The Tamil brain has suspicion and conspiracy hardwired into it — someone suggested that the movie was not screened because the earlier Tamil movie was not well-accepted by the non-Tamil audience. Wow, what a way to trigger the Northie v/s Southie debate!
The subsequent debate which raged on in the bulletin board had all the elements of the usual slanging match. Funny as it might to a sane individual, it also brought out the differences hidden in the deepest corners of many hearts. Some suggested that a conspiracy was being hatched against Tamil movies; some others criticised non-Tamils for not being receptive enough; to which the response was the usual rant — that Hindi was India’s national language, and that everyone must learn to appreciate Hindi movies. An additional spin was given to this — those who do not know Hindi are a national shame! Ouch!
And the root cause — the distributor who had promised the Chandramukhi movie-reel could not provide it. Goodness me!
Why would someone be so passionate about something as trivial as a movie screening? My Tamil friends, you could have accepted the inability of the organisers to screen a particular movie. And my non-Tamil friends, you could have chosen to act “as the Romans do”. After all, you are aware that Tamils feel strongly about their culture. More importantly, our popular culture is not dictated by what happens in the Hindi heartland, but is pretty indigenous. It isn’t such a bad thing to partake in our way of life, or is it? At least for a couple of hours?
This argument about Hindi being our national language reminds me of an interesting scene from Cho Ramaswamy’s classic Mohammed bin Tughlaq. The Council of Ministers are in a meeting and the problem being discussed is which language should be ascribed the status of India’s national language. The usual debate rages on, and it turns into chaos. Tughlaq, the Prime Minister, intervenes and declares, “From this day, I declare Persian as India’s national language!” Everyone looks puzzled. Tughlaq explains, “Yes, Persian will be our national language. It is a language alien to India. The Hindi speakers do not know it. Nor do the Tamils, nor the Bengalis, no one… So, if Persian is elevated to this status, there will not be any quarrels. Everyone has to learn a new language, and no one will dare complain of favoritism!“
dhana122
OF Icons and Fans....
Recently everyone from TamilNadu talks about “CBSE” itself, mentioning an extract regarding Rajini(pasting the same above). It just set me thinking and no offence to anyone.
The forwards say something like “An abstract of the early life of Our Super Star Rajinikanth's has been included in the syllabus of 6th standard school children….. Note that, it's not in the state board syllabus, but CBSE Central board syllabus, under the heading 'Dignity of Work'……………….”
Well for at least two things I find this interesting. One is the stress on “CBSE” syllabus itself mentioning about Rajini and the second thing is the title was not “Rajini” but “dignity of work” and just because Rajini is mentioned there, people associate the two, completely ignoring the other character in the passage, just like the movie “chandramukhi”
I don’t dislike Rajini but at the same time, just because he appears somewhere, I don’t like the undue credit given to him, I feel Rajini himself, would not like that.
The passage tells about how his friend supported him when he was down and how he became a history later on, but we completely ignore the first part and I think that is the reason why there is only one Rajini.
I was telling my friend that sometimes description overshadows the content and nowadays no one wants to look for the content .CBSE never keeps a straight passage. I was a good student in my class and most of the times I scored well in English. I was in CBSE and I feel the others did not score because they didn’t see the content. If descriptions overshadow content, Glamour overshadows even descriptions. It is pretty dangerous, it makes us forget that we are “humans” and no human value is appreciated in front of it.
If “CBSE” intended to talk about Rajini then in that case, in the “evaluate” section why is all the questions regarding the “obscure” normal “faceless” person ?But the one good thing is , everyone is happy that “Rajini” was mentioned in a CBSE textbook, acknowledging the importance of good education.
If only people don’t just go by fancy words and look for the fine prints in everything, India would be a better place and no one would want to leave that country and go after developed countries, most of which has thousands of “rajini’s” in their country already.
People who are famous are to be appreciated for their work and sincerity and more than them the people who identify them when they were “obscure” are more important according to me.
By just looking at one Rajini, One Tagore and One Theresa, people don’t look around for people like them ,in between them and those people loose the opportunity of a friend, like Rajini had.Evenetually, we are neither becoming Rajini nor Raja bahadur.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
dhana121
Chandramukhi - The Second Coming of Super Star
Kann Emaikkum Nodiyill Ada Ethuvum Nadakkum
Ithu Enakku Therium Naalai Unakku Puriyum
Hey!! Anjukkulla Naala Vaiyu
Aazham Paathu Kaala Vaiyu
reads the lyrics of the superhit song Annanoda Paatu in Chandramukhi. You might wonder if they were written based on the Baba's lessons learnt document. May or May not be. Baba wasn't the first of Rajini's movie that failed in box-office. Yet it was a notable fall because the media was on all-time high about Rajini. It wasn't the be a crucial time in Rajini's career. He wasn't in one of those if-this-fails-i'm-lost-forever times of his film career. Still, Rajini tasted the failure gracefully and refunded the financial loss to his distributors. What about his diehard fans ? He deceived them with Baba. He never repaid them nor even reassured them. Was completely out of the movie scene for more than 3 years after the Baba disaster. He probably wanted to go by his own dialogue, Sonnathaium Seivaen Sollathathaiyum Seivaen. Comes back with bang in Chandramukhi providing wholesome entertainment for the entire family. He treads in the most popular and the most safest roads of movie making that encompasses entertainment values for the masses.
Just like any AVM flick, Chandramukhi has an amazing proportion of commercial cinema for everyone. There is a 'story', some suspense, comedy, super hit songs, stunts and hey as a bonus it also has Rajini in it. Instead of the story getting twined around Rajini, for a change, Rajini ties all the elements together. If only it was the other way, he had to do more gimmicks and adhere to the silly formulas. More of this a little later.
Chandramukhi premise is ripped-off from a wonderful Malayalam classic, Manichitrathazhu. A haunting and a realistic movie directed by Fazhil has become a suspense thriller with lots of exaggeration[the graphical anaconda snake] and commercial compromises. I would hate to compare Chandramukhi to Manichitrathazhu because they just have the same story premise but the intention behind making them are a lot different. Apples and Oranges. The video shops are going to be haunted for Manichitrathazhu video allowing more people to understand the taste of malayalam movies.
Chandramukhi is a story of a girl suffering from multiple personality disorder also known as split personality. A curious urban girl comes in contact with a ancient story of a dancer Chandrmukhi, becomes interested in her and in the process of knowing more about her, gets affected with MPD. Before she gets too dangerous for others to handle, a psychiatrist treats her appropriately by risking his life. I didn't want to write even this storyline but it's just to show the point in which Rajinikanth's character gets importance. It's only in the last 20 minutes Rajinikanth does something closer to his character. Until then he just there to provide fun time for his viewers.
Jyothika the wonder girl does a great job in the title role. It's probably the movie for which she will be talked about. Even though there is just too much kajal in her eyes, trying to dub her as a ghost, she gives a performance that will be rewarding. For someone so charming and fun filled even in the movies, a ferocious role must have been a challenge. She walks away with full marks for the acting sequence in the final scenes and her version of tounge twisting flirt, Laka..Laka..Laka. If only they would have downplayed her make-up and didn't glare her eyes with those extra lights, the role would have been remembered for a long time. Nevertheless it's her movie and she emerges as a grand winner.
Going by the popular mis-conception that there weren't many punch dialogues for a Rajini movie, Rajinikanth's tightrope walk in Chandramukhi paid-off well. If only there were many of the so-called-punch-dialogues, they would be analysed in every possible angle by the media and they would wage a virtual battle between him and some unassuming political star. Rajinikanth's huge fan club must be having a great time watching their Thalaivar coming back to the Rajathi Raja type comedy where the story dictates comedy dialogues and not the other way.
With that Matrix stlye introduction Rajini's character gets pulled into the movie real quick. But his character stands out for a long time until he starts to unleash the Chandramukhi mystery. It's true that his voice has lost quite a bit of it's grace. Still he has a powerful on-screen presence and has a fairly good sense of humour. Though it's mostly of the slapstick genre, we enjoy it thoroughly. While he comes in the disguise of the king in the final scenes, he reminds the villainy roles he played during the yesteryears.
Rajini probably wanted to get out of the political blackhole into which he was drawn into with/without his consent. He probably wanted to relive his good ol'e days of Super Star. In that manner, even though Chandramukhi doesn't showcase or boast the superstar status with magnificent BGMs or Vishk...Vishk sounds, Rajini comes back full swing. Choosing a story for his re-launch after Baba was so important for him. Chandramukhi which had a perfect script for an entertainment movie, was also successful in Malayalam and in Kannada which must have pushed him to use the script in his favour. It worked magic for him. While there could arguments as to how the movie could/might have been taken, with the given output it brings back the Super star as he was celebrated in the late 80's. Welcome back !!
Prabhu, a very good actor gets very little chance to make an impact. He was probably very worried about the business of Chandramukhi being the producer and didn't wanted so much on-screen presence. Vadivelu is on the track. While I would have still preferred to have Janakaraj as Rajini's sidekick, Vadivelu was also comical. Nayanthara does her part neatly. But she was over-hyped during the pre-release promos. Good artists like Nasser and Sheila get wasted in the not-so-important roles.
Vidyasagar would get a second chance with Rajini for his next film. His BGMs thrills and keeps the tempo of the movie, high. Annanoda Pattu is the 'once more' type. Raa Raa is a melodious song and everyone watch it just for the Lakka Lakka sequence. My personal favorite is the Athinthom song which had shades of Illayaraja as mentioned in the music review. Some fine piece of artistry by Thotta Tharani. However it could have been avoided which would have made the film more realistic. But a Rajini film requies this grandeur. Director Vasu would be a happy man from Chandramukhi's success. He has did a good job of bringing the best out of the crew except that he could have reduced the hyperboles to the story.
Leaving all the pre-concieved notions of recent Rajini flicks, if only you could be open, Chandramukhi is a paisa vasool. If you are the nitpicky type, trying to grip on the loopholes of the movie, Chandramukhi isn't for you. Truly, not many are criticizing
dhana119
Top 1 Movie - Chandramukhi (2005):
- Chandramukhi is a 2005 Indian musical, horror, comedy directed by P. Vasu and produced by Ramkumar Ganesan of Sivaji Productions.
- It is the remake of the Kannada language film, Apthamitra, which itself was based upon a Malayalam film, Manichitrathazhu.
- The music for the film, which later became successful enough to be released as a soundtrack album, was written by Vidyasagar. It is the remake of the Award winning malayalam movie "Manichitrathazhu".
- This Rajinikanth film had a large cast. Jyothika Saravanan, Prabhu Ganesan, Nayanthara, Vineeth, and Malavika were also given lead roles while Vadivelu, Nassar, and Vijayakumar had important roles as well.
- It was released on the eve of the Tamil New Year, April 14, 2005 to become the largest opening in Tamil cinema at the time. It was subsequently dubbed into Telugu and released on December 29, 2005 with the same title.
- On February 29th, 2008, Producer M.Rathnam had dubbed and released the film in Hindi, despite Bhool Bhulaiyaa being released in the past.Since release, Chandramukhi has become the highest grossing Tamil language film ever beating the previous record set by Rajinikanth's previous film, Padayappa.
- The film also became the longest ever running South Indian film, completing 800 days at Shanthi Theatres in Chennai on June 25, 2007 passing the record of the 1935-devotional film, Haridas. It was also the first Tamil movie to be dubbed into German and released in German-speaking nations.
dhana118
This month, we are featuring four non-English, movies/videos in response to our growing readership whose first language is other than English. This month's selections are on the fun side with reincarnational themes. As always, a reminder to all readers to inform us of movies or videos that you really like and think would uplift, inform, educate, entertain or inspire other readers.
Reviews by Vidya Chandrasekhar (VC)
Purandharadasa (1982) Produced by Gnanananda Seva Samajam Bala Mandali under the auspices of H. H. Sadguru Haridasgiri (Guruji). Stars kids of the GSS Bala Mandali. K. Kalpa plays Purandharadasa. Hindi. Approx. 2 hrs. Video available through GSS. For now, order by calling 011-91-44-827-9889 (Madras, India).
Vishnu's nephew, the sage Narada, promises that if he were on earth, he would never forget his Lord. So he is sent there as a test, taking birth as 16th-century Carnatic singer/saint Purandharadasa. He starts out in life as a stingy money-lender but changes into a great bhakta after miraculous events occur. The boy Purandharadasa's devotion is so emotionally charged, it was getting even the "cool" guys I know teary-eyed watching it.
Beautifully shown is how Purandharadasa's spiritual breakthrough comes from the grace of Ganesha who appears to him in a dream and teaches him the musical scale Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni which he thereafter uses to write songs in praise of God and introduces the Carnatic music format to the world. But when his fame rises and his ego swells, Goddess Saraswati comes to rekindle his devotion with a test. Dasa's soulful song to Saraswati, begging forgiveness (shot inside a temple) gives one goosebumps. Complete with dancing-through-the-clouds scenes and other Indian-movies-only cinematographic musts. The entire cast is under 14-so pure, animated and professional. I loved it. So uplifting. My family could watch it dozens of times. -VC
Lok Parlok (1979) Stars Jeetendra and Jaya Prada. Hindi. Approx. 3 hours. Available at Indian stores.
So you die and go to the Devaloka. Divine beings determine it's not karmically the right time and send you back. Right? Well that's just what happened to a surprised Jeetendra in this hilarious, heavenly comedy that will foil even the best of plot-hackers. Jeetendra's counterpart, a lovely apsara, is played by Jaya Prada, who gets caught in a total life/death quandary of who's-alive, who's-supposed-to-be, who's-dead-but-really isn't and could-never-be. Complete with devas who come to earth, India, and get mistaken for Hindi actors tussle with huge gold maces and chase scenes with gandharvas in silk dhotis and gold crowns. One note: this is Bollywood and their scriptwriters are no theologians, so ingest the philosophy with a grain of salt. -VC
Chandramukhi (1993) Produced by Sawan Kumar. Hindi. Stars Sreedevi and Salman Khan. Approx. 3 hours. Available at local Indian shops.
Written by top actor Salman Khan, this is a funny imitation/combination of Big, Superwoman and The Little Mermaid. Sreedevi plays the nameless daughter of an Amazonian planet Queen leader. Sree daydreams of visiting Earth, and finally is forced to travel there in search of a stolen magic feather that could cause the destruction of her planet. She meets up with a little boy who is battling with an abusive uncle trying to take his fortune. Sree grants the boy's wish of being big so he can defend himself. Predictably, Sri then falls in love with her new hero/creation.
Mostly just healthy, fun family entertainment, scriptwriters did squeeze in the quintessential Bhagavad Geeta teaching about love vs. duty as Sree has to decide between the love of her life and her duty toward protecting her planet. Also, her conscience is pricked that she is dangerously toying with the boy's natural karmic pattern. Enjoy. -VC
Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari (1990) Stars Sreedevi and Chiranjeevi. Telugu. Approx 3 hours. Available at local Indian shops.
This time Sreedevi is an apsara (Hindu dancing demi-goddess from Indradeva's court) who visits Earth to prance in the snow. She loses her power ring which forces her to stay and look for it. She meets kind-hearted Chiranjeevi, a human god who protects homeless orphans. He finds the ring and uses the ring to ward off black magicians. Still, she wants her ring back and in her efforts to get it, she falls in love. So does she fly back off to her heavenly home or settle down to being Mrs. Chiranjeevi? Lightweight be assured, but it does put forward the reality of inner worlds and the idea that virtue is a power. -VC
The Barbarian West. Narrated by host/writer Michael Wood. Produced by Maryland Public Television and Central Independent Television, UK. 57 min. US $29.95 Order from: Ambrose Video Publishing Inc. 1290 Ave. of Americas, Suite 2245, N.Y., N.Y. 10104.
Taking the Eastern perspective of life, Wood leads us through Western history from its Greco/Roman beginnings to Sir Francis Bacon's and momentous treatise declaring science's supremacy over God. Wood says this is where the West really got off-track, into matter, away from spirit. Final frames of this uncomplimentary portrait of Western societies-and their claims of superiority over Eastern cultures-are cuts from NASA spaceships to a worship scene in Meenaskhi temple, South India, where Wood suggests real civilization has been flourishing for millennia. I saw this movie with a group of Indians. Many welled up with tears of pride at seeing India so forcefully appreciated for its spirituality and culture. A must for building Hindu/Indian pride and dismantling West-is-best mentality in youth and adults.
India Empire of the Spirit. Narrated by host/writer Michael Wood. Produced by Maryland Public Television and Central Independent Television, UK. 57 min. US $29.95 Order from: Ambrose Video Publishing Inc. 1290 Ave. of Americas, Suite 2245, N.Y. N.Y. 10104.
Finally, a big-bucks production on Hinduism that is sophisticated, intelligent, takes the Hindu side and wryly calls the West "barbarians" and the British "invaders who left few cultures of the world intact."
This and Barbarian West are part of a superb six-part series on world civilizations called Legacy. Opening scenes of a Kumbha Mela show 15 million Hindus wading into the Ganges. Wood narrates: "History is full of empires of the sword, but India alone created an empire of the spirit." Great for youth to see to nurture Hindu self-respect.
dhana117
Inniku namma Jo birthday… So ellarum JOra oru thadavai kai thattunga! While I take a short stroll down memory lane with the birthday girl…
Jo was first seen as Ajith’s fictional lover in Vaali. She looked cute but it was a miracle I even noticed her since the heroine was Simran! She was expressive and bubbly but the following movies, especially Kushi, took those characteristics to irritating levels. I distinctly remember one particular scene in Kushi (where she apologizes to Vijay) which is probably the scene where she overacted the most in her career. She did tone her expressions down in movies like Mugavari and Dumm Dumm Dumm and gradually began growing on me.
Personally, 12B is the movie where I became Jo's fan. As I said in my review “she has toned down her facial contortions to just the right level and now one can marvel at the wide array of expressions she turns on and off with ease”. But the film itself was a box-office flop and with no hits for almost 2 full years, she was pretty much written off.
But 2003 saw the long-deserved upswing in her fortunes. She opened the year with Dhool; she was gorgeous and earned our sympathy in Kaakka Kaakka (my favorite Jo character so far); and she ended the year with another hit in Thirumalai. She continued the good streak in 2004 with a double role and a Filmfare award for Perazhagan and a hit in Manmadhan. And she can now claim that she played the title role in the biggest hit in Tamil film history! Way to go, Jo!
So here’s a very Happy Birthday to Kollywood’s most loveable heroine...
dhana116
Chandramukhi:
Tamil superstar Rajnikanth’s dubbing flick Chandramukhi set the box office a blaze with the movie Chandramukhi. Telugu audience once again proved this year that they do appreciate a dubbed movie if it is good. Rajni as Shivaji, Prabhu as his close friend and new comer Nayana tara as Durga formed the main character’s of the movie. But it was the sizzling performance of Jyothika that made the biggest difference in this movie. Infact, a director of K.Balachander’s calibre opined that there was no heroine in the present generation who could have done the role of Chandramukhi like Jyothika performed and the one and only Mahanati Savitri could have done it well, such was her performance. P.Vasu’s direction and Thota Tarani’s sets also helped the m
ovie greatly.
ovie greatly.dhana115
Rajnikanth: Now a star, he once struggled to live
Rajnikanth may be one of India's highest paid actors today. A long time ago he was a humble bus
conductor but with stars in his eyes. And when he joined the Tamil film industry, he struggled for
years - to pay his room rent, to commute in Chennai and to be simply accepted as an actor.
Three long and tough decades later, the 57-year-old is the heartthrob of millions, and not just in
Tamil Nadu. His popularity can put even the best-known political leader to shame. That was more
than evident as sale of tickets opened here for 'Sivaji: The Boss', to be released Friday.
The budget for the movie is reported to be in excess of Rs.100 crore ($24 million) -- and the fees
Rajnikanth commands along with its director Shankar is said to be 30 percent of this, a Himalayan
amount considering that a long time ago the man drew the salary of a bus conductor.
He then went by his real name, Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. His mother tongue was Marathi. He was a
conductor in Bangalore in the mid '70s and it was Madras, or Chennai, that drew him when he
decided to take to acting.
The man wanted a name befitting a star. At that time, a runaway Tamil hit movie had a character
called Rajnikanth. The khaki-clad conductor chose it as his screen name.
An uneventful period of training as an actor got Rajnikanth a glorified extra's role in a black and
white film, 'Apoorva Raagangal' (Rare Tunes).
Rajnikanth played a geriatric husband to a wayward wife who chooses to love a man young enough
to be her son while her daughter falls for the son's father. His screen presence lasted under 15
minutes and his face was hidden behind a shaggy beard.
Nobody noticed him except for a few filmmakers who felt Rajnikanth's first shot in which he opens
the gates of a concert theatre showed a glimpse of his acting talent.
That still didn't make Rajnikanth's life in tinsel town easy.
He hired single rooms in a small lodge in a suburb which had a dubious name Kolaikaran Pettai
(Murderer's Den), simply because he couldn't afford anything better. No one was ready to rent him a
house because he smoked and drank.
Rajnikanth's mentor K. Balachander asked him to play an anti-hero. Bharati Raja made him a bigger
villain in his maiden venture 'Pathinaaru Vayathinile' (Sweet Sixteen), and for a while claimed
'Rajnikanth' was his find.
The film critics of the 1970s found Rajnikanth a cruel joke.
In 1980, the set was garish and big. The film was Balachander's 'Nettrikkan' (The Third Eye).
Rajnikanth's costumes were old-fashioned and looked as though hired from a shady launderer.
His three leading ladies were studies in contrast - Lakshmi, a minor actor from a generation before
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© Copyright 2008 IndiaeNews.com. All Rights Reserved.
the hero, Saritha, who was definitely more saleable than Rajni, and Monica, who could not make a
mark in the industry.
Rajnikanth was playing a dual role. The meatier of the two was that of a philanderer. The other was
a straitjacketed do-gooder who pretends to marry his own father's rape victim.
This correspondent wandered into AVM studios, to interview the man who was just emerging from
doomsday predictions.
Rajnikanth had been called a crackpot, drug addict, drunkard and worse because he was said to be
interested in a fading actress.
Those were the days when air-conditioned make up rooms weren't there.
Rajnikanth had removed his jacket and upcoming stars like him smoked State Express 555
cigarettes. Was he willing to answer a few questions?
'Is it for a movie magazine?'
'No!'
'Then you are welcome. Ask whatever you want. But please remember to print my answers
verbatim.'
What was supposed to last a few minutes stretched to four hours, till the shooting ended that day
and the chat continued a day later, during a drive from Rajnikanth's bungalow to the studios in his
modest, air-conditioned Fiat.
'I only fear god and my conscience,' he said.
'When I started to earn a living, I did not know that one day I would come to Madras and become
film actor. For me, no matter how famous I become, I will always be a pal to my pals, because they
are my roots,' the not-yet superstar had said.
'Tamil Nadu has become my preferred home because people of this state have given me a new
identity and my modest claim to fame.
'When I left Bangalore, I wanted to be an actor, not a star, because of three things: It would fetch me
a little more money than the salary of a conductor. I could choose my women and get plenty of time
to sleep - in that order. I have achieved much more. I want nothing more,' he said. That was the
1980s.
He recalled he had gone to, later chief minister, Jayalalitha's house to talk to her about a role offered
to him - to play second fiddle to her.
'I was riding a scooter, something I was sheepish about. The film didn't work out for various reasons.
'It was at that moment that I decided that one day I would have my house in the same area she lived
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© Copyright 2008 IndiaeNews.com. All Rights Reserved.
in - Poes Gardens - so that I could shed the complex once and for all. I have done that now,'
Rajnikanth said, with a glint in his eye.
No Tamil newspaper printed the 1980's interview because Rajnikanth wasn't news then.
By 1990, Rajnikanth became a superstar and the most beloved actor of the audience.
One day in 1992 Rajnikanth's car was making its way towards Radhakrishnan Salai, a major artery.
Suddenly, a police jeep overtook his vehicle and forced it to stop.
'We are clearing the road for the chief minister to pass,' the cop announced. The chief minister was
J. Jayalalitha.
Something snapped. Rajnikanth got out of his car, walked on to the busy road, crossed the
intersection, went to a kiosk, bought a packet of cigarettes, shook one out -- and began smoking.
Within a few minutes, a small crowd gathered, just to have a glimpse of the star.
News spread like wildfire and a huge multitude began milling around the area. Rajnikanth did not
seem to have a care in the world and puffed away merrily. The whole area was grid locked.
It became impossible for Chief Minister Jayalalitha to come out of her residence. Finally, realising
their folly, the police begged Rajnikanth to drive away. The chief minister, they said, was getting late.
'I am waiting for her to go. I don't mind waiting,' Rajnikanth said, feigning reluctance. Finally, he
shrugged, got into his car and drove off.
That was the star's way of making a chief minister understand that she may be the administrative
boss of the state, but the icon of the masses was indeed Rajnikanth.
Baring a flop 'Baba', all of Rajnikanth's releases have accorded manifold returns to his producers.
With each film, his remuneration has multiplied four times.
Rajnikanth's last film 'Chandramukhi', released in 2005, has been the biggest grosser in the history
of south Indian films.
He has in the meantime given up smoking due to medical advice. After every film, he goes away on
pilgrimage, most often to the Himalayas.
Despite his age, his fans from all over the world, a sizeable number in far away Japan, Britain, the
US and South Africa, want to see him paired on screen with much younger women.
They lap up his antics, innovative song-and-dance and fight sequences.
His fans in Tamil Nadu burst crackers on the roads, bathe his cut outs with milk, beer and whisky
before his films get released, and the same is expected on Friday -- when 'Sivaji: The Boss' is
released.
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