What is not to like?

Finally managed to watch Dilwale this afternoon. It was as high on my watch list as the Star Wars movie. There was really only one reason I wanted to watch this movie. It was a  Shah Ruck Khan movie.

One needs to have a certain mindset to watch an SRK movie.. don't expect much of a plot for starters. Expect very predictable twists and turns. Great visuals and a background score that goes with the visuals, SRK hamming his way through the movie with the few scenes where he is actually doing more comic timing than anything else. 

The hopeless romantic in me always comes home humming the background tune from the movie and this one is no different. 

SRK movies for me have become the equivalent of Nat King Cole songs for baby boomers or so I am guessing. Somewhere some neurons fire in your brain and make connections between the past and present and you get all emotional for reasons that you cannot quite put a finger on. 

Don't understand why people were working hard to set my expectations really low for this movie. Yes, SRK and Kajol do look a little ridiculous in some scenes trying to pass for folks a good 20 years less than their age, and in this day of special effects they could have spent some more effort to make those scenes look natural but it was just another SRK movie. 

The locations in Iceland for the song "Gerua", where Kajol is running on a black beach in a yellow nine yards saree (it has to be at least nine yards), were just breathtaking! See for yourself..

Need to add every place on the backdrop to our travel list. The gold threaded designer sari that Kajol was wearing will be the next big hit for Dilwali.

As for me, I am happy as Yoda, still humming.. 

Growing up and Growing old

On a cheeky note, we all grow older at the rate of one year per annum but we grow up at different rates...

Case in point, the 25 something crowd of more than 20 guys who happened to be in the theater last night for a show of "Mayakkam Enna". Had gone to watch the evening show with Balaji last night and it was a full house.

Mayakkam Enna (you can watch trailer here) is a movie by Selvaraghavan with his brother Dhanush as the hero. If you thought this was some feel good, masala romance movie that targets the twenty something youth, you may be mistaken.

It is a visceral movie about a group of friends growing up and growing old based on the circumstances they face in life. Some deal with the hand they are dealt with courage and conviction while others simply struggle to pick up the pieces. Selvaraghavan does a fantastic job of creating vivid images of the characters with all their idiosyncrasies and Dhanush stands out as an actor. The heroine steals the show throughout the movie. A first timer to Tamil movies, this girl can act.

It is a treat to watch a heroine in a Tamil movie get a chance to show her acting skills as opposed to just showing herself for a change.

Went to the movie without knowing anything about the movie. Had not heard about the storyline, the cast, nothing. Just that Sangeetha watched it the previous night and said "you will like this movie because there is a lot of good photography in the movie".

Came out loving it. Sad part was that the crowd of guys totally spoiled the movie going experience. They simply could not handle the serious scenes and would start making loud ridiculous comments to the whole theater which was not much different from little kids who act out to crave attention.

Was telling Balaji that one needs to be a husband and or a parent to understand "the growing up" aspect of life and clearly this crowd was not ready for it.

This movie was 80% tragedy, 20% happy go lucky and another bonus 10% if you managed to connect the dots between the two.

A must watch for a mature audience!

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Enthiran - The festival

That was just one of the many videos of the crowd and celebration at a small Theater in San Jose. There are only 200 or so seats in the theater where we watched the movie tonight. (we= me, MIL, San's aunt). San watched the preview show because she could not wait for the 24 hours and I was still sick last night.

Rajni movies are a treat, especially because the audience is so alive! This movie was by far the best Tamizh movie I have seen in a long long time.

Everything about this movie was a notch above my expectations! This team went all out and made a fantastic effort to make a Sci-fi Tamizh movie.

Recently there was a Tamizh Western (comedy). That trailer alone made me squirm. Apparently the movie got okay reviews. Was wondering what a Tamizh Sci-fi would be like. Very happy to realize that this Tamizh Sci-fi absolutely rocked!

All of us got a free poster at the ticket counter. That one goes into the souvenir box for sure. Tonight was a very memorable night.

Thank you Superstar!

If only they had released it on one of the local AMC theaters on the biggest screens with louder sound....

Who knows, maybe they will see how good this movie is and do that ?!

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Tamizh Padam(தமிழ் படம்) - Simply Hilarious

Have been out of blogger for a few days, thanks to a sinus infection that has kept me in bed for the most part of Wednesday to Friday. After spending most of the day today in bed as well, San recommended (and graciously agreed) to send me first to watch "Tamizh Padam", a new release Tamizh movie which is getting rave reviews and word of mouth publicity. It is a spoof of Tamizh movies.

It is a must watch in a Theater for a few reasons.

1. The crowd just gets wild and makes the whole experience worth it.

2. you actually get to laugh out loud (which you may not be able to do if you watch it at home after the kids go to bed)!

This movie works because of its attention to detail. It might end up a big blockbuster, inspite of not having any big name actors and being a spoof, simply because it doesn't spoof some leading actors in a "in the face" kind of way. The spoof is rather on the "over the top" antics, weak story lines, special effects, the whole concept of the indestructible hero and how things work for the hero simply because he is one!

The songs are a laugh riot.

It has been a long long time since I stood up and clapped at the end of a Tamizh movie!

Tamizh Padam, definitely worth watching!

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Neeyum Naanum (you and me)

Watched Abhiyum Naanum on DVD. It was a great movie. Came out teary eyed in a lot of places. First real sappy daddy movie to hit the screens in a long time.

Even the big girls were all wiping their tears, possibly thinking about their dads?!

Most of the things in that movie have happened for real in this house. The girls as much as utter a sound, daddy will be right next to them. The alert level in the house for the girls getting hurt is always at Orange, much like the San Jose Airport since a few weeks after 9/11. Daddy is still designing airbags in his sleep that will make sure that there are no scratches on the kids if they get in an accident.

If this movie captured our past and present very accurately, then it is offering a very scary glimpse of the future for daddy.

There is a lot of growing up to do, for sure.

Just remembered this post and the comments that followed! It is not going to be easy for me to see my girls say bye to me.

Funny thing is they already know that they can live without me but it is me who cannot live without them and this theme came as a self realization way before this movie was made!

Hell, I should have scripted this movie. Okay, just kidding..

Those occasional flashes of truth fade into the background in an instant and we are back to the "my child" obsession.

One thing is for sure. I treat my FIL with a lot of respect. He is the only person who could put things in perspective for me when my kids decide to get married. Not my wife, not my parents, not my kids. Only the FIL can give me advice on what it means to become a FIL myself someday.

Maybe he has no profound wisdom to offer me and will brush it aside with stuff like "achcha baba" or "chalta hai" or some such thing which leaves you staring into space going "what was that?" , or maybe he will take me aside and bare his soul on what he was thinking at my wedding....or maybe he will start a school for prospective FIL's and offer coaching classes?

Only time will tell.

Hopefully by that time, this dad will be wiser. One can always hope, no?

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