Dum Dum Dum OR Ball & Chain

Category -  Romance Comedy ;  Rating -  3  ;  Comment  – If you follow Tamil, watch Dum Dum Dum -  Else watch Ball and Chain!

Again, it is an easy peasy review  -  if I do one review, then I cover two movies  -  Dum Dum Dum (2001) is an Indian regional language (tamil) and Ball and Chain (2004) is an English movie of Indian families!!

Am not even sure if any one else has the patience to watch two similar stories together -  look at the story summary below which is for both the movies together……….

Girl and Boy are forced to marry because their parents think they are the best pair.  Boy and Girl do not want to get married because they have their own reasons  -  so, they both together try multiple tricks to stop the marriage -   in that process, they get to know each other and start liking to each other  -  in the meantime, the parents get into a tiff (for some silly reasons) and stop the marriage -   girl and boy realize they are in love -  now the girl and boy wants to marry each other, but their families are against it  -   finally all ends well and they get married and live happily ever after.

I  had watched Dum Dum Dum in 2001 and couple of days back I was flipping the TV and chanced on Ball and Chain in a movie channel.  I stopped by because I saw Lisa Ray  -  I have a fan in myself for Lisa -  not because she is a great actress , but because of the fact that she fought the deadly disease cancer bravely.  She did not stop with that, but decided to give back to society and is doing a lot now on cancer awareness – http://blog.lisaraniray.com/

But I was in for a surprise, half way through Ball and Chain that I know this story line and then after couple of jabs to my poor memory, came up the tamil movie Dum Dum Dum.

Actually, the tamil movie was more lively because of the leading pair and the nativity   -    decent movie to watch with family!   The english one was still decent, though there was some dullness running through the scenes  -  probably, the camera?…So, you can decide which one to watch       

Ra One

I am not reviewing this movie or giving it any ratings …………Honestly, it is not fair for me to give any rating because I stopped watching the movie just after the first 35 minutes….

The only input I have to King Khan is – Please REFRAIN from calling this movie as a CHILDREN’S ENTERTAINER……….

In general, average parents do not expect such explicit scenes and song sequences worth of a adult’s movie in a so-called children’s entertainer……..When my colleague talked about his ten-year old daughter asking questions which he was feeling uncomfortable to explain, I was retorting  -  ‘come on, it is a Bollywood movie and you can watch it with kids as it is supposed to be superman movie for Indian kids’…………….but then, I was wrong………I had to eat my words after I saw the movie!!

May be I am overreacting…..but, this is how I feel.

When Shahrukh can do a movie like “Chak de” which I want the kids to watch again and again, I can expect him to definitely refrain calling “Ra One” as children’s movie.

Happy Sankranti, Pongal and Lohri – Fire Images!!

Lohri fire…starting to blaze!

Slowly, I see an image??

Do you see a human figure forming?

Perfect Fire Image – Call it the God of Fire – AGNI!!!

I just chanced to join the Lohri celebrations   -   and I was tantalized by the images which the roaring fire showed me.  I only had my blackberry to capture these, but looks pretty amazing…

You May Also Like:    Architectural Majesty  ||  Majestic Beauty     ||   Morning Sun and Rail Tracks

 

Knight and Day

Category -  Action romance ;  Rating -  3  ;  Comment  -  Easy watch entertainer!

Ok, the movie had the right mix for an entertainer….just watch easy!

1. Simple story  (unlike movies which may require a lot of focus)
2. Great locations  -   Train on the alps, the tiny island, Spain and its famous bull fights…….ofcourse, Boston and NY!
3. Action -  Cruise runs all over…..Diaz does all shooting anywhere and everywhere
4. Romance  -   Light and easy (if you excuse one dialogue of Diaz after she gets drugged in Spain, this definitely is a watchable movie for kids with no embarrassment for parents to answer questions like ‘ what does this #%$ mean?)
5. Good prevails over evil  -  easy moral to explain to kids  (off late, i keep a watch on before i declare who is the bad guy when we watch movies with my kids !!)
6. Tom Cruise ( he looks his age in many frames)
7. Cameron Diaz (she also looks her age in many frames)

But honestly, I felt  the highlight and crux is  the dialogue by Miller ……… “Someday. That’s a dangerous word. It’s really just a code for ‘never’“……….There are lot of things we keep postponing thinking that some day we will do it…….this dialogue in the movie just hit that on the head!

Easy watch!  Entertainer!

The Adventures of Tintin – the secret of the Unicorn (3D)

Category - Thriller Cartoon (!) ; Rating  – 3  ; Comment -  I missed Prof.Calculus!

It was an easy decision to pick this up as the movie for the family  -  especially when the kids are on top of the Tintin series of books.   A short movie with dialogues in English accent made it an easy watch for me.   I was continuously looking for Professor Calculus through the movie to pop up his head with his hand watch in vain!  .  I never realized the story line of the movie did not follow the book  -  these are times where your poor memory helps you……..I watched it as though this is the story and felt that some part of it were very slow….till my kids highlighted that the movie did not follow the book…..which probably disappointed them.

While the technology was good, I still felt there are specific places where the 3D could have been put to much better user experience……..

Overall, i think I expected more from Steven Spielberg…….though it was still a decent movie!!  WATCH!

Nanjangudu temple – Architectural Majesty!

This is a temple for Lord Shiva – the Hindu god.  Nanjangudu came from Nanjundeswara (the God who drank poison).  This temple is 30 kms from Mysore and is know as Dakshina Kashi or Varnasi of South!   An architectural beauty!

Morning Sun and the Rail tracks

Morning Sun and the Rail tracks, a photo by Srividya Ram on Flickr.

This shot was from a fast moving train ….It was more experimental to see if my BB can capture the shining rail tracks and the light rays…Decent, I should say!

Top 10 Kollywood movies to watch

I stumbled on these two links when I opened the Yahoo homepage  -

Top 10 Hollywood movies to watch before you die

Top 10 Bollywood movies to watch before you die

I searched for the Kollywood list and as I could not find one, I came up with this list………

1. Thiruvilayadal   -  Who can forget the Dharumi/Nakeeran part?
2. ThAmbikku endha ooru  -   the scene when the snake climbs on Rajnikanth …
3. Thillu mullu  -   amazing comedy
4. Salangai oli -  Kamalhassan the proven dancer
5. Sankarabaranam –  Amazing songs
6. Vedam Pudidhu   -   Strong message from Bharathiraja
7. Anjali  -  Mani ratnam’s depiction of a special child
8. Mozhi -  Best and simple from the production house of Prakash Rai
9. Dasavataharam  -  Kamal trying out his best
10. Endhiran  -  Ofcourse, only Rajni CAN DO IT

I actually tried to be unbiassed……..but being a humor fan, I had to include #2 and #3!!!    How does your list look?

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Why this Kolaveri di

Only one word to describe the song – it is CRAZY!!!……You should hear this song (99% you would have already?)  ……….to appreciate why i wrote “CRAZY”  in red, bold, underline!!

Though I was aware of  this song for the past couple of days, I bothered to listen in only today -  major reason being that it was covered in the first page of Times today morning.  Read the article here……….TIMES OF INDIA .  When i heard it first time -  it was unbelievable……..!!!

It sure is a crazy song, cannot be classified as great music……..but then, I heard it four times already and recorded the song in my phone so that i can listen in later….I started analyzing on what made me do this………..catchy music, simple words, all in english but tamilized (mark it…..this make become  a word in Oxford dictionary like baptized) …….romantic flavour,.it is very easy to sing along……….easy beats……….explains the maximum hit on you tube  in two days ………

Am sure, lot more accolades are yet to come in for this song !  Congratulations to Aishwarya, Anirudh, Dhanush and Shruthi!  LISTEN 

The Blind Side

Category - Drama – Motivation and Social awareness; Rating  - 3.5  ; Comment -  True story of a caring strong woman

This movie is based on the real story of the American football player Michael Oher. The crucial role played by a strong woman in the life of a homeless, traumatized young African American boy makes this an inspiring story  -  especially the way the boy transforms into a confident individual.   I can imagine the strength of the woman -   one which can transform and touch the life of other living beings.  The entire movie has multiple scenes and dialogues which slowly builds on the story and the way how the African American boy becomes as part of the American family.

Dialogues were well thought   -   when they go to shop for a dress and the boy gets confused, the lady makes a comment -  ” before you choose something, ask yourself  IS THIS ME? “   - great message.

Sandra Bullock, who played the lead role got Academy award for her role.   The film itself has got multiple awards and many accolades.  A good watch and inspiring story  -   showcases the strong side of maternal instincts and family values.