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Helicopter movies (#atozchallenge)
So, it is a new hash tag for this challenge at Tossing it Out and following for the letter “H” for the A to Z April Challenge.
When i think of helicopter in movies, what comes to me was the awe I went through when I saw the helicopter ride in a song in one of the Tamil movies - Guru (1980). While the theme was more of robinhood styled hero and drama, that one song (very regional!) in that movie where a hero gets on to a glider and tries to stop the bad guy in the helicopter was something which stuck to my head and popped up when i saw the helicopter movies title today.
Guru is a 1980 movie which had the leading pair of tamil cinema - Kamalhassan and Sridevi and the right ingredients for the drama - rich father, principled son, lost grandson, hero acting like a robinhood, beautiful heroine who mistakes the bad guy as the good guy (Films always had heroines who were naive and innocent and the smart hero was always there at the right time to save them from evil!! ), etc.
In real life, the first time when i saw the helicopter, I was indeed thrilled - that big noise, the dry red sand dust which were thrown around and the security guards asking us to stay behind the white security line, it is still vivid in my memory (including the secret discussion among the little girls about the wind when helicopter lands - we all feared that it will be strong enough to fly our skirts and we all wore long skirts instead of our regular short ones - trousers were something which boys wore in those days!).
We hardly had any airport near our campus - they built a temporary helipad to accommodate the need for our then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to fly into
our district to campaign for the upcoming elections. Infact, from the time they selected a place, the entire gang of children from the campus made it a routine to visit that site and check on how the helipad is coming up and when the D-day arrived, we were at that place hours earlier to witness the helicopter touching down. Apparently, the moment the helicopter touched down and the doors opened for the primer minster, I was STUNNED. I still remember that white saree with a red border which covered her head with a powerful smile and a very upright posture and a waving hand…….she indeed has the charisma and i remember that saying in those days “the only man in the parliament”. Till date, I think Indira is a role model for many and she had the charisma which impressed even the small girls in the remote villages across India much more than a powerful flying machine like helicopter can!! This is what I blogged years ago - http://ireach.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/indira/. I still feel the same about her!!
Gangster Movies
So, it is Gangster movies in Tossing it Out and following suit for the letter “G” for the A to Z April Challenge.
If you grew up in south of India in the 80s, you obviously are aware of the rise of the new culture of having heroes who are just your next-door-guy looks - Rajnikanth was one such phenomenon and while he rose to the fame doing negative roles, the most important messaging in all his movies were EVIL PERISHES and GOOD PERSISTS. Rajnikanth was also intelligent enough to convey his own self-image among his fans as the most humble, hardworking soul - intelligent because it takes a lot of effort to project yourself as your are in the movie industry - with all the paparazzi around you trying to project you so that everything about you is sensational news for the many readers and movie goers out there!! I believe he is one
Baasha (2009) movie was one of his best Gangster movies - where again EVIL PERISHES and GOOD PERSISTS. It had the required mix for a box-office hit - action, family drama, music and dance and those punch dialogues - “Naa oru tharava sonna Nooru thara sonna madhiri” (If I tell once, it is equal to telling it 100 times).
ps- This post reminds me that I have never done a review of Rajnikanth movie though I had many posts on Rajnikanth himself - http://ireach.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/%e2%96%b6-rajnikanth-birthday-121212/
http://ireach.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/rajnikanth-ndtvs-entertainer-of-the-decade/
http://ireach.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/simply-superstar/
http://ireach.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/rajni-arr-success-factors/
Also, it is time I put in the reviews for the book about his punch dialogues “Rajini’s Punchtantra: Business and Life Management the Rajinikanth Way”
Lot to go when it comes to Rajnikanth!! 
Social media marketing
It was a casual review about the fresh face in south Indian cinema - Samanthaprabhu – during that context the latest gossip about her and her co-actor Siddarth came up.
A disclaimer here – the intent was not gossiping mindlessly about the cine actors - infact, I am actually at awe about the positive outlook of our Bollywood (tolly/kolly/etc,etc-wood) actors and their perseverance. Many a times, I draw my daily dose of positive energy from their interviews in Bangalore Times (I reserve my thoughts for another article to describe the actors intelligent interviews).
Reading their interviews is a refresher – especially after I end up getting uncomfortably desolate reading the front page of any newspaper which off late mostly highlights the terrible side of this worldly life – gender violence, politics, financial scams, major natural calamities, etc…etc….
So, when the comment on Siddarth went like this “ever since his divorce, the man is making up for lost time! Some girl is always linked up with him and it is now Samantha…”, My immediate reaction is to negate it “not really…i doubt if he is all that focussed on girls. His focus is on marketing his movies and himself and he is doing it smartly…”
To set the backdrop, my reaction was based on the fact that I follow Siddarth in twitter. It is few months since I started following him on twitter @Actor_Siddarth to understand how these actors think and till date I have not thought about unfollowing him - he keeps his tweets interesting and serves my purpose of getting that view of life from an Indian actor. His tweets consistently reinforce my belief that movie industry is a tough career choice and the current genre of actors are smart and hardworking and our Indian cinema is progressing great as an industry! I see lot of learning from these actors from the leadership and personal development perspective, which can be of interest to any person who is in the people business (ofcourse, I am referring to running a successful IT services industry!)
Siddarth understands twitter is a great media – and he uses the power of twitter well. I ended up (psycho) analysing this actor through his tweets… he projects himself as
- a guy from middle class Indian family – the friendly next door guy – his love for cricket and other sports immediately positions him in that image
- at the same time, he also weaves in the tomboy image – interest in women seems to be part of that image building exercise
- intelligent and passionate about his profession - the world of movies
- angry young man who is upset with the red tapism, political inabilities, etc – his followers gets lost in that angry young man magic image (remember the yesteryear Amitabh?) that they hardly care about what is constructive outcome of that anger
- activist who supports social causes - gender inclusivity, support of anti-piracy,
- intellect who loves intelligent people and new initiatives - be it movies or others – retweets of his movie fraternity
- networked and connected with the bigwigs of the industry
- selfless personality who supports his co-stars and wishes them in their endeavours
Overall, he weaves in that fabric which shows him as an intellect that attracts the interest of most of the internet generation – what is impressive is his subtle good marketing sense.
It is extremely essential for anyone in showbiz career to be good at self-marketing if they need to succeed and Siddharth does it well - six lakhs followers on twitter is a testimony to his skills.
From my perspective - he is one of the smartest kids on the block and to be watched - he makes money and he invests his money intelligently back in the movies- he has the right connections and projects them well – his communication skills are exemplary – the only pitfall he needs to watch is the excessive sarcasm on the happenings around him, especially when it comes to politics – if he could use his celebrity status intelligently and be a catalyst to bring in changes to political system than just being sarcastic - he really zooms up in my assessment!
Good luck, Siddarth! Think better and do well and you can be a social catalyst!
Nithyasri – God bless!
It was always in the back of my mind - a small throbbing of uncomfortable feeling! From the time when I heard about Nithyasri’s personal incident, I was more concerned on when she will come back - I never had any doubt about her coming back, but was not sure of the period she is going to take to get back with confidence.
When I came to know that she was back on music academy with the support of her dear friend musician Sowmya, I had stop my work and google to get more inputs on her comeback. It indeed was so heartening to see her back in her normal avatar..
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- Courtesy – Sowmya.org
While we will never know the real reasons of why and what caused this talented woman to face such an incident in her life, I only want to say that it is extremely important for many women to know that Nithya came back to get on with her life and her life’s purpose! Her comeback exhibits the courage of an individual, a woman who wants to put the trauma behind her! She indeed will be a role model not just for the budding musicians but also for those scores of South Indian Women!
WELCOME BACK, NithyaSri - God Bless!
Rajnikanth – Birthday Song 12/12/12
▶ RAJINI SONG Birthday full Version by vijayantony.
One of the peppiest (!!) songs in the recent past!! A tribute to Rajni - one of the most popular actor and known for his “down-to-earth” attitude!
Have heard this song already many times!! Birthday wishes!!
Related posts: Rajnikanth - NDTV entertainer of the decade || Simply Super || Success Factors
Yuvraj! – Yes, You can!
When I follow cricket as a news and live my life with two ardent cricket fans, it is inevitable I know Yuvraj to some extent - I identify his name with these adjectives – young, energetic, loving son to his parents, raring to make more of life and cricket………… and ofcourse, he is known in the Bollywood circuits also!
It was such a shocking piece of news when I heard it – ” Yuvraj has Cancer”
Knowing as much (actually, as little) as I know about Yuvraj and his family with my as much knowledge about the “big C” disease, I can certainly empathize with what he and his family are going through. While it makes it challenging for anyone to go through the deadly big ‘C’, it is even more challenging to be in the prime of your life and being knocked down by this big C for no fault of his! Especially, knowing how his mother will be feeling now…………….I was really sad. While I completely appreciate the philosophical “Life is just a journey”, this news still left me with an uncomfortable feeling.
And today morning, I was looking into Yahoo news and this is the link I got…………….the Cricket Vs Cancer ………made me feel positive and hope that for Yuvraj, the ONLY big C in his life will be the C in Cricket - if all the cricket fans and their family across the world can wish him and support him with their prayers for a minute - there definitely will be a miracle.
So, here is the wishing from me and the sincere hopes - “Yuvraj, Yes! You Can!” !! The Big C in your life is ONLY the BIG Cricket!
Join me in taking this HOPE statement (Yuvraj, Yes You Can!) across the globe to Boston!
Related Posts: Sean Maloney - Inspiring || What is Right?
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………
- Thiruvilayadal - Who can forget the Dharumi/Nakeeran part?
- ThAmbikku endha ooru - the scene when the snake climbs on Rajnikanth …
- Thillu mullu - amazing comedy
- Salangai oli - Kamalhassan the proven dancer
- Sankarabaranam – Amazing songs
- Vedam Pudidhu - Strong message from Bharathiraja
- Anjali - Mani ratnam’s depiction of a special child
- Mozhi - Best and simple from the production house of Prakash Rai
- Dasavataharam - Kamal trying out his best
- 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?
Related articles
- 180 (ireach.wordpress.com)
- My Place – Always the best!! (ireach.wordpress.com)
Adoption & IVF
It sure is a big sensational news (read here)!! Aamir khan - super star in Bollywood and his wife Kiran Rao (known for her intellectual brilliance as a director - Dhobi Ghat is a sample) went for IVF and Surrogacy to become parents of a baby boy!
While I was reading the news and once again wondering at the advancement of medical sciences (any new-born is a wonder for me and makes be believe in some supernatural power), I could not resist a query which popped up in my mind.
“What made Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao consider IVF/Surrogacy option over the option of adopting a needy child?”
Given what I read about both of them, they are intelligent enough to consider adoption as a good option……
Adoption process in India has come a long way. It has moved from a family affair/hush-hush activity to a much more professional process - it is well accepted by the modern Indian society - people who have adopted kids are open about it and they share the details with the kids also - I have couple of my close friends who have adopted kids in India and have shared their experiences with me, which makes me confident that it is now a well-planned process.
So, what made Aamir and Kiran look for IVF/Surrogacy?
The only reasonable explanation I could think of - Aamir/Kiran couple may have thought that a biological child (even though it is using surrogacy) will be much easier to bond and may stand as a representation of their married life. The reason I think so is based on an input from one of my friends. My friend’s spouse wants to adopt a child as a sibling to their first biological child. My friend is not very comfortable with this option and has refused the adoption option. My friend feels that when the children grow together, it may be very tough for the parents to be neutral to the children - one being a biological child and the second being an adopted child will bring in a bias…..I can appreciate this fear of future and the need for a very stable outlook about adoption…
I think it is much easier emotionally to accept a biological child (Even if it is through surrogacy) than an adopted kid.
A tough topic to mull over!
Johnny English Reborn
Category - Comedy Thriller(?) ; Rating – 3.5 ; Comment - A decent movie to go with kids and have a heartful laugh (throw logic out!)
Coming to the story………based on the trailer if you think it is about “Mind is the master of the body” , may be………you are in for disappointment…!! It is all about being funny, foolish and then foolish, funny!!……the scene where Rowan takes off with a helicopter and lunges down to road to check the direction ………..”what is the altitude?” ……..” 18 inches from the ground!”…………
The Tibetian monastry adds to the colour…..!! Watchable and enjoyable!! It is a funny movie and I was in the mood for it and laughed out loud for even small eye movements of Rowan Atkinson - I am sure the funny feeling comes with the history of Rowan Atkinson been known as Mr.Bean in his past life……………I have watched his Mr.Bean’s episode in the dentist …………gosh, even the serious person has to laugh for it!!
Steve Jobs……….1955-2011
I never realized four weeks back that you really are going to go away in a matter of weeks, when I posted on Steve Jobs lessons http://ireach.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/steve-jobs-lessons/
When one of my close family member faced the big C disease a decade back, I have witnessed the challenges she went through http://ireach.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/what-is-right/ sure would have fought the big C so much, but at times, it is too much to handle!!
You lived your life well and achieved well!!…………..One of the most admiring comment which i read about you was “Steve did not mind being a pain in the neck to people till he gets want he wants them to do to achieve what he wanted to!!” It is one of the toughest traits to have!
God bless!!
With heavy heart, I say…………..RIP, Steve Jobs!!
