Last sunday when R and me got extremely bored of watching the idiot box, we decided to watch a movie instead. Checked online for any good movie but got a heart attack instead seeing the prices. Rs 500 for JTJH ! Seriously !
Thats when i started checking out regional movies and 2 movies caught my attention - Thupaaki (Tamil-Vijay starrer) and Sangolli Rayanna (Kannada- Darshan starrer). Hubby showed complete lack of interest in the tamil movie though it was of his fav hero, we went ahead with the Kannada one. Here is what i thought of the movie -
Sangolli Rayanna - 3.5 hrs - Darshan,Jayapradha,Nikitha Thukral.
The movie is about a freedom fighter by name Sangolli Rayanna who was a commander in chief for Kittur army. The queen Rani Chennamma faces a dilemma in which the British are trying to ursurp her throne due to lack of biological heir. How Rani Chennamma and Rayanna wage the freedon war forms the crux of the story.
To start with - The movie has been shot well. Screenplay is excellent. The producers have selected right locations, used different kind of shots and spent time and energy to take each shot. The war sequences have been executed and shot brilliantly something which is extremely rare in Kannada movies. We have seen this kind of camera work in Mungaru Male after which it created a trend. This movie too will create a seperate path for cinematographers. Special kudos to Ramesh Babu - Cinematographer and producer Anand Appugol.
Direction - This is where the movie falls a bit here and there. The director - Naganna in attempt of creating a demi god status for Darshan, has gone out of his way to give him punch dialogues. You can see Darshan doing a la Sunny Deol in every frame. What happens after some time is - you lose interest because of the constant screaming. The director should understand that messages can be given in a subtle manner too and it is absolutely not neccessary to pump fists in air and stomp feet every 2 minutes.
The detailing and costumes of the movie are excellent and adds richness to the frame. The makers have done homework in terms of language and props used in the movie.
Acting - Darshan has done a very good job and lives upto the image of the late freedom fighter. Jayapradha too meets expectations but a special mention has to go to Umashri for playing Rayanna's mother. She lights up the screen and shows tremendous acting skill. A delight to watch indeed !
A noticeable flaw is where the British were depicted.It is comical to make foreigners speak Kannada. This is perhaps the only sore point because it decreased the movie's impact totally. The director and producers should take a cue from Aamir's - Lagaan where foreigners spoke in English and there was a Hindi translation imposed later.
Other actors include Sashikumar, Ramesh Bhat, Srinivas Murthy, Saurav,Avinash, Doddanna do complete justice to their roles.
Songs - Strictly ok but could have been avoided also especially the one which plays at a crucial point in the climax. This song could have been eliminated totally.
Overall - It is a movie which is def worth watching especially with family and children. What is even more appreciable is Kannada movie makers have finally arrived. Apart from the regular masala stuff, movie makers are finally giving due importance to script and are making off beat cinema. I am totally impressed with this change.
PS - The other thing which caught my attention is the narrative at the start and end of the movie. The director adds trivia - one of it is Sangolli Rayanna was born on 15th Aug, 1798 and died on 26th Jan 1831. Both the days are historic in nature - First was when India gained independence and second when India's constitution came into light. It seems when Rayanna was about to be hanged, he made a declaration that the British will flee India at mid night like cowards and just like he said, they did !
It was this thought which made me think and write this huge post ! A def thumbs up for this movie and highly highly recommended.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
'Man proposes and God disposes'- How true is this proverb ? Extremely in my case. As my previous posts suggest that i was having a fit on my 30th birthday. Incase you are wondering what did i do on the D-Day, well here it is and nothing short of an adventure
The day began at 12 am when my husband suprised me with a cake lit with magic candles ( for those who don't know R, it is BIG deal for him to make that effort of getting a cake ). The candles were supposed to be magic candles (ones which dont get blowed out) but it blew out immediately. After a good night rest, we were planning on doing something wild. My idea was to do something out of ordinary and really memorable BUT as looked out of the window, the weather was dull and gloomy. I was prancing around waiting for my bai to come and finish all chores. Bai decided to take off stating ill-health as a reason. In between the plan kept on changing and finally at 11am, I decide to get my hair done at a parlour. Just when i was stepping out of the house, clouds thundered and rain gods were at their best. Finally i make it to the parlour only to see my hair done half -heartedly. The only saving grace was my dress from Marks & Spencer which kinda made my day !
I come back home and switch on the TV only to get to know that Cyclone Nilam has hit Karnataka and the next 2 days its going to badger the city. Though it did kind of upset me, i was still ok trying to plan something for the evening. After much ado, we decide to go to a violin concert at Alliance Francaise which is a good 15 kms from my house. We left early inorder to reach the venue ontime but got stuck in heavy traffic for almost 2.5 hrs. By the time i reached the venue, i was wet and shivering desperately waiting for a shawl. The concert caught out attention for sometime and because our stomachs started disturbing the audience, we left hoping to have a quiet romantic dinner. We setlle down for Little Italy which is a fine dine Italian restaurant. With wine glasses clinking, hot pasta and garlic bread, we finally did what we had to - Enjoy our dinner and laugh on all the things gone wrong the whole day.
Though what ever my husband planned for me went wrong, what matters is his thought. It was def the most memorable birthday in an adventurous way ! Thank you R and Here's to the next 30 years......
The day began at 12 am when my husband suprised me with a cake lit with magic candles ( for those who don't know R, it is BIG deal for him to make that effort of getting a cake ). The candles were supposed to be magic candles (ones which dont get blowed out) but it blew out immediately. After a good night rest, we were planning on doing something wild. My idea was to do something out of ordinary and really memorable BUT as looked out of the window, the weather was dull and gloomy. I was prancing around waiting for my bai to come and finish all chores. Bai decided to take off stating ill-health as a reason. In between the plan kept on changing and finally at 11am, I decide to get my hair done at a parlour. Just when i was stepping out of the house, clouds thundered and rain gods were at their best. Finally i make it to the parlour only to see my hair done half -heartedly. The only saving grace was my dress from Marks & Spencer which kinda made my day !
I come back home and switch on the TV only to get to know that Cyclone Nilam has hit Karnataka and the next 2 days its going to badger the city. Though it did kind of upset me, i was still ok trying to plan something for the evening. After much ado, we decide to go to a violin concert at Alliance Francaise which is a good 15 kms from my house. We left early inorder to reach the venue ontime but got stuck in heavy traffic for almost 2.5 hrs. By the time i reached the venue, i was wet and shivering desperately waiting for a shawl. The concert caught out attention for sometime and because our stomachs started disturbing the audience, we left hoping to have a quiet romantic dinner. We setlle down for Little Italy which is a fine dine Italian restaurant. With wine glasses clinking, hot pasta and garlic bread, we finally did what we had to - Enjoy our dinner and laugh on all the things gone wrong the whole day.
Though what ever my husband planned for me went wrong, what matters is his thought. It was def the most memorable birthday in an adventurous way ! Thank you R and Here's to the next 30 years......
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
‘This is my last post as a 29 year old girl'.... Wanted to start my post saying this but then it felt too dark. If someone would read this, they would assume that I am no longer in this world. So I am going to beat around the bush and rant about me turning 30 tomorrow. So what is the 'big' deal in turning 30 and why are people around me not making it a 'BIGG' deal. While talking to a close acquaintance I was advised to finally 'Grow up' from today. My question is what am I now? Sitting on my couch, I am reminiscing 29 years of my life. So where do I start from -
Born on 31st Oct 1982 after mom suffered 2 days of labour pains, I was born and the family was overjoyed since I was the first child. Naturally and obviously, the most pampered one till my brother arrived 3 years later and the pampering got divided. I had rather have the most normal family and normal childhood which was full of day-dreaming, summer vacations, class tests and getting beaten up by mom once a day. The whole drama started when I entered the forbidden age - Teenage. Tried unsuccessfully to be a rebel but I had some fun in my own way. Bunked college to watch movies at 7 am in a dingy theatre, eating masala puri from a thela, one day trip outside Bangalore with friends without informing parents, creating extra classes out of nowhere, playing cupid for most of my friends, wearing my brothers clothes to college, having crush (es) on all hot seniors (who turned out be duds later), losing friends phew! What a phase. I can say though it was not all hunky dory but most memorable. Though it’s the most clichéd phrase that college years are best, for me it was!
As I entered my 20’s, I tried to act all grown up unsuccessfully again. Started working right after my graduation and meanwhile met my husband (friend then). Took parents for granted and hardly spent any time with family. Met new friends, made new relationships, kick started my career. Late nights parties, night shifts, office politics, re-thinking career path became the most important thing in my life. Naturally like all Indian parents, folks wanted me to settle down. I still thank god that there was no filmy drama when I revealed about my 'good friend'. To be honest I am still surprised that my parents understood and accepted the matter easily. Maybe they had their reservations but I never got to know. Then came the BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING. This is where life takes a turning.
A new life, new family, new responsibilities on top of it A new city. Maybe I couldn’t digest so many new things so tried to resist as much as possible. In all this I never realized that 29 years of my life had already passed away so soon. Today when I look back, I see a lot of happy n sour moments, mistakes that could have been avoided, to be relationships which could have survived with time, friends who got lost due to lack of my effort to keep in touch, lost family time, guess the list never ends! Can’t I do it now? Of course I can. There would be no earth shaking moment when I turn 30. So while trying to stay optimistic,I would say this is again a new phase of my life which I live without any regrets.
PS - Maybe the only regret I will live is spotting of my 1st grey hair now and I am screaming my lungs out to my mom...
Born on 31st Oct 1982 after mom suffered 2 days of labour pains, I was born and the family was overjoyed since I was the first child. Naturally and obviously, the most pampered one till my brother arrived 3 years later and the pampering got divided. I had rather have the most normal family and normal childhood which was full of day-dreaming, summer vacations, class tests and getting beaten up by mom once a day. The whole drama started when I entered the forbidden age - Teenage. Tried unsuccessfully to be a rebel but I had some fun in my own way. Bunked college to watch movies at 7 am in a dingy theatre, eating masala puri from a thela, one day trip outside Bangalore with friends without informing parents, creating extra classes out of nowhere, playing cupid for most of my friends, wearing my brothers clothes to college, having crush (es) on all hot seniors (who turned out be duds later), losing friends phew! What a phase. I can say though it was not all hunky dory but most memorable. Though it’s the most clichéd phrase that college years are best, for me it was!
As I entered my 20’s, I tried to act all grown up unsuccessfully again. Started working right after my graduation and meanwhile met my husband (friend then). Took parents for granted and hardly spent any time with family. Met new friends, made new relationships, kick started my career. Late nights parties, night shifts, office politics, re-thinking career path became the most important thing in my life. Naturally like all Indian parents, folks wanted me to settle down. I still thank god that there was no filmy drama when I revealed about my 'good friend'. To be honest I am still surprised that my parents understood and accepted the matter easily. Maybe they had their reservations but I never got to know. Then came the BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING. This is where life takes a turning.
A new life, new family, new responsibilities on top of it A new city. Maybe I couldn’t digest so many new things so tried to resist as much as possible. In all this I never realized that 29 years of my life had already passed away so soon. Today when I look back, I see a lot of happy n sour moments, mistakes that could have been avoided, to be relationships which could have survived with time, friends who got lost due to lack of my effort to keep in touch, lost family time, guess the list never ends! Can’t I do it now? Of course I can. There would be no earth shaking moment when I turn 30. So while trying to stay optimistic,I would say this is again a new phase of my life which I live without any regrets.
PS - Maybe the only regret I will live is spotting of my 1st grey hair now and I am screaming my lungs out to my mom...
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Monday, April 02, 2012
After a long hiatus,I decided to open my blog again by glancing through an online shopping site called Shopo.in (http://shopo.in/). Since the theme is ' A Summer Secret ', i started rummaging through all my memories associated with Summer.What is the first thing which strikes as soon as the word 'Summer' is said ? - For some it is hot weather , for boys it means looking at girls in short dresses and for me it means vacations. Let me share a fond memory which i fondly recall now.
Date - March 98
I was in my last year of school and all my friends were preparing for our board exams.We were tensed,excited,nervous and little sad with the thought of our future. Autograph books were exchanged,phone numbers and photographs were given and we made tall promises of keeping in touch till eternity. There was a particular boy whom i am naming as N. He was tall,lanky,silent and brooding types. Though we just said hello at start and end of day, most of the times i used to get paired with him for assignments. N was good at mathematics and science which was a huge pain area for me. On the day of our Science practical exams, I was asked to complete an experiment with H2SO4(sulphuric acid).I tried remembering the steps but was stuck right at the beginning.Images of all possible gods flashed in front of me and i was cursing my fate.As luck would have it,N sneaked into the lab like a knight in shining armour.He slid a small piece of paper and even passed on few tips.Within no time i completed and passed my practicals too.
Its not like we became great friends after this incident but i did ask him why did he take so much of a risk for me? Till date i remember his answer -' Do you remember our fight last year.I felt guilty since then but didn't know how to say sorry.This is my way of saying sorry'. Thanks to N,i passed that dreadful science practicals with decent scores.On the last day of our school,i walked upto him but didn't know what to say.We parted without saying a word but after a few years i met him on a social networking site.
Everytime i see pictures of school graduation day,i remember N - a friend who never had to prove his friendship for me but remains a dear friend till date.
Thankyou Shopo for giving me an excuse to recall this incident -
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