Cast Away!

Year: 2000

Genre: Drama

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Cast: Tom Hanks

Rating: Excellent

There might be none who haven't watched this movie or at least heard of it. But in my case, I was very late in watching it. The reason being that I am not such a Hollywood movie buff. May be it is because of all these Bollywood, Malayalam, and Tamil movies around. Whatever it may be, yesterday I watched Cast Away and I should tell you I was so wonder struck! Kept on imagining what if something like that happened in my life.

A little bit of the story in brief is that Tom Hanks is a FedEx employee who is the lone survivor of a flight crash. He drifts and ends up on an island at some far corner of the world. The worst part is that there is nobody on that island. Literally NOBODY! Not even a bird or an insect! Sounds weird right. The rest of the story shows the miseries he face over there, how he gets in harmony and learns to live without any luxuries, and how he finally makes it to the human inhabited places.

An interesting thing in this movie is the things that come in handy for his stay there. The skater shoes are the best! One more adorable aspect is how he keeps from opening that one FedEx packet. There are so many remarkable things he does on the island - makes the volleyball, Wilson, his only friend to whom he speaks all day long, becomes an expert from catching fish to making fire, and even how he survives for 4 long years on this uninhabited island. I would have rotted off had I been in this situation! Finally he makes a raft, and sets out with Wilson on a last hope to make it to the land where he belongs. In due course, his raft gets destroyed by the storms and he loses Wilson. He loses hope and does not attempt to go any further and leaves his oars in the sea. A day later, he is found drifting on the broken raft by a cargo ship and brought back to his life. Every aspect of a lost man is being shown in very much detail and how humans have the capability of adjusting with their surroundings. Finally when he returns home, he is even more shattered when he knows that his love has married somebody and has a kid. She and her thoughts was what kept him alive all the 4 long lonely years of his life. Towards the end of the movie we see him standing at a cross road and deciding on which way to go to start a new life.

Overall the concept is good, but the treatment and visualization is brilliant! It captures human emotions wonderfully. A worth watch!

Neelathamara - Songs

Have you heard the recent Malayalam song "Anuraga vilochananaayi" from the movie Neelathamara? Well, it is a bit different song and pleasing to hear. Though you will notice similarities to a number of other different songs, it is overall a good effort.

I heard the song very recently and liked it. And I guess it is getting good reviews overall. The visualization also looks good. There is nothing so great but it is good. Just shows the plays and mischiefs of two unopen lovers.

The music for the songs are by the maestro Vidya Sagar and do you know who has sung the song? The female part is by Shreya Ghoshal. :-) Doesn't seem like she is having any pronunciation problems.

To visit the official website of the movie see here.

And to view and hear the song see here

More of Reading...

Actually at times I feel very bad that I am not reading anything nowadays. No books, newspapers, and not even the e-articles. It is not because I am not getting enough time. I do have lots. But I have become very much lazy indeed.

Tomorrow I am planning to travel to Kerala. And unlike the other times, this time I am going by train. So I will have lot of idle time to myself. I plan to take along some of my books and indulge in some good reading. After all what else can I do for the 12 to 13 hours of journey.

New Books on my Shelf

Over the past few weeks I have bought some books. They are:

• Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
• Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
• Indian Thought edited by R. K. Narayan
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Currently I am reading the Indian Thoughts. It is a collection of short stories by various Indian writers. So keep watching this space. Reviews are on the way!

Picha vacha Naal

I heard a new Malayalam song very recently - "Picha Vacha Naal Muthal" from the movie Puthiya Mukham. A Prithiviraj, Meera Nandan starrer, the movie is directed by Deepan, and the music by Deepak Dev. Somehow I found the song to be an intriguing one. Finally today morning I had an opportunity to listen to the full song. It has that same pace throughout and you feel that you are at the beginning of the song all through the way.

The song sounds fresh and is capable of creating a mood. The lyrics by Kaithapuram are also good. Not to complex. You can easily grasp it if you listen once. I feel that this is one good malayalam movie song after a long time.
To download the song, visit CoolToad. But you need to create an account, if you already do not have one. It's free.

You can listen to and see the clipping here.

Thinking of yesterdays

Thoughts of my yesteryears, all that happened so fast. Now when I turn back, I see my sweetest memories, happiest moments - all floating just behind me. I stretch out my hand to catch hold of them and put them safe within me. But it slids quickly from my grasp and afloats. I stand with my hands outstretched and eyes wide open. All like a dream. It floats too far that I realize its too long since those moments are over. However hard I try, I am unable to reach it. Those moments will never come back in my life.

I let go all those emotions and attachments I had been holding tight in my hands all these years in hope that my happiness would come back. But its too late. Nothing will happen.

Hey, now I see the very present moments slipping out leaving trails behind. I try hard to catch up. Now I go hand in hand, living my life to fullest. If not so, atleast I try to. :-)