Saroja

I am not a person who watches a lot of Tamil movies. It is because I have a hard time understanding Tamil. If the movie has subtitles then I am eager to watch.

Yesterday I watched the movie 'Saroja'. In one sentence - a good entertainer. It can be termed as a comedy thriller movie and does live up to expectations. Directed by Venkat Prabhu, the movie is a story of four friends, a kidnap, and an escape. Four friends who set out to watch a cricket match get lost on the way and end up an factory area where a businessman's daughter is kidnapped and kept by some gangsters. The rest of the movie shows how the friends try to get out of the place unnoticed and save the girl as well. In the process, there are several comic incidents and dialogues very much in sync with the situation.

The events leading up to the main plot is shown in the first half hour. As the main plot is reached, the whole events take place during one night. It is pretty quick and thrilling. I didn't find anything too dramatic in the movie. Though it is said that the movie is based on a Hollywood movie, the change is perfect to the South Indian setting. Nothing seemed out of place.

Jayaram plays the role of a cop who investigates the case of the kidnap and Prakash Raj is the businessman whose daughter is kidnapped. Till the end of the movie I kept wondering how could Jayaram have such an unnoticed role in a movie. It is towards the end you know why it is so. There are more people to be mentioned like Sampath, Kajal, Nikita, and so on.

All in all, I like the movie. Worth watching once. Has all the required elements.

Swa Le

It is some time since this movie has been released. I had heard good reviews of it and hence decided to watch it. First of all let me say that the movie though is not too good, does meet expectations.

The story is of a news reporter of a not-so-good doing firm, his attempts to get scoops, making meet both ends of his life, and finally trying to be a human being. The film seems to be set in the early 90's and shows the hardships that news reporters then had to face. The brighter side of the movie is the visualization of human relationships, a feeling to be in sync with nature, and trying to be committed to work as well. The sarcastic comments and portrayals also hit the spots exactly.

The visualization is good and set with lots of backwaters and greenery in view. Though there are no songs worth a hum after watching the movie, the on-screen pair does look good together. Gopika did not have much of a challenging role. From the beginning till the end, we see the heroine as a pregnant lady who is extremely patient with her husband's odd timing. The character does lack emotions at times. Dileep has done a commendable job. After seeing the other contemporary super heroic and worst movies of Dileep, it seems he has done a good job.

Everything about the movie was realistic except for the last bit. It shows the sudden transformation of the person with lots of feelings to a very practical news editor. Apart from that, the movie was worth a watch.

3 Idiots

**I am pretty much surprised as to why this post didn't get published on my blog long back. I had written it long back and kept ready, but forgot to publish it. And today, after months, I am noticing it :-(**

Frankly speaking I didn't have much expectations when I saw the promos of this movie. But I was wrong! It is a good movie worth watching. You get to hear and see some fresh jokes and humor. Though the cast is not that fresh enough it is a new chemistry.

Disappointingly Aamir looks far too old for the character. Kareena rightly fits into the character and did a good job. She looks good in the movie and costumes are well-designed to suit the normal college going girl. Sharman Joshi also did a commendable job. Madhavan, it seems was just normal. Boman Irani's look is also refreshing and so are his mannerisms in the movie.

If you have read The Five Point Someone, you will be able to anticipate some of the scenes. The Principal, the red two wheeler, affair with the Principal's daughter, and so on. Though it is not a complete adaptation one can say that the sub plots are based on the novel. The major difference in the story between the novel and the film is the main plot.

The songs are quite good. I loved the choreography of the "Aal iz well" song. The film does show the colours of college life and freedom well in it. So after all, a movie really worth watching.

I am Reading...

Currently I am reading "Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work". The first time I read a Chicken Soup series was a couple of years back. May be during my college days. I was quickly fascinated by the stories. Since then I have read a few of the series.

Last month, when we went out, I bought this new Chicken Soup book. I must admit that I haven't finished reading the book. But now I have started reading at least one story a day before I go to sleep. This is easy because each story is no longer than 2 or 3 pages and it takes just about 5 to 10 minutes. I go to bed having a happy feeling that I derive from the stories and satisfied that I have read a story.

The stories are about the working people or those stories related to work. There are stories about work activities, people at work, and even work policies. All have a common feeling of humanity and love in it. This is the best part about the stories.

So I am looking forward to finish this book and buy a new one at the earliest.

Changeling

This is the movie I saw the latest. I had been wanting to watch this from a long time and had it on the PC for months now. But never got to actually watching it. Luckily, two days back, it was being shown on HBO. I sat and watched it, not even allowing my husband to change the channel.

The story is based on a true life incident of a mother whose son goes missing and is never found. The movie shows the mother's pain, fights to get her son back, and coping with life. The police department finds a child and hands him over to the mother and publicizes that it is the correct boy who went missing. And when the mother complains that it is not her child, she is blamed for being insane and misbehaving. Finally she brings the case to light and proves that her child is still missing.

Angelina Jolie does the lead role and has very well portrayed the emotions. It seems like you get a feel of what she is experiencing. I loved some portions of the movie too much. One such scene is when the police officer informs her that her son is alive and has been found.

The makeup, costumes, settings, every minor detail makes you believe that the film is actually shot around 80 years back. The last shot where the wide shot of the city is shown gives you lot of time and substance to feel the sorrow, experience her lonliness, and newly found emotion of HOPE.

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