#AARFA Review (Just my point of view):

Yes, you read it right. For the rest of the world, it might be "SULTAN", but for me the Center of the movie was "AARFA". Her characterization leaves such a strong impression in the minds of viewers, it's hard to ignore her and to divert your attention towards SULTAN through out the entire movie watching experience. I strongly believe that the Director and the person behind this Story wanted to impress the viewers more with character AARFA than even with SULTAN. SULTAN was just supporting AARFA and trying to live up to her expectations and in the process evolved himself and became worthy of AARFA and to the people around him. She was the guiding light and the force behind his eminent victories in the arena.

The whole essence of the movie can be summed up into two scenes and both happen to be AARFA's. The scene where AARFA bluntly and balantly abuses SULTAN right in front of his friends for calling her Girl-Friend, yet gives him a purpose and a goal in life, is the key turning point in this entire movie. The 2nd scene is the hospital scene where AARFA meets SULTAN before the final match, realizes that SULTAN is remorseful of his earlier actions, and in spite of Doctors advice not to let him fight, inspires and motivates him and makes him realize that none can defeat him, except himself. SULTAN overcoming his pain achieves the ultimate victory and the most important one - blood bank for his village. 

Standout Scene: You can notice the characterization of AARFA in the scene right after she looses her Son. They could have easily showed her crying vigorously, justified because a mother lost her son but instead they show her true spirit, her agony that they couldn't find her son's blood group O-ve, her pain and anger that her husband was not with her when she needed him the most sums it up of how strong a character she is, in any kind of situation of her life. 

Not sure how many of you would watch it for the Sport Wrestling (or) for Salman Bhai (SULTAN), but i sincerely recommend this movie to all the Women out there, no matter what country you live in, which ever religion you follow, what ever profession you are in, and what ever role you play in your daily life. If you can be like what #AARFA is, the moral of the movie is met.   

Aptly said: Wrestling is not a sport, it's about the fighting what lies within and if you can overcome that, you are a true WINNER like AARFA & SULTAN :-)

Hope you like it :-)

UDTA PUNJAB Review:

Tell you frankly, i never liked Alia Butt from Day one. Even though i watched only One movie of hers, Highway, and few occasions in the media when people made mockery of her. She looked like a lost child in the movie business. I never had High expectations from Bhatt family starting with her DAD in the first place.

Now coming to the movie, like what the USP of the movie talks about, it exactly deals with Drugs. how they are spoiling the youth of Punjab, irrespective of what financial level they are in (Prince and Pauper likewise). If you consider a regular movie has an average of 60-80 scenes, Udta Punjab clearly talks about Drugs and Drugs only in all those scenes. I don't recall a scene where they deviate from this point or tried to chip in some additional comedy scenes or made up songs. It's kind of rare in indian cinema to have this kind of screenplay, very common in English movies though.

Boy, the actor/actress that i loved the most was Alia Bhatt. She was just an attention grabber. You cant just ignore her in any of her scenes, intentionally or unintentionally. If i have to watch the movie again, i would watch it just for her. Shahid did an excellent job as the Pop singer, Kareena as Doctor, they were good at their roles, they have been doing this for a while so it's a piece of cake for them. The other guy that stands out is the cop, his action was subtle and to the point. Some scenes were better and some were good. Last but not the least i tip my hat to the Director of this movie Abhishe Chaubey. I checked his movies on Wiki, seems like i liked most of his movies, Kaminey for Shahid, Makdee for Shwethabasu, Blue Umbrella for Pankaj kapoor, Omkara for Macbeth plot....this guy touches the emotions of the viewers and that too in a rude way. He makes you realize that, by not putting the point across in a simple manner of conversation but rather in a way that you would notice, stand up, take initiative and do something about it, contrary to not just accepting it and live with it. I don't recommend watching it with Kids unless they are mature enough to understand what's good and what's bad. But it's a MUST WATCH for every GABRU (Youth) out there, that's my 2 cents!

Would like to end this review with a quote of Swami Vivekanand....

All power is within you; you can do everything and anything

Yuganiki Okkadu - A fantasy adventure

Saw this movie last night, still feeling the kick as of this morning. The film sure leaves an impression on you, good or bad, the way you take it.

This is the 5th film from Selvaraghavan and the budget is whooping 32 crores. You will know why they spent so much once you see the movie. The heroines of the movie Reema Sen and Andrea Jeremiah did justice to their roles and sure looks HOT. Coming to the Hero of the movie, Karthik Sivakumar.He is the younger son of veteran actor Sivakumar and brother of Surya and also best known for his critically acclaimed performance as the title character in his debut film Paruthiveeran in 2007, for which he received the Best actor Film fare award. A little interesting fact about Karthik, after returning from US to INDIA, he got to meet noted director Mani Ratnam, who initially offered him to act in the film Aayutha Ezhuthu, in which he should essay the role of Arjun (later played by Siddarth). But Karthi instead joined him as an assistant director for the same film and its for Hindi version YUVA, since he always wanted to become a film director and preferred direction to acting.

Well coming to the movie plot, it's about the age old rivalry between Chola's & Pandya's and how the present day pandya descendants save their sacred idol by defeating the chola's.

The film begins with a folk street play showing the last period of the Chola king's reign. Then we are taken to A.D. 1279, where the death of the Chola dynasty seems imminent and people are being driven out of their kingdom by the Pandya's in southern India. To escape from them and save the life of his successor, the Chola emperor sends his son, along with his people to a secret territory unknown to his enemies. The Chola's also take away with them an idol sacred to the Pandya's, which angers them even more. To capture the escaped Chola prince and to retrieve their Sacred idol, the Pandya's extend their invasion to the unexplored territories, but eventually fail.

Several centuries later in 2009, Indian archaeologists continue searching for the existence of the lost Chola group based on clues left by the ancient Pandyan warriors. But all the archaeologists, who attempt to search for the secret land disappear during the search missions. Archaeologist Chandramouli (Pratap Pothan) is the most recent person to have reportedly traced the empire but he also fails to return from his mission.

The Indian government organizes a search expedition led by officer Anitha Pandiyan (Reema Sen) to find Chandramouli and the Chola Empire with assistance from the Indian army led by Ravisekharan (Azhagam Perumal). They meet archaeologist Lavanya (Andrea Jeremiah), the estranged daughter of the missing archaeologist Chandramouli, and she assists Anitha and gives crucial documents prepared by her father on the Chola dynasty with instructions on the route to reach the destination. She also joins the expedition since her insight is considered essential for the success of the project.Along with the army, Anitha employs a group of porters headed by Muthu (Karthi Sivakumar), to transport the baggage during the journey. The crew embark on a voyage leading them to an island, Min-gua, near Vietnam. Here they are faced with the seven traps set by the Cholas: sea creatures, cannibals, warriors, snakes, hunger, quick sand and a village.

Many porters and army men are killed on their way.Muthu, Anitha and Lavanya get separated from the others. They reach the ruins of a village where they get subjected to black magic. They nearly go mad before finally reaching the secret hideout of the Chola dynasty. The three of them find an ethnic isolated primitive Tamil group ruled by a Chola king (Parthiban). The king and his people are in hiding, awaiting the arrival of the messenger whom they believe will bring glory and prosperity back to their land and lead them back to their motherland. The king and the priest consult the Gods for omens and order Muthu, Anitha and Lavanya to be burnt alive as sacrifice to their gods.At this point, Anitha tells the king that she is the messenger he has been eagerly awaiting, sent from the homeland. Muthu and Lavanya are taken as slaves. Anitha is given a chance to prove herself asthe messenger. She tries to seduce the king and convinces the Chola king to heed her message - to march towards the homeland two days from then with his people and he would be crowned a proper king. He suspects her since none of Anitha's actions match the qualities of the messenger described by his ancestors and ancient paintings - the messenger will be ill-treated at first, but will eventually help out the local tribe and, also his arrival will be preceded by hail.

Anitha drugs the priest and poisons the water sources. She catches a glimpse of the Pandyas' sacred idol and leaves, finally exposing her identity as a descendant of the Pandya Dynasty. For generations, her race has been trying to find the whereabouts of the Chola prince and his people who escaped with the idol. The central minister who sponsors the expedition also is shown to be of Pandyan descent. The Chola king is shattered for having believed in Anitha as his true messenger. Anitha, with Ravishekaran, gathers an army and assaults the hidden kingdom. The Chola's are at war once again with the Pandya's. In due course, the king finds that Muthu is the true messenger - the chosen one who would save the Chola's from the clutches of Anitha and the army.They fight bravely but the Cholas lose and are taken prisoners. Their women are molested and raped by the army and the king is killed. The men drown in the seas. The story ends with Muthu saving the Chola prince. Thus the successor of the Chola dynasty is brought back to India by the messenger as predicted.

The scenes i liked especially are:

1. Quick sand escape in big shadow (Nataraja Idol)

2. Fight scene between Gaint and Karthik with the chain ball

3. Dancing fight sequence between Reema & Parthiban

3 IDIOTS - No idiots movie - A must watch

Till now, i was thinking "Taare Zameen Par" was the best movie ever made among the new generation movies. This movie "3 IDIOTS" sets the standard even higher.

Though it is said to be based on Chetan Bhagat's novel, "Five Point Someone", I haven't read the book really to comment on how much of it has been adapted to make this film. Hirani and co-writer Abhijat Joshi take this basic novel story, spin it on its head, and make it a tale of a quest of Farhan and Raju for their lost friend Rancho, who disappeared after topping the college. The writer duo packs in some fine humour and drama. I haven't laughed so much in the recent past.

Here's a story of three friends studying in ICE engineering college, Rancho (Aamir Khan), Farhan (R Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi). Coming to the important characters of the movie, Farhan (Madhavan) who wants to be a wild life photographer but is doing engineering to fulfill his dad’s dream; Raju (Sharman Joshi), a poor lad who’s so afraid of failure that his fear has become a self-fulfilling prophecy; and Chatur (Omi) who’s a learning machine adept at mugging up books. Viru Sahastrabuddhe (Boman Irani), fondly called Virus, telling them that the worlds a rat race in which one has to step on another to get to the top. I like one more character MM (fondly called millimeter) who did his part brilliantly. Rancho clearly is different from anyone else in the college with his individualistic thought-process and rebellious attitude, which invites the ire of the college principal (Boman Irani) and affection of his daughter Pia (Kareena Kapoor).

‘3 Idiots’ makes for an enjoyable watch, thanks to Aamir, Madhavan and Sharman. Aamir’s Rancho is a bouncy, fidgety genius with a golden heart. The 44-year-old actor almost passes off as a 22-year-old collegian, bringing out in his character the buoyancy and vivacity few actors of his age can. Madhavan and Sharman give ample support from the flanks, but a special word of praise for Sharman who shines equally in dramatic as well as funny scenes. Kareena, sadly, has been cast to make her presence felt in a few well-enacted sequences, but it’s Boman Irani who comes up with the best performance in the movie with his brilliant portrayal of an eccentric professor. His jaw line protruded, his speech lisped, Irani is every bit the vile and virulent Virus (he’s supposed to be).

Shantanu Moitra’s music and Muralidharan’s cinematography complement the flick well. Rajkumar Hirani does magic again with his director skills. He made the word "Ghandigiri" famous with his "MUNNABHAI MBBS" sequel and everyone will start saying " All izz well" after watching "3 IDIOTS". For this alone, ‘3 Idiots’ definitely ought to be seen and enjoyed.

2012 - Is the world really going to end???

After hearing lot of hype about the dooms day movie "2012", went and watched it recently. First and foremost i should appreciate the technical brilliance of the Director Roland Emmerich. There are some scenes that would just blow your mind off. But coming to the overall picture i would say its not worth the price. It has lot of similarities with our typical Telugu Top graded Heroes movies. Well to start with, the scene where the hero comes to pick his family and all the city is disaster struck except the hero's house & his family. He still manages (again a technical visual feast) to escape in a L-I-M-O, yes you read it right, it's a limo. This happens not once but thrice in the movie, feels like luck has no role to play in this movie. The screen play is not perfect. There are some places where you don't feel connected with the movie. The President's scenes especially, feels like, are these actors really paid for what they did in this movie. The geologist guy is typical. He appears to be worried about all the people on the earth but at the same time does all the selfish acts of not letting the world know about the disaster and the ships (Arks) except for his father on a remote ship & getting on board Air Force One just to tell that President is not going to join them, making a huge speech at the end to get some people, who paid billions, to get into the ship as an act of charity.

Overall it's not worth to watch in theaters, for the techinical stuff that you need, just rent a video

Why should the weeding ring be worn on the fourth finger?

This is interesting. Try it out! Why should the wedding ring be worn on the fourth finger? There is a beautiful and convincing explanation given by the Chinese..... Thumb represents your Parents Second (Index) finger represents your Siblings Middle finger represents your-Self Fourth (Ring) finger represents your Life Partner & the Last (Little) finger represents your children Firstly, open your palms (face to face), bend the middle fingers and hold them together - back to back Secondly, open and hold the remaining three fingers and the thumb - tip to tip (As shown in the figure below): Now, try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents)..., they will open, because your parents are not destined to live with you lifelong, and have to leave you sooner or later. Please join your thumbs as before and separate your Index fingers (representing siblings)...., they will also open, because your brothers and sisters will have their own families and will have to lead their own separate lives. Now join the Index fingers and separate your Little fingers (representing your children)...., they will open too, because the children also will get married and settle down on their own some day. Finally, join your Little fingers, and try to separate your Ring fingers (representing your spouse). You will be surprised to see that you just CANNOT....., because Husband & Wife have to remain together all their lives - through thick and thin!

అన్నయ్యలందరు చూడవలసిన చిత్రం "ANNA VARAM"

ఈ చిత్రం లొ అన్న గా పవన్ కళ్యాణ్, చెల్లి గా సంధ్య నటన ఎక్సలెంట్. ఇద్దరు నిజంగా తోడబుట్టిన వాళ్ల లాగా నటించారు అనే కంటే జీవించారు అన్టే apt గా ఉంటుంది. ఈ చిత్రం లో Especially కొన్ని సీన్స్ noteworthy. వేణు మాదవ్ చనిపొయే సీన్, తెలంగాణ శకుంతల ఎడ్చే సీన్, పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ & సంధ్య మధ్య సీన్స్ లో డైరెక్టర్ భీమినేని శ్రీనివాసరావు ప్రతిభ తెలుస్తుంది. రమణ గొగుల సంగీతం ఈ చిత్రానికి హైలైట్. ఈ సినిమా లో వేణు మాదవ్ మొట్టమొదటి సారి ఎక్కడా శ్రుతి మించకుండా నటించాడు.ఈ సినిమా లో ఇంకొ చెప్పుకో తగ్గ విషయం ఎక్కడా vulgarity లేకపొవడం. ఈ మధ్య కాలం లో చాలా నీట్ గా తీసిన సీనిమా ఇదే. Even పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ కత్తి తో చంపే సీన్స్ లో కూడా ఎక్కడా direct గా పొడిచినట్టు చూపించరు. Too much of blood shed, item songs ఇవేవి లేకుండా కథకు తగ్గట్టుగా తీసారు. కుటుంబం అంతా కలసి చూడదగిన చిత్రం అన్నవరం, ముఖ్యంగా ప్రతి అన్న చూడవలసిన చిత్రం ఈ అన్నవరం.