If there was an alternative to an hair dryer in the amount of hot air blown, it would be the wind in Tempe or in general the wind in the valley. It was this gush of hot air that greeted when I landed in Tempe. I never knoew I would be associated with it for this long. Last summer, I was in India, enjoying the monsoons, But this summer, here I am, enjoying the heatwave in Tempe.
It was a late summer, May was particularly pleasant compared to the last May. This June was like how last May was, the summer has had a one month offset. Hope August doesn't get too hot though. The temperatures scorch at 112 F on most days and have gone upto 117 F. This is the temperature in the shade apparently. So the really one is a few degrees higher. The worst time to walk in the sun would be between 3-5 pm. The least temperature would be 85 F at 4:30 am and may last till 5 am. I have seen the temperature hit 100 F by 7 or 8 am. The beginning of this week had some showers which made the next morning very humid. It was like Chennai, sticky and sweaty!
I chose to teach this summer, to keep myself occupied and for monetary benefits too. It would have been really boring if I had to immerse in research all the time, even though I am finiding it good to do that now. I didn't make a trip to India, in order to facilitate a faster MS thesis defense and PhD qualifier. Also I am working on a few conference-level papers, which I definitely need to have, since I have been researching for so long. I feel it was good decision that I made to stick around during the summer, since it is so relaxed and my only focus is on research.
My teaching experience this summer is something that I need to make a mention of. I was handling the basic Circuits class for the first time, even though I have TAed for the next course in circuits. But this was an experience, since it was mostly non-EE students and most of them had this as their first course in EE. The labs that I taught were pretty simple and not too demanding. I tried to experiment around introducing a new lab and giving guidelines for their reports. It did help me a lot, since I saved a lot of grading time. I should probably implement it in the next semester, if I am let to handle a lab all by myself. Also, I had the opportunity to set a lab final and it was like reliving my BE lab exam experiences. I did receive good feedback from the students, though there were these usual complaints. But one thing that I was surprised was that 'I was rude/impatient' from a particular student, so I learned what I had to control. Be it my saccharine tone or liberal attitude or my impatience, it needs to be offered only in moderation.
I didn't watch too many movies, probably because I found a lot of company to talk to. But I did watch Hrishikesh Mukherjee's two classics, Khoobsurat and Chupke Chupke, thanks to Kumar. I watched Sivaji, in a movie hall, and at home I saw Flavors, and a few other ones that I don't remeber at this point in time. I prefer watching TV, now that lot of India channels are up on the net for free. Also, I tried to build my music collection and I felt happy doing so.
Also my work at the administrative office in the university was of great relief from the stress and boredom :)
Overall, not a bad summer!
Showing posts with label Sivaji. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sivaji. Show all posts
Jul 19, 2007
Jul 1, 2007
Sivaji Thiruvizha at Tempe
Having been in the sleepy town of Tempe for close to two years, I have heard of a few carnivals, and event that have had record number of participants. I have seen classical music concerts that have attracted lot of Indian crows, say 200-250. I have seen movies like Vettaiyadu Vilayadu attracting a huge crowd to the theater in such number that, extra chairs had to be put behind the existing seat and I was sitting in the first row. The crowd was all calm and composed except when Kamal appeared on screen for the first time. But this time it was different and had to be different.
Rajinikanth, the hero of the masses and classes had his second release in two years and it meant the union of the celebrated director Shankar, music wizard ARR and this great actor. So there was no shortage of hype at all. Any movie-based site, news-based site had atleast one article on the movie everyday. The advance booking begun a while ago and the tickets for a month were sold out in India on the first day itself.
Here in Tempe, the movie was getting released on the same day as the rest of the world, except for the time difference. Dilip got the tickets for this one, almost four weeks in advance. And I saw that the tickects were all sold out 3-4 days before the movie itself, something that rarely happens here. I expected to see a big Indian, Tamil crowd at the theater.
What I saw was definitely a lot of Tamil people and a equal number of non-Tamil people. The name Rajini is just magic to attract people to the theater. The parking lot was full, at 8:15 pm itself, even though the movie begins at 9:30 pm. All the cars had their speakers blare out Athiradee, Ballelakka and other songs from the movie. The serpentine queue to get into the theater to catch the seats never seemed to get smaller. It was a reunion for a lot of friends who least expected to see their friends at this event. For a few of them, it was a reunion after a couple of years. A big crowd of people without the tickets went back home dissappointed.
The students group from Tucson, came in with special shirts for the occasion and took the first row of seats. The theater was full at 9 pm itself. Sivaji songs along with songs from Shankar's other movies were played. There were long trains of people that went around the theater hall. It was indeed fun to watch the same excitement as in any theater in India.
The trailer for 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' was played and none of us wanted to see it and all of us juse wanted to see Rajini. Next came the trailer of the animation film on Rajini 'Sultan', which was enough to stir us up. Next came the AVM logo and then Superstar Rajini logo, which was entirely new and drew whistles and claps in great numbers.
Flowers are not that widely available in Tempe, but that didn't prove to be a problem to the fans. Shredded bits of paper did the job, and it was only those bits of paper in the air for the first 10-15 minutes, and every time when Rajini had something really stylish to offer.
There was no dearth of whistles, claps, laughter throughout the movie. And that's entertainment too. The crowd onscreen was entertaining and the crowd offscreen was entertaining to the same extent too. It was indeed a fun filled outing. I doubt if this is going to happen again. It is something that happens once in a lifetime.... a lifetime of Rajini's film.
In short, it was a Thiruvizha with lots of people, flowers, praises etc. The only thing missing was a Rajini cut-out. Is that too much to ask for?
Rajinikanth, the hero of the masses and classes had his second release in two years and it meant the union of the celebrated director Shankar, music wizard ARR and this great actor. So there was no shortage of hype at all. Any movie-based site, news-based site had atleast one article on the movie everyday. The advance booking begun a while ago and the tickets for a month were sold out in India on the first day itself.
Here in Tempe, the movie was getting released on the same day as the rest of the world, except for the time difference. Dilip got the tickets for this one, almost four weeks in advance. And I saw that the tickects were all sold out 3-4 days before the movie itself, something that rarely happens here. I expected to see a big Indian, Tamil crowd at the theater.
What I saw was definitely a lot of Tamil people and a equal number of non-Tamil people. The name Rajini is just magic to attract people to the theater. The parking lot was full, at 8:15 pm itself, even though the movie begins at 9:30 pm. All the cars had their speakers blare out Athiradee, Ballelakka and other songs from the movie. The serpentine queue to get into the theater to catch the seats never seemed to get smaller. It was a reunion for a lot of friends who least expected to see their friends at this event. For a few of them, it was a reunion after a couple of years. A big crowd of people without the tickets went back home dissappointed.
The students group from Tucson, came in with special shirts for the occasion and took the first row of seats. The theater was full at 9 pm itself. Sivaji songs along with songs from Shankar's other movies were played. There were long trains of people that went around the theater hall. It was indeed fun to watch the same excitement as in any theater in India.
The trailer for 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' was played and none of us wanted to see it and all of us juse wanted to see Rajini. Next came the trailer of the animation film on Rajini 'Sultan', which was enough to stir us up. Next came the AVM logo and then Superstar Rajini logo, which was entirely new and drew whistles and claps in great numbers.
Flowers are not that widely available in Tempe, but that didn't prove to be a problem to the fans. Shredded bits of paper did the job, and it was only those bits of paper in the air for the first 10-15 minutes, and every time when Rajini had something really stylish to offer.
There was no dearth of whistles, claps, laughter throughout the movie. And that's entertainment too. The crowd onscreen was entertaining and the crowd offscreen was entertaining to the same extent too. It was indeed a fun filled outing. I doubt if this is going to happen again. It is something that happens once in a lifetime.... a lifetime of Rajini's film.
In short, it was a Thiruvizha with lots of people, flowers, praises etc. The only thing missing was a Rajini cut-out. Is that too much to ask for?
Jun 15, 2007
SIVAJI - The movie - Review
SIVAJI..... I have no words to describe the movie. It's been ages since I have seen a masala movie that's been really entertaining. Be it the slow and insignificant first half or the fast paced and well shot second half, the movie SIVAJI : The Boss, definitely does justice to the name of Chevalier after whom the movie is named. There ends the relationship between the two. Also in the name of M G Ravichandran, there's an MGR who is really the surprise element. Rajini will be the only artist that could even carry off a totally shaven head with a style.
Rajinikanth had a nice exemplary show of his style skills and there were songs that were exclusively shot to showcase his style alone. Even though the style defies gravity and would make Sir Isaac Newton think about his law of gravitation, it entertained. At the end of the day, it is important that you get entertained by a movie, if not a message. And that is exactly the plus point of this movie and the USP of any Rajini movie.
The story is fairly simple and weak compared to Shankar's earlier movies. But this is a Rajini movie and he needs to make compromises on the plot. This movie seems to take off from the point where Shankar left in the 1993 classic Gentleman that starred Arjun. It is a proper concoction of Gentleman, Mudhalvan and Anniyan with ingredients picked uo in the right amount from each of the movies in the right quantity and served well with a main dish called Rajini. It is about an NRI, who wants to do service to Indians by providing quality education, good healthcare, jobs to educated and make even a small village prosper. We resorts to the whitening of Black money, after he is robbed of all his money by the existing corrupt system.
His love interest in played by Shreya. She doesn't have a big role in the movie as in other Rajini movies, but she definitely had more songs with him than in any of his recent movies. The actress Kanika apparently dubbed for her and it does suit her. (All other remarks removed due to change of mind, she does look vulgar in a few songs! She was exploited!)
Vivek plays the uncle of Rajini and is a fun to watch with his one-liners and his style. The first half was with him and Rajini trying to woo Shreya and her parents. The concept of Rajini trying to become fair, though illogical, did bring a lot of laughs from the audience. Nayanthara in the title song Ballelaka looked really slim compared to her Ghajini and Chandramukhi days. The villain role played by Suman seems intelligent in a few scenes, but villains always become an non-entity in Rajini's movies (except Padayappa). Raghuvaran is back as a doctor, and shows some life-saving trick that defies the rules of medicine. Raja and Uma Padmanabhan as Shreya's parents are a funny couple, so is the Solomon Paapaih's family. Vadivukkarasi and Manivannan are the usual Rajini's parents who support him in everything.
A.R. Rahman was another hero of the film and Shankar as usual with his extravagant sets, made the good songs also look great on screen. Vaaji Vaaji song with the Middle eastern and European theme was very well shot. Hariharan's Aambal and Mavvals were depicted by Rajini in his own style. Madhushree's voice deserves a special mention. Ballelakka was shot in a beautiful location and I really want to know where are such locales in India. Athiradee was filled with style and was really enjoyable. The Oru kudai sunlight had Rajini in the fair getup after his trysts with Fair and Lovely mixed in bleaching powder(Courtesy Vivek), and Saffron Milk etc.(It was apprently a skin grafting technique on video) Shankar as always has extravangant sets and this time I really understood why he has such extravagant set of existing wonders, probably to save up on the airfare and living expenses for the 100-200 background dancers. It is just in the Sahana song that there aren't many background dancers. But that was compensated by a glass house setting. However, Sahana song disappointed me, since I expected it to be in a landscape setting but it wasn't.
The clothes for Rajini designed by Manish Malhotra were something that Rajini shone brightly in. Especially the yellow kurta in the Ballelakka song was something that I liked apart from his clothes in Athiradee. His Jingchak (or authenic Jingucha) hairdoes and clothes in Oru Kudai sunlight seemed just apt for him and he didn't look made up in them at all(Rajni looked younger than in Chandramukhi, espcecially towards the second half. And his getups as Sivaji, MGR and Kamalhassan were amazing and it did seem that those star were on the screen.
Shankar's way of telling was good as usual, but since this a predictable fare, there were not surprise events or twists. Shankar's idealistic Indian town/city might be a thing of the distant future. But it did give a good feeling of seeing a prosperous city. I hope things like that really happen in the near future.
Overall, a total paisa vasool. It was worth the ticket.
More post on this soon........
Rajinikanth had a nice exemplary show of his style skills and there were songs that were exclusively shot to showcase his style alone. Even though the style defies gravity and would make Sir Isaac Newton think about his law of gravitation, it entertained. At the end of the day, it is important that you get entertained by a movie, if not a message. And that is exactly the plus point of this movie and the USP of any Rajini movie.
The story is fairly simple and weak compared to Shankar's earlier movies. But this is a Rajini movie and he needs to make compromises on the plot. This movie seems to take off from the point where Shankar left in the 1993 classic Gentleman that starred Arjun. It is a proper concoction of Gentleman, Mudhalvan and Anniyan with ingredients picked uo in the right amount from each of the movies in the right quantity and served well with a main dish called Rajini. It is about an NRI, who wants to do service to Indians by providing quality education, good healthcare, jobs to educated and make even a small village prosper. We resorts to the whitening of Black money, after he is robbed of all his money by the existing corrupt system.
His love interest in played by Shreya. She doesn't have a big role in the movie as in other Rajini movies, but she definitely had more songs with him than in any of his recent movies. The actress Kanika apparently dubbed for her and it does suit her. (All other remarks removed due to change of mind, she does look vulgar in a few songs! She was exploited!)
Vivek plays the uncle of Rajini and is a fun to watch with his one-liners and his style. The first half was with him and Rajini trying to woo Shreya and her parents. The concept of Rajini trying to become fair, though illogical, did bring a lot of laughs from the audience. Nayanthara in the title song Ballelaka looked really slim compared to her Ghajini and Chandramukhi days. The villain role played by Suman seems intelligent in a few scenes, but villains always become an non-entity in Rajini's movies (except Padayappa). Raghuvaran is back as a doctor, and shows some life-saving trick that defies the rules of medicine. Raja and Uma Padmanabhan as Shreya's parents are a funny couple, so is the Solomon Paapaih's family. Vadivukkarasi and Manivannan are the usual Rajini's parents who support him in everything.
A.R. Rahman was another hero of the film and Shankar as usual with his extravagant sets, made the good songs also look great on screen. Vaaji Vaaji song with the Middle eastern and European theme was very well shot. Hariharan's Aambal and Mavvals were depicted by Rajini in his own style. Madhushree's voice deserves a special mention. Ballelakka was shot in a beautiful location and I really want to know where are such locales in India. Athiradee was filled with style and was really enjoyable. The Oru kudai sunlight had Rajini in the fair getup after his trysts with Fair and Lovely mixed in bleaching powder(Courtesy Vivek), and Saffron Milk etc.(It was apprently a skin grafting technique on video) Shankar as always has extravangant sets and this time I really understood why he has such extravagant set of existing wonders, probably to save up on the airfare and living expenses for the 100-200 background dancers. It is just in the Sahana song that there aren't many background dancers. But that was compensated by a glass house setting. However, Sahana song disappointed me, since I expected it to be in a landscape setting but it wasn't.
The clothes for Rajini designed by Manish Malhotra were something that Rajini shone brightly in. Especially the yellow kurta in the Ballelakka song was something that I liked apart from his clothes in Athiradee. His Jingchak (or authenic Jingucha) hairdoes and clothes in Oru Kudai sunlight seemed just apt for him and he didn't look made up in them at all(Rajni looked younger than in Chandramukhi, espcecially towards the second half. And his getups as Sivaji, MGR and Kamalhassan were amazing and it did seem that those star were on the screen.
Shankar's way of telling was good as usual, but since this a predictable fare, there were not surprise events or twists. Shankar's idealistic Indian town/city might be a thing of the distant future. But it did give a good feeling of seeing a prosperous city. I hope things like that really happen in the near future.
Overall, a total paisa vasool. It was worth the ticket.
More post on this soon........
SIVAJI - The movie - Preview
One word sums it all. Superstar......, no actor in the history of Tamil cinema or even the Indian cinema has ever had such an influence on the people, not just the commoners but the elite and the educated class. It is this guy Sivaji Rao Gaekwad, rechristened Rajinikant who casts a spell once in every 2 or 3 years with his movie. His movie 'Sivaji: The Boss' has been in the news since 2005 and is finally released all over the world. I am going to be catching the movie on the First day First Show here in Tempe, something that I've never done for a Rajinikant movie. It is a different feeling though, and I am beginning to get really excited about the supposedly 3 hr 10 mins movie.
Even though it doesn't star my favorite stars, I am happy that ARR the genius is a part of this movie and has excellent pieces. My personal favorites are Vaaji Vaaji, Sahana Saaral and Ballelaka. Chinnmayee has done wonders to the song Sahana Saaral Thoovudho, which is otherwise butchered by Udit Narayan(but to a lower extent). Her hummings at the end of the song is simply out of the world. It bears close resemblence to Ennuyir Thozhiye from Kangalal Kaidhu Sei. Vaaji Vaaji Vaaji en Jeevan Sivaji is sung really melodiously by Madhushree who is accompanied by none another than Hariharan who springs about Aambal and Mavval(whatever flowers they are). But her rendition of Azhagai Saniyida, instead of Azhagai Sanaiyida, makes me puke. Ballelaka being the opening song apparently has the ever enthusiastic SPB along with Rehaana. It has really authentic lyrics that would make any Indian outside India get the feel of India.
Shriya in the female lead is something that I am still yet to digest. I haven't seen her in too many movies, so wondering how apt she is for the role.
No idea of what the story is like. The story and the rest of it, will be something that I'll know in a few hours time......
Vaaji Vaaji Vaaji, En Jeevan Sivaji.............. Vazhga Sivaji
Even though it doesn't star my favorite stars, I am happy that ARR the genius is a part of this movie and has excellent pieces. My personal favorites are Vaaji Vaaji, Sahana Saaral and Ballelaka. Chinnmayee has done wonders to the song Sahana Saaral Thoovudho, which is otherwise butchered by Udit Narayan(but to a lower extent). Her hummings at the end of the song is simply out of the world. It bears close resemblence to Ennuyir Thozhiye from Kangalal Kaidhu Sei. Vaaji Vaaji Vaaji en Jeevan Sivaji is sung really melodiously by Madhushree who is accompanied by none another than Hariharan who springs about Aambal and Mavval(whatever flowers they are). But her rendition of Azhagai Saniyida, instead of Azhagai Sanaiyida, makes me puke. Ballelaka being the opening song apparently has the ever enthusiastic SPB along with Rehaana. It has really authentic lyrics that would make any Indian outside India get the feel of India.
Shriya in the female lead is something that I am still yet to digest. I haven't seen her in too many movies, so wondering how apt she is for the role.
No idea of what the story is like. The story and the rest of it, will be something that I'll know in a few hours time......
Vaaji Vaaji Vaaji, En Jeevan Sivaji.............. Vazhga Sivaji
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