REVIEW OF ENDRENDUM PUNNAGAI

After Jiiva’s lengthy Dialogue

Trisha: You said everything but the word “sorry”. That’s why life with you is tough and impossible.

Audience: Say Sorry Dammit. We will leave soon.

Jiiva (To Trisha): I Love You

Audience: You could have said this before interval. We could have, at least, left early.

If you are not a big fan of reading, the above lines will sum up the movie, in short. Ahmed’s “Endrendum Punnagai” is the story of a man, with ego on a garangutan scale, refusing to budge for others even if it is his best buddies of 20 years or his father or his new-found love. It is this ego stretched in 150 minutes that is both cause and loss for the movie.

Jiiva excels well in his role despite one of the characters remarking, “You can’t act, why try unnecessarily?”. Vinay and Santhanam gel with Jiiva and create a laughter riot out of the first half. But the bromance ends in first half. The second half leaves you in South Pole. You will feel cold deserted and, for a lack of better word, boring.

The second half is, the 60 years of Tamil Cinema revisited again. Heroine walks in the middle of snowfall when the hero sees an angel out of her, a romantic number with the Alps behind, hero realising his mistakes and then comes the first few lines of this review.

Trisha bonds with her character and one expects her to see on screen more often. Andrea is a one-song girl with three extra scenes where she is nothing but a catalyst between the lead pairs. Vinay is good and Santhanam is excellent with his ridicule-humour. Harris Jeyaraj is very badly missed when the audience exit the hall for a fresh air during the songs.

Buddies will revisit their life in the first half only to accept the harsh reality in the second.

A very generous 2.5/5

REVIEW OF BIRIYANI

A playboy and his best friend wake up from an all night hangover to find themselves in the middle of a murder-conspiracy. I don’t have to say what the rest of the story is about.

The cat and mouse play is sprinkled in good proportion with humor. The Hero’s sister herself frames a dialogue, “How can you joke in the middle of such a serious situation?” Therein lies the movie’s uniqueness, despite being a crime thriller the script and characters have taken humor until the last frame. Nasser-Premji voice swap is bound to make your stomach knot.

Karthi, after a hat trick flop, has finally found the success formula which is: The hero is no superman but any simple man pushed to extreme situations can turn into nothing short of a superman.

Premji, an assured in every Venkatprabhu project, has more screen presence than any of his previous attempts. He has gone shoulder to shoulder with Karthi until the end. Hansika is yet to find a role that will break loose her acting skills, if any. Nasser and Ramki, the veterans, make a gentle yet memorable presence.

Music is a letdown; too unfortunate this has to be Yuvan’s 100.

The director has, once again, proved his mettle with a fully nutritious diet.The script has gone to great extents to prevent it from being stereotyped as a Hangover spoof and has even added a reference to the Hollywood flick. It has succeeded too.

Delightful Buffet.

REVIEW OF DHOOM:3

When a magician-thief’s trick is exploited by a cop, the latter uses it to break him apart and end the streak of bank robberies.

Vijay Krishna Aarchya’s Dhoom trilogy, the desi version of Fast and Furious on two wheels instead of four, is one of the most celebrated franchises in Indian Cinema. After months of marketing, I was inevitably pulled in for the first-day-first-show.

But the close to three hour celluloid left a few gaps which if filled could have made it more watchable. There is no question that this flick will shatter Box Office records. But, at the end of the day, just like many other 200+ crore movies, this is also filled with many obvious flaws.

The team has gone to great lengths for the action sequences, but any avid Hollywood fan would link it with several other flicks. Though the twist is revealed at the intermission, my previous experience with “Prestige”, made me see the twist coming a mile away.

Aamir, as usual, excels in his part but unfortunately he is the only one as Abishekh and Uday just fill in the mould and do nothing more. My and many others in my screening’s greatest disappointment was Katrina’s role. Between the supercop (Abishekh) and the Master thief (Aamir) there is very little chance for the Acrobat (Katrina) to pull down her sleeve. In fact the BMW bike has more screen time than Katrina. And contrary to popular expectation, Katrina doesn’t sport a Bikini.

In terms of unearthing the Emotional Coefficient of the leading characters, D3 has tried what Skyfall did to the 007 franchise. Close to three hours, the film really deserved attention in Editing. A few more clean shaves could have smoothened the screenplay’s cheek.

But, like I said before, none of the above criticism is going to stop the movie in the box-office and for the next few weeks, D3 will steam roll every single box-office record in record time.

6 YEAR OLD OUTCAST IN CHINA BECAUSE OF HIV

A Long, a 6 year old boy, is living alone on the mountains thanks to the disease that he inherited, rather than catching it, HIV.

His mother died of AIDS in 2009 and the father succumbed soon from the same disease. The rest of his family, grandmother and uncles included, stay away from the boy.

His tattered cloths and his faithful dog are his only companions.

At an age where he should playing with Lego, PS-3 watching Tom and Jerry, this kid cooks his own food and washes his own cloth.

His formal education was only a term before he was asked to leave owing to his health condition. “We have to consider the feelings of other parents”. Headmaster Chen says.

He uses no oil for salt for his meal but relishes it to the last bit.

He receives a subsidy of 70 yuan (110 US dollars) but treasures the basketball, a gift, more than anything else.

Off late he is show casing his Kung fu skills to his visitors, who have come after they heard his story.

The latest news is that a couple have come forward to adopt the boy.

But who will explain the little kid, the meaning of his malady.

PIXAR'S FULLFILLS DYING GIRLS'S LAST WISH THROUGH A PRIVATE SCREENING OF THE EVERGREEN CLASSIC "UP"

Here’s another reason that makes “UP”, besides winning an Oscar, a very special animated movie.

Colby Curtin , a 10 year old kid, was diagnosed with Vascular cancer in 2005 four years before her demise. The initial promotions from Pixar inspired her so much that she wanted to watch the movie. But her health deteriorated so badly that it was impossible to move her to theatre.

Hence, her parents made frantic calls to Pixar studios and explained their daughter’s death wish. Pixar send an employee and a DVD for a private screening even before the movie released.

Seven hours after watching the movie, Colby passed away.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content or the theme of the movie. I just know that word 'Up' and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that Colby was going to go up. Up to heaven”, Colby’s mother said.

“The Pixar employee’s eyes were all welled up”, Colby’s best friend, Lynch said.

          

TWO HEADED PIGLET

A piglet, in Nanchang province of China, is born with two heads. Accompanied by nine siblings this is the only black sheep who is out of context.

The mutant suffers while feeding as it confuses to decide with which mouth to suckle for milk and ends up failing.

Vets suggest it is highly unlikely that the piglet will survive. This condition with two heads is known as Polycephaly.

There have already been cases of snakes and cats with two heads, in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

REVIEW OF "THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG"

 “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug” starts 20 years earlier when Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf the Grey meet for the first time. The hobbits plus Bilbo baggins and Gandalf start a stream like journey, which soon splits into various tributaries as the dangers around multiply exponentially.

 Escaping and Aiding from the Skin Changer (The last line doesn’t make sense until you watch the movie), venturing into a far more dangerous forest, giving a slip to the Elves, barrel riding through the river, crossing the lake via a barge, through the invisible door, the Hobbits finally enter Erebor, the land that they ruled once now guarded by a sword-teethed, spear-clawed, iron-armored Dragon, the Smaug, that waits to feast upon anyone who shall enter his chambers.

 All leads up to the epic David(s) versus Goliath styled battle, thanks to Peter Jackson, J.R.R.Tolkien and the CGI team.

  The LOTR fans, including me, had a blast watching our favorite characters, minus a few, re-emerge on the screen to carry on the perilous journey that will only get worse with each passing step. Few side stories crop along the way which will make even more sense in the next installment.

 So much importance has been given to “The Desolation of Smaug”, that it appears by itself on the screen rather than as a sub-title to “The Hobbit”.

 Peter Jackson has once again proved his mettle as have Ian Mckellen, Martin Freeman and the Hobbit brothers. Ben Cumberbatch’s voice is totally unrecognizable as Smaug, which only makes it more eerie.

Summing up, a fine ramp for the final movie.

FACTS THAT YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT NOBEL PRIZE

1. Only four people have won the prize twice ( Marie Curie, Linus Pauling, John Bardeen, Fredrick Sanger)

2. Richard Kuhn, Gerhard Domagk,Adolf Butenandt (all Germans) and Boris Pasternak (Russia) were forced to decline the prize by their national authorities.

3. Only one pair of siblings have won the coveted honour, Jan Tinbergens and Nikolaas Tinbergens (Netherlands).

4. International Red Cross has won the Nobel Prize for peace three times with its founder, Henry Durant winning the inaugaural Peace Nobel Prize.

5. Alfred Nobel's father Immanuel Nobel invented Plywood.

6. The honour is never given posthumously.

7. Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin were nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.

8. Mahatma Gandhi was assasinated in 1948. Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded that year (Refer 6 for explanation).

9. Between 1901 and 2012 only 44 nobel prizes were awarded to women.

SCARY AD OF A JAPANESE TYRE COMPANY

A Japanese Tyre company has produced an ad, so scary, that it comes with a health warning.

Video graphed from the windshield of a car, it looks into a dark stretch of countryside road illuminated only by the car’s headlight. Suddenly out of nowhere a girl appears in the middle of the road. The car stops and in a fraction of second she thrusts upon the windshield with a gruesome makeup.

The ad is made to point out the fact that the tyre can work even in the most dangerous situations.

The video has become a Facebook frenzy and is melting Twitter as we speak.

The ad is so scary that it has been tagged, “Not for the faint hearted”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_fk-hvNP0

REVIEW OF 'KALYANA SAMAYAL SADHAM"

 For decades together Tamil Cinema starts when the lovers first meet and ends when the parents give the green signal. But the reality paints a contrasting story, the brief stint between engagement and marriage creates more drama than Tamil Cinema can possibly handle. Prasanna’s Kalyana Samayal Sadham (KSS) explores this period and the atrocities that make it even more interesting.

 Ragu (Prasanna) is engaged to Meera (Lekha Washington) and the problems that these couples face together has resulted in the 130 minutes celluloid. Barely a month before marriage, Ragu discovers that he is suffering from erectile dysfunction which he mistakes as Impotence. Along with his four friends, he ponders the streets looking for a remedy which never arrives. This forms the first half.

 Second half shows why marriage is a real pain in the posterior. Misunderstandings, wrong words at the wrong time, gossiping relatives, pointless traditions and smiley balls fuse together to form the second half.

 There is a genuine discontinuity between the two halves. Impotence, a very sensitive issue looses attention as soon as the first half ends. Apart from the smiley ball, there is no link or reference to it whatsoever. This creates a sombre effect and causes a few yawns. But KSS has its own pros- no songs have been inserted for the sake of inserting; no romantic numbers with the Alps background, reality speaks in every scene and enables the audience to connect with it better.

 Prasanna as a debut director deserves praise as he handles with finesse and not charisma which would have spelled disaster for this type of genre. Lekha Washington is a treat to the eyes and the role has spread out her acting wings. A separate comedy track is avoided to keep the story as real and as straight as possible. But laughs are sprinkled all over the scenes right till the end. Quite a few double- meaning one liners might make the family men frown but the younger generations are bound to get a kick out of it.“Pallu pona rasave” makes us hum while the rest create a subtle charm. Delhi Ganesh, Uma Padmanabhan add charm to the cast. 

KSS: Enter without expectation, you will enjoy it.

My rating: 7/10.

"PRELUDE":WORLD'S LARGEST VESSEL LONGER THAN EMPIRE STATE BUILDING UNVEILED.

 World’s largest floating vessel, christened “Prelude”, has been unveiled at South Korea.

   At a length of 1601 feet the vessel, owned by Shell Corporation, it is 350 feet longer than the Empire State Building.

    This is a floating Liquefied Natural gas facility which produces natural gases at sea and liquefies it by chilling it at -260 degrees F, in order to facilitate the quicker transportation of fuel around the world. 

    The vessel will be connected to the bottom of the ocean by a series of pipes to extract gas from the ocean.

  The floating giant is expected to produce 3.6 million tonnes and has capacity equivalent to 175 Olympic Swimming pools. When fully laden the ship weighs 600000 tonnes and is 243 feet across.

 In August the two hulls, which were constructed separately, were joined together resulting in the biggest hull ever at 488 metres.

 From the house of Samsung Heavy Industries, this Goliath is capable of withstanding Category 5 Hurricane and can be moored at sea even during the most powerful cyclones. The ship is powered by three 6700 HP engines.

  It is expected to sail off in 2017, and will be deployed somewhere in the shores of Western Australia where it will be employed for the next 25 years.

PS: Prelude is not a “ship” because it is not capable of producing steam on its own and hence must be towed into the ocean.

COW CAUSES CHAOS IN A FREEWAY AND MEETS ITS END

 A runaway cow sparked a one-of-a-kind chase along the freeway that ultimately resulted in its demise.

   A heifer (young cow) ran across the busy A3 road, connecting London to Portsmouth, causing inconvenience to the drivers and the traffic alongside.

  The Bovine crashed through several fences and was finally corned on a local golf course where it was "humanely" shot (I simply don't understand how a lethal shot can be humane) amid fears that it was heading towards to a nearby school which were due to be let out.

HOLY COW!!!!

JESUS LOOK ALIKE BANNED FROM DARTS TOURNAMENT TO AVOID CROWD CHANTS

A hairy bearded fan was scooted out of a Darts Tournament and banned from coming back simply because he looks a lot like Jesus Christ.

 Nathan Grindal, an Australian, was scooted out of the Darts Tournament last year when thousands of fans chanted "Jesus" when they saw him on the big screen.

 When he tried to return to the tournament this year, he was promptly spotted and booted out of the tournament by the security personnel.

 In his own words," Two Beef headed Security Guards dragged me into an office and told me they wouldn't let me watch the darts."

"I feel intimidated. The head of Security told me that they didn't want a repeat of the last year".

"It's not my fault that I look like Jesus".

A spokesman said " Based on his disruptive behavior, the organizers have decided not to allow him in the tournaments this year".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3gFSGE5uDI

PS: Mr.Grindal, Why don't you try shaving the beard next time?

NELSON MANDELA: IMPORTANT DATES IN THE LIFE OF A LEGEND

July18,1918:  Born Rolihlahla Mandela at Mvezo in Transkei.

          1925: Attends Primary school where receives the name "Nelson" from his school teacher.

 

          1939: Enrols at University College of Fort Hare, Alice.

          1940: Expelled

          1941: Escapes Arranged Watchman and becomes Night Watchman.

          1942: Completes BA through the University of South Africa.

          1944: Co Founds ANC Youth League (ANCYL), marries Evelyn Ntoko Mase.

          1951: Elected President of ANCYL

          1952: Opens South Africa's first Black Law firm with Oliver Tambo.

          1956: Arrested on trials of treason and acquitted.

          1960:  Sharpville Massacre, ANC is Banned.

          1964: Convicted and sentenced to Life.

          1990: Released from Prison, ANC unbanned, Bestowed Bharat Ratna.

          1993: Awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

          1994: Launches Autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom"

          2001: Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer.

          2010: Makes a Surprise Appearance at FIFA football World Cup.

          2013: Admitted to hospital several times and breathes his last on December 5th.

MICROSOFT UNVEILS BRA THAT PREVENTS WOMEN FROM EXCESS EATING.

 Tech Tycoon, Microsoft has designed a new brassiere that prevents women from over eating.

 The bra is fitted with several sensors that measures the vitals of the wearer, heart rate and breathing, thus alerting the user of the raising stress levels.

 As soon as the variations is noted, a blue-tooth signal is send to the user's hand held device indicating the possibility of craving for foods like chocolate or cookies.

  Intended for controlling the excess calories taken in everyday, the lingerie also measures the blood pressure and temperature to notify any abnormalities.

 This announcement has come, a week after Sony announced its patent for a Smart-wig.

http://triviafactsandmovies.blogspot.in/2013/11/sonys-smart-wig.html

CELEBRATIONS DURING AMERICAN FOOTBALL MATCH CAUSES MINOR EARTHQUAKE

  Adrenaline pumped fans celebrated so hard that they caused an earthquake, a mild one but an earthqake nonetheless.

   The American football match,at Centurylink field, between Seatlle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints was the venue of this bizarre sports-geological phenomena.

    The first quarter touchdown led to celebrations which the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network measured on the Richter scale between 1 and 2.

    This game also set a Guiness record for noise at 137.6 decibels (sound of a jet engine at 100 ft.)

MY DOG ATE MY HOME WORK

 A schoolgirl in Colorado came up with the one of the best excuses of all time "My dog ate my Homework".

 Payton Moody, a school girl's science project became the subject of Animal Lovers all over the world. The chocolate based volcano model got the attention of Payton's Labrador,Reggie, who gulped without spilling a bit either side.

 The poor dog was so hell bent on the chocolate that he didn't mind the metal pins, later counted to be around 50, that held the model together. The volcano erupted inside the dog and the family hurried to emergency care where the scan revealed the pins.

 Most of the pins were removed through Endoscope while the others were surgically removed. The process was even more complicated as chocolates are toxic to drugs. The Labrador has pounced back to health in no time.

  PS: The girl submitted the model, once again, this time made out of glue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3lyVyWuKuA