semsters and flying times

today as i walked out of college at three thirty(after a painfully long wait for the end semester hall tickets) it struck me right there with unbelievable force that ONE SEMESTER was actually over!!

there was a time when "my world" was just home and school. studying in the same place from kindergarten-i have a very strong and deep emotional attachment to ssk(sniff sniff).the lone big building in sundareshwarar street with the two gulmohar trees adorning the entrance......that was my small yet beautiful world.when school came to an end , i couldn't believe that i would actually not be coming to this place everyday... seeing the familiar green and yellow walls,crowding outside the creche at lunchtime and fighting for shares,trooping down to the auditorium in the name of "practice" at every given opportunity, write countless assignments and praying for the magical number "8", culturals and annual day rehearsals.....the list is endless.

college was totally alien. believe me just looking at hordes of girls all around you and not knowing any of them can shake you up. all stories of how college is the place where you make the best of friends seemed like mockery and finding a group or trying to "fit in" dominated all thought processes.

give it some time and things fall into place... cliched but true....start talking to people , notice friendly faces, explore however shy....doesn't sound easy but it works.things seem right after a while... a new group of friends who are ready to laugh at the silliest of things with you , hogging endlessly in the canteen and appreciating the good food... sleeping on each other in class ,sneakily sms'ing in class even if the person is sitting just two rows away, deciding to bunk on an impulse, feverish revisions for long tests and frantic late night messages as to portions covered and prayers for teachers to not come to class.

at the end of the day its just one of the "worlds" we are probably going to be a part of . we take time to appreciate it but it does make a difference. SSK was my world and will still be one phase i cherish a lot and will never ever forget. however hard that was to leave , college is one hell of an experience till now and a very very nice "world" as well.....so this is dedicated to all the people who have made my eventful and amazing world of school and college the awesome places they are!!

poorvaja =)

(p.s. it sounded a lot like an assembly speech eh??please please comment someone!i have no qualms begging!!)

unnai pol oru wednesday....

six of us descended upon sathyam cinemas to watch kamal hasan's latest flick "unnaipol oruvan" - remake of the hindi film " a wednesday". as i had just watched "a Wednesday" for the millionth time a week back , it was tough to avoid comparisons.nevertheless i liked the Tamil version, though not as much as the hindi one. the star appeal of Mohanlal , Kamal Hasan etc ultimately appeals to you .For those who haven't seen the original , this fare will be engaging and keep you gripped.however the charm of an original never transpires in a remake and i felt ,the same happens here.

to put the story in a few lines . the commissioner of police I.G.Maarar(mohanlal , complete with a thick mallu accent) gets threatening phone calls from Mr Unknown(Kamal Hasan) demanding the release of 4 accused terrorists in exchange that he will diffuse 4 bombs kept in various locations in the city . how this problem is solved as time progresses and how it affects the people involved ( Anuja iyer(the cigarette toting journo , arif((a very smart and suave) Ganesh venkatraman and Dr Reddy(i forgot his name in the movie !!)) forms the rest of the story.

the movie has certain contextual changes to adapt to the tamil milieu... trains are not given as much importance as they were given in a Wednesday.the bomb blasts referred to are the ones which happened in sri perambathur and Coimbatore.anupam kher in Hindi is plain clothed throughout the movie as here Mohanlal is clothed in khakhi giving the more dramatic effect. all this is well appreciated as relating to it is better this way.the cinematography is glossy and all the techie stuff shown is mind blowing.. for someone who does not know anything about gadgets much , i found all the preliminary scenes of Kamal setting up all the hi fi stuff impressive(all of this was not in the Hindi version).

Anuja iyer is impressive in her limited screen time , the two police officers shine and are powerful(Ganesh venkatraman is my new favourite ) . Mohanlal impresses as usual but his thick mallu accent can leave you confused at times. Lakshmi who plays chief secretary is effective and her exchanges with Mohanlal are witty but one wonders if her role was absolutely necessary.what was the need to include the phone conversations with the chief minister ?it felt fake though some of the responses in the conversations is sure to make one smile. Sreeman comes as the actor in need of protection and it is hard to miss who he is aping.the implications are just too obvious not to notice.Random scenes like that of the hacker(was he the guy who came as the small boy in anjali and sathileelavathi??)are stereotypical but at the same time puts a smile on your face. the fact that this movie has done away with super man - like fights and songs is a welcome relief and thats defying stereotypes for you.

Coming to kamal, he is terrific. no doubt about that. your heart goes out to him when he breaks down and recounts a horrific incident. after 50 years at this, he definitely is very good.there are too many English dialogues though..in a way it enhances a class act but will probably appeal to the multiplex audiences more. how far is he the "common man"?? that was the only thing where i felt nasserudin shah shone- his simplicity and how ordinary he was, was hard to miss.he was convincing because of this act and the power he brought in to a role like this.nevertheless kamal is good.

Watch the movie definitely . if you haven't watched the original , you are bound to appreciate this film better. and for those who have watched the original... give this a shot anyways.....its a Kamal movie after all!!

poorvaja

five second review!!

horror and supernatural mystery is perhaps the latest genre in demand in tamil cinema.following the success of yaavarum nalam , yet another movie "eeram" -being a mystery and supernatural thriller has arrived.and boy!it is goood!!it is eerie and chilling in the right places and does not go overboard with special affects or showing women draped in white sarees with hair left open which one would expect from a movie like this!

the story follows vasudevan(aadhi) taking an interest and investigating the apparent suicide of his ex-flame ramya(sindhu menon) now happily married to bala(nandha).soon begins a series of murders and what he unravels forms the rest of the story.the movie has water or rain in most of its scenes , water playing dominant force true to the title of the film.the result is a cool , calm feeling during all the romantic scenes and pure eeriness otherwise.the film is thankfully devoid of blood and gore even with the killings.the film moves at a crisp pace and manages to grab and hold your attention..however it does sag a bit during the last 45 minutes but still manages to get back to gripping the audience.the songs are nothing special but mazhaiye stays with you for a while.all the lead actors though newcomers, shine and my personal favourite was definitely aadhi -the strapping young police officer with the deep voice :-)).

i would definitely recommend this movie-its worth a watch!!