Movie Review - Mumbai Express

Dear Mr.Kamal

Please, stop. Let this be your last "comedy" film. In your next film, please do not do any of the following:

1) Have an accent - we've seen enough of it in PKS, Thenali, etc
2) Play the part of the super cool dude - one panchathanthiram was enough
3) Act innocent and play a dumb guy, with some form of disability (in combination with some weird accent)
4) Have Manisha Koirala as the heroine (nothing personal against her, but after she has acted in X rated hindi flops, she really shouldnt be costarring with you and Rajni anymore)
5) Treat movie making like a production assembly line (was there really any difference between thenali, pks, panchathanthiram and mumbai express?)
6) Sing all the songs in your movie. Remember SPB?

As your loyal fan, if i want to see a comedy caper, I can just rent the Michael madana kama raj video again. Sun tv also plays singaravelan every other month. So, do save yourself the trouble!

Hey by the way, do you remember Hey Ram, Unnal mudiyum thambi, Thevar Magan, Mahanadhi, Salangai Oli, Nayagan, Anbe Sivam etc and the time when virtually every oscar entry from indian cinema was a movie from you?

The Bloggers of Madras

There are hundreds of Madras bloggers online. And I didnt know it till today! My blog journey started at www.lazygeek.net. Lazygeek is one of the more popular bloggers, i think some of his articles have been talked about in the hindu. His Seattle pallavan articles are pretty good (havent seen any recent updates though). His site also links to a number of different blogs, and I started clicking on some links randomly.

Each blog links to other blogs and also to interesting articles. The subjects range from why Chennai is better than Bangalore to rare pictures of Kappalotiya Thamizhan VOC.

Some things are common among many of these bloggers - they hail from Madras, they probably live in the USA now (or spent a year here on an on-site project) , and they think Madras totally rocks! And thats why I had so much fun browsing - it was like seeing a lot of my own thoughts being echoed. Their names are cool too - sambar mafia, tea kadai etc!

Here are some links to get you started out with. Scroll to the right to check out the blogs the sites link to (you will have to wade through some boring articles to reach the really good ones)
http://thayirsaadham.blogspot.com/
http://karthikblogs.blogspot.com/
http://chennaicentral.blogspot.com/

Movie Review - Mayavi

Story in a line:
Jyothika plays herself, Surya kidnaps her (after 1.5 hours of buildup). Ofcourse, Jo starts liking Surya (this is a common psychological effect, but, naturally, in a tamizh movie, the love is only because of the hero's golden heart).

The Verdict:
Surya Rocks! Hes getting really versatile, plus hes not a Rajni wannabe, so he does not have to maintain a certain image (unlike Vijay in madurey, thiruppachi etc). Watch this movie just for him.

Parts of the movie are quite funny (like Surya kidnaps Jyothika and then starts worrying because he doesnt want Thalaiva's Chandramukhi to get delayed!).

Some scenes are kinda weird, like Surya and his sidekick telling Jyothika she overacts, and also, while all other actresses are dieting , she is literally "paathi kattufying" ! So, was she really ok with being made fun of like this?

The music is good, especially Kathadi pola and seetu kattu rani.

Bottomline:
Despite Surya and a surprisingly practical ending, the movie is still mediocre. The story is exactly 1 line long, so a 3 hour movie with it is pretty weak. Jo and her screen mom seem to have had a who-howls- the-loudest contest. My head still hurts :-(

Madras Thamizh

Check this weird website - there is an entire thesis madras thamizh with interesting factoids like the popular users of certain key words ("Appeet aagardhu" - Vivek, "adra sakkai" - Goundamani)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras_bashai#Cultural_references

The Lean Veggie - Perfect Rasam

My biggest critic actually said this is one dish I make well, so here is the recipe:

1) Crush two pods garlic and grind into a rough paste 1/4 can chopped tomatoes (dont make into a puree)
2) Add a little cooked thuvar dhal (about 1/8 cup) to one cup water and mix well (you shouldnt be able to see the dhal)
3) Fry in 1 tsp oil and grind into a fine paste:
1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 pod garlic, 3 red chills, 3/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp jeera, 1 tsp channa dhal. (Make sure the garlic is well fried)
4) Take 1 cup water in a pan, add 1.5 tsp tamarind paste (the light brown watery paste variety), salt, hing, ½ tsp rasam powder, turmeric powder, 2 pods crushed garlic and tomato and cook till it comes to a boil
5) Add the dhal water, spice paste, a little jaggery and cook till the rasam comes to a boil. Check for salt and add more if needed
6) When it boils, remove from heat, garnish with cilantro.
7) Splutter mustard seeds, jeera and curry leaves in ghee and add to the rasam

Tips : Add a little more puli than you usually do, and add a little more salt.

Today..

My new inspirational quote:
"Worrying about losing keeps me winning"

Silly song i play constantly on my way to work:
Kathadi pola -from mayavi

Last movie I watched:
The village - Review? Yawn!!!

The true Chandramukhi review

I got to see the movie in a Chicago suburb with a good friend of mine from college. We reached the theater just in time, and standing in line to enter, I felt I was in Madras, right in the middle of Devi Paradise! The whistles, "uh-ah-uh-ah" chants, and "thalaivarukku savalaaa?" chorus started right outside the theater (surprisingly the mall security didnt bother us!). Someone even managed to bring an auto rickshaw horn in tribute to the immortal Badsha.

The movie started with the classic "SUPERSTAR R-A-J-I-N-I" title, and the crowd turned hysterical! Rajini single handedly fights 20 men, defying gravity and every law of physics and all of us went hoarse cheering for our thalaivaaa! All the madras pasanga and local girls (like me!) tore ticket stubs and threw it up in the air (the peter-girls gave us disgusted glances and said "cha, too much yaa") and a group of die-hard thambis ran up to the screen and put a big kumbudu. With the stunt scene done, the main movie started.

The story:
Chandramukhi is the legend of a beautiful dancer who was killed (along with her lover) by a cruel king. 150 years later, Prabhu, his wife Jyothika, and a big extended family move into the palace and they start believing that someone is tormenting them . Needless to say, our superstar saves the day!

The review:
This is the remake of Manichithathazhu - regarded as one of the best malayalam movies ever made. Shobana won the national award for her performance. However, you cannot have a female oriented Rajini movie (especially a positive female character at that). So, P.Vasu condenses the great original into the final 30 minutes of the movie and fills the first 2.5 hours with a lot of brightly colored candy fluff, with the pretext that that is what Rajini fans want.

He got it all wrong. We wanted the super star title in the beginning, and a racy introduction song. Once we got that, we were done with our cheering, and we were ready to watch a good movie, which didnt start till 2.5 hours later.

A little cotton candy is nice, but there is only so much you can eat before you start feeling sick. Its pretty for the first 10 minutes and then becomes a soggy mess. The same applies for the movie too. There are constant references to the mysterious Chandramukhi, with snatches of a beautiful telugu song. Just when you hope to see more, the scene is cut short, followed by some meaningless comedy or a big song. 10 minutes after the interval, the crowd was completely subdued. By the time the annanoda paatu song came, there was not a single whistle or cheer. Believe me, if a 1000 homesick tamilians could not muster up enthusiasm for what was supposed to be the superhit song of the movie.. you can imagine..

The lows:
* Nayantara - Shes very pretty, but the audience was positively squirming because she is younger than Rajini's younger daughter! In the next Rajini movie --- please please show him with a WIFE, played by an actress atleast more than 30 years old. Nayantara also stammers now and then, no one knew why. The height of overacting!
* Athindhom song - No one could understand why this song was there in the movie and the dialogue Nayantara says at the end didnt make any sense at all
* The Rajini-Vadivelu comedy - some of it was funny, but most of it was double-meaning stuff. I've never seen (or atleast dont remember) vulgarity in a Rajini movie, and this was pretty bad. The verdict of the loyal Madras fans behind me was "this really is too much"
* Prabhu crying - That was the last straw. Anyway, I'm worried about his heart risk, he really needs to do something about himself
* Rajini's gray makeup - Seriously, who came up with that idea?
* The 100 skimpily clad bombay dancers in the annanoda paatu song ... the biggest low point of the movie
* A lot of out-of-work actresses with white paint and bad wigs were telling Rajini how he is the greatest man in the planet

The highs!
And just when the audience started giving up, the real movie started - and its brilliant! (no credit to P.Vasu, The original was Faazil i think). Vidyasagar's ra-ra song is fantastic. The screenplay captures the essence of Chandramukhi's spirit and it makes the first 2 hours of crap really worthwhile. Rajini takes the backseat, doesnt act like a superstar, and instead takes on the role of the villain...and hes fanstastic! I'm not going to give away any more of the story, but you have to see the movie for Rajini in this scene, and Jyothika's make up for her two kinds of appearances.

The script requires Jyothika to give an over-the-top performance in the end. Unfortunately for her, that is how she usually performs in all her movies anyway, so there were some sniggers from the audience. But, if you forget her past kushi type tortures and look just at this film, her performance is really really good, especially in the yellow costume.

The verdict:
This movie is already a superhit. Rajini is the biggest superstar in the world (no exaggeration) and we love him too much to let his movie flop . In the last 30 minutes, you also see Rajini's potential as an actor and remember his old classics. I wish there are more movies where Rajini actually plays different characters, without worrying about his image. He doesnt have to paint his face a weird gray (he should stick to his new wig though, its pretty neat!) Ok, maybe for his hard core fans, the movies can have the mandatory Rajini intro song and a what-a-man stunt sequence. But, we really dont need contrived Rajini propping scenes all through his movies. We know him, we love him, and the supporting characters need NOT reiterate this to us.

Rajini's sheer charisma is mind blowing enough to prop himself and the script. He is a brilliantly stylish actor and in fact, he's lots more fun when he is being sarcastic and as an anti-hero (remember paratai of 16 vayadhinile?).

In Chandramukhi however, the real Rajini gets lost amidst all the graphics and colorful songs and stunts. Walking out of the theater, the entire first two hours of the movie fade away almost immediately, and the most memorable image of Rajini is him dressed as the king and his taunting "lakalakalaka...". That was the paisa vasool scene of the movie. Dhool machi!!!

You know better than to expect great cinema, when you go to see a Rajini movie. But Chandramukhi's climax brings you tantalizingly close to the idea of a Rajini movie that is also a good movie......and then falls short. And that is a tragedy.

P.Vasu misses his one golden chance. Chandramukhi is certainly no Baba, but, with everyone playing safe, unfortunately, its no Badsha either. What a waste!

Thalaivaa 

Thalaivaaa...

Only three more days to:
* buy a big supply of karpooram and collect my pooja saamaan
* Make a big bag of confetti - preferably from old lottery tickets
* Gather a sackful of change
* Learn to whistle madras front-bencher style

BECAUSE.....

(and dont call yourself a tamilian if you dont already know)

Our thalaivar's movie is releasing friday!!!!

Because... Orey sooriyan, Orey chandiran, Orey sooper star!!!

Oh beautiful spring..

Its finally spring in Chicagoland. The birds are singing, the sky is blue, the sunshine is brilliant, and the brown bare trees are finally beginning to show some life. Here are some pictures of a tree outside my house. It was completely bare two weeks back, just brown branches, and now..check the pictures out! (please post the name of this tree if you know it)

another spring tree 

close up

finally spring 

The Lean Veggie - Home made pizzas

I am not a big fan of store bought pizzas. They always seem too heavy, the crust too chewy, they are not generous enough with the toppings and they seem to drip with grease. Food tv had a whole weekend devoted to pizzas and this inspired me to make my own pizzas!

Home made pizzas are surprisingly very simple. They are inexpensive, and healthy as you can add as many fresh veggies as you like and cut back on the cheese.

The recipe below is for a basic pizza dough and basic sauce and toppings. Once you have mastered the basics, get online and look for more creative sauces and toppings.

Here are some helpful hints:
1) The traditional pizza recipes ask you to invest in a big marble slab that you need to place in the oven and pre-heat. You are then supposed to assemble the pizza base and toppings on a wooden paddle and slide the pizza off the paddle on to the pre heated pizza stone. This seemed like a lot of time and money, so I took the easy way out and bought a simple non stick pizza baking pan from walmart. It is a great addition to your kitchen (its just a big round flat non stick baking sheet). My pizzas turned out just fine. I assembled them right on top of the pan

2) Dont be afraid to use your freezer. Even though pizza making is easy, it takes time. If it takes you 45 minutes to make 1 pizza, it will take you only 60 minutes to make 5 pizzas (really!). So, just make atleast 5 small pizzas (each the size of a dinner plate), place each on a disposable paper or styrofoam plate, cover tightly with cling film and freeze. When ready to eat, just pop it into the oven and in 15 minutes, your pizza is ready. It keeps well for atleast 3 weeks (if not more).


Pizza Dough:

1 cup warm water (110 F/45 c)
1 (0.25 ounce packet) active/rapid rise dry yeast
3 tsps sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Invest in a non stick pizza baking pan

1) Bloom the yeast mixture per instructions given on packet. I used Fleischmann's rapid rise yeast. The packet instructed me to dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and 1 tsp sugar as my recipe called for “ACTIVE yeast”. Check out your packet instructions
DO NOT use hot water -it will kill the yeast. Warm tap water is the best. The water should feel warm to your hand and not feel hot

2) combine 1 cup flour, salt, remaining sugar (2 tsps), sugar and yeast mixture, oil and remaining warm water (3/4 cup) by stirring with a wooden spoon. The mixture will resemble a slurry
Slowly stir in the remaining 2 cups of all purpose flour. When the mixture becomes too dense to stir with the wooden spoon, transfer the dough to a clean counter top (which is first dusted with a little all purpose flour) and knead well with finger tips

3) If the dough is too sticky, add a little all purpose flour. Do not work the dough too hard, only use finger tips. When the dough is finally smooth, dry and pliable, transfer into a bowl, the inside of which has been fully rubbed with a little oil

4)Cover the bowl loosely and place the bowl in the fridge. After an hour or 2 (depends on the temperature and the yeast), the dough will expand into twice the size. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and knead again till smooth

5) Take a big ball of dough (about 5 chapathi balls put together for a medium pizza). Lightly dust the counter top with flour and press the dough out into a pizza shape using finger tips. Stretch and shape, it need not be a perfect circle. When you are done, the center should be thin and stretched, while the circumference should be thick. Transfer to the non stick pizza pan, and stretch and shape some more.

6) Cover with pizza sauce and toppings and bake at 450'F for about 15 minutes till the crust is done

Pizza Sauce

1) Prepare ½ cup finely chopped onion
2) Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and add the onion. Add a pinch of salt and cook on a medium flame till onions are well done and brown, preferably caramelized
3) Finely chop 3 cloves crushed garlic; Open one can tomato puree
4) Add the crushed garlic to the onion, stir well and immediately add the tomato puree
5) Wash the can (fill ¼ of can with water) and add the water to the pan
6) Add salt, red chilli powder (¼ tsp) – or crushed black pepper (½ tsp), 1 tsp oregano flakes, ½ tsp sugar, 1 tsp dried mixed italian herbs (basil is important)
7) Cover and stir occasionally and cook on a medium flame till excess water evaporates and you get a thick pizza sauce

Tips: When the tomato sauce becomes thick, it will start bubbling and if you are not careful, your hand could get splashed with the hot sauce. So, always keep the pan covered. While stirring, remove the pan from heat, stir it and then return to heat.