Late... Abysmally... Raavanan

 Ok... so hold on, I know Raavanan is history, and you care for it as much as you care for the dried bug sticking to your window... but bear with me.... I have to vent about this insipid little movie no matter what you say!

I watched the tamil version of the movie with a bit of apprehension... mainly cuz it was a movie from my fav' director (who hasn't given a decent offering in oh-so-many-years), and secondly cuz it had Ash Rai in it. Yes, I'm one of those confirmed Ash haters! I wrote down my reflections as I watched the movie... so my review here is in a very stream of consciousness method! read on!!

...So you hint that karthik is ratnam's version of hanuman by making him jump thru trees? but kudos to karthik for actually jumping from bough to bough inpsite of his advanced years -- ahh.. how the mighty have fallen
and because he's associated with the monkey god, he has to be a forest ranger that hangs from jeep roofs and hoots like a monkey...

... cinematography captures the mood...

...dialogues - very soap operaish. super dramatic... i mean people, do you really talk that way?...

...chemistry btwn rai and vikram is good... the only thing that ropes u in in some otherwise unbearable scenes
prabhu has really come into his own, lending solid support to the main actors. his intense performance stands out...

...wonder who gave rai her vo in tamil... she sounds like a crone and the dialogues come out very reluctantly...

at one point i really wished somebody would shut rai up... there's a diff between lyrical dialogue and listless dialogue...

...that is one super water and violence proof eyeliner/mascara - pray, can i have it too?...

.... I realized that ratnam is more in love with the scenery than script sense... what else would explain rai abruptly crying out to her ram framed against the starkness of unending miles of black rock!

... prithvi is turning out to be a good actor... 

... as much as i don't support video piracy, i'm glad i didn't shell out money to watch this in the theatres...

... ARR's music for usure pogudhey and kaatu siriki stands out. And... vairamuthu proves that he's the god of lyrics with well thought out poetry that contains a wealth of meaning.... 

... Mr. ratnam, where have your agni natchathiram days gone? when will we see another nayagan? is that it? are you burnt out? do you need a trip to tibet to recover your senses?

Ok, buddies... I give it 2 chillies... pretentious but not hot!

Daddy's lil girl

I lost my father two weeks back. Normally, I can talk about anything under the sun given enough caffeine, and I can even write about anything under the sun given enough time with google. But this loss has left me bereft of words... and even after thinking long and hard, I'm not able to find the right combination of words to express myself. Isn't that a strange place to be in? It's like having a sharp, hard, diamond shiny with unshed tears lodged in your throat. You can't swallow it because you're afraid swallowing it will lead you to forget; on the other hand throwing it up will probably lead to hysteria.
It wasn't till two weeks back that I realized how important dads are to little girls. Everyone thinks it's the mother who influences her daughter's nature, but I think its the father who really defines his daughters life...
A father's neglect can lead to a woman who is fractured within herself, pitching the need to please a man against the fear of being rejected.
A father's neglect can lead a woman to cut herself on the knife of mistrust in close intimate relationships.
A father's neglect can even lead a woman to think she doesn't deserve all unconditional love... a father's neglect can lead to so many things...
So here's my note to all you daddies who might stumble on this blog - take care of your lil' girls heart... it's a tiny little chrysalis within which lies a butterfly built of dreams, and memories of one who handled her heart with care...