Sujatha and Electronic Voting Machine

Sujatha, the famous Tamil writer passed away this Wednesday. He has a big fan following, especially movie fans and also known for his science fiction novels/writtings.

Its really interesting to know from Wikipedia that he is a professionally a engineer, who worked in BEL and was behind the design of Electronic Voting Machine. Its really inspiring to know, that a technology freak contributing to literature.

Today I came across this (kind-of memorial) website , sujathalogy.com, where we can leave our memories of this great writer.

S. Rangarajan alais Sujatha (May 3, 1935 - Feb 27, 2008, Aged: 72) - May his soul Rest in Peace

[Movie Review] Anjathey - அஞ்சாதே

Movie : Anjathey (Tamil Movie)

Crew :

Cast: Narain, Prasanna, Vijayalakshmi, Ajmal, Ponvannan, Pandia Rajan
Direction: Mysskin
Music: Sundar C Babu
Production: V. Hitesh Jhabak

My First Impression : Good try!!! Should watch again in satyam or iNox.

Good five:

1. Screenplay was good with less masala content and doesn't deviates from the core.
2. Story line was good and deals the issues with different perspective.
3. Not much heroism, very much goes with the reality.
4. Cinematography should be appreciated for trying out different angels and some perfect shots.
5. Narain's improved acting as a hero and Prasana's debut has a villan. Prasana really suits the half-psyco and womanizer character.

Bad five:

1. Slow moving screenplay. Its like viewing a 90 mins english thriller for 3 hrs.
2. Pathetic acting of 2nd hero Ajmal and heroine vijayalakshmi, who comes has his sister.
3. BGM and songs are not that much good for a movie like this
4. In some scenes, logic takes a hit, but its fine overall.
5. Climax was somewhat confusing. If you miss even few frames you wouldn't understand anything.

My Rating : 3.5 on 5

Recommendation : If you are pissed off with the recent crap movies (like kaalai, bheema etc.) then this one should be a good alternative. Don't except any logic, masala or heroism, just sit and enjoy the different story line and good camera angels.

Professional Reviews :

Rediff
BehindWoods

Other Reviews :

அஞ்சாதே - நான் பாத்துட்டேன் - பண்�

உண்மைத் தமிழன்: புதிய இயக்குநர்

என் ஓட்டைப்பையிலிருந்து சில சி�

என் உளறல்கள்: அஞ்சாதே - ஆச்சரியம�

IPL : Is this for a game?

It's a new avatar of Indian cricket, innovated by our own people. Thanks to pawar and co. for floating out this league and selling out our sporting heroes like prostitutes.

There's no doubts that BCCI is getting richer because of this IPL, but there are certain things that come up in my mind

1) Is IPL over-hyped, as done before by its contender ICL
2) Are Indian people ready for soccer league type of sports
3) Why BCCI has floated this type of league, only after rival ICL
4) Is BCCI really concerned about the game or it's only on the money
5) Why Lalit Modi, chairman of IPL, partied with King Khan the day before the auction
6) Why players like Ricky Pointing and Shoaib Aktar are sold to king khan for cheaper rates
7) Is Dhoni worth for 6 cores
8) Why Chennai IPL team copied the 'Super' from the ICL team (Super kings from Super Stars)
9) Why can't Chennai IPL team choose a good title/ name (Super Kings sounds like Filter Kings cigars)
10) Will IPL make way to more betting and match fixing

It's clear that, more than the game, its money and media power that rules.

Ippadikku Rose : Hats off to Vijay TV

As always innovation is the mantra of success for star vijay tv. After successful programs like 'Super Singers', 'Jodi No.1', 'Coffee with Suchi(Anu)', 'Jillunu oru joodi', 'kadai alla nijam' and daily sops like 'kana kanum kalankal', 'madurai', they once again break thru the barriers for an wonderful initiative through the show Ippadikku Rose.

Even though many of its prime time shows are ditto copies of their sister channels in star network, this i think is only one of its kind. First time in Indian media a transgender person is anchoring a TV show. Imagine a Transgender person anchoring a show exclusively for the so called conservative and very reserved type of society, the Tamil speaking people. Good to know that, at-least now they get recognized in some way.

Hats off to vijay tv to take such an initiative. As quoted in New York Times, Pradeep Milroy Peter, who leads programming, says its very experimental.

“We don’t know how much acceptance there will be,” “We are crossing our fingers. The market has a craving for talk shows, but this one comes with a difference. It’s very experimental.”

It's true, that acceptance of people like rose is more difficult, even in our modern society. The article quotes that reality

Hijras appear in positive roles in Indian mythology, but modern society has tended to be less tolerant. A majority are shunned by their families. Many find it impossible to obtain conventional jobs and turn instead to begging and sex work for a living.

But, Rose (used to be known as Ramesh Venkatesan) was so confident

“Transgenders in India are seen as immoral and evil,” “I will break that image by being articulate, intelligent and a bit like the girl next door.”

Hope this show gets all the attention it needs to get.

Related Blog Post : Ram Viswanathan

[Travel-log] Bharathidaasan books on mobile

It was a quick decision when we (me and my close friends) planned for thirupathi this weekend. We booked the tickets thru e-darshan for Saturday evening and knowing that traveling thru local bus service would be horrible, but with no other option we boarded SETC 911UD bus, which was quite decent.

As we haven't planned this trip, the bus travel was much boring. Then i remembered thinnai.info, which i came across few days back. I never before got a chance of reading great works of bharathidasan but was interested in them. So i downloaded some of his books in my mobile. It was really a excellent thought, of have those valuable books in our mobile. The whole day i was enjoying the poetic lines in "Kadhal Ninaivugal" and "Azhakin Cirippu". Hats off to the new and interesting concept of tamil mobile books launched by mobileveda, as it made my short trip a memorable one.