A review , year old...

Well , Probably it is plain inconsiderate to pen down a review for a movie 1 yr exactly after its release , but i believe and i do believe it very strongly that i have to type down (I know , m no Critical Critic !) on wht i feel over it as i just finished watching it for the fourth-time-ever , and this time , a lil more meticulously than ever.

It was a dry sunday morning and having had no other exciting stuff on hand to brag-on after the brunch , switched on the TV to spot the 'Leader' movie being Telecast on Maa Channel.Oops, the other alternatives being those dubbed Nagarjuna movies on Sony and a Yuk-Horror on Star Movies !!..(It was just far beyond tolerance to watch it and i had to switch on to some pleasant movie to keep rejecting some of the scenes i was managing to watch for about five minutes then , And 'Leader' looked like a savior !)

Leader is a powerful, inspiring movie, but more importantly, it tries to be an honest, brave movie. And this, its greatest strength, is also its downfall. What appealed to me the most about the movie is also what has stopped it from being accepted wholeheartedly – its brave but failed attempt to show that changing the system is not a cake-walk, and that to do it, one has to become part of the system and be willing to play the rules of the very game you are trying to change.

The movie struggles to find the right balance between being a fantasy about a single man changing the political landscape, and being an honest film which showcases how deeply corruption is embedded in the system, and how it is impossible for any one person to change it. Unfortunately, the movie is unable to fully embrace either line and go ahead with it, and ends up making compromises and becoming an in-between film, which, though it still makes for excellent cinema, leaves one with a vague sense of dissatisfaction.

For a movie about changing the system, the audience should be raging at the system as they walk out of the theater, all pumped up to go and change it. If it was more in the style of realistic cinema, one would be coming out of the theater with a sense of despair that things will never change. In Leader however, one is really unsure how to react.

I found the shades of grey in the protagonist Arjun (Rana Daggubati) quite fascinating. Here is a ‘hero’ who does not hesitate to bribe people to get what he wants, evoke his recently assassinated father’s memory to win people on his side, manipulate an innocent girl into falling in love with him for an ulterior motive. Of course, one is willing to forgive him for all of this because the ultimate goal is noble; but showing that Arjun was willing to play by the very rules he detests and wants to change is a very brave directorial decision in the land of the whitewashed hero of Telugu cinema.

Leader’s rather lengthy digression into romance in the second half is also problematic. My problem is not with the romance per se, but the kind of romance shown here seems out of place in a movie like this. I’m rather surprised at how badly the romance bits were handled, given the Shekar Kammula is a director whose previous movies were all about relationships. However, I was told after watching the movie that the second half actually had a portion about Telengana partition; with the actual Telangana agitation just before the movie was due to release, this portion had to be chopped off, and was replaced with the romance. I don’t know how far if it is true, but it does seem to make sense, given how the romance seemed completely cut off from the rest of the movie, though ostensibly its very much a part of the narrative.

That apart , Rana Daggubati is , without any doubt, the best looking thing I have seen on screen in a long, long time and undoubtedly has an incredible screen presence, and delivers an earnest performance too. No awkwardness of the first-timer here at all. Priya Anand and Richa too hav their performances delivered to a satisfactory level.The senior actors like Suhasini and Kota give great performances, but that is to be expected.Can't really attach any gilt to Mickey Meyer (his songs have a sense of sameness) but I really liked the ‘Maa Telugu Talli’ remix !! .

So all in all, I thought this was a great movie, a very brave effort and I was quite impressed by it.And watching gave a sense of completeness to my sunday afternoon , I was happy about !!

Of Tangent Lines ..I Speak Of Tales...

Got to glance this excerpt from a blog i accidentally got to read.. and it just put me into the pondering mode that m not able to get out of !!


Math tells us of the 3 saddest love stories:

Of parallel lines, who were never meant to meet.
Of tangent lines, who were together once but then parted forever.
And of asymptotes, who could only get closer and closer, but could never be together.

WOW..Just WOW.....
A very nice and thoughtful analogy of maths to love stories !!....
Great Job Mr/Miss/Mrs Anonymous Author !!! Bravo !

On the upper crust it reminded me of two things -
Maths , Maths and Maths : Looong time i actually used/applied any maths in my day to day software job profile.. those derivations and integrations....calculi plots....speed math techs ..i used to work for hours n hours during CAT prep and pre-Grad days.....Wonderful times...
Grin grin :) This also reminds of few sentences i saw in my neighbor's kid's notebook while helping her solve some problems yday.....
""Dear maths, plz grow up soon & try 2 solve your own problems. Don't depend on others " :-)" Haha.... :)

Well , now that i am drifting off , The second thing that those three lines reminded me of was the "Pain factor".Well ,it was just the other day that myself and Vijji was hearing to some "Pain"Full songs while driving our way back to homes......Among all other things ,we picked up those explicitly for that day's drive, for reasons that all such songs are generally melody filled n stuffed with very high lyrical value.

You might zoom in and rock out with that metal and rap for the beats of Linkin Park , you might forget to blink watching some Bryan Adam's album...you might get tuned in with those flowing Jazz notes.....but nothing can substitute a desi song with intense lyrical value stuffed with melody....it just grips..It takes you far away beyond those horizons..... :) One such number i am ryt now listening to...

Karige loga ee kshanam..
Gadipeyaali jeevitham..
Silagaa migile naa hrudayam Saakshiga..

How i wish i had that magic in hands for writing such beautiful verses as Vanamaali.....Can there be a reason for not liking these lines ? It inspires pure lust and unadulterated fond from anybody..!!

Parugulu theesthu alasina oo nadhini nenu..
Iru theeraallo dheniki cheruva kaanu..
Niduranu daati nadichina oo kala nenu..
Irukannullo dheniki sontham kanu..


And as always , I digress :) !! Yeah..from Maths to Aarya 2 :)
So , Signing off for now with lots of Weekend plans in mind !!

Happy Retirement !! :)

I just got back a while ago from a much awaited trip to the garden city..
Now , why i am sitting to scribble instead cherishing a loooong nap..!!!

Well , its about those memories of the trip that i prolly want to savor and treasure before the mist of it is lost.....

Undoubtedly , this post has to start with how i njoyed my stay at the campus of iim-b , Argghh ! it felt like heavens ..with absolutely Zero pollution around and topping to it was the lush green hues around.It actually felt like i was living in a hermit sort of stufff...!! Was just badly missing my canvas and brushes.. else would have captured some of those lively and scenic views right away. Ok , I have a clicked some pictures and i hope to steal some time out of my supposedly busy schedule next week to paint some of them.

It puts me in thoughts all of a sudden , as to what made the trip so memorable !!!
Was tht becoz i was visiting tht city for the first time evr...or it coz of the huge gathering of people and cousins i got to spend a lot of time with..
Looks like i can nt really attribute any single reason it and all i know now is- Had a blasting time and that was really needed at this moment !

Also this post should nt end with out treasuring this excerpt i wrote on the occasion om my uncle's retirement.We did actually plan out a surprise for the couple , by scribbling down our love for them with some fancy poster clubbed with photographs and framing it out !!!!...It did take quite a lot of time to write it but i really liked the way the framing of words worked out at the end of it :)

Ramanayya garu ,

Today , as you step into this new and vibrant phase of life , here is what we wish to say ,

H ope all your Monday mornings will start feeling like weekends !!! J
A rrange to spend the rest of life in celebrations and hope god gives you all such chances! J
P ut up your feet and live in those missed out merry moments probably stolen by your work . J
P ull in your socks for a fresh start and give life a huge hug ! J
Y awn to the heart’s content as your share your life’s best moments with us , inspiriting us all along… J


R est and relax a lot , which probably is more a need of the moment !
E njoy and enlighten us with your enriched experiences to make our lives more beautiful….
T ake time to peek that joyous angle of life and may your better half cherish it equally J
I nstigate those forgotten hobbies and may you attain peaks of joy pursuing them….
R elieve those stringent principles only to lead a more principled and planned life..
E mbellish life in all possible modes and may god amplify it giving you a happy time with your children and grandchildren very soon….
M ay life give you ample time for yourself and your family!
E ver inspiring is your diligently woven life and those paved paths , which now serve as our examples …
N ext is a crossroad of life with Signboard “Retirement” , but on a contrary it actually means “New Beginning” .
T hose days of 9 to 5 are lost and happy days are here at last !!!! :)

And Finally, Wishing you load and loads celebrations filled with healthy, joyous and tranquil moments ahead !!!

HAPPY RETIREMENT!!!

PS : Its different story as i was immediately set to think, would somebody plan out for such things during my retirement :P but shook my head off soon to get on to the life boat which really really has to sail a loooong way to reach the station with Sign Board "Retirement" :)

Holiday "Fever" ..

So , i was on holiday for the whole of last week , but rather an uninteresting one .Okei, the reasons might be uninteresting too but more funnily here I realized I still retain the kid in me ! I am still soo kiddish to think of monday office as a something not to be cherished even now.It might be a different issue that the office hours sometimes promises to be more entertaining than those spent at home , but the initial feel or the thoughts that sprout up on the word "office" did not change over years.Just that it was skool then and it is office now !

Wahaaa..I am so akin to that school kid !
I got addicted to the holidays i was forced to take for having acquired tht seasonal fever - and now i have the "Holiday" fever !

Yeah ! - After the viral fever , Now its the Holiday Fever that bit me. Hope things will change once i start attending office again !

..A lil more than half way to happiness....

..So ,I gave a free rein to my creativity last night after a stretched sulkiness of about one complete week.And i also have to attribute this change of mood to a loong discussion i had with a frnd and it cheered me up again and yeah , here goes what i have to write for today ...

"Em-Bee-Yea" ,a dream-cum-ambition-cum-desire ryt from times immemorial( okies , at least frm my college times ) , continued to take back seat over years now for reasons made by me (offo - Yeah !!).Or rather i say the quest went to peaks during my early days of Oracle however in no time the curve dropped to a level nearing the zero-line.I could have stretched to make the ends meet but just did'nt happen.

So what made me back to the path-Happy this time is this Em-Bea-Yea frnd and a looong chat with her.We spoke in length about skools and their gen env.The fin stuff tht sucks and the fun stuff tht entices , the opportunities ahead in the consulting world and the unending fun we have during classes.Those wonderful profs we meet and that wonderful frnds we make.Those hectic schedules we curse and those sleepless nights we experience.Those party nights we look forward to and those fun events we get drenched in.Totally total , it looked soo-oo-oo saccharine to me that i already felt i was stepping into some skool.Already half-way to the YAPPY-NESS .

Though a half-way to it in thoughts ! :)

In which we make merry...

It so happens seldom tht those lily sprucy merry feelings creepin with out any possibly outstanding reason n i end up thinking for hours (!!)as to whr did it all start.Well,initial deluge of thoughts meltout in no time as i start relating them logically to the merry state of mind .More so often ,i go err and draw possible conclusions for a sudden joy of this form n yeah , as i am doing today , yeah - m in in all it now !.

It surr-prrr-rises me tht it has nothing to do wid the first lemon luise bhutta (yum -yum)of the seasons i had yday, neither its coz of the loong chitchatting wid an age-old frnd njoying the pitter-patter of the monsoon showers and nor did it erupt out on the sudden onset of solitude for both mom and dad left to grandpa's place attending some unscheduled events and i was all alone in home just bragging on to some wildest stuff possible.(true! sumtimes i njoy solitude too !)More brain work attempting to relate to some interesting meet over the last weekend or some painting i very much wanted to finish doesnt seemed to add any missing clarity !

Then n then , in the end it dawned on me that i m prolly being moron in trying to dig out for so called "reasons" !! When its ON ..muse along with it and savor ! Nevr know some bug tomm might steal it all !So i am all merrymaking for now njoying some lovely shreya ghoshal's numbers.. ! Laaala lala. aalaa...

WaterColors in Tandem - when an artist decides to blog :P

Had a stable week this time with more productive work on board including finishing two lovely paintings(atleast 2 me :P) in watercolors tht i sketched some 6 months back. Huh! Had been out of the watercolor world for quite sumtime now but a recent gallery visit at Lakdikapul incited me again .

The beauty with water colors lies in its stokes and gaps - Well one needs to get the tact of spreading thru strokes ....and patching it up after adequate gaps(both on paper and in time !!) . Take it frm me guys ....a mess in any of the duo will result in something like this .... :P



Okei , now tht i am too excited to show wht i have done, without any slightest of further delay , here i go n upload them for you peeek...



And haan before i upload the next one , i should say that it was one of milind mulick books tht stands as an inspiration for the work ..nevertheless to mention for the strokes and techniques too..(Deliberately skipped uploading the original one to avoid comparisons :P)

Here goes the next one ...Rocks hither and yon..
This one is snap tht we took on our stroll at Chennai beach in one of our LTC tours of south india..Of course kept the hues mild to preserve the serenity of it :)


And yaa....if anyone of u guessed..this post stands a precursor to future posts of my works on FB ...(oils , watercolors , acrylics ,photoColors , pastels , fabrics..) .

Do Checkout my FB space soon..Cya.. :)