Raja's read only memories

Corruption scandals are to India as ozone depletion is to the polar regions. People will continue to speculate about the enormity of such frauds as it depletes the nation’s resources. And that is exactly what the 2G spectrum allotment scam involving former Union minister for telecommunications A Raja has achieved – with the CBI first estimating the loss to the exchequer at around `20,000 crore, a figure that gradually ballooned to `140,000 crore, thanks to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). As predicted, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have stoutly denied that Raja had no role to play in what can be righty claimed as the Watergate of Indian scams. Even the Adarsh Housing Society scam or the veil surrounding the expenditure accounts for the Commonwealth Games pales into insignificance and makes them look like a child attempting to steal a cookie. The average citizen may, however, shrug his shoulders and say,

Following the long list of movies 'adapting' titles of yesteryear flicks is Dhanush's Uthamaputhiran, a remake of the Telugu film Ready. The actor-director duo of Dhanush and Mithran R Jawahar, who had earlier produced Yaaradi Nee Mohini and Kutty, has gone all out to create a movie that has its 'commercial' priorities well set. Uthamaputhiran begins with Siva (Dhanush) and his friends kidnapping a bride from a marriage hall, who happens to love one of them. However, a mix-up leads to the kidnapping of the wrong girl, Pooja (Genelia D’Souza). An army of henchmen are sent out to bring her back, which Siva manages to evade. It transpires that Pooja, the heir to a large fortune in the US, was about to enter into forced wedlock with her cousin. Siva then suggests that she stay in his house under the guise of a guruji's disciple, whose devotee is Raghu (Bhagyaraj), Siva's uncle (Ghilli, anyone?). As custom dictates, Pooja (who does an amazing couture somersault b