Raja's read only memories

Disclaimer: What you are about to read may seem weird, but what the hell, I am hypothesising it to be true, so who knows... Cartoons are basica lly meant for kids. The main reason e lders prefer letting the kids watch them without their sup ervision is that they need not fret over the incidence of X-rated content in it – namely content that concerns that famous three-letter word or violence. I suggest that we re-examine this mindset of ours (as someone who has grown up watching the very cartoons that I am about to damn, I have mixed feelings as I type this. Consider the following list: Tom and Jerry , Bugs Bunny and El mer Fudd/Yosemite Sam , Tweety and Sylvester and Coyote a nd Road R unner . These are cartoons which we would definitel y not squirm about before letting a toddler/child watch it. These cartoons are hilarious, have palatable themes; have caricatures that look cute (I am yet to come across a girl who hates Tweety). Tom and Jerry, for instance, was once even vot...

Appeared in City Express , the daily supplement of The Ne w Indian Express , on 25th April, 2011 It is not too often that we get to see a hero, instead of beating up a gang of bank robbers, pursues them in his bike, does whee lies and dare-devil stunts, all to take their pictures and splash it in the media. It isn’t too often that the viewer gets lulled into expecting something different from such a movie. K V Anand’s latest directorial venture, Ko, sadly is all about this and much more. Ashvin (Jiiva) is a photographer of Dina Anjal , a Tamil daily, whose prowess with the lens would make even a P eter Parker from Spiderman languis h in shame. Renu (Karthika, daughter of yeste ryear Tamil her oine, Radha), a reporter in the same daily, who did “responsible” coverage in Sri Lanka, i s eithe r content playing second-fiddle to Ashwin or pursuing the “scoops” he gives her after an analysis of his pictures, and by decree, falls in love with him. Then there is the political minefield o...

Appeared in Expresso, the daily supplement of The New Indian Express, on April 11, 2011 Rajnikanth’s tearaway 1989 hit, Mapillai (son-in-law), in which he cures his rich, tempestuous mother-in-law (Srividya) of her arrogance, is back in its new avatar. Ironically, the Superstar’s mapillai, Dhanush, reprises his father-in-law’s role in the original. The mathematical ‘onto’ relations, Srividya -> Manisha Koirala and Amala-> Hansika Motwani, describe the roles enacted by them. Saravanan (Dhanush) is a devout person hailed by his neighbours as a role model to the youth, and marks his introduction with a song that begins with a remix of Madurai Somu’s Marudhamalai Maamaniye Muruga (clearly suggesting that he has failed to overcome the hangover from his earlier devotion-tinged movie, Seedan ). Its blink-once-and-fall-in-love for Gayathri (Hansika), the daughter of Rajeshwari (Manisha Koirala), a construction firm owner, with Saravanan. The initial hesitations notwithstanding, Saravana...