Raja's read only memories

A scene in the recent Bollywood blockbuster, three idiots , goes as follows: The principal of the college explains to an eager bunch of freshers how the Americans spent years of complex research and millions of dollars in developing a pen that can be used in a spacecraft, even in zero and sub gravity conditions and in extremes of temperatures. At that instant, Rancho (the character portrayed by Aamir Khan), almost innocently asks, “Sir, can’t we use a pencil instead?” when all the students burst into laughter. If anything, it only establishes the fact that he did not know about the perils of using a pencil in a spacecraft and the Space Pen. PS: This scene could have been probably inspired by the age-old joke, which probably originated in the Cold war era and continues to circulate via e-mails and SMS’ worldwide, in which the US and Russia (or USSR), in the height of the space race, were developing a pen for use inside spacecraft and during one such meeting between scientists of b...

Appeared in City Express , the daily supplement of The New Indian Express , on 23 March, 2011 If ever there is a movie to exemplify that a comedy track alone will not suffice to cover the gaping holes in the logic of its screenplay, one need not look beyond Kandean (I saw). The movie abounds with scenes that lack coherence and could have done with a great deal of trimming. Vasanth (Shantanu), the son of yesteryear film director K Bhagyaraj, is a playboy and a software engineer, whose sole aim is to fall in love with a girl and marry her. Vasanth’s grandfather, Chinnrasu Kounder (Vijayakumar), a village chieftain, (someone please tell him that the days when rural-centric movies like Naattamai or Natpukkaga were a rage are over) forces his grandson in vain into a marriage when Vasanth lies that he has a girlfriend back in Chennai. Narmada (Rashmi), a college student and the daughter of the police commissioner of Chennai (Ashish Vidyarthi, who follows a pattern in grimacing and mellowin...

In a move that could confound pollsters and analysts, the principal national political parties of the nation — BJP and Congress — have decided to come together in a state where their prospects have never been anything to gloat about, Tamil Nadu. The partnership, it is said, has been forged to take everyone by surprise. BJP state unit president L Ganesan addressed reporters in Chennai recently, "According to a secret public opinion poll, confidential even to its respondents, we realised that the public were tired of  the bickering between the Congress and us. Hence, this move, in addition to leading Tamil Nadu to the road of development, will offer some variety to the aam-aadmi, on whom to vote for." Former state Congress chief K V Thangkabalu, however, remained tight-lipped. "The decision rests entirely with Sonia Gandhi madam," he said, conceding that her son Rahul expressed interest over the partnership, as his previous attempts at improving the Congress' t...

If marriages are made in heaven, then the events preceding it must definitely be made in Kollywood’s studios, whose insistence on replicating the phrase “and they lived happily ever after” on screen is so strong that anything contrary has been (and will) strongly be looked down upon. As Paulo Coelho would have said, the entire universe would have conspired to ensure that the lead pair, be it the newcomer or the reigning star, stand united, no matter how adverse situations may turn out to be. P Vasu’s Chinna Thambi and Mani Ratnam’s Roja are movies that instantly come to my mind when I think of this. Did not the actor Amitabh Bachchan once say that he is intent on providing entertainment to the common man who is burdened with the complexities of life? Which is why the ending in Gowtham Menon’s not-so-recent movie, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (Will you cross the stars for me), where the lead pair – Silambarasan and Trisha – despite falling in love, decide to part ways, intrigues me to n...

Director Suseendiran, who marks a return to the rural milieu with Azhagarsaamiyin Kudhirai (Azhagarsami’s horse) after Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu , I suspect, may have paid a silent tribute to a filmmaker who revelled in bucolic themes, Bharathiraja. The portrayal of the rural setting in the movie (based on a short story authored by writer Bhaskar Sakthi) is largely reminiscent of that in movies such as Pathinaaru Vayathinile or Kizhakke Pogum Rayil. Two lovers when on a secret outing to the town watch, of all movies, Alaigal Oyvathillai ; a village decides to conduct a temple fair in order to appease the rain god; women burst into lyrics at the snap of a finger. However, my favourite scene was where a sleeping stray dog perks up, rather expectantly, when the town crier announces the conduction of a village fair. The wooden horse of the village deity, Azhagarsaami, goes missing on the eve of the temple fair; as if in a metaphor, a person by name Azhagarsaami (Appukutty), too, loses hi...