{mosimage}Maniratnam always proves that he is a MBA guy, who knows how to market a product. No, I am not talking about the hype and buzz that every of his movies create, but the way he presents the story. He makes it glamorous with all commercial ingredients carefully in a way that the soul is still retained despite the presence of item numbers, fights and sometimes love making scene too. Recall "Anjali", "Roja" and even his last "Yuva", if you had noticed carefully, the actual story comes in the second half only whereas all the commercial parts were in the first half. But when Mani Sir gave up his glossy techniques and stick honest to the story alone, we got a classic - Kannathil Mutthamittal (A peck in the cheek).

{mosimage} Jillunnu Oru kadhal takes you back to those exhilirating moments when you hear AR Rahman's album for the first time, that happened way back in early 90's. I still remember those magical moments when I heard ARR's albums for the first time especially "Kadhalan" - the chorus "Indhiraiyo ival sundariyo..", Thiruda Thiruda's "Thee thee thithikkum thee..." and Taal's "Ishq bina kya..", which never failed to transport you to the world of fantascies and beautifully mounted visuals. Years passed by, AR Rahman started losing his Midas touch, until "Rang De Basanti" happened. Back in Tamil after a l...ong time, I experienced those mesmerising moments all again with "Jillunnu Oru Kadhal (JOK)".

{mosimage}This is one movie I always quote as a Bible to all of my friends who get married. This is one of the rare masterpieces that delved into the institution of marriage and power of love starting where the other love stories ended - marriage. Again this is one of the beautiful movies that imparted a strong message without being preachy and doesn't get lost in the gloss. I think the suspense is enough - I am writing about K. Balachander's "Puthu Puthu Arthangal" which translated into "New definitions..."

{mosimage}I would say it was an unconventional attempt at its time with no hero in it and the movie rode on the shoulders of three female protagonists hailing from different social strata. It was an assembly line product from the Kamal Hassan's Hollywood remake factory, with an inspiration from "Nine to five". It was about a fashion designer Sathya (Revathy), Middle class Clerk Janaki (Urvashi) and a sweeper Paappamma (Rohini), working in a garment factory under the lecherous boss Nasser. How the ladies teach their boss a lesson is the core of the story, with addressing the issues like creche, equality in rights etc... touched then and there.

{mosimage}Thanks a lot for the internet. I am living thousand miles away from my hometown, but for some one who loves music as a second oxygen, internet has brought everything closer. I have easy access to Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi albums, much closer than the people from India, thanks to the broadband. Nowadays I am hooked to Tamil & Telugu albums majorly. Why can't you people also try these albums? I don't buy the arguement that you don't hear because you don't understand the lyrics. Music is always beyond the boundries of language. A few words about the albums I am hearing and enjoying these days.

{mosimage}Sandai Kozhi - warring rooster, there can be no other apt title for this movie. Everybody is warring on their own either be the hero Vishal, or "bajaari" heroine Meera Jasmine, or even the villan Lal or senior hero Raj Kiran. When the award winner & choosy Meera Jasmine signs a movie, whole of Kollywood opines that there should be something special in the movie. Sandai Kozhi is no exception with Director Lingusamy getting better in each of his movies. If you see his debut movie "Anandham" and "Sandai Kozhi" together you will never believe that both are from the same man. So much is the different in the treatments.

{mosimage}It came, it conquered and it is still ruling in the minds of Tamil cinema viewers. It came as a soothing breeze when there was a flurry of action movies like "Kakka Kakka" was sweeping Tamil cinema. As they say, storm startles while the breeze soothes. I am talking about "Parthiban Kanavu [Parthiban's Dream] (2003)" a beautiful dream by its director Karu. Pazhaniappan. It came from the stable of Sathyajyothi Films, who makes movies sporadically with the best of rising talents. Maniratnam, Kadhir were introduced by them and Balu Mahendra's classic "Moondram Pirai" completes their reportoire. As usual this movie moved me because of my strong resemblence to its protagonist Parthiban.

{mosimage}It is a beautiful movie that breathed a fresh whiff of confidence into the Tamil movies when it was suffocating with regressive "thaali" sentiments and woman as doormats. Balu Mahendra remade the Hindi classic "Arth" after 12 years of its theatrical release, this time he acknowledged the source also (Balu gets his "inspiration" from the Hollywood movies but never acknowledges it) in the opening credits.

{mosimage}Rayil Sneham - This is the general term used for expressing the out of sight, out of mind friendship, just like having a good time with the passengers while journey. But sometimes some people stay in your mind for longer. Whenever I hear this song, from the movie Dhadkan I feel as if written for me specifically. The song goes like this:-

Aksar is duniya mein anjaane milte hain
Anjaane raahon mein milke kho jaate hain
Lekin Hamesha woh yaad aate hain.

The translation is "Often in this world strangers meet and get lost in the way, but remain in memories forever"

{mosimage}When malayalam movie directors make their films in Tamil, they have one musical force to rely on according to their melody music tastes - none other than "Maestro" Illayaraja. Still we are being haunted and entertained by Fazil - Illayaraja combination that brought us many eternal scores like "Poove Poochooda Vaa" , "Kadahalukku Mariyadhai" and latest by "Oru Naal Oru Kanavu" irrespective of their box-office status. When Priyadarshan debuted in Tamil movies with "Gopura Vaasalile..", Illayaraja greeted him with some evergreen melodies. Now it is Malayalam script writer Lohitadas's turn to present with some Tamil melodies. Coming to Tamil "Kasthurimaan", most of the song situations are faithful to its original situations, one new song has been added. This is Meera Jasmine second chance of lip syncing to Illayaraja's songs.

Before I get into this article let me confess that I was one of the active anti-Illayaraja Rahman fan, when the whizkid made waves with Roja & Gentleman. I used to call ARR as "Isaipuyal" AR Rahman, little did I realise that storm will subside after a point leaving everything in shambles, while the breeze even though slow will be soothing ever. The transition is like new neighbour's beautiful wife getting more attention, after sometime when you look at your wife you realise her worth and love her still more. Today I proudly say that Illayaraja is my demi-God in music and I had got a chance to live through his creations. Infact I love and value his songs even more than when he was at his prime. This article is purely my viewpoint on how I became his ardent fan and on what I am hearing now.

{mosimage}Can cinematographers make good directors? After working with the top directors so closely and learning the craft, I think they get the itch to direct a movie someday. Going by the track record of cinematographers turned directors who had succesfully ventured into other domains, the answer seems to be YES. PC Sriram made slick action thriller "Kuruthipunal" and sensitive "Vaanam vasappadum". KV Anand continued with a gripping thriller "Kanaa Kandein" while Jeeva made an abstract "12B' and followed it up with "Ullam Ketkume..". Just now I watched "Ullam Ketkume..." and was cleanly bowled over by its narrative structure, not only stylish visuals but equally emotional vein too.