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{mosimage}I slowly started adoring Jeeva as a director. His "Ullam Ketkume" and "Unnale Unnale" were like a slice of life on screen. However I can't sit through his movies twice but enjoy in bits and parts. His latest offering "Unnale Unnale" is really complex and multi-layered that I enjoyed it for the second time also. The same man vs woman ego clashes, love vs flirting are portrayed well. Sadha takes the center stage with an author backed role whereas Tanisha is equally good getting ample support from her 'voice'. I feel the penultimate five minutes of the movie as Sadha doing a soliloquy of why she moved on, is simply sensible. The movie had a good message - "In love compromises won't work out. Marry only when you feel that you'd be able to accept the person the way they are now, no matter how much you love them." May be if lovers take this lesson, the divorce rates of love marriages might come down.

{mosimage}Well... even though I had read about the movie "Life in a Metro" through the reviews, I must admit that I had a cultural shock while watching the movie. It left me in a despair that whether "SEX" is the only 'THE' thing of life and disgusting to watch the clandestine, illicit affairs conducted in simple casualness like brushing, eating etc.. But once that shock subsidised the emotions that run under each characters is identifiable. As I always used to say about the Maslow's theory of hierarchy, everybody chases something always... once it is attained, they start chasing another. The race is always like money & status first, fame next and love at last.. Some people run faster than their partner and in due course end up running with someone else...

{mosimage}Let me check how much romantic you are and your update with onscreen love cupids.. Who shares the best on-screen chemistry in Bollywood on recent times? Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla or Shah Rukh Khan with Kajol..? Boss! You are in BC ages.. Emraan Hashmi and Tanushree Dutta or John Abraham with Vidya Balan... Wake up from the deep slumber.. A new 'hot' pair that Bollywood had never witnessed is here.. Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu. Did I spell mistakenly Amitabh instead of Abhishek? You heard it right... it is 60+ Amitabh Bachchan who sizzles with Tabu. Testimony? Catch up Amitabh cajoling reluctant Tabu into the restaurant and going on knees making her blush in Red while Tabu begs "Jaane Do Na.." (Let me go). The music of 'Cheeni Kum' is special because of our own 'Maestro' Illayaraja's first big Hindi project and he didn't let the opportunity to mesmerise the Gen X audiences.

{mosimage}Rarely a movie that generates tremendous hype before its release lives up to it, and Mozhi - the latest from stable of Prakash Raj's Duet Movies is one of those. Mozhi had been in news for various reasons with prime being Jyothika's swan song. It is a bold attempt from Prakash Raj & Radha's part to make such a clean movie without letting the skimpily clad hero & heroine gyrate their pelvics drenched in rain, a welcome departure from routine boy meets girl love story, a movie that defies the conventional conventions by making the lead actor a physically impaired and beautifying it more by making her a self respecting, independent girl, a far cry from usual doormat/raped tailor made to push audiences to shed tears, ready to cry mute girls we had seen on screen.

{mosimage}'Amma! Shall we go to the movie today....'
'mm.... what movie?'
'Pachaikili Muthucharam...' I had seen its English version (Derailed, 2005) ma, it is a good thriller.
'mm....' after a long thought (may be she was worried that her mega serials will be cut today) she says "Yes"
Reached the theatre..., movie had already started....
To the vehicle stand man - "Enga! Evlo neram aachu...?" (Ji! How long the movie started..?)
- 'just now.....'

{mosimage}Had we really become scandulous that we don't (or hate to) take notice of the simple and warm things around us? Being good to the core and sticking to traditional values is fastly becoming the state of insane. This is exactly what struck my mind when I saw the "slandering" reviews of the latest Bollywood blockbuster "Vivah". May be it came amidst of the adultries and skimply claded sluts, it looked out of place. But its success shows that no matter how fast today's life had become, everybody likes to treasure those tender moments and family values. I got the DVD 3-4 days back and I had already seen it 4 times fully.

{mosimage}No, that tag line is actually a part of the movie's name, not I phrased to described the album. But no harm even if used to describe the album because the album really celebrates love. This album for which Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy collaborating with "Kal Ho Na Ho..." Nikhil Advani for his second directorial venture comprising a mammoth starcast of Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, John Abraham, Govinda, Sohail Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Vidya Balan, Ayesha Takia, Juhi Chawla, Priyanka Chopra, Isha Khoppikar and British actress Shannon Esrechowitz, is a run away success from the second one it starts playing. The stamp of Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy is evident all over sometimes spills the hangover of "Kal Ho Na Ho..." but considering that this album comes from the same KHNH team, it is unavoidable. Out of seven tracks, the success ratio is close to 100% with every track having a merit of its own. Lyricist Sameer pens some young and fresh lines for this album. My favourites listed on that order...

{mosimage}Gulzar, Maniratnam, AR Rahman - these stars come again after the landmark "Dil Se.." after a decade. By the time AR Rahman's career is spiralling towards an all time low, eyes are on these album whether it might give AR Rahman a new lease of life. Don't know whether this will turn tables for ARR or not, but this music manages to take you to the nostalgic times. Also it draws heavy inspirations from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Sufi kinda music - especially "Tere Bina" (ultimate best) and "Aye Hairathe..". An AR Rahman's album grows on you after many hearings only, so at this moment I am refraining myself from commenting which is best or not, but let me brief about what aspects that instantly draw me towards "Guru". I found it surprisingly that even the dialect coaches (normally who go unnoticed with their services restricted to recording sessions only) were also credited on the album jacket.

{mosimage}I always go crazy about the very mention of the 1960's classic - "Missiamma" starring Gemini Ganesan and Savitri, and even have a VCD of it in my library. I happened to see the another Telugu movie of the same name that came after many decades in 2003, starring Bhumika and Sivaji. I liked the song "Ney paadithey lokame padadha.." that was telecast in SS Music at that time more often. I managed to collect the DVD of the movie after 3 years and I liked it instantly. Since it was a subtitled DVD, I was able to understand the movie completely. Another thing that goes favour of this movie is that is very much tender, refreshing and unconventional from a regular Telugu fare. I liked what I saw thats why I am writing few words about it here.

{mosimage}It had been sometimes I wrote about Bollywood albums. I just thought instead of writing out of initial jest and regretting later (like I did for the reviews of "Mazhai" and "Rasikan"), let me wait for sometime and if I feel that the album is something I want to hear for long, then write about it. This is one of the best periods for Bollywood as it had gained international appeal and the music had taken a totally different "world" sound. But there are few albums that manages to have a distinct sound for themselves standing apart from the maddening Himesh Reshammiya clone. "Vivaah", "Shiva", "Don" are such albums I liked among the recent releases. I also believe that "Umraao Jaan" will turn tides right for Anu Malik and Alka Yagnik who had lost their midas touch after the entry of spate of talented newcomers like "Pritam", "Shantanu Moitra" in music as well as emergence of Shreya Ghosal as a formidable force in the female playback singing.

{mosimage}Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal (trivial happiness), an Onam 2000 release & a malayalam Super Hit, is a Sathyan Anthikaud movie that eluded me for about 5-6 years ever since I wanted to see it. Whenever it came on TV either I had to skip it or got engaged with some other work / travel when it was telecast. Atlast I managed to catch up it on Asianet TV yesterday (01/10/2006) and it was a worth wait. KKS is a simple story told in a honest manner, that manages to tug your heart strings, propogating the importance of personal life success in a subtle way. It was no different from any other Sathyan Anthikaud's other movies - same sex paternal love, a small Tamil character, lighter first half and sentiments laddened post interval part, but sometimes I felt KKS being slightly better than his other movies.

{mosimage}1. If you love Surya & Jyothika as a pair and want to see them getting married, making love and having a naughty kid, then proceed to nearest theatre screening SOK. (I deliberately chose to see on 11th Sep 2006, the marriage day of Surya & Jyothika) Really warm scenes of their family.

2. The sensational hit "Munbe vaa.." that is rocking Tamilnadu right now. It was beautifully shot on Surya & Bhumika Chawla in beautiful locales of Switzerland & Coimbatore.