Manmadan Ambu

With much reluctance, I agreed to go and watch this movie at the Inox theatre last week with my family. My spirits to watch a Kamala Hassan movie got dampened when I noticed that the hall  was half empty and felt justified when the show ended!  Here's Kamal, a retired Army Major who takes up a job of a detective for Madhavan, an industrialist who asks him to trail Trisha who is a film actor and engaged to Madhavan.  Knowing pretty well that Trisha is an actor and has to act in close quarters with all her heroes cast opposite to her,  Madhavan and his mother creates ruckus forcing her to take off from her schedule to be with her friend Sangeetha in Paris.  In the meantime, the character of Madhavan undergoes a change as he takes to drinking. The way of speaking also changes as he spits venom on Trisha imagining her to be in love with her co-star!  K S Ravikumar, the director has not grown up from his younger days and cherishes the olden themes which are no longer relevant in  modern times.  Kamal, the retired Major is on a spying trail of Trisha and in the bargain takes us around France, Italy and Spain for no reason.  Kamal has tried to emulate the style and script of "Crazy Mohan" but has failed to live up to the original creating unnecessary confusion of personalities and the surroundings.  The little boy of Sangeetha is an eye sore to the entire movie as he talks and behaves a bit too much for his character and size.  There is no music despite the fact that Devi Sri Prasad appears in the title as the music director.  Kamal has the habit of overpowering the music directors to sing for himself and i the bargain, you hear an old haggard voice trying to sing in tune!  I could see many people walking out of the show in the middle due to absolute boredom but I cling ed to the seat since it provided a nice cushioned seating for relaxing.  Kamal still has appetite for acting as Hero when in reality his face and structure looks old and older for an actor like Trisha! He also romances a white girl in the film who looks stunning and even better than Trisha but unfortunately dies in an accident to pave way and scope for Kamal to romance Trisha, all over again?   The Major who does all this just to fund the cancer treatment of his ailing friend in Ramesh Arvind has in the process made sure that Ramesh Arvind, who is otherwise a good actor is totally out of the film industry!  The role which Ramesh Arvind has doned does not speak well about his future to sustain in the industry.  Cleverly at the end, Kamal keeps Trisha for himself and pairs Madhavan with Sangeetha who is a divorcee with 2 ready made kids who have outgrown their size!  It will be worthwhile for   Madhavan and Ramesh Arvind  not to appear in Kamal's films as they don't add up to the  value and on the contrary, it only diminishes.  K S Ravikumar must go for a directorial course in Hollywood just to replenish his thoughts which are old and stale. The only directorial appreciation in the whole movie is when Kamal explains his life to Trisha when things roll back in the reverse mode.  Udayanidhi Stalin must have taken up this project as a sequel and challenge to check mate his relatives in Sun Pictures who made Robot with Rajini and Shankar but must be feeling sorry about the outcome of this movie.  Rajini has certainly grown in size, stature and image whereas Kamal is where he was 20 years back!  If you are looking for some nice airconditioned relaxation, I would recommend this movie any day!!

Farmer's suicide in India

It is a matter of serious concern when we read reports of farmer's committing suicide due to financial burden resulting in poverty, hunger and eventually forcing them to commit such dastardly acts which sound barbaric in the present day scenario.  One fails to understand as to how a farmer can starve when he is producing food grains?  The procurement system of the government is to be blamed for this situation.  If only the government encourages the farmer to sell his produce directly to the consumer through some system of co-operative movement, the farmers will stand to gain not only in terms of money but also help in eliminating the middle men engaged in this trade who create a situation of scarce and abundance to suit their pockets!  The entire agriculture ministry can be dissolved and the minister shown the doors if only the farmers unite for their own cause and survival?  Tamilnadu has shown that a direct meet between the farmers and the end consumers is possible through opening of "Uzhavar Sandhai" meaning Farmer's market by building facilities for exhibition and sale of the produce. By this method, the farmers are able to realise a better price for their produce.  The end users stand to gain in terms of cheaper prices as it happens to be a direct sale!  The central government should advocate this ideology and propagate the same so that the farmers are happy with their sales and spot realisation of money.  The central government can also have a sigh of relief off loading one major ministry and a few central ministers  from their piggy-back, saving considerable money!  Will the centre act to benefit the farmers and to prevent further suicides amongst the agricultural community?

Bengaluru Airport

The Airport of Bengaluru deserves full appreciation for maintaining cleanliness.  The entire floor of the airport is  neat and clean and you can spot workers constantly at their job to live up to this credit.  The rest rooms are spic and span and there are workers who are constantly making efforts to keep the area tidy.  Once you come out of the airport, you can spot restaurants and coffee shops where you can sit and relax.  The car park is sprawling and sometimes one really wonders if he is in India!  There are clear indications for the passengers about the public transport system and other conveniences. There are at least 8 counters reserved for the CISF security to frisk passengers boarding the flight which saves a lot of time for the passengers. The entire staff of the BIAL, Bengaluru deserve compliments for raising this airport to International levels and standards.  Hope the other states will follow this level of standards and style while constructing airports in their respective states?

Recently when I was driving down to Bangalore, I saw this car zipping at speed and overtaking many vehicles. To my amusement, I noticed something strange in the number plate which read "Boss"! By the time you could analyse the matter, the car had gone! I clicked my camera just in time to catch this unique identity of the vehicle. I am sure the traffic police will also be lost for a while noticing the car which carries a different style of number plate? Credit must be given to the number plate maker for making this different?

T 3 Terminal in Delhi

The latest T 3 Terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi is a class apart and enhances the prestige and speaks about the development that is taking place in India.  The terminal is huge and could be compared to any of the International Airports abroad.  The aero-bridges that connect the planes are neat and smart looking and raises itself to international standards that leaves an element of awe in the minds of travellers who use this facility!  The corridors that lead to the baggage claim looks neat and clean.  The walk from the alighting point up to the baggage claim can measure up to a Kilometer!  Obviously, our countrymen find this a difficult encounter as everyone is used to the luxury of not walking inside the airport at all all these years! Although there are walkalators provided as in Singapore, it was not working in some of the stretches causing little inconvenience to the passengers.  I could find quite a few grumbling about this walk to catch a flight or to retrieve the baggage but then, one has to understand that this is how all the big airports outside the country are!  There are battery operated carts that cater to the elders and needy to transport them to their respective gates to board like in Singapore.  There are many shops and establishments within the airport to amuse the passengers according to their wants and taste!  The airport security that frisks the passengers are a bit slow and lethargic in their attitude which is the sole irking point.  What requires monitoring is that there are men who hop on to the moving battery operated carts within the airport who keep gossipping with the driver preventing him from discharging his duties towards the public and one really wonders as to how these men get inside the airport?  If they are staff attached to some other department then they should be given warning not to hop onto the vehicle that is meant for passenger's use.  The experience of T 3 requires appreciation and both the civil aviation minister and the Airport authority deserve it richly!

Chennai requires Big Malls

Chennai, though a metropolitan city has been always content with the available resources and space.  For instance, there are only a handful of Malls resulting in overcrowding which is not a pleasant thing to happen specially when you go shopping or to watch a movie in a comfort zone!  The newly opened Express Mall is the biggest so far and attracts huge crowds.  On a given weekend, the Mall over flows with human elements!  The Escalator is so much crowded that you can feel the person behind breathing on your neck!! You have an entertaining session when you see many elders and ladies wanting to jump on to the running escalator but reluctant to do so holding the side rails and preventing others from using it.  When you beg excuse to proceed ahead, you are given a cold stare as though it is discourteous to move ahead of those struggling to get on to the escalator!! After a while, when you want to ease yourself and enter the rest room, you find a serpentine queue, one behind the other, many having unzipped their pants already!!  The city requires at least one super or hyper mall in every 5 kms of radius so that the crowd can be managed and neatness maintained?  Often you find youngsters roaming around without really using the facilities.  The Management of the Malls can impose a fee of Rs 100/- towards entrance and adjust the same against any purchases or utilisation of the facility inside the Mall so that crowd can be controlled making it pleasant for the serious shoppers.

The attraction of a Mall is its air conditioning comfort and the population in Chennai is getting used to this style and comfort so much that the crowd on the sands of Marina Beach or elsewhere is thinning as compared to previous years!  The Mall provides full entertainment of all sorts besides good eateries with diversified taste!
Chennai will do well if more shopping Malls and more restaurants are opened to cater to the ever growing crowd that is on the look out for entertainment alongside value for money!

Varanasi Blast

The holy place of Varanasi was devastated by a blast on 7th December, 2010 leaving the whole city of Varanasi in a state of confusion and terror stricken.  The State government failed miserably once again to tackle or prevent this Terror attack and chose to blame the central government for not providing  adequate security.

The Demolition of  Babri Masjid  occurred on 6th December several years back and it has become a routine to be on high security alert on the 6th December and once the day is over, all the security agencies  retreat and take it easy without realising that the terrorists could also attack the next day or for that matter, any time during the year!  The State government should stimulate their intelligence agencies and keep their security forces on alert specially in sensitive places which are identified by both the state and the centre.  There is no point in the state and the central government trading charges against each other as both should equally feel responsible and above all, ashamed of this incident that should not have happened.

Its time the State government assumes full responsibility of the state that they rule and liberate people from the woes of terror, once for all?