10 supporting roles that helped further the Ulaga Nayagan's dominance

For those of us who've grown up watching Rajni and Kamal, we know the drill.

Big Star + Big Director + Big Composer = Big Bucks.

A few days back I was doing a rerun of Thenali (that KS Ravikumar/Kamal Hassan takeoff on 'What About Bob' that made a few zillions at the box office). As the scenes rolled by I did my usual, "If i was making this movie who would I cast as XXXXX".... I came up with a few names for all characters except two and one of them was Jayaram's (The other being Kamal of course :p).

A few days later I was typing away into the browser thinking of movies where supporting characters defined the very success of the big stars that the movies were meant as vehicles for.... I came up with a really long list and then decided to trim it down to movies which starred only the Universal Hero Kamal Hassan.


So here's my list of ten supporting roles that helped turn Kamal Hassan movies into blockbusters, furthering the Ulaga Nayagan's dominance.


Honorable Mention: Shahrukh Kahn in Hey Ram

Although Hey Ram didnt set the cash registers ringing like it should have, it gave us the pleasure of seeing Shahrukh and Kamal together, not to mention hearing Shah Rukh talk trash in Tamil... and you can trust Kamal to take a cute little singer and turn her into late-night masala channel.



#10 Karan in Nammavar

Before Karan turned himself into a snorting overweight lunatic whose movies miraculously turn into average grossers in the C-centers, he was a loser who acted bit-parts in low-budget commercial flicks..and before that he acted in one movie with the big K.





#9 Daniel Balaji in Vettayadu Vilayadu

Most of us nay-sayers didnt think this guy would prove worthy enough for the K to tangle with in this cat and mouse thriller by Gautham, but once the movie hit the screens, Daniel had us convinced...but like all traditional one-film-wonders he chose to act in a few crap-fests after this one.




#8 The entire cast of Sathileelavathi

This was originally going to be just Ramesh Arvind, but apart from that irritating 'almost sex' titillation with Heera this movie was a riot!








#7 Madhavan in Anbe Sivam

This movie was apparently K's answer to R's B. We all still ask ourselves if Sundar C came up with this one, but whatever.. i'm not complaining.. this movie transformed Madhavan from a buck-toothed a-center brat to someone who could hold his own against the best in the business.




#6 Mohan Lal in Unnaipol Oruvan

Mohan Lal is one stout piece of awesomeness who has
National Awards x 4
State Awards x 9
Filmfare Awards x 10

....Nuff said.



#5 Prakash Raj in Vasool Raja MBBS

For all his annoying gimmickry and mimicry Prakash Raj was probably the only person who could do to Kamal what Boman Irani did to Sanjay Dutt. So .... yeah...







#4. Jayaram in Thenali

They say Mohan-lal was initially slated to play this role, but I really couldnt see him as the superstar psychatrist who is brought to his knees by a hard-to-handle patient. I still remember waiting outside the theater with Ganesh, Sriram and Deepak to watch this one; hell bent on watching it for Jyothika and Jyothika alone...




#3 Pashupathy in Sandiyar

I know..they called it virumaandi in the end thanks to some whiney tamil politician, but without pashupathy's dark and rustic touch, this movie would've been a squib damper than the ending to a Karan Johar movie.






#2 Gemini Ganesan in Unnal Mudiyum Thambi

The day after I did a rerun of this in the USA, i went to a red cross camp to donate blood and they turned me away saying I'd been exposed to tuberculosis and malaria in India. Yes. I was also exposed to few million other seething Tamilians who wet themselves when they watched this movie.



#1 Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan in Thevar Magan

It is the year 1992 and Bharathan decides over some puttu and kadala that he's going to make a movie. He ropes in K and requests the best actor in the history of southern cinema to play his father. Most discering tamilians watched it ten times in a loop and randomly smashed things with their heads for a week after. A few zillionz later, that shameless king of B-country remakes 'Priyadarshan' decides that Anil Kapoor needs a hit and re-does the movie in Hindi (where it won another 8 filmfare awards btw...)

P.S. Any gems that deserve mention above? Put it in as a comment! :D

(Thats it for now ! Thanks for reading! Comment away!)

Endhiran - A sci-fi enthusiast's take on all things Robo

I finally saw it. I FINALLY SAW IT ! Endhiran, Shankar's 167 crore magnum opus will go down in Indian film history as one of the defining movies of this era a-la a thiruvilayadal, a thillana mohanambal or an ayirathil oruvan (the old one…not that self obsessed 3 hour gorefest that came out last year).

As Endhiran's box office figures continue to inch towards the big dipper, Kamal hassan is probably banging his head repeatedly against a wall and Shah rukh is drowning himself in a bottomless trough of dal makhani. But well ... I'm guessing no producer would've agreed to sink 150 crore into a project unless it starred the 61 year old demigod superstar.

All through Endhiran I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of foreboding. Its the same feeling I get when I read Bicentennial Man or I-Robot(AND NO! I'm not talking about that crap-fest of a movie starring Will Smith... the only thing the movie shares with the book is the title... AMEN).

According to me, what we saw in Endhiran is exactly what the future holds for ? Well, by saying this i dont mean that a scientist with a strange hairdo will create an android in the comfort of his oddly shaped lab with the help of a failed singer and an irritating sidekick. But, like all sci-fi buffs I believe we're closer to creating a Chitti than you might think.

One reason why many of my sci -fi friends dismissed Chitti as being a work of fiction was his memory rating... a whopping 1 Zettabyte. I, on the other hand am a little more optimistic about this... consider the fact that the RAM on my laptop now was unheard of a few years ago.

Also; while a 1 terahertz processor isn't something you'd be able to buy off a shelf at BestBuy tomorrow, they exist and work pretty well.

Isaac Asimov mentions in his later writings that he had to coin the term 'positronic brain' to explain the incredible levels of artificial intelligence in his robot characters. He was apparently writing I-Robot at the time when the positron was being discovered and it was becoming a popular buzz-word in science circles. Shankar and Sujatha explain Chitti's intelligence as being based on a hard coded Neural Schema (something that Chitti himself is unable to reveal to anyone). It'd be interesting to know if Chennai's frontbenchers got all this, but still.. I guess they had rajni and aish for company and weren't complaining.

As a race, we've have been obsessed with the emotions of non-humans since the time we learned to create (statues, cave drawings…you get the general idea). This concept, when delineated in film hasn’t always been convincing. Spielberg did it well in his 2001 release, A.I. while Roberto Benigni as Pinocchio was painful (one a side note: I still wonder how A.I. would’ve turned out had Kubrick actually gone ahead and made it in his lifetime…but no… he abandoned his plans to make a movie about an ultra-advanced robot and made a movie that gave us some nude footage of Nicole Kidman instead.Thank you Stanley Kubrick..RIP).

In Endhiran, Chitti is upgraded with some software that simulates hormones and is given several seminars on emotions and sexuality by his creator. Once this is done, he promptly goes about hitting on his creator’s fiancée; eventually becoming so drunk with love that he reveals his neural schema to his creator’s arch nemesis. The 'software induced hormones' explanation was a nice touch and i don't believe I've read that explanation for a robot's behavior anywhere (ten points for originality, Shankar!).

Chitti, while courting Aishwarya Rai in the first half, explains how they cant essentially ‘get busy’. When he is eventually upgraded to a leather clad killing machine with a grey tuft of hair, he is able to create an electronic embryo from within and is ready to impregnate the object of his affections. Well, then I guess for some strange reason Bohra’s red chip had a few tons of porn along with all that DESTRUCTION PROGRAMMING :|.

//////Spoiler Alert////

Shankar usually ends his movies with one final revelation (remember that ‘Tell me your dreams’ ending he gave us in 2005?)… Nevertheless, SPOILER ALERT (KINDA): Endhiran cuts to 2050 with Chitti’s parts lying inside an acrylic case in a museum and that girl from the old gokul santol ad who never seems to grow up is on a museum tour with her class.But he kills the whole scene when Chitti's disembodied head actually speaks out. I dont know if i'm missing the point of this scene... but it seemed kinda lame to actually make him talk.

//////Spoiler Alert Ends////

On the whole Kudos to Shankar and Kalanidh "SunTV" Maran for making this movie worth the wait. Rajini's next release will most probably be the much-delayed Sultan-the Warrior. So cya there ! :D

(Thanks for reading! Comment away!)

I X3 Telugu Music

The music SJ Suryah's magnum opus hits the airwaves from today. Its isnt very often that the Mozart of Madras composes an original score exclusively for a Telugu movie. As in.. most of his telugu scores are for bilinguals or are re-recordings of his tamil/hindi scores.

Anyways...I can be sure that in a couple of days Komaram Puli shall dominate Facebook walls, chat discussions and Ipods all over the place.

Before that, I thought it'd be nice to make a list of my 5 most favorite Telugu songs. As you probably realize, I have no idea whats being said or where these songs feature in the collective consciousness of Andhra Pradesh, but Telugu, much like its cousin Malayalam, is very pleasing to hear when set to tune.

1. Bham Bham Bole from Indira

There's a reason Chiru commands the kind of fan following he does. Prabhu Deva once said in an interview that the best dancer in india was Chiranjeevi with Hrithik Roshan coming a close second. If you must know, Raju Sundaram came third in Prabhu Deva's list. (P.S. I wonder where Nayanthara comes on that list :p ).




2. Hoyna from Aata

The one composer who's surprised me time and again with his ability to effortlessly combine rhythm and melody is Devi Sri Prasad (who is now becoming something of an icon in tamil as well). Some will accuse DSP of being repetitive, but hell.. some of his songs have the highest play counts on my ipod.




3. Paataku Praanam from Vaasu

This one is from Harris Jeyaraj's much talked about debut in telugu. Although i hear the movie didnt do too well, the songs were big hits. This one would feature in a list of harris's best as well.




4. Chammakkuro from Munna

I'll admit that I first saw this song because Shriya Saran was in it, it was only after I heard the song that i realised it was by Harris Jeyaraj.




5. Kodithe Kottalira Six Kottali from Tagore

Chiru all the way. This song was rehashed by Manisharma in Tamil but it wasn't a patch on the Telugu original.




Songs that just missed the top 5

6. Trisha's rain song from Varsham (DSP)

7. Kanya Raasi from Dubai Seenu (Mani Sharma)

8. Yevaro from Pournami (DSP)

9. Dole Dole from Pokkiri (Manisharma)

10. Go go go adhigo from Sainikudu (Harris Jeyaraj)

Thanks for reading!

Alternate Careers 101

Well, A recent status message on my FB page read

"is now seriously considering an alternate career as a Professional Wrestling Ring Announcer (and that takes my 'alternate careers' list to 23)"

There's an unwritten rule of facebook that says this...

"If the post is by a female there're at least twenty men, women and children who like, comment, cosset and coddle her until her next post... if the post if by a male, there's at least one douchebag who says 'citation needed'...."

Well, as always i was exaggerating when i said 23, but here's a list of ten careers i've seriously considered in the past. Of course, true to the nature of most blogs i write, this post is utterly irrelavant to your work-day... but you're here and you might as well read on.

10. Martial Arts Instructor: Yes. Way back in the late 90's when men were real men, women were real women and Dr.Vijay was still considered an actor par excellence, I had a long stint with a Karate Dojo, but it was not long before everyone at that place realised that my talent lay not in throwing punches and kicks but in babysitting the pre-schoolers sent there by their over-achieving parents.

9. Cricket Commentator: Mandira Bedi wearing noodle-strap sarees during the 96 Cricket world Cup. Nuff said!

8. Chef: I could whip up a mean Maggi when I was in my early teens...but by the time i hit my early 20's my primary interest wasn't in cooking.....but in eating (the paunch says it all)

7. Ad Model: Why didnt this happen? Please refer to the last five words of the previous line.

6. Genetic Engineer: All the misleading science fiction I read in my younger days told me that genetic engineers did three things - Make clones, Make out and Make money. Sadly...Most REAL genetic engineers I've met do three things - study, get phd's and work as post-docs in labs with small bugs in them.

5. Cryptologist: Breaking codes seemed like a cool thing to do for a living until i realised most code breakers have phd's in a certain subject that i've never really got along with that much.

4. Poet:

Back when i was in fourth grade,
Poetry seemed like an awesome trade.

Most of my poems seemed very nice,
some full of sugar, some full of spice.

but everyone puked when they saw my lines,
and poetry got lost in times confines.

3. Superhero: Lets not talk about this one. (P.S.All people who even broach the subject of red underwear in the comments section shall be tied to a chair and made to watch a running loop of 'Sura')

2. Manga Artist: This was before i realised most of my men looked like chimps and most of my women looked like men.

1.Director of blockbuster motion pictures: Well.. most of my stories were stolen by James Cameron, Steven Speilberg and Robert Rodriguez before i could write them.

Thanks for reading !

Chennai Wins and Fails Part - 2

The much awaited second part is here. for starters i had a safe and kinda uneventful (we'll get to that later..) journey and i'm back in that cozy part of EL they call trapper's cove. My coffee maker is boiling away to no end and the oatmeal is flowing freely... now to business..

WIN: The 'Panchagacham' I had to wear during the muhurtham which was actually pretty comfortable
FAIL: The fact that I couldnt change back into my jeans without ripping it. WHO USES A SAFETY PIN WITH A DHOTI ANWAY?

WIN: Playing with Srinandan and teaching him some choice tamil phrases.. the pick of the lot being "theriyaaaaadhu paa" a la Kamal in Nayagan
FAIL: The fact that he teased me for ten days because i couldnt drive and no... he didnt like my usual "I dont drive cuz i fly.." retort..

WIN: Ravanan (thanks shyam)
FAIL: Ravan (I somehow couldn't take abishek bachan seriously at all)

WIN: The TAJ Savoy, OOTY where we spent our post-wedding trip.
FAIL: I refused to take any warm clothes citing my experiences with Michigan Winters... only to come back with a cold the likes of which I have never had before ...

WIN: My dentist saying "nothing this time.. looks like u're teeth fine"
FAIL: My mom saying "maybe it was a wedding thing.. maybe there really is something terribly wrong and he doesnt want to spoil your fun"

WIN: Our trip to Nemili.. as always EVRYTNG_BALA
FAIL: The driver took us halfway across the universe before we got there

WIN: A 11 hour wait at the Delhi airport with both my bags
FAIL: Extra legroom seat upgrade cost 120 dollars. Thats food for a whole month..and if u must know.. I came back with a bruised kneecap.

WIN: I got to see all my relatives - uncles, aunts, cousins etc
FAIL: The fact that i probably wont be seeing them again in a while :( :(

WIN: Poorvaja and me taking the kids to prince of persia
FAIL: Couldnt stay long enough to take them to karate kid :(

WIN: SINGAM SINGAM SINGAM!
FAIL: SURA SURA SURA! plus... that whole rainbowy business with anushka's bikini top.

WIN: All my friends who came to the reception and the muhurtham from far and near.
FAIL: Miss you all a lot now that i'm 8000 miles away

WIN: Poorvaja explaining to me why Jane Austen is the best author of the last 3000 years.
FAIL: Yamma? Yamma who?

WIN: Thamizh maanadu song... the first time i heard/saw it
FAIL: The fact that they played it a quadrillion times a day.. its still stuck in my head.

WIN: My new haircut. The 'randy orton' look...
FAIL: the fact that no one in my family including that new addition knew or seemed to care who randy orton was..

WIN: Thalapakatti biryani on the last day
FAIL: Didnt stay long enough to go to barbecue nation.. :|

WIN: I'm back in EL
FAIL: I have to get back to work tomorrow + have to wait another 20 days for laddu to get here...

Thanks and God Bless

Chennai Wins and Fails - Part 1

I was going to write this when i was done with the wedding and was on my way back to the states.. but a few days into my trip.. i have experienced enough of Chennai to be able to make a prelimenary compilation..

WIN - Anushka in Singam

FAIL - How DEVI SRI PRASAD has recycled all his tunes yet again

WIN - Electrical outlets in the Continental Airlines economy class seats

FAIL - A ton of cut Green beans served with every meal. What do they think I am? a GOAT?

WIN - Saravana Stores employee explaining the difference between 2G and 3G to an old man.

FAIL - How someone spilled blue fabric paint on my floaters in that shop and i walked around leaving a trail of blue paint wherever i went

WIN(K) - New mattresses in all the beds in our house

FAIL - New pillows that are far too thick for me

WIN - Bhavna in the new Sridevi silks ad

FAIL - Bhavna in Asal

WIN - A kid screaming SPIDERMAN SPIDERMAN at my new cap

FAIL - A certain relative declaring after three days of being with me... OH THATS SPIDERMAN isnt it?

WIN - Carl Sagan's 'Pale Blue Dot' which i read on my way here.

FAIL - My father falling asleep during one of my long lectures on the subject of Comparative Planetology

WIN - WWE's Over the Limit to be telecast here on TEn sports.. it'll be the first time i'm seeing a PPV on tv in a very long time

FAIL - wwe.com redirecting to a site managed by sify india.

WIN - new sherwani from Manyavar

FAIL - How the shop owner told me i looked too young to be married

WIN - Pooji's personal trainer asking me how many years i've been body building

FAIL - A girl laughing because I was singing to myself as i ran on the treadmill :(

EPIC WIN - Arun Vijay bald in the new Maanja velu poster

EPIC FAIL - The normal Vijay in an abnormally crappy sardarji costume in SURA

More to come in a while :) Ho Ho Ho

The Grad School Chant

Up the caffeine,
all through the night.

Even the owls,
Shall cower in fright.

Every assignment,
I shall outfight.

Every course,
I shall 4 point.

Every author,
I shall outwrite.

Every mind,
I shall ignite.

All My glory,
shall fly like a kite.

And everyone will know,
This grad student’s might!