[Via Arun Kumar]
Update Feb 07 – The above pic is confirmed to Kamal Hassan. This picture seems to be shot by Atul Kasbekar but there is no mention if this was for Dasavatharam or not. The link to the picture is here.
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Avatharam No.1
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Spielberg, Sundance & Selvaraghavan
Oscar nominees are announced. Spielberg is still in the race. Kong awaits four oscars. Have to watch Brokeback Mountain, Syriana and Walk The Line before they start feeding us with too many spoilers. Just 32 days remaining for the Oscars. These two blogposts[Part 1 / Part 2] are probably the best curtain raisers to Selvaraghavan’s Pudhupettai. Though I did read these posts when they were written, I forgot to link them. These posts also made it to the print world. Quinceañera wins the best dramatic film award in Sundance 2006. Anand C has some pictures from Sundance 2006. Looking at Madhavan in Thambi, I am reminded of ArvindSwamy’s Thaalaattu. While the King talks about his music for Rang De Basanti, Gautam Menon starts to market Vettaiyaadu Villayadu. NY Times – How Pixar Adds a New School of Thought to Disney. -
We have lost the art !!
Was Tamil cinema slowly reaching up to international standards set by Hollywood, asked a scribe. “No,” he said. “Maybe our cinematography and sound are world class today but in the screenplay department, we have progressed only just a little since the silent era. It is unbelievable that the land that produced Kamba Ramayanam cannot produce scripts. We have lost the art.”
This is probably the biggest truth of our Kollywood. I agree with every inch of this comment. Many film buffs would agree too. The dude who quoted this was a film buff himself. Guess ??
P.S If you had read the original interview where it was quoted, I would request you to restrain from giving out the answer. Guessing is so much fun.
Update No points for guessing it right. As many guessed it was none other than Kamal. Here’s the link to the mentioned interview. The most odd guess was Sarath Kumar and Cheran(?!) made by Cocoa. I assume he/she was mocking at this whole post by making a guess like that.
BTW, the musical show that Kamal was mentioning in that interview was Banyan’s Netru Indru Nalai. It was actually planned to be executed last year and was washed out due to rain. Sudhish says its back with a bang. Flashback 2002 – Netru Indru Naalai.
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Endaro ‘Mahanubhav’ulu
Even if Sri Thyaga Brahmam is upset about me, misusing his world reknown pancharatna kirti, I’m cool but I have to say this. Watching the broadcast of Jaya TV’s Thygaraja Ardhanai Vizha, which was performed in Chennai, was a MahaAnubhava. The true meaning of Endaro Mahanubhavulu Andariki Vandanamulu is, there are many great men and to all my salutations.
On an unassuming sunday morning, I clicked on the archives of Jaya TV[through NUM TV] to find a 2 hour program broadcasted few days back and it read Thyagaraja Aradhanai Vizha. All along I was thinking that the customary Thiruvaiyaaru program was only awarded to Doordarshan. As I expected it turned out to be a program sponsored by Jaya TV in Chennai. It looked like Narda Gana Sabha, where it was performed. For a distanced soul like me, this was by itself a mahanubhava though it didn’t evoke the emotion a yearly broadcast of Thiruvaiyaaru program would.
For starters, Thiruvaiyaaru Thyagaraja Aradhanai Vizha happens in Thiruvaiyaaru where Thyagaraja attained samadhi. Its the kind of function, you would expect to watch it live. Its all about the best carnatic artists of country, coming together and sing along that could give goosebumps.
Jaya TV’s Thyagaraja Aradhanai Vizha seems to be a big hit. The hall was surprisingly full with people sitting on walking spaces. It sure didn’t have all the best carnatic artists but the ensemble was very good. They sang nothing but pancharatna kirtis. Starting from the auspicious Sethulara, the five kirtis followed like gems. Though all of them are the best of keerthanais, my personal favorites are Jagadhananda and Endaro Mahanubhaulu.
Some noted artists who performed in the show were Thavil Maestro A K Palanivel, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, N Ramani, Bombay Sisters, Sowmya, Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Rajkumar Bharathi(as in Bharathiyaar) and Priya Sisters (with ‘kannai parichidum‘ fluorescent green saree). Umayalpuram Sivaraman is one of personal favorites in mridangam. Such a graceful player of the instrument that he makes you drool over an mridangam. Just like how Vikku Vinayakram make me yearn to be a gadam player.
If you wanted to read about what happened in Thiruvaiyaaru this year, Samanth Subramanian has a wonderful column on the festival named, The music man. A must read.
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Kuzhanda Paiyya !!
I love Milk Bikis. Yeah, It sounds like a naive statement but I love eating Milk Bikis. Ask my family and they would sing my childhood adventures with Milk Bikis.
This post isn’t a Milk Bikis reminiscent. This is a much serious(!!) observation that I had over a period of time. Has anyone noted this or is it just me. I find South Indians going crazy over Brittania’s Milk Bikis while the northies love Parle-G. Donno if it’s just due to the logistics issue of the goods or has it something got to do with the taste.
Not that I don’t like Parle-G. Its actually tastier than Milk Bikis when I don’t get to eat Milk Bikis. Sitting in Seattle, the only option is to eat the mini Parle-G [sold 4 packs/dollar].
And yeah I love biscuits. The critics of this blog [who term this as the Worst Popular Indian Blog] can now go and call this as the Blog of a Koyindey Payyan. Infact I should be thankful for that written word for after all namma ellam etcetera thaaney, maamu !!.
kirukkal.com 