Random!!!

Here's a lowdown on the week that went by in my life!

ಪಂಚರಂಗಿ (5 Colours) (2010):

My eyes are burning!!

Finally, after 3-4 months, I saw a Kannada movie! Directed by Yograj Bhat, this movie had huge expectations. His last 3 movies; Mungaru Male, Gaalipata & Manasare were all huge hits. Bhat's name has become synonymous with bittersweet love tales, & its for this reason he has become my only favourite director in Kannada! He doesn't give you eye-catching, titillating dance numbers or violent fights. He presents a simple, yet complicated story, with beautiful dialogues, soothing music and mesmerizing scenic locations. The only thorn was that in the theatre, a huge man was sitting in front of me & I had to sway from side to side to watch the movie. I felt like punching the fellow for being so huge & ruining my experience!

Diganth & Nidhi

Two families meet to see if their older siblings are meant for each other. While everything seems to be going just fine on the surface, there is nothing going alright. The younger sibling, Ambika (Nidhi Subbaiah) falls in love with the lazy Bharath Kumar (Diganth) who is also a younger sibling and seems to have an uncanny, if slightly exasperating, hold on the kannada language and treats everything around him (even people) like non-living things. He doesn't reciprocate and advises her to search for someone who is worthy of her and not a good for nothing guy like him. 

So cute

Loads of witty sequences, catchy dialogues which are sure to be a hit among the college going youth, highly interesting characterizations, background commentary, perfect cinematography along the beach ensure that there is enough to keep one's attention on the screen all the time. Diganth, still the chocolate boy, sports a rugged look and his acting has leaped in quantum amounts compared to previous attempts. Nidhi is gorgeous and sexy as the modern village belle (well, she is actually a city college girl who has gone home for the holidays), her acting also matches up with elan. The rest of the cast delivers up to expectations. There's a hilarious spoof on Nithyananda and other quack swamis. Watch this film with friends and family, you'll have enough material to keep yourself entertained for days! 

A small dialogue or whatever; me & my friends created it:

ಅರ್ಥ ಆಗದ ಪಾಠಗಳು,

ಉಸೆಲೆಸ್ಸ್ ಸಬ್ಜೆಕ್ಟ್ ಗಳು,

ಸಿಗ್ನಲ್ ಸಿಗದ networkಗಳು,

Heartbreak ಮಾಡೋ loversಗಳು,

ಬರಿ ಗೋಳು ಹೊಡಿಸ್ಕೊಂಡು ಇಂಜಿನಿಯರಿಂಗ್ ಮಾಡೋ ನಾವುಗಳು ನೀವುಗಳು... 

ಲೈಫ್ ಇಷ್ಟೇನೆ!!!

[Lessons cannot be understood,

Subjects are useless,

Worthless signal in all the networks,

Heart broken by our lovers, 

Listening to boring stuff, completing engineering, myself & yourself,

That's all there is to life!!]

Umm, yeah, much more cooler & humorous in my language!!
By adding 'galu', it is like treating everything like an inanimate object.

In College:
 
I found out there is a humbling and embarrassing feeling you get when you find out that the thing you were good at some time ago, you are not so good at it now. I had a passion for Table Tennis & I used to play for my school TT team and that was 6 years ago! After that I got immersed in other activities & TT lost out. Due to the excess of free time in college nowadays, I decided to hold the racket again to see how I fared, whether my skills had stood the test of time. The first day I played like a complete novice. My partner, the racket, betrayed me and I was spilling the ball all over the place. I got segregated in the beginner's court (there is no apparent divide between the players, but you get pushed to the side when you don't play well!) I played against a girl & some guys who couldn't even do a proper serve. But thanks to them, I found some kind of footing and within a week I have become an average player, don't have the same kind of reflexes like before in my glory days, but I now know that I can compete without fumbling around like a fool like that sad first day.

Korean movies:

Yippee, watched two Korean movies after a long time and loved both of them!

Windstruck (2004):

When police officer Kyungjin met with Myungwoo accidentally in a crime scene, she found that this responsible teacher who acted like a conniving thief was a really nice guy. One night, Kyungjin got into trouble & found herself in the middle of a gun fight between rival drug dealers. Myungwoo tried to help her & then something happened that forced them to stay together all day long. They got closer to each other and Myungwoo was not able to repulse the strange but pure natural attraction towards her. One day, when Kyungjin was chasing a notorious criminal, Myungwoo helped her again, however, not knowing that was the last day for him on Earth!

This has a tongue-in-cheek atmosphere for the most part and its a real fun movie. The emotional scenes seem too forced and tries hard to tug at our heartstrings. The sudden jumps from emotional scene to a funny scene is quite distracting. Still, it worked on some level. Oh yeah, the guy looks quite average and cannot act properly. But the girl is beautiful and acts wonderfully. Told from the girl's point of view, this movie will appeal to girls who like sad romantic stories.

A Moment to Remember (2004):

A heart broken girl probably would like to get the bitter past erased, but what if it happened to a 27 year old woman. In A Moment to Remember, the young couple Sui Jin and Cheol-soo struggle with the fatal Alzheimer which ruins their marriage step by step. Cheol-soo could save Sin Jin from a bitter past, but how can he deal with his wife who is losing her memories of love and life? 

Being a guy who loves romantic movies, I cried for the entire second half of the movie! I felt transported back to my teen years when I saw 'A Walk To Remember' for the first time. The physical loss of a loved one seems much more kinder when you see this movie. I totally connected with Cheol-soo, in his love for his wife and getting his heart ripped apart when his own love didn't recognize him. Many cute aww moments. Major recommendation to any Korean & romantic movie fan. Be sure to keep lots of hankies in hand! You'll need it!

The Vampire Diaries

These days (or particularly, nights), I'm completely immersed in 'The Vampire Diaries' novels by L. J. Smith. I'm also getting some of the undead creatures traits like sleeping late into the night. I also love the cool weather now, its so cloudy and rains most of the time. When the sun peeked out through the clouds today morning, I was feeling angry for the lack of cloud cover. And I'm falling in love with all the red colours around me (stupid me). As the 2nd season of 'The Vampire Diaries' is almost upon us, I thought I would give my view on one of my favourite shows and Vampires..! Read on to find out more.

The Vampire Diaries Hotties

If you would ask me what I wanted to be other than a normal, boring human, I would definitely blow your mind by saying 'VAMPIRE'. Yes, I absolutely love the blood drinking, animalistic, raw power imbibed vampire. You can think I'm crazy, but for as long as I can remember, I always wanted to have superpowers. Who wouldn't want to be the creature of the night? It is a combination of Superman and a dark angel! (Superman seems too fictious compared to the loads of vampire stories out there) Who wouldn't want to beat the crap out of wrong doers and rid the society of evil!! I would jump onto the bandwagon of vampire lovers any day. That means I want to be a vampire, rather than become their snack!!

Damon is hungry! Better run away as fast as your pudgy legs can carry!

See, this look of the vampire is what makes them a turn off for me. And these vampires cannot go out into the sunlight unless they have a special ring. Here, I would prefer Edward kind of vampires over Damon kind of vampires. 

Eternally damned?

This is based on L.J.Smith's novels, but takes its own creative liberties, thereby in essence changing the entire story and implementing its own version based on the characters. In 'The Vampire Diaries' TV show, there are three main protagonists: Elena Gilbert, Stefan Salvatore and Damon Salvatore. Stefan and Damon are brothers and in all outward appearances, they look like two very handsome guys who have their differences. They have a dark secret which has its origins in the latter half of the 19th century! They were born in the Aristocratic family and both loved Katharine, a beautiful vampire who loved both of them and wanted them to journey with her into immortality. Yes, she was very kinky and she loved to toy with both of their feelings. After her unfortunate death, the brothers blamed each other for her death and Damon swore he would make the rest of Stefan's immortal life a living hell..!

They look like real vampires! So hot!

Stefan upholds chivalry, honesty and justice; and he is weak by preying only on animal blood. Obviously Damon is Yin for his Yang; Damon doesn't have any respect for human life, he upholds debauchery and is the poster boy for strength, charm and wickedness. Oh yeah, everybody is hotter than the surface of the sun, there is so much eye candy that you have to wear sun glasses to protect yourself!!

I love Elena..! (Yeah babe, we know you are awesome)

In the fall of 2009, Stefan bumps into Elena, the resemblance to Katharine is very overpowering and he loves her, but not because she looks like Katherine, but because she was the exact opposite of Katharine in everything she did. He had known for a long time that Katharine never wanted either of the Salvatore brothers and was only toying around. Damon wants to destroy Mystic Falls, but ends up falling for Elena as well. Ultimately, the question is who will Elena choose? The ending of the first season hints at a bigger picture and that is mouth-watering (lol) for fans like me. 

Twilight + True Blood = The Vampire Diaries!

The Vampire Diaries starts off as another spin off wanting to make it big with the help of the Twilight craze, with its settings in a school and the obvious romance between the vegetarian Stefan and the vampire doting Elena, and Damon being the third wheel. But after a couple of episodes, you know things are starting to change with hints of True Blood's debauchery and sex thrown in. Of course, everything is PG-13, parents don't worry too much.! And this show has huge influences of another awesome and one of my personal top favourite show 'Supernatural'! The brother relationship and the preternatural connections are the obvious ones. But still, the show holds up quite good on its own.

The kinky and wicked Katharine looking so innocent and sweet!

Don't bother with their ages. Everybody love them for their hotness, doesn't really matter what their ages are. But still, the real ages are; Elena - 21, Stefan - 28, Damon - 32!! The kissing scenes between Damon and Elena make me uneasy, she looks so much younger than her age. But Damon has the most amazing one-liners and quick quips! I love everybody in the show :D

Join The Entangled Trio!!

Elena: Sexy, hot, cute, good-natured, innocent, writes a diary!

I love Stefan. Don't ruin our friendship Damon.

Its okay Stefan, I get it. We met, we talked, it was epic, but then the sun came up and reality set in.

Stefan: Chivalrous, perfect gentleman, mysterious, doesn't drink human blood, loves Elena!

I don't want to hunt humans. 

Damon, don't make history repeat itself.

I love Elena because she is the exact opposite of Katherine and she gives a damn about others, and not just herself.



Damon: Ultimate bad boy, selfish, dangerous, loves debauchery, has a soft spot for Elena!

What's up with this Bella chick? Edward is so whipped!! (while holding a Twilight novel) 

Stefan wants the whole human experience. He wants to live every episode of 'How I Met Your Mother'!!

The closest you'll ever get to humanity, Stefan, is when you rip open and feed on it!!

Dangerous Damon, Enchanting Elena, Soulful Stefan

 

Alive! Help Me!

Like a solar flare in the emptiness of the dark space,

your eyes blazed through my soul,

the room is full, but all I see is the angel in you,

shattering the defences I had built around myself.

Your eyes hold unfathomable sadness,

which your smile betrays not

Thinking I have ever fell in love,

a stretch, it is

like the tsunami and a harmless wave

the difference is mind boggling.

Your tidal waves keep battering against my heart

like a battalion of soldiers fighting an infant child,

a wild horse overtakes me,

my thumping heart rides on a runaway train,

waking up as if free from death's demonly grasp.

Your face casts a soft glow,

invisible to normal perceptions,

smile, like a million diamonds, free for the taking,

hair, shining from the glow of the half submerged sun.

Hidden secrets, beneath the smartness

and humor, I want to unveil,

others look through you,

not sensing or seeing the angel within.

When you rest your hands on my arm,

a shiver from the depths of the abyss,

runs through my veins,

I blackout for what seems like an hour,

in front of all those assembled,

but is only a few seconds,

never before have I felt these emotions,

so raw, unbridled, uncontrolled and euphoric,

your soul sings to me.

Are you my soul mate or my personal hell on earth!

As unexpected, it was,

so was it threatening and tempting,

a deep turmoil brew, inside of me.

I sit beside you, shifting nervously

something inside stirring

like the bloodlust of an immortal,

hungry vampire to warm blood,

threatening to coil and spring.

Afraid to touch the smooth skin,

unable to leave you out of sight,

torn, eaten up from the inside.

As if waking up from an eternal slumber,

my heart is alive again!

will you understand me? Help me?

Like the earth revolving around the sun, I am,

the closer I get, greater is the chance of being burned,

but the farther I go, my soul will slip,

into the cold, empty darkness.

I can feel you most when I am alone,

can feel your spirit in the midst of crowds.

Are you being played out before me,

by someone who is laughing at my longing?

With intentions, innocent,

I will never force you, my angel

down the path which you dislike.

Promises may be showered over the

hopes of obtaining you,

but my word, I will only give,

to keep it or die trying to keep it.

Give me a chance, single,

to be your knight in shining armour.

I go to sleep and wake up, with you in my dreams,

one arm around your slender waist,

the other buried in your glorious hair,

your sensous lips, so intoxicating,

twinkling eyes beckon me forward.

Hoping to take away your sadness,

I pull you closer,

afraid to kiss you,

what if you pull away, revolted?

Rejection, even in the fantasy will destroy me,

I wake up screaming in my mind,

not wanting to finish the dream,

afraid of the nightmare it might hold,

deprived of sleep from the past few days,

I have to know you,

my angel, my love...

This is my first poem after almost 6 to 7 years. Never before have I felt compelled enough to write a poem about anybody till now.

Independence Day

I know it was yesterday, but I wasn't free to write this, so bear with me. There were tons and tons of messages wishing me for Independence Day in my inbox (I am also not an exception, I simply forwarded some of those messages). I had also seen a very interesting program on TV where they interviewed our fellow youth about the importance of the day, whether they knew anything about some of the more famous freedom fighters, and the like. It irked me to no end, when except for a couple of students, none of them absolutely had any inkling to the great miseries our forefathers went through in rebuilding our nation. Even some of the middle aged men and elders didn't have much info about the struggle. All they were asking were - Name 5 freedom fighters. One girl went gaga and announced to the world Ajay Devgan, Aamir khan!! Wow, isn't that very interesting? I was fuming over some of the answers they gave; regarding our national flag, animals and many more which I will not prattle on about here.

The children only want sweets in ceremonies, the adults want holiday, the politicians only want their name to be announced to everyone when they hoist the flag, but why doesn't anybody want to hear about the legends who fell during the struggle?! During my schooldays, when they invited the freedom fighters to enlighten us about the old days, everyone began gossiping among themselves. Even my young cousins and nieces are not interested about it in the slightest. I feel angry, I think they are betraying the memories of our country, but I know the feeling will pass eventually.

The reason I tell this is, how many of us actually know anything about the blood and tears our forefathers (and mothers :) sacrificed so that their grand children and the likes could have a life which wasn't ruled by fear and oppression against the weak? I don't want you to think that I may know all about the freedom struggle; honestly I do not. I have only read text books and biographies of some freedom fighters when I was in school and the memory of those long nights with the good books are quite hazy now. My mom brought one book every month regarding our history and I used to devour through them as I am a major bibliophile. Also I had a great grandfather who actually took part in the freedom struggle and he used to tell all kinds of saddening stories regarding his younger days. Oh, how I am filled with pride over their great deeds even now.

The good people in our great nation called 'India' (what is wrong with the name 'Bharatha'? Never mind, I digress) go on protests and strikes in the name of freedom of expression and their birthrights. Do these people even know that the same constitution which has given them rights has also given them duties to protect ourselves and our fellow men against the inadequacies in our society? Not many care about anything other than their own well being.

While my mom was buying vegetables in the market (which is illegal) yesterday, I was left to ponder over the day to day life of these street traders whose only livelihood is selling their produce to keep their family afloat. Within a span of one hour, three different policemen came and demanded money from them. The poor blokes had to give into them as they really have no other choice. The people who are supposed to give protection are the harbingers of evil practices. If the authorities were really willing to change for the better, they would have built a space for them there; they tried by staging a protest a few years back! Now there's a sprawling apartment). At the basic level there's so much corruptness and oppression, then its no wonder we have still not achieved our true potential as a nation. Everybody think they are independent, but the truth is far from it.

By the looks of things to come, the Common Wealth Games may just bring a great shame to the country. I am hoping it will, so that we will improve the next time around. I have been rambling on about the things I feel very passionate about. I will end it now. Try to do small things which are righteous and virtuous, you will feel relieved and dignified even in old age and finally in death. Be proud to be an Indian.

Troy: Immortality Awaits - In This World Or The Next!

Title: Troy (R)

Year: 2004

"If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise & fall like the winter weeds, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, taming the forces. Let them say - I Lived, In The Time Of Achilles"
 - Achilles

King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) of Mycenae wants to rule over the world. He has already conquered most of Greece, forming them into a fragile alliance and the only kingdom powerful enough to rival the Greek nation is the kingdom of Troy, with whom they have made a peace pact. Achilles (Brad Pitt), considered the greatest warrior ever born on the face of the planet fights for the Greek army. But his disdain for Agamemnon's rule threatens to break apart the fragile alliance. In Thessaly, Greece, Agememnon challenges the King of the land to fight the war in the old fashioned way, the best fighter of each side fighting one another and deciding the result. Of course, Agamemnon calls forth Achilles, whom he hates from the bottom of his heart. Achilles finishes the fight in one move and both the armies are confounded by his superior battle skills. He has many myths surrounding him; his mother being an eternal Goddess, his immortality even in the toughest and fiercest of battles, to name a few. His only aim in life is to immortalize and etch his name into the minds of men and history books for ages to come. When his bones will be dust , he wants to be remembered as being the greatest warrior in the the time of Achilles. Paris (Orlando Bloom) is smitten by Helen (Diane Kruger) who happens to be Agamemnon's brother's young wife. They both run away from Sparta along with his brother, Hector (Eric Bana), the Prince of Troy. Having got his reason for a war with Troy, Agamemnon gets his troops and marches his massive fleet across the great seas in hopes of bringing down Troy's unbreachable walls and defeating Troy to become the greatest Emperor.

The greatest of fights are always fought because of a woman, look at Mahabharatha and Ramayana from our Indian myths (cannot say its completely a myth, proof is being uncovered that it all happened). Brad Pitt has probably immortalized Achilles much more than the real Achilles had ever anticipated or hoped for. Brad Pitt is like an incarnate of Achilles' ferocity, love, beauty, strength, agility, prowess, his defiance, his supreme confidence. I was left in awe of this man's performance, he is such a good actor. And everybody in the film complement him with some wonderful, fine method performances. Achilles gives a short speech when approaching the beach of Troy, saying immortality awaits beyond the horizon. He takes the beach of Troy with only 50 men, defying Agamemnon's orders! I had read the story of Troy and knew how it ended, most would also guess given the ending involves a certain 'Trojan Horse'. Well, here is how the name 'trojan' stuck to a virus. Agamemnon is really a back-stabbing, lying, cheating bastard whom I hated from the bottom of my heart. In that respect, Brian Cox was awesome as Agamemnon.

Wolfgang Peterson has brought the story of Troy to life in this superb movie. Everything about this movie screams of a tale of epic proportions; love, betrayal, valour, justice, evil; and the movie is filled with testosterone filled six pack hunks to satisfy the viewer. Orlando Bloom plays the role of the scared younger brother of the heroic Hector to perfection. Other than Achilles, I loved Hector. He is like a Trojan (A man of Troy) version of our own Yudhishtira, the brave, kind and righteous king. I loved Bana's performance, I was hoping against hope he would win his fight against Achilles. The women in the movie, though having very less screen time, give amazing performances. The fight scenes are amazing even with the cgi effects, which you will rarely notice. The story is pretty authentic and the director has made a good effort to stay true to the story and make it entertaining. Give this movie a try if you haven't seen it yet and I promise you, you will be glad you saw it.

My rating: ****1/2 out of *****