A neat party for Eid from Bhaijaan

Almost a month (or a little over a month) back when I first saw the song "Selfie Le Le Re" from the movie Bajrangi Bhaijaan (the first song from the movie to be unveiled) on television, little did I know I would be watching it soon in a cinema hall. It was my 3 year old son's profound interest in the song, the movie and in Salman Khan whom he fondly calls "Le Le uncle" that made us take the decision of hitting Gopalan Cinemas on Old Madras Road, Bangalore and watch the movie, just two days after its release ... I must admit I have never seen a movie so immediately after its release and also admit that I completely enjoyed it. Bajrangi Bhaijaan came across as a pleasant surprise package, in my opinion, it is Salman Khan's best film till day.

So what makes the movie so different from other films by "Bhai" or Dabangg Khan? Primarily, there are no heavy drawn out stunt sequences, no typical Sallu shirtless acts, no flinging around a bunch of bad men in one shot, no larger than life super hero dialogues, no silly histrionics and no dance sequences in figure hugging vests in Emirates.

Salman Khan (Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi or fondly called Bajrangi in the movie) comes across as a commoner from Pratapgarh, a devout bhakth of Lord Hanuman who eventually moves to Delhi. He speaks nothing but the truth and has a heart of gold. Kareena Kapoor as Rasika completes the love angle in the movie without swaggering around, she is simple, contained in emotions and comes across elegantly without her khandani pomp.

The question why everyone wishes to take a selfie with Salman Khan in the first song of the movie "Selfie le le re" or its relevance at that juncture remains unanswered but the answer that he delivers when a stranger right after the song quizzes on what a selfie is, is fabulous. It leaves you in ripples of laughter and that's when you know that Salman Khan with his toned down machismo mannerisms can be magical and a bigger, better pleasure to watch.

One knows that Bajrangi Bhaijaan is the not the regular Salman Khan stuff from the start. A small 6 year old girl, Shahida (played by Harshali Malhotra) who cannot talk comes from Pakistan to Delhi along with her mom to offer prayers at the Nizamuddin Auliya Dargah. On her journey back home, she gets down the Samjautha Express alone at night and fails to catch it back. Left in a foreign land, separated from her mother by a few yards from the border gates, unable to convey who she is and where she is from, her tryst with Salman Khan infuses some hope. What starts as providing a safe custody temporarily for Munni (Shahida) for Pawan steadily expands to an enormous responsibility of traveling across the border to unite her with her parents which he takes up single handedly placing unquestionable faith in Lord Hanuman. 

Scenes in which Munni's identity is unraveled and those while crossing the border keeps one buoyant. We would have begun to shift restlessly in our seats seeing this duo's arduous journey had it not been for Nawazuddin Siddiqui who plays the role of a Pakistani scribe supporting Bajrangi on his mammoth mission. That Nawazuddin is allowed to supersede Salman at places in the second half interests the audience and sets the movie apart. All said and done, towering above all of them is Munni, the small girl conveys immensely with her eyes and expressions; her naive, sweet smile makes you melt and she manages to hold the rapt attention of her audience all through. 

The director does not try hard to thrust any message through his movie but eventually makes it clear that generous acts of humanity win more hearts than adherence to pointless rituals or religious practices/customs. His tenacious efforts in shooting the movie in difficult, picturesque terrains and high altitudes deserve special mention and many rounds of applause. With a mega star on board, the director has done a commendable job by not giving in to making Munni's reunion with her parents merely a Salman Khan soliloquy.   

If Pawan Kumar manages to unite the girl with her parents, if/how he safely crosses the border back to India forms the rest of the story and the climax. Unfortunately, I cannot divulge the details even if you asked me to as I had to leave the hall after two hours of watching the movie; I missed the climax. My son got sleepy and we chose not to test his patience, heeded to his request and got back home. It was his first experience in the movie hall and that he enjoyed full two hours of the picture thoroughly, remained hooked to his seat without fuss gives me utmost happiness. Take your family along (with members from all age groups) without any doubt to watch this movie, you will savor every moment!

Finally, some music stuff on MTV

The channel MTV or Music Television, in India, for little less than a decade, has been known for Roadies, Splitsvilla and like reality shows. These reality shows have featured the same scheme of dumping ground, vote out mechanisms, politics vs performance quotients, excessive bitching and wild card entries over these years, making it all clearly trite. 

A welcome change ushered in the form of a music show Desi Beats/Rock ON, the first season of which was judged by Ram Sampath and Kailash Kher, who in my opinion, have actually contributed something original to music - from colorful Bollywood music to advertisement jingles. The second season of this music show featuring Pritam (Hindi music director with maximum hits to his name and an equal number of plagiarism charges) and Indian Ocean's Rahul Ram (whose only standing credit till day remains the Kandisa song, a prayer in Aramaic uttered in Sryian Orthodox Churches) did not pack the required punch. 

There was a strange lull after this when it came to airing music related shows. Now, the breather comes in the form of a new show - Sound Trippin aired on the channel every Saturday from 8-9 pm. The show features Sneha Kanwalkhar, a young and chirpy,  budding Hindi film music director who travels to different parts of India, captures many sounds specific to that region, picks up some impressive local/folk tunes and creates a song out of it all. Sounds and music strips collected from locals in these places on her gizmo - an Intel notebook are taken back to the studio where she and her proficient team of music technicians carefully compose a song. The song comes along with a befitting video and is first shown to people of the town/region who really contributed to it and to us too at the end of the show. 

Six episodes of this show have been aired till now with the first five shows taking Sneha to Punjab (fun filled, bold music), Benares (mystic with sounds of bells and hymns), Yellapur (a village in coastal Karnataka where a tribe called Siddhis live and perform),  Goa (sounds of church gong with generous amount of English thrown in) and Kanpur (sounds of leather factory set the background for some whacky, mischievous lyrics). The last (sixth) episode was a summary of all these travels, primarily focusing on efforts put in by sound technicians and accounts of their experiences with sounds of various kinds.  

I would rate this show with a 7 on scale of 10 - Reasons? 

Finally, something related to music and making music appears on MTV. There are no money tasks/immunity tasks, battle ground/dumping ground rows in this show.

Two excellent songs out of 5 composed until now on the show - one in Punjab in episode 1 and another in Yellapur in episode 3. 

One can check out the videos of these brilliant music pieces from the links below - 

1. Tung Tung (from Punjab) - http://mtv.in.com/soundtrippin/videos/tung-tung-full-song-episode-1-intel-mtv-sound-trippin-8099-1.html 

2. Yere (from Yellapur, lyrics and primary rhythm provided by Siddhi tribe who have their roots in Africa but have made India their home for long)  - http://mtv.in.com/soundtrippin/videos/yere-full-song-episode-3-intel-mtv-sound-trippin-8359-1.html 

Truly, remarkable efforts go in to make a song and this is shown convincingly to the audience through this show. 

Why not more than a 7 on 10? Reasons - 

2 out of 5 songs stand out, call for repeated hearing with fitting videos. So that's ony 40% excellence. 

There are many more episodes, more sounds to be captured - so it is a wait and watch before the show gets an upgraded rating. 

However, on an ending note, this is a show I look forward to on MTV, turn to for respite from livid auditions, excessive foul mouthing, roadies journey and bitching splitsvillians. 

Adios Amigos

After over half an year, I hit the cinema hall to watch "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" ... and I am glad I had a good time. I am not going to fall short of adjectives in writing a review for this movie but I must admit that from 10 am to 12.45 noon, I laughed heartily not quite knowing how time passed by.

The movie from Excel Entertaintment banner directed by Zoya Akhtar is a visual treat - a carefully arranged virutal tour of Spain for the audience. Striking cinematography par excellence makes one look out for the name responsible - Carlos Catalan. The movie deals with a road trip through Spain heartland, of three friends, planned on the pretext of bachelor party of one of them. The friends keep up their pact made back in school days, of trying out an adventure sport of each one's choice, there is no option of backing out from it. The time they spend together makes them break free from compulsive restraints and mundane confines of their lives, makes them share their deeply cached secrets and shed their fear and inhibition. Their road trip marks an enlightening journey where they let go everything, live life without bounds, much along the lines of one of the dialouges in the movie - a man must be in confines only upon death and not before that. The theme might sound very philosophical, insufficient to let the reels run for more than 2 hours. However, the multitude of humorous moments, adept and natural performances by the cast make it an enjoyable experience. 

The many strong aspects of the movie that make it a pleasure to watch are - 

1) The powerful cast - a union of multifaceted actors who share the screen space with equal responsibilities and with so much comfort that they appear as true friends, friends for life. It only appears that all through, there was none to direct the lead three on what to do, what not to, to what extents etc.  

2) Farhan Akthar (Imran in movie, a copywriter for advertisement agency) is simply superb. His sense of humor and impeccable timing leaves the audience in ripples of laughter. His poetic monologues sail with the movie well. His mastery in acting skills and dialouges makes him eligible for many laurels from the audience. 

3) Abhay Deol (Kabir, running his family construction business) is the most natural actor that Bollywood has witnessed in recent times. It seems he was never a novice to Bollywod. Starting from his first movie - Socha Na Tha, he has a carved a niche for himself which no other actor's been able to until now, something very different from the other Deols. As always, he delivers his best, playing the role of an emotionally balanced person settling fights between the other two friends.

4) Hrithik Roshan (Arjun, a financial broker) comes alive finally. Smitten by the crying bug from K3G times, the symptoms progressed disastrously unto his movie Kites. He's definitely the most gifted actor when it comes to looks and physique and can beat Greek gods to shame/death. In this movie, he portrays a serious role to start with, eventually melts down to a fun loving person breaking free from his inner shell. He is an actor and dancer, unsurpassable truly.
5) Katrina Kaif (Laila, a sea diving instructor) is a true barbie doll, she looks fabulous and scores a perfect ten in the role crafted for her. One will definitely appreciate her acting skills in this movie, much like in Rajneeti.

6) Kalki (Natasha, Kabir's fiancee) has a small role to play but does well as a possessive and watchful girlfriend, worried over her fiancee's bachelor party proceedings.
7) The story written by Zoya and Reema Kagti does not favor anyone in the cast unduly. Each one has his/her space with such clear outline that they gel without any hiccups. There is no dominance from anyone in the cast, be it in scenes of adventure, casual conversations, dance and song sequences. Must say, it is a balance, highly difficult to strike. The moments of friendship are all natural. The portrayal is perfect and admirable, you can relate to all the conversations as if they were happening in your living room when three friends meet up. TOI mentioned - ironically, this natural portrayal of men's friendships comes from two women - Zoya and Reema Kagti. Looks like it's only men who still find women a mystery one cannot unravel, vice versa seems solvable. 

8) Spain is captured in its best frames, the movie is like a Thomas Cook tour through Spain starting from Barcelona with the La Sagrada Familia church marking the skyline. There is deep sea diving and colorful aquatic life in one shot, there are deep valleys, huge reservoirs in others. There is sky diving, lush green fields below and long rolling meadows with horses galloping alongside. The Tomatino festival and running with bulls behind your back - all are captured realistically. The film could not have been shot better and for this reason deserves to be watched on the big screen.

9) The department of music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is not impressive but flows in tandem with the movie. It grows on you because of the characters in the movie. Standalone, the tracks - Senorita, Ik Junoon (Tomatino festival song), Dil Dhadakne Do carry a "want-to-hear-again" charm in them.

There are no weaknesses so to state - after all you cannot be choosy when you are a beggar. Decent movies are a rarity nowadays and when something like ZNMD comes up, you cannot/should not complain at all. May be a few points can help while/before watching the movie -

1) Just because there are three male protagonists in the movie, comparison with the movie Dil Chahtha Hai will be a gross mistake. DCH is a masterpiece and way too different. ZNDM portrays celebration of friendship between three men but needs a different treatment from DCH. This comparison is as sinful as comparing Dil Bole Hadippa/Iqbal to Lagaan just because these movies involve cricket.

2) Treat yourself as a part of the road trip and appreciate the dialouges, humorous sequences shared by the cast, they are easy stuff that each one us can relate to. This will not be difficult for people in 25-35 age group who become increasingly inactive in friends circles with time/work and yearn secretly to celebrate special moments they shared during school/college times. If the idea is hard to settle, the movie might seem a compilation of National Geographic Expedition series showing activities like sky diving, deep sea diving and running with the bulls.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a good movie, a wholesome and refreshing entertainer. TOI quoted in its review - Go and watch it - Aise film na milegi dobara. Considering the ensemble of Hindi movies released over a long time now, this is undoubtedly true - Aise film na milegi dobara !!

Kollywood’s gift to Isaac Asimov

After witnessing an extraordinary hype for over a month since its release, exorbitantly, yet sustainably high prices of tickets, reading innumerable articles on Rajni, the Superstar and soaking up the essence that he undoubtedly has a Midas touch, I watched Enthiran, the super blockbuster Tamil movie, during Diwali 2010. I got my turn for this interesting rendezvous with Kollywood’s work on science fiction, on Nov 6, 2010.

I put my share of Rajni frenzy under control for a month and waited for the price of the ticket to fall from the range of Rs 1000/Rs 500 to a meek Rs 70. I am still aghast at multiplexes in Bangalore screening the movie for no less than Rs 200 per ticket, for even the earliest show of the day. That, in short, suggests the kind of boffo this movie is, at the box office.

Date: Nov 6, 2010
Time/Show: 6 pm
Venue/Theatre: Single screen, Cauvery Theatre, Sankey Road, Bangalore
Ticket Price: Rs 70 per ticket

The film opens with Dr.Vaseegaran (Rajinikanth), a robotics scientist, researching and creating an andro-humanoid robot out of ten years of dogged diligence. His robot, his look alike, christened as Chitti, functions at a speed of 1 Terra hertz, has humungous memory, possesses ability to understand multiple languages, cook dishes from world cuisine, perform different martial arts, dance to classical, rock, jazz and techno tunes and grasp details from a dozen books in a single scan – be it medical literature or telephone directory records. Chitti performs all tasks as instructed by its master, Dr.Vaseegaran, blissfully devoid of emotions and any reasoning derived from them. The inability to comprehend human emotions and apply those drives Chitti and its creator to face varied problems. Chitti’s rejection by Professor Bora, played by Danny Denzongpa, in a conference held at research centre, drives Dr.Vasee convincingly into a compulsive urge to make his robot emote and take decisions based on emotional reasoning.

It is a treat to watch Danny don the role of a villain after a long span. When Vasee proudly announces to Professor Bora that Chitti can now emote, infer human emotions and is not merely a dumb machine that executes orders blindly, Bora laughs sheepishly and cites unfathomable problems are just about to begin.

Sana, Dr. Vasee’s long time girl friend, played by Aishwarya Rai, is cordial with Chitti right from the start and completely awestruck by his abilities. With human emotions newly activated in the robot and a hormone like mechanism topping its original neural schema, the closeness between the two lets love blossom in Chitti for Sana. All hell breaks loose. There is so much pandemonium that Vasee is forced to destroy his most cherished creation.

However, like a phoenix, from the garbage, with Professor Bora’s help, Chitti rises, with bouts of negative qualities injected via a red chip. A new stylish look is imparted to Chitti, the terminator, with insurmountable abilities to destroy and devastate. Intense love for Sana still lingers, forcing Chitti to abduct her from her wedding and confine her in quarters, run and managed by robot clones like itself. The remaining story is on how this mayhem leads to incalculable damage to life and property. Anyone/anything coming in way of Chitti’s love for Sana is ravaged completely without the slightest hesitation, not even Prof.Bora is spared.

The climax is stupendous as man takes up the extremely difficult and nearly impossible task of terminating the machines awfully gone wrong, he had created. It is a heap of special effects perfectly crafted and executed that leaves the audience spellbound and in complete acceptance of the fact that Enthiran is better than likes of English movies like I, Robot.

Good prevails over evil always; the red chip is ejected from Chitti, thanks to Dr. Vasee’s efforts. Chitti, the robot Vasee created and held close to his heart, becomes adorable again. It dismantles itself completely upon instructions issued by the court of law. Vasee and Sana marry. Chitti is lodged in the Robotics museum, available for millions to view and is hailed as a man-made marvel even 20 years later.

The film is 100% special because Rajinikanth stars in it. For audience who has seen Rajni in negative shade years back, in movies like Avargal and Apoorva Raagangal, Chitti with a red-chip in this movie is a gentle reminder that Superstar a.k.a Thalaiva is indomitable even as a villain. Like all Rajni movies, Enthiran too ends with a message – human beings across the world are infested with many red chips with negative emotions like anger, jealousy, lust etc. Robots are only machines and can be dismantled with ease, but how to handle human beings ?

Enthiran has true strengths apart from Rajni, the Superstar. The story is interesting, a concept each one of us can relate to. We are living in an era where scientific spirit tends to overdominate, man is trying to create life; artificially tweak and interfere excessively with many natural phenomena. The movie clearly points out the stark reality behind all these human excesses – complete devastation.

Special effects in the climax are stunning, thanks to posse of technicians from the West who helped Tamil film industry scale such heights. AR Rahman’s music is catchy only in two songs in my opinion – Kilimanjaro and Irumbiley. Even here, the brilliance is largely because of beautiful locales like Machu Pichu, Peru and excellent choreography. Aishwarya Rai is a beautiful lass, comes out pretty in all costumes and grooves well to all tunes.

There is a hero about whom I have not yet uttered a word, more appropriately, the true hero. It is the movie’s director – Shankar who dared to dream so big and ensured that his dream thrives in minds of millions, world over. His zeal to experiment and provide a genuinely refreshing movie to the audience, deserves unlimited accolades. I am sure, Isaac Asimov, the renowed sci-fi writer will be content with this small Indian gift from the kitty of Sun Pictures.

This Ramayana is not so Modern

As a true Mani Ratnam fan, I eagerly awaited Raavan’s release. I chose to see the Hindi version first for the sake of Gulzar’s lyrics. Having heard the songs of Raavan (Hindi version) and Raavanan (Tamil version) for nearly a month or more, I felt Raavan sounded better, the lyrics fitted the music snugly without aberrations.

Theatre: Fame Shankar Nag Chitra Mandira, MG Road, Bangalore
Date and Time: June 20, 2010, 10.15 am
Ticket Price: Rs 80/per head

I am sure most readers would have either seen the movie or read multiple reviews from different websites by now. I have nothing new in my first paragraph in terms of content, just like the insipid first half of the movie – insipid in terms of script content. It is only the second half where the epic we so well know figures.

Dev Sharma (Ram/Vikram) is a top cop posted in Laal Mathi forest region, living happily with his dancer wife, Raaghini (Sita/Aishwarya Rai) till one day when Beera, the local outlaw, (Raavan/Abhishek Bachchan) abducts her. Hemant (Lakshman/Nikhil), another cop shares the tragic news of Raaghini’s abduction with Dev who sets out to settle scores with Beera, taking assistance from Sanjeevani (Hanuman/Govinda). Beera is all set to avenge the death of his dear sister played by Priya Mani fitting the role of Shoorpanaga but meekly submits to the beautiful, fearless lass – Raaghini during the course of 14 days hostage. Though he initially intends to kill Raaghini in 14 hours to teach Dev a tough lesson, his unbridled affection for her weakens him every time, costing him the life of his brother, Hariya, may be Mangal (played by Ravi Kishan, we are not sure what happens to him at the end, so we safely assume he’s dead), even worse, his own life at the end of the movie. Upon rescue, Raaghini is recommended a polygraph test by her husband to come out untainted, an Agni pariksha that sends her fuming.

Now where is Mani’s story in this, there is only Ramayana etched all over it. With such a threadbare script, when we feel Mani is all set to lose out, he roughly compensates by stunning visuals, superb editing, impeccable choice of locations, great music and background score, fantastically brave stunts. I guess no director will have an urge as strong as Mani to tap the beauty of Athirapalli falls, Malshej Ghats, Hogennakal and Orchha from such daring proximity. Without an original script, the film stands decent for a one time viewing majorly because Santosh Sivan, Sreekar Prasad, Peter Heins, AR Rahman and Gulzar, of course Mani Ratnam who brought them all together and extracted the best out of them.

If there is any bit of modernity/difference to the Ramayan we know, it is that Beera does not have evil lust and is superbly in control. He is a shade better than the Raavan we know. Dev is many shades darker than the Ram we know, in that he tells Raaghini things which Beera never said, misconstrues statements, kills Hariya when he is unarmed and out to negotiate peace, kills Beera ruthlessly, forgetting that only he saved him the day before. Raaghini is little more tilted in favor of Beera, must say bit more practical than our Sita, that upon suggestion of a polygraph test by her husband, she has the nerve to stop a chugging train in the middle of the ghats, take a bus and get back to Beera to question him on what he said about her, express her fondness in her eyes for him as he falls deep into the Ghats below. I would have lauded the climax if Raaghini too fell into the deep ghats along with Beera, then this Ramayan would have definitely been modern.

Mani is a tough taskmaster and he alone has the potential to make Abhishek Bachchan act and emote. I think if Abhi ever owed anybody, other than his father, for his presence in Bollywood, it’s definitely got to be Mani. Aishwarya has done her part well, though she messes in the end with her artificial loud laughter upon reunion with Dev. Habits die hard, is what we realize at that moment. Though Aishwarya dances well, thanks to Shobana’s training, God alone knows from where and how she gained a quintal kilogram.

Vikram scores well and definitely dons the role of a tough and not so good cop flawlessly. Mangal and Hariya, brothers of Beera (don’t ask me which of them is Kumbakarna/Vibhishana, there is no explicit correlation we can make) do their parts well. Govinda is my favorite in the movie. I was wondering how Mani ever imagined a role for him in his movie given the amusing performances he has provided teaming up with David Dhawan. Must say, Govinda is really good. Priya Mani stands tall and beautiful, very striking in the short role she performs. However, guess she has got branded for getting gang raped in movies, thanks to her stint in Tamil movie Paruthiveeran.

Music and background score mould the movie well. The trek up the Athirapalli falls in closest proximity to gushing water, the plunge into Hogennakal that Abhi takes in the prelude, the climax scenes atop the precarious bridge over Malshej ghats, the stunts in dense jungles where Beera’s men choke the cop vans’ petrol tanks with sugar and steal arms from police ground camps are superb, straightening most audience’s backs. Mani always chooses a contemporary political backdrop to weave the script; here he has chosen Maoist activities, their lawlessness, cops' attempts to curb them, acts of gunning down peaceful, unarmed tribals, raping women in custody etc which we read/hear in media. This movie is a must watch for our Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram, to understand the extent to which tribals are adept with jungles, how skillfully they move around and some flaws in the Indian police system where most times, policemen turn hooligans.

Verdict: Disappointed in that there is no original script, it is a huge letdown but the painful efforts taken by the team in shooting in such harsh conditions needs to be appreciated by a one-time viewing. Spend no more than 100 Rs and refrain from watching in multiplexes if you reside in Bangalore. Liked Mani’s Raavan, it is not as bad as Dil Se, and definitely not a masterpiece like Nayagan/ Kannathil Muthamittal, that’s all I can say.

Oru Maalai

The title of this post in Tamil, translates to – “one evening”.
Oru maalai is a song from the Tamil movie Ghajini. It is sung by Karthik, composed by Harris Jeyaraj and features actors Surya and Asin.
The song is one of my all time favorites, I heard it everyday in the period spanning from Aug – Dec 2007. It serves as a standard for comparison, a metrics for evaluation of other Tamil film compositions.

Oru Maalai's strengths are simple and beautiful lyrics, highly refreshing music, the hearty whistle tune and flawless rendition by Karthik. The song would definitely not have topped the charts had somebody else lent their voice to it. I can vouch for that.

Commuting down Richmond Road one evening, the view of the glowing orange-red sun ahead of me, sinking down the azure sky, set me thinking about this song. It also paved way for some serious circumspection of tamil films that released post Ghajini (2007) , the multitude of songs in them, their failure to grab even a miniscule of my attention. Before Oru maalai, there were favorites at regular intervals, many compositions by Ilayaraja, AR Rahman and Vidyasagar. Despite careful efforts, I would miss listing down many significant songs in the pre Oru Maalai times. But now, I was squeezing my head inside out, striving hard to list down 5-6 of them post Oru Maalai.

Kangal Irandal

A song set in raagam Reethi Gowlai, from the movie Subramaniyapuram struck my head immediately. With interesting and funny visuals, excellent lyrics, great music and perfect playback, it is a simple, soulful number. Reethi Gowlai raagam has an innate potential to attract listeners, it provides a very soothing experience – not to forget – Azhagaana Rakshasiye from Mudhalvan for instance.

Kangal Irandal fares better than the Rahman composition primarily due to its lyrics, fresh voices – Belly Raj and Deepa Mariam, the constant, light hearted rhythm in tandem with video featuring Jai and Swathi. The video is a must watch, Swathi’s secret glances and innocent smiles with Jai’s funny antics to catch her attention - sheer delight to watch.

A little off the tangent, I must say I was taken aback by two things related to this song. As a school child, I was a big fan of James Vasanthan, the SUN TV anchor, his calm and decent demeanour while hosting shows. Though I knew he sang well and composed jingles then, I did not know he could churn out such a wonderful number. His name will be etched forever in Kollywood’s musical history. Hats off to James Vasanthan for such a masterpiece.

Jai, the hero of the movie, performed the role of Vijay’s brother in the movie Bhagavathy. Then, I had dismissed him as some look alike, possibly a relative of Vijay seeking a fervent entry into Kollywood. But Jai neither is a relative of Vijay nor is he insignificant. With some great performances in his kitty, he is not to be dismissed casually.

Munbe Vaa

She can make any song super sweet with her mellifluous voice, she faces no regional/linguistic barriers, she puts in dedicated efforts to pronounce words correctly, she is none other than Shreya Ghoshal. When she sings, my heart melts, particularly in this song, when she utters – “Naan saayum tholl mel veraarum saainthaale thagumaa” in the second paragraph.

A beautiful composition by AR Rahman, Bhoomika and Surya add natural elegance to the song from the movie Jillu nnu Oru Kaadhal. With a wonderful, opening piece, Shreya’s beautiful aalap towards the end and apt support by Naresh Iyer for the male playback, the song weaves an ethereal world, full of romance and poetic imagination.

Here’s something funny, listen to this song on the Real player with View -> Choose Visualization -> Annabelle the sheep. Watch the sheep jump, wink and nod its head to the tunes of the string instruments in the prelude to the song, you will love it.

Hosanna

Refreshing change, fresh in my memory as I write this post, from the recent most release – Vinnai Thandi Varuvayaa, AR Rahman's first creation post Oscar awards in Tamil, eagerly awaited by all and sundry, has not failed to captivate me. Rahman has performed various bold experiments, fusing different styles of music that will tick well with the college, more precisely, the urban youth.

When I heard Hosanna for the first time, a chart buster even before the movie’s release, I figured the movie had something to do with Christianity – Hosanna is a Hebrew term cried aloud in adoration of the almighty, Jesus. True, it turned out to be. The song features Simbu in a never seen before avatar and Trisha, the gorgeous lady clad in sarees, causing men to drool and women to secretly admire and emulate her.

May be it is the way Simbu dances or the way Trisha walks around poignantly with her innocent smile, the way the song is shot in Malta. For me, the song clicked for its opening music and the manner in which Vijay Prakash renders “Yen Idhayam Udaithaai Norungave”. Lyrics expressing pain and happiness, the western ballad, opera style music neatly mingling with techno stuff, a piece of rap by Blaaze, Hosanna rendition by Suzanne, the song is full of surprises and a mélange.

Vijay Prakash transforms seamlessly from the soulful prelude to hip hop part – “Antha neram anthi neram kann parthu kanthal aagi pona neram etho acchhe” and magically exits with a high pitch version of “Yen Idhayam”, we only yearn to hear more of his voice in future, wonder where he remained hidden for all these days.

The violins, string guitars perform a serenade in complete harmony and there are sudden packets of energy with techno variations and intermittent techno-ish “hello”, Rahman alone can handle such a mélange with such comfort.

Kaatrin Mozhi

After 2007, the number of Dappankoothu songs, proportion of trash, slang without reason, confusion in the name of English rap have risen exponentially. Tamil songs have lyrics devoid of meaning.

The much needed breather comes through this song from the movie Mozhi. The lyrical content has immense meaning and complete relevance, the movie is a very sensible subject and provides some brilliant performances by Jyothika, Prithiviraj and Prakash Raj.

Simple music in the song allows one to pay attention to the words that brim with meaning, tabla for percussion makes one tap their feet/nod their head. There are two versions – one sung by Balram and the other by Sujatha, I prefer listening to the former. Balram’s voice is crisp and continuous, expressive and blends with the lyrics better. This is an all time song for all moods, all days and people of all ages.

Kaathal Neruppin, Vizhi Moodi, Un Parvayil

The three songs - Kaathal nerupin from Veyil, Vizhi moodi from Ayan and Un paarvayil from Something Something Unakkum Enakkum have a big factor in common – all are sung by Karthik. If there is a parallel to Midas touch in music, it is Karthik’s voice for sure.

Kaadhal Neruppin has some powerful music by GV Prakash, an added advantage. Vizhi Moodi, is a soft, romantic ballad, apt for a hearty and casual whistle. Un paarvayil has a notably brilliant violin piece before the opening of the second paragraph.

Karthik is a gifted singer and I have a small prayer, may he sing more songs like Oru Maalai and provide me with more options for my play lists.

While making the above choices, I realised that three years is a long time and I had very few new additions in Tamil to my playlists. Songs sung Udit Narayan, songs that feature Dhanush and Simbu (VTV is an exception) with dappankoothu beats are conveniently chucked out. In fact, I hold the rising of Dhanush to stardom, a major reason for failure of Tamil Cinema. Movies overflow with violence, 10-12 songs, all with the crazy dappankoothu beats, more fight sequences and filthy, abusive language which even the most fiery Chennai auto rickshaw fellows will not use; decency quotients have plummeted to bare minimum. The worst team comprises of Dhanush (actor), Selva Raghavan (director) and Yuvan Shankar Raja (music director). For many, they have produced unprecedented box office hits and many would raise a brow in reading the above line. For me, the above is a plain fact. Even if Yuvan struck the right chords to produce an unimaginably massive hit like Thee Pidikka from Arinthum Ariyamalum, I would refrain from listening to it for the obscenity attached.

In conclusion, each song is a big package. Its lyrics, music and instruments used, the playback singers, their voice, expression, pronunciation and clarity; the way the song has been shot - all add to its success, each ingredient holds a substantial place in creating an impression in the listener’s mind. It is high time movie makers realised that viewers appreciate movies even without songs but trying to chip in 10-12 of them without reason makes it an insipid, in fact, repelling experience.

Rock On

The channel, MTV, has been long known for airing preposterous shows brimming with vulgarity. However, Kurkure Desi Beats – MTV Rock ON came as a refreshing change.
A music show where people grouped into bands perform original compositions, compositions blended with a flavor of desipann and predominantly, the typical vocal chord straining, head banging hard rock element.

Though I was not regular in watching the audition sessions, I happened to see the Kolkata auditions episode. I must accept, the place teems with musical talent. Sambit, a drummer and Raahi, a vocalist, caught my attention with their zeal and energy. They got selected and in fact, sailed till the end.

The show had Ram Sampath, a music director, Kailash Kher, a superb singer and Nikhil Chin-up-aa, MTV VJ as judges. I spent months of Aug-Oct 2009, waiting for Sat 7pm, watching this program, loving it for the fact that it did not focus on vocalists alone but gave importance to instrumentalists as well. I genuinely feel that instrumentalists are more gifted than vocalists, they understand the most subtle nuances of music which are easily forgotten or overlooked by vocalists. Ironically, it is also true that they get lesser recognition and credit.

This show on MTV turned out to be my favorite for 3 reasons –
1) I loved music
2) It did not carry the conventional ingredients of a MTV show – cat fights, drama in name of road adventure, verbal abuse, churlish quotient etc
3) It had adults as participants. Not young, schoolchildren who left behind their bags/books, spent all time in the studio recording/singing only to get dejected and utterly lost on the day of elimination. To make it more traumatic, the child’s parents sob, whine, sulk and fight, creating a picture of irreversible damage to the child’s career and life.

The participants from auditions were put through multiple rounds of elimination, usually attended by a guest, an external judge apart from the usual three. Their inputs were valuable but also surprised me at times; they excused many a mistake from some but showed the door to few who went wrong just once.

Out of the eliminated participants, I loved Parul, a vocalist. She rendered the remix version of the Hindi film song, Soni de Nakhre very beautifully. Mr.Mari, a saxophone player, though not versatile in tunes and style, his age (60+) and passion to play alongside people in 20s undoubtedly deserved accolades. Agnithra, a tabla player, Keshav, a guitarist and Jared, a guitarist (though not a vocalist, he rendered a superb version of “Genda Phool” in baritone voice) are other names I will remember.


Decisions marking exit for some came very late, as in case of Geetharthi, Abhinanda, Anish and Bikram, all are vocalists. They had the clear advantage over instrumentalists, after all a band requires some one to sing and take centre stage. This gave them the edge, even when they lacked potential, over instrumentalists for whom a single error cost heftily, the toughest competition reigning in the guitarist’s category.

The BEST survived and formed three bands.
Dhairya – comprised of Iman Sen, a vocalist from Kolkata, perfect playback singer material, great voice with immense depth, who put his heart and soul to every song he sang. His clarity, seamless transitions between notes, passionate and zero inhibition performances were a treat. I would love to see his name on the Bollywood playback charts some day.
Then there is Aviv, on guitar, highly talented leader of the band, Collins, the rapper, bringing hip-hop flavor to the song, a total enthu guy, Akashdeep, truly talented bass guitarist, Parth on flute (a very disciplined and down to earth performer, highly gifted musician) and Yadhu Nandan on drums adding life and vital beats to the song.
Iman and Parth, in my opinion, were always flawless and rocked every episode.

Khilaugh – This band is a precious gem, a star-studded collage. All members of this band are my favorites. Each member is a king and together, they ROCK on stage. They are very adorable, devoid of ego, and full of a unique sense of friendliness. They might not have bagged the first place in the competition but I am sure they will walk away with bigger and better laurels some day if they continued to perform together.

The leader is the “Raakshas Gaayak”, sobriquet provided by Kailash Kher to Raahi for his orotund voice. He always ensured that you banged your head, tapped your feet, clapped your hands and enjoyed his song as much as he did. He would tear his vocal chords apart with a never say die attitude. Sambit, on drums shared equal fervor.
Kaushik, Ashok and Pratyush on guitar, though relatively soft natured people, stole hearts with their fingers playing meticulously over the strings. They were the magicians of the band. Of all guitarists in the finale, Pratyush, Kaushik and Ashok were my hot favorites. They wore sweet smile on their faces when they crafted their parts in complete sync and perfect harmony with the others; there was never a clash between the three guitarists of the band. Then there is DJ Saab with an element of style, revolutionizing modern day music with his turntable. With whack, whacky turns on the turntable, he created sounds that provided a never heard before funky quotient. They were unbeatably the best in every sense. “Jugni”, a song performed by Raahi in one of the elimination rounds is a superb piece to watch.

Saadhak – The winner of the competition comprised of very talented musicians. With Nirdosh, the guitarist on the forefront, there was no looking back for this band from start. Nirdosh was way above his peers and no novice to music, his desipann and musical acumen conquered his tunes. Indigenous elements were mixed boldly by Naitik on percussion (the dhol). Tanmoy, on drums, left no stone unturned. Sachin, the violinist, a prodigy, ensured that the music delivered was always of A1 grade. Raj, the KILLER bass player let his hair loose and played with immense fervor, getting deep down to intrinsic notes of the song, leaving his stamp of perfection on each one of them. Willy, though not talented as other vocalists - Iman or Raahi, mingled well with the masters in his band.

The problem with this band was copious ego among its members – Nirdosh, Naitik and Sachin were too excessively talented to shed their differences and come together. Sachin, especially, as the sole violinist in the contest threw tantrums and worked to dominate the centre stage. The differences between them were so huge at times that they expressed dissent openly in recording studio before Ram.

For this flaw, I feel they should not have won the title in the grand finale. Music is the primary element in judgment, but being happy and natural, playing as a band also matters, when on stage in front of an audience. After all, when music is the primary element, discord between people who render it sounds absurd. Members of Saadhak never seemed to complement each other, rather they appeared juxtaposed with one another, bundled together to achieve a dream. However, taking their creations, “Bulle Shah” and “Billo Aunty” of two varied genres– the former being Sufi and the latter, a happy go lucky, naughty song, as instances will reveal why they grabbed the big pie.

To know more about these bands, to download their compositions, one can check - http://rockon.mtvindia.com/
Read more: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloids/rocking-trio-727

Silk Route to Bollywood

“Dooba Dooba Rahta Hoon Aankhon mein teri”… were the lines Mohit Chauhan sang in a soft, sleepy, romantic voice, for his debut album "Boondhein" as a lead singer of the band Silk Route. The band did a couple of albums before dissolution. People then, were not much bothered about Mohit’s individual identity.

Years later, came the song "Tum Se Hi" from the movie Jab we Met. A boffo at the box office, crafted and enacted to perfection, the movie's music smashed top charts and Mohit rode on the success vehicle with the rest of the team. “Who sang Tum se Hi?” “Very beautifully sung in a soothing voice, the singer has sung it with his heart and soul”. Compliments poured in and it came to the forefront that Mohit Chauhan was no novice to the industry, he had already rendered "Khoon Chala" of Rang de Basanti fame.

In film playback industry which is a frenzied melee, millions of singers, professionally trained and non trained, from different age groups, backgrounds, regions/mother tongue - fight for a bigger piece of pie. Making heads turn, winning critical and popular acclaim is a Herculean task. Mohit Chauhan did just that by singing “Masakali” in Delhi 6 movie, a song, I must say, Rahman would have felt proud composing. There are some special, never-heard-before elements of music in it. As Mohit starts humming ... "Hey he heey hey hey nana nnaanana naa", one sails seamlessly with the melody.

The recent movie Love Aaj Kal turned out to be a huge disappointment in all aspects - story, cast, direction and screenplay. It did not live up to the standards of an auteur like Imtiaz Ali. The only vantage point in it was the song “Yeh Dooriyan” sung by Mohit. The song scored a perfect ten for its soulful lyrics and flawless rendition.

Mohit did not fail to deliver again! With his latest romantic ballad “Pehli Baar Mohabbat ki Hai” in movie Kaminey, he is definitely making people sway to his mellifluous voice. 

The launch pad for success is in place for this talented singer. He may only possess countable songs in his kitty but each song has received phenomenal recognition from audience. Mohit’s journey from Silk Route to Bollywood has been a commendable one, but if it was smooth like silk is a question, he alone can answer. After all, fame cannot be earned easily. A free lunch is only found in mousetraps.

With Rahman, there is so much to hear!

AR Rahman, has undoubtedly heralded a new era in music. There is so much to hear, with him composing tunes, blended to perfection with right proportions of Indian and Western styles, the resultant amalgam compounded with Sufi and Arabic elements, making a potpourri that has won many hearts all over the world. Recent string of movies – Ghajini, Delhi6, Slumdog Millionaire stand as an unshakeable proof for the above fact with the latter winning him an unprecedented international acclamation, one that Rahman deserves in every way for his meticulous creations starting from music for movie Roja or may be even earlier , from many TV commercials/advertisements that carry his background score.

Every time, Rahman has impelled forward some new talent through his creations. Hariharan, who primarily rendered ghazals until movie Roja, won audience’s hearts through song "Tamizha Tamizha". Thereafter, he has only risen to the status of an eminent playback singer in many languages. Harini, found her entry into Tamil industry with a soothing, child-like rendition of the song “Nila kaigirathu” in the movie Indira. The Bombay theme leaves us in silence even today, in serious contemplation on where we are heading in a sphere of violence that engulfs us. Suresh Peters, Febi, Minmini, Shahul Hameed are all names we saw on cassette covers of movies like Thiruda Thiruda, Gentleman, Roja, Bombay, names if not for AR Rahman, would have got lost without recognition in the indomitable arena of SPB, Mano, Chitra, Sujatha and Janaki of those times. Songs like Veerapandi Kotayille, Kannum Kannum from Thiruda Thiruda, Chikku Pooku Railey, Ottagatha Kattikko from Gentleman are enjoyed by many even today as one reminisces how he/she danced/swayed to these tunes in younger days.

Not to forget Urvasi Urvasi from Kaadhalan and the super melodious number – Ennavale from the same movie that fetched its singer, Unni Krishnan a national award in his first attempt. He later shone brightly with numbers like “Thenmerkku paruva kaatru” from Karuthamma and “Uyirumm Neeye” from Pavithra making a perfect team with AR Rahman. What will one call a combination of Superstar Rajinikanth and super musician AR Rahman? Terrific, Spectacular – well, it truly's that! Not much is required to justify this. Just listen to the opening piece of song “Oruvan Oruvan Muthalalee” from movie Muthu, it will pump additional joules of energy in you. Udit Narayan arrived in Tamil industry with his funny, yet adorable Tamil pronounciations in "Kuluvaalilley" song.

While new names did taste success under aegis of Rahman, the masters – SPB, Mano, Chitra and Sujatha remained unconquerable with their renditions in Roja (Kaadhal Rojave, Puthu Vellai Mazhai), Puthiya Mugam (Netru Illatha Maatram), Duet (Anjali Anjali), May Maatham (Minnaley), Bombay (Kannalaney, Uyire Uyire) and in fact, many more. Be it bringing forth Kadri Gopinath’s Saxophone, largely in Duet movie, moulding Carnatic talent Bombay Jayshree (Narumugaye, Iruvar) and Nityashree (Kannodu Kaanbethellam,Jeans) into cine music, adding fresh voices - KayKay (Strawberry Kanney, Minsaara Kannavu), Saadhana Sargam (Vennilave, Minsaara Kannavu) into Tamil music from up North; bold, experimental moves from Rahman have only won him bountiful fans and limitless appreciation.

The period also saw him foray into Bollywood with movie Rangeela that won him a Film Fare award straightaway. Accolades in Bollywood for Rahman were inevitable as his music reached listener’s ears through melodious voices of Alka Yagnik, Kavitha Krishnamurthy; not to miss that of legends like Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar, coupled at times with beautiful lyrics penned by Gulzar. I am sure many of us cherish songs of Dil Se, not just for its music but also for Gulzar’s poetic streaks running all through. Worth mentioning are songs “Tu hi tu, satrangi re” in which Sonu Nigam draws us close to Mirza Ghalib times with his deep, mesmerizing voice and “Chaiyya Chaiyya” where Sukhwinder Singh, virtually offers the listener a journey on the train, chugging through tunnels, leaving behind deep valleys.

While Bollywood prospered with Rahman’s tunes in Rangeela, Dil Se, Taal, Pukar, Takshak and Zubeidaa, Tamil movies like Indian, Minsaara Kannavu, Mr.Romeo, Mudhalvan, Iruvar, Rakshagan and Padayappa placed AR Rahman on the throne that none could supersede.

A good number of movies bore the jewel of Rahman’s music. His music drew crowds to theatres even if the film was devoid of a good script and good looking faces. The maestro treaded on the path to more glory and fame without a halt, his attempts were not lackadaisical at all. Born out of his enduring passion were Alaipayuthey, Kandukondain Kandukondain and Lagaan from which to pick one hot favourite would be an act of grave injustice. The Kannathil Muthamittal title song rendered by Chinmayee, am sure, brings tears in eyes of every parent who dotes on his/her child. Singers like Suresh Menon, Srinivas and Karthik showcased their talent and routed the maestro’s creations with an algorithm - shortest path first to our hearts and heads.

The journey through a masterpiece like Lagaan, “Yaarkai Thiree (Fanaa in Hindi) of movie Aaiyautha Ezhuthu /Yuva, Chinnama Chilakamma of Meenaxi and awe-inspiring “Yeh jo des hai tera” of Swades affirmed Rahman’s regime in Bollywood. From here on, until today, Rahman has kept involvement in Tamil Films to a bare minimum. He plunged to greater depths in Hindi film music through movie Rang de Basanti followed by a better and bigger superhit - Guru. While Naresh Iyer, a new singer, came to limelight with magical “Roobaaroo” and naughty “Khalbali” in Rang de Basanti, Rahman reigned as the supremo, in composing music and delivering it directly to the audience’s ears through “Tere Bina” of Guru. Then, there was Jodhaa Akbar; Ashutosh Gowariker was keen on completing his hat trick with AR Rahman, with Lagaan and Swades being the other two joint ventures.

One could always see AR Rahman seriously involved in songs that paid respect to the Almighty – be it "Piya Haji Ali" of Fiza or "Khwaja mere Khwaja" of Jodhaa Akbar. The message of lending a helping hand to the needy through “Pray for me Brother” was solemnly conveyed. The song Vande mataram rendered by Rahman has always invoked in us, spurts of patriotic spirit and a sense of utmost pride and respect for our nation.

AR Rahman's reign continues, it will forever, for on receiving the most sought after honor of an Oscar, that always appeared a near impossibility to an Indian, Rahman said he chose love over hatred. His undying love for music has instilled in us an unquenchable thirst for quality music. If recent hits from Jaane Tu are not enough, there are songs from Yuvraaj, Ghajini, Delhi 6 and Slumdog Millionaire that follow it.

“Hai Guzarish” of Ghajini, “Masakalli” of Delhi 6, “Jai ho & O saaya” of Slumdog may compel us to conclude that this is Rahman’s best ever, but WAIT - much more is lined up! After all, with AR Rahman, there is always so much to hear.

Hats off to Indian Audience

Rave reviews, extravagant figures stating box office collections, Baadshah of Bollywood-the “six pack” Shah Rukh’s exalted status, all this and much more than all this – “ long time, not seen a movie…” syndrome got me to watch Om Shanthi Om in one of the premium theatres in Bangalore for a hefty cost.

In less than an hour, I started moving restlessly in my seat, seriously contemplating, if OSO was a movie or a lengthy spoof.

The first half has all necessary ingredients to be termed an ideal Bollywood movie in itself – high quotients of emotion from an over sentimental MOM, an unspoken and unconditional love for a damsel from an ordinary, yet super good-at-heart guy who is ready to jump into fire a zillion times to save her. We have another good guy, a supportive, true friend of Shah Rukh, Shreyas Talpade. After a flawless performance in a challenging role in the movie Iqbal, he has been utterly wasted in this movie. That’s the first half in brief studded with mockery of most actors/movies of the 70s, not even sparing the favorite of down south, Tamil Superstar, Rajinikanth. I must say that the attempts to imitate him have come out pretty well, the 5 minute sequence leaves you in ripples of laughter.

Here are the most awaited details of the villain – Arjun Rampal. Hail all those scenes with Deepika and him on screen! They look too good together, both are tall, athletic, trim and quite magnetic – where on the contrary with Shah Rukh, poor Deepika manages most scenes bare foot and with a deliberate hump to give a tall boost to her co-star.

Well, that was a deviation. All that concerns us is that Arjun Rampal is the bad guy who kills Deepika mercilessly after fiendishly trapping her in love for mercenery benefits. He also squashes Shah Rukh’s dreams and his efforts to save her. The good guy loses his life, witnessing his dear one’s end in vain. The movie does not end there as the hero firmly believes that “Everything in life ends well, must end well !”

So the Phoenix rises in the second half, new Shah Rukh is born, now in an affluent family. He combats his current identity in an attempt to unravel his past and wreaks vengeance for the bloody death of his lady love. All that happens thereafter in the movie paves way for punishing the wrong doer and avenging the death of the innocent one.

The second half in a nutshell is about how Shah Rukh with the help of natural and supernatural forces accomplishes this task. You will have no doubts about how multiple events lead to this happy climax as the director has left no stone unturned and no question unanswered.

The only question that remains unanswered : "Is this 3 hour long spoof worth all the hype revolving around it?” I accept that one must shed all logic and reasoning while watching most Bollywood movies , but watching Om Shanthi Om requires much more than this.
It really is an ordeal!
Bottom line – against all reviews that state OSO, an wholesome and promising entertainer, here is my perspective – OSO is nothing more than a THREADBARE entertainer.

Just when you thought , gone are the days of running around trees and running behind somebody else’s girl for Shah Rukh, just as you felt immensely satisfied with Shah Rukh’s swashbuckling performance in Chak De; he lets you down big time with OSO proving he likes to and has to run around trees, fall head over heels in love for someone else’s girl.

And hats off to Indian audience with an insatiable appetite for such meaningless movies who strive to see him this way, in movies after movies, expecting no less and no more.

That would be one Great Compliment :)

A Beautiful Mind – that’s a book I grabbed some time last year not really knowing it would serve some excellent reading. A book written by Sylvia Nasar, on the life of a Nobel Prize winning Economist and Mathematician, John Forbes Nash, "A Beautiful Mind" describes the professor's childhood years, episodes of college days at the Princeton and MIT, his battling a mental disorder by the name schizophrenia and emerging a winner, a winner of Nobel Prize in the year 1994.

The book,undeniably, is some good material for yielding motivation and provides great insight into how consistent personal efforts and undying support from near and dear ones can be effective in overcoming any disorder, whatever be the degree of severity.

The better part comes in now – in that I happened to watch the movie, loosely based on this novel and by the same name recently. The movie has Russell Crowe playing the lead role and was released in the year 2001. The movie has some exemplary performance by Russell Crowe, our own Gladiator :) , one of my favourite actors.

Right from the start, every scene of the movie was studded with commendable performance by Russell Crowe, his days at Princeton as a very reclusive,“Better with Numbers” kind of a guy to the days when he serves for the Department of Defense – hallucinating all the time and paranoid, his erratic conduct and the multiple schizophrenic episodes he tries to battle, his self-sequestered way of life when he gets back to teaching after the illness, backed by a personal drive and an unceasing support from his wife and some close friends, thereafter, the mettle to achieve greatness - WOW !! its just a treat to watch such multifaceted performance, all in just one movie.
There is a scene where some students come and place a pen in front of Prof.John Nash (Russell Crowe) as a mark of respect – AWESOME is the word for it or you get me a better adjective !

Well, that’s not the end – there’s more to the movie… that’s when the Professor is announced a recipient of the prestigious Nobel Prize in Economics for his outstanding work on Game Theory.
All eyes on Russell Crowe when he climbs on to the dais to deliver his speech and you are rendered speechless.

Here are the words – simple yet as beautiful as words can get.

I have always believed in numbers, in equations & logic that lead to reason. After a lifetime of pursuit, I asked “What truly is logic and who decides it reasons?”. My quest has taken me to physical, metaphysical ,delusional and back and I have made the most important discovery of my career , the most important discovery of my life. Its Only in mysterious equations of love that logical reasons can be found. I hit it only because of you, You are the reason I am. You are all my reasons.Thank you.

And you see the Professor's wife shedding a secret tear with a radiant smile on her face - the audience in standing ovation.WOW !!
I am not sure if the professor in real life said these words when he was on the podium receiving the honours but those clips in the movie,I must say, are worth watching, any number of times.

That night, I dreamt of my husband (I am not married as yet but I guess you have all liberty to dream futuristically ;)) winning an award – not necessarily a Nobel Prize … but some award, some big honour and delivering a speech along similar lines.
And I stand upright with pride, all priase for him with thick glasses and grey hair and yes , of course, with secret tears in my eyes.

It sometimes means a bigger honour and invokes a greater sense of pride to stand by a person you love and respect , at all times, against all ordeals and see him/her reap success and achieve a sense of greatness from that. It is more remarkable an achievement than you being out there on the dais yourself.
And lines like those stated above, will make the world’s best appreciation , an endorsement, one of its kind, the only one. For all the support and love extended, the above would be ONE GREAT COMPLIMENT!!