TOscars 2009

This is a Desi Tamil version of the Academy awards :)

The movies are based on what I have seen and felt. There might be a few more worthy contenders left out. If there are any, kindly post a comment.

Here are the nominees for the various categories. Winners will be announced on the first day of the New Year!!

(Winners listed at the end of post)

The categories are simple: Best movie, Best Actor (Male), Best Actress (Female) and Best Album (Music Director). More categories might be added in the future :)

So, here goes the list *Drum Roll*

Best Movie 2009 Nominees

• Naan Kadavul by Bala

This movie deserved every bit of its nomination for the director's bold effort in handling a subject that many would not even dared to think about. He was ably supported by an excellent cast including the lead pair Arya and Pooja who made the movie complete.

• Yavarum Nalam by Vikram Kumar

A nice horror/thriller in Tamil after a very long time. Many have made an effort in the recent few years but only in vain. It had all the components to provide a nice thrill and kept us on the edge of the seats all the way.

• Naadodigal by Samuthirakani

One of those films which went on to prove that block busters don't really mean huge production costs. In a year where films like Kandhaswamy which largely relied on the huge budget/hype and star cast failed to make a mark, few films like this showed that as long as the story is fine, people welcome a movie with both hands.

• Eeram by Arivazhagan

Another not-so-big-budget films and a nice thriller like Yaavarum Nalam. It was visually appeasing and the cast was very good. Virtually unknown actor Aadhi (earlier starred in Mirugam) made a mark for himself with his performance. And ofcourse Sindhu Menon came up with one the best performance from a female actor this year.

• Unnaipol Oruvan by Chakri Toleti

This one movie I had to think a lot before including it for the nominations. It was not an original screenplay. It was a remake of the Hindi version 'A Wednesday'. But it was not a remake that spoiled the original even though you could not say that this was better than the original. The 2 veterans in the lead made sure they carried the movie on their shoulders.

A special mention has to be made for few more splendid efforts. Pasanga by Pandiraj, Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu by Susindran and Renigunta by Paneerselvam won the favour of the critics and did well at the box office too. Hope there would be more such honest efforts in 2010.

Best Actor 2009 Nominees

• Arya for Naan Kadavul
• Kamal Haasan for Unnaipol Oruvan
• Sasi Kumar for Nadodigal
• Aadhi for Eeram

Best Actress Nominees

• Pooja for Naan Kadavul
• Sindhu Menon for Eeram
• Tamanna for Kandean Kadhalai
• Abhinaya for Naadodigal
• Padma Priya for Pokkisham

Best Album (Music Director)

• Harris Jeyaraj for Aadhavan, Ayan
• Devi Sri Prasad for Kandhaswamy, Villu
• Yuvan Shankar Raja for Sarvam, Vaamanan
• Vijay Antony for Nenaithaley Inikum, Vettaikaran, TN07-AL-4777

*** The winners ***

Best Movie

Naadodigal

Best Actor

Aadhi (Eeram)

Best Actress

Pooja (Naan Kadavul)

Best Musician

Harris Jeyaraj

The day I was blessed

The magician and his wand

Bless my holy angel! Was i really watching this!? I jus CAN NOT BELIEVE!! I felt like I was blessed 175 times today! Its an innings of a life time and something which u can very proudly say to ur kids n grand children that "I was alive when that happened and I watched it live!!"
And for this first time in my life i shud say n am guilty to accept that today something was more important for me than India winning. I was madly hoping that he wud cross 194 n reach whr any ODI player has never been, the magic 200. However it was dreadful that it could not be a fairy tale ending and had to end that way..
Most of us have read about One man show, single man army n all those stuff where an individual brilliance overshadows anything n everything that happened that day. This was that day and Sachin was the man. The Man of the match award for a man from the losing side stands as a little testimony.
Am damn excited and emotions are running high. Penning them all down is a pretty tough ask. I wud have written a blog for every shot he played today, that wud have been lot easier. It had his class written all over, again n again.

I guess am sounding a little lunatic. So, I wud better take a break here n go back to enjoying one of the finest moments in the history of Indian cricket.

The answer was pretty obvious when he was asked post-match as what keeps motivating him all these years. "I care about playing for India, it's a passion and I have been absoloutely honoured to play for India so long" This is why we love u!

I cant imagine hw things wud b, once this guy retires!! I just cant digest that it might happen some day.. Sachin, Do u really need to retire!? U jus keep playing till eternity. Hope the God gives him a long life and in someway an ability to play till his very very end for the simplest of reason that the law of aging just doesn't apply for this man.

- A Sachin Fanatic

ICC Awards 2009

Its that part of the year when the Cricket players are honored. And they have something to brag about officially!! This year the awards had a very good Indian presence. Hope it gets better with years :)


ICC World Player of the Year - Mitchell Johnson [Australia]

Test Player of the Year – Gautham Gambir [India]

ODI Player of the Year – MS Dhoni [India]

Twenty20 International Performance of the Year - Tillakaratne Dilshan [Sri Lanka]

Emerging Player of the Year - Peter Siddle [Australia]

Spirit of Cricket - New Zealand

Umpire of the Year – Aleem Dar [Pakistan]

World Test Team of the Year – Led by Dhoni [India]

Gautam Gambhir (India), Andrew Strauss (England), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka), Michael Clarke (Australia), MS Dhoni (India, capt & wk), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Mitchell Johnson (Australia), Stuart Broad (England), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Harbhajan Singh (India, 12th man)



World ODI team – Led by Dhoni [India]

Virender Sehwag (Ind), Chris Gayle (WI), Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL), Yuvraj Singh (Ind), Martin Guptill (NZ), MS Dhoni (Ind, captain, WK), Andrew Flintoff (Eng), Nuwan Kulasekara (SL), Ajantha Mendis (SL), Umar Gul (Pak), 12th man: Thilan Thushara (SL)

Women's Player of the Year - Clare Taylor [England]

Associate Player of the Year - Will Porterfield [Ireland]

Thanks Cricinfo, from where the content was heavily borrowed :)

Up in flames

It was just another day at office and I was on the worst part of my day 'Traveling in my office bus back home'. Its a real torture traveling in Indian roads in the evenings, where the traffic is at peak and the climate being no less mean ..phew!! hot n sultry.

This day, it was a particularly long travel. The travel seemed to be smooth until Ottery. There was an intermittent rain here n there. Our bus has to take a big diversion these days, thanks to the never-ending Perambur fly-over construction. We have to go through the Vyasarpadi Jeeva junction and get back into Perambur. The under-bridge (if u can call it so, the one that goes below a railway track) usually messes up traffic. It's always a lot crowded there. But today the buses were really inching their way towards the Vyasarpadi area. There were huge crowds everywhere, lot of traffic diversions and people in khaki were in action too. We had no clue as whats happening, and we thought it was just another traffic jam of some kind. It took around 20-30 mins to cover a half a km stretch. Only when the bus neared the slum area we could sense the smell of smoke. A little further down the road, I was really shocked to see what I was really seeing. What had been a huge slum area with so many huts and small houses, was now literally a piece of land covered in black ash and thick smoke. It was a horrible sight for anyone to see their belongings going up in smoke. It must have been very difficult to those people. Almost all of them have been rendered homeless. To make it worse, it started raining again and people had nowhere to go. There were a lot of babies crying their hearts out, kids clinging onto  their moms and women desperately searching for their husbands and most of the people around with the local police trying to help each other.

I was just sitting in the bus not knowing what to do, and with an even worse feeling that afterall I can't do anything. At times I feel that God might have been a little rude. If everything happens for good, what good can this incident lead to? Only time can answer. I consoled myself saying that everything happens for a reason. And back home, I googled about the incident next day and found that nearly 40 huts had been gutted and around Rs 2 lakhs worth property has been destroyed. But, luckily there has been no casualities.
Seems like the fire broke out around 1.30 pm in Kalyanapuram near Vyasarpadi police station and soon engulfed about 40 hutments in the area. Seven fire engines from nearby stations were deployed immediately and the damage has been reduced to the least. But the people who saw it had a different story to tell. They complained that the fire engines took 45 minutes to arrive. By that time, everything was reduced to ashes. And as always, the police denied the charges. God only knows what happened.

As the old cliché goes, prevention is better than cure. The Government shoud start taking serious steps to avoid similar incidents. Am not sure whether the

[caption id="attachment_386" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Firemen trying to douse the fire"][/caption]

entire slum was a legal one, with proper precautions taken. I have heard of people renting the concrete houses provided for them by the Government and preferring to stay back in the slums. A task force has to be created to make sure that all people stay in their rightful homes.
There was a similar incident in Vysarpadi around 6 years back. People never learn from their mistakes :(
This time it was just a damage to properties which can be recovered, but what if its gonna be loss of lives next time! Food for some thought!

Foto Tag

No one has tagged me so far! So am gonna surutify a tag from one of my fellow bloggers
This one was interesting. The Flickr photo tag!

Here goes the rules

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into FlickrSearch.
2. Using only the first page, pick an image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.



1. What is your first name?
Ram Mohan

2. What is your favorite food? Right now?
Idly

3. What high school did you go to?
Montford Matric

4. What is your favorite color?
Black

5. Who is/was your celebrity crush?
Simran ;)

6. Favorite drink?
coffee

7. Dream vacation?
Australia

8. Favorite dessert?
Basundhi :P

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A media personality 8)

10. What do you love most in life?
Family

11. One Word to describe you.
Nallavan :D

12. Your flickr name.
Sankris Ram

Btw, I found a definition for Basundhi - Sweet fig in cardamom milk 8)

Photo Credits:


1. Ram Mohan Roy, 2. Idly_sambar_vada, 3. Rochester Cathedral HDR x5, 4. Solitude : Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self., 5. Simran, 6. Cookie splash! v6, 7. 'So what are you doing this Australia Day ?' Eyre Peninsula South Australia, 8. Sweet figs in cardamom milk!, 9. ABC coverage, 10. The Finger Family, 11. Nee Nallavanukku Nallavan, 12. Winter Ram

Time to fantasize

The IPL II comes to an exciting end today. It being a Sunday of underdogs in South Africa, with two retired war horses in Gilly and Jumbo leading their pack to the finals. No one would have expected them to pull this off given they were the wooden spoon holders last time around finishing 8^th and 7^th respectively.

One of the best things about this season’s IPL has been the Fantasy cricket, I have been playing throughout. It was really exciting to take a manager/captain’s role and pick the best 11 for your fantasy team.

So as a finishing touch, here is my hand-picked fantasy team with the best in this season so far.

[caption id="attachment_316" align="aligncenter" width="382" caption="Ram's 11 - My Fantasy team"][/caption]

Icon player [1]

It was a tough choice. Other contenders were Sachin and Dravid, but Yuvi has been good in parts with both bat and the ball, if not consistent. He has scored 346 runs and picked 6 wickets including double whammy of hat-tricks. His bowling and powerful hitting made him edge over Sachin. Dravid has been sort of in and out of the team, so he had an unsettled look. Sorry Viru, VVS and Saurav, better luck next time. But one small change, the icon player doesn't get to be my captain.

Foreign players [4]

Orange capped Haydos and his good old team mate Gilly were automatic choices. Mr. Priest, the walker gets to be my captain for his ability to lead from the front. Bowling slot was sweeped by Malinga given his consistent performance thru out the series. I couldn’t make a quick decision reg the 4^th slot. Should it be a bowler or a batsman? If a batsman then, ABD or Dilshan or Duminy. Else Nannes / Abdulla / Murali. I would love to have Abdulla in my team. This guy was amazing picking 14 wickets in 9 matches. He was unlucky to have Lee back in the side and he automatically fell out of favour. But inorder to maintain a balance, I have to go with a batsmen. And it’s the first centurion of this season ABD.

Indian under-22 [2]

Blore’s Kohli, Chennai’s Tyagi, Deccan’s Rohit n Suman, Delhi’s Sangwan, Punjab’s Sohal n Chawla, Kolkata’s Ishant, Mumbai’s Abishek, Rajasthan’s Kamran Khan n Jadeja have been really impressive and outstanding. I was really happy to see these kids perform well in the big stage, after all, IPL is all about identifying new talents like these. Now coming back to my pick, Rohit Sharma goes straight through. He has even been named the ‘Citi under-23 success of the tournament’. He rightfully deserves it. 2^nd slot was a tough fight between Ishant, Sangwan and Chawla. Sangwan gets picked for his wicket taking ability (He is 8^th in the top 10 wicket takers of this tourney) He bowls good left-arm medium-pace like his idol Wasim Akram.

Indian over-22 [4]

Purple cap holder RP Singh, the underdog and revelation of this season Ashish Nehra (I never expected him to be this successful) and namma Chennai’s very own super king Raina pick themselves up. The only remaining slot had the Pathan brothers from Baroda in a tussle. But, Yusuf lost it to his younger brother Irfan for his exceptional all-round abilities picking 17 wickets at an avg of 22.94 and scoring 196 runs @ a strike rate of 124.05.

All said and done, if there were no restrictions like Icon/Under-22/4 Foreigners etc., then the one below would have been my dream team.. Looks sexy na :)

[caption id="attachment_321" align="aligncenter" width="260" caption="My dream team"][/caption]

Let the games begin

I've lost track of days.. I don realise time flying by around me.. Days go on faster than nights.. I know wt u r thinking rite nw. No no! am not in love, but the Cricket carnival is back with a louder BANG!!

As sad as I am that it isn't played in India this time, am as happy tht it gets to be played at all. SA - the land of Goldmines, natural beauty, wildlife n all the action - gets to set the stage this time around. Hoping to have a cracker of a season. My favorites, namma Chennai Super Kings look better this time around with Haydos available for the whole tourney, the Million dollar baby Andrew, the captain himself on a roll after successfully touring with the Indian team around the world.

The 2008 finalists Super Kings n Raj Royals might start as favourites but I will hold the cards close to my chest. Look out for the Daredevils, MI and a rejuvenated Chargers and Knight Riders. I can't place the Royal Challengers anywhr. But somehw I feel Raj Royals n Punjab r gonna b a let down.
We r already a few days into it.. n there ve been few positives n negatives picked so far

+

• The carnival, big party and the opening ceremony


• English in IPL this time.. we ll get to see wt the kevins and Andrews get to do.


• No more Indians-led-pack. Last time it was all abt Indian war horses, young n old, leading the teams (with the exception of Warny). But this time common sense seems to prevail, with proper captains leading the pack (tho am nt sure if McCullum is better than Dada)


• All the Bollywood glam dolls being part of the franchises. Last time it was only Preity, this time we ve Shilpa, Juhi n Katrina joining her.


• N of course all those Cheer leaders. They really keep the game going :)

-

• ARUN LAL - no offense meant. but its getting really tired to hear him day in n day out during each break.


• One suggestion: Pack Arunlal off to Africa (so that we get to c him very less) n bring Mandira back on studios. I really miss the deadly combo of Charu n Mandira. Not that Mandira is anywhr near 'hot n happening', she looks overdone n old. But anyday she is better than few mokkai mannars. Not to mention the first day when I was really pissed off watching 2 Lal's (Arun n Lal chand rajput) discussing the 1st day's game.. I was like wt the hell!! the perfect way not to start the big games. Btw, all these with due respect to his contribution to cricket. It wud ve been better if he had only stopped thr.


• Big things come with controversies. All those things abt multi-captaincy, Pak players being withdrawn, few aussie players pulling out. Many turned out to be dampeners.


• The strategic time breaks, introduced to reduce the time taken for an innings, as the big-heads feel that more time is wasted to discuss strategies during a match. Tho i feel, this has not helped much, only benefit being to the organizers who ve found more time to sneak in their ads.


• CSK has started on a losing note. They ve lost 2 of thr 3 games!! :( Tho they had fought well, its really sore to be on the losing side. Hoping for brighter days ahead. So Goooo on CSK.. We r always behind u :)

And don miss my fellow IPL blogger Mr. Fake IPL Player, he deftly seems to pack a punch ;)

News and Views

City auto drivers to get lessons in spoken English

This is to showcase Chennai as as tourist-friendly city.

Do they fail to realise what is making autos non-user friendly. First we gotto give them lessons on proper usage of the meter and how to be fair in charging the customers. Even I have been a victim more than once, I was charged Rs.120 for a travel to Teacher's colony in Kolathur (thts less than 7 kms from Perambur). The biggest kodumai is that, they are not even ashamed to demand such illegal (yes, its illegal) prices.
But another news seem to suggest that 43,000 cases have been booked against autos in last 3 months! Really!?!?? o_O

Smoking by mother is the biggest baby killer

Maternal smoking has replaced sleeping on stomach as the biggest factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

This may not be that applicable to Indian moms.. but there shud be an awareness about passive smoking. Smoking alone doesn't kill, even being in the company of a smoker, kills. So all moms out there, stay away from ur 'smoking' hubbies.
I just wanna abolish the cigarattes from this world once n for all. Jus like that .. with the press of a 'Shift+Del' :(

Jaya may get into high-flyers club

AIADMK supremo JJ is reportedly planning to take to the skies on chartered aircraft for campaigns.

Ya.. recession has hit the nation hard. But i suppose it has not for this Re 1 salaried ex-CM of TN. Omg! Me and my big mouth!

Eating choc helps improving maths skills

Now some interesting news. People were found to be doing calculations more quickly and more accurately after they had been given a chocolate drink.

It would have been better had I known this during my school/college days. But, I needn't worry, as a wiproite we never run out of tests and assessments.
But that said, i wonder that if all these were true.. I should 've already been a mini Ramanujam :D

Genetic superkid, 3, moves furniture

This is a superboy who can move furniture at the age of 3.

No he isn't been bitten by a genetically modified spider. This  Michigan kid likely has a condition called myostatin-realted muscle hypertrophy, which means his body has very little fat and enlarged muscle fibres.
So, do we have a real-super hero after all these years!? :)

Made in India, to be sold in South Africa

IPL in SA could take the game to a new level. When SA was playing Aus in the T20 game recently, there were a lot of Indian flags flying around and messages welcoming IPL home.  Its quite evident that SA is getting ready to welcome this unique Indian innovation to their shore.

Ya.. who would  say NO to the Big Money Making Machine. The only few disappointed would be those fans who would have loved to watch these matches live in their home towns. But, its always better that its being played somewhere than not being played at all.

Courtesy: TOI for the news

Aham Brahmasmi

Well.. atlast Bala's most awaited work is out! And I should thank my cousin for getting a ticket at Sathyam in the opening weekend.

An off-beat (yet again), different and a moving work by Bala. I felt that it needs user discretion, as a few scenes though not very explicit, were quite disturbing. By the way, I liked it. I always like people who dare to think different. With Kollywood rolling out so many crappy movies in recent times, this one for sure stands tall.

It had Bala's trademark style written all over it and all the way through. His usual mix of timely comedy and drama were present. I was really surprised that this movie could have had so many lighter moments.

The dark realities of our lives, which we have never bothered to know until now, have been pictured realistically by Bala. The life among 'Agori' Sadhus, the troubled life of blind beggars controlled by the mafia and the lives of mentally-challenged people have been narrated in a way that is new to Tamil cinema.

I have to make a special mention of few outstanding performances. You might be a little shocked to know that Arya's performance was a little over shadowed by the leading lady. Pooja has done herself some good by accepting this role. Surely this movie will be a turning point for both the lead pair.  One of those bold beggar kids with his timely comedy gave us a good laugh more than once. The cast was almost perfect.

Maestro's songs were not really that memorable except a couple. But in general the background score was neat and was really helpful in letting the story flow smoothly. I happen to hear that all those specially-abled people in this movie were actually so and were trained to act in this movie. The only misfit character was probably Arya's dad. He could hardly emote!

Technically rich visuals, splendid re-recording apart from top-notch performances by the artistes makes 'Naan Kadavul' a very memorable one.

All said and done, I bet this movie will not be a darling of the masses, but if you want to watch something that's worth your money, then this might be the best bet.

P.S. Also we got a chance to meet Gautham Menon and Vishal at the movie hall!

Last year at Hollywood - My recco!

Not to be missed

Vantage Point - More | Trailer

8 Strangers. 8 Points of View. 1 Truth.

The attempted assassination of the American President is told and re-told from several different perspective

Iron Man - More | Trailer

Fully Charged.

When wealthy industrialist Tony Stark is forced to build an armored suit after a life-threatening incident, he ultimately decides to use its technology to fight against evil

Kung Fu Panda - More | Trailer

Prepare for awesomeness.

Po the Panda is the laziest of all the animals in the Valley of Peace, but unwittingly becomes the chosen one when enemies threaten their way of life

WALL•E - More | Trailer

An Adventure Beyond the Ordinar-E.

In the distant future, a small waste collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind

The Dark Knight - More | Trailer

Why So Serious?

Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent are forced to deal with the chaos unleashed by an anarchist mastermind known only as the Joker, as it drives each of them to their limits.

Slumdog Millionaire - More | Trailer

Who Wants to be A Millionaire?

The story of the life of an impoverished Indian teen Jamal Malik, who becomes a contestant on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to be A Millionaire?", wins, and is then suspected of cheating

CJ7 - More | Trailer

It's out of this world.

A poor Chinese laborer learns important lessons after his son gets a strange new toy.

Made a good watch

Cloverfield | Seven Pounds | Quantum of Solace | Bolt | Horton Hears a Who! | Pathology | Doomsday | The Incredible Hulk | Henry Poole Is Here | Wanted | Hellboy II - The Golden Army |
The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian | Ghost Town | Eagle Eye | Passengers | Alien Raiders | Yes man | Body of lies | Changeling

Were just 'ok'

Forbidden Kingdom | Tale of Despereaux | The Eye | The Spiderwick Chronicles | The Ruins | 21 | The Happening | Hancock | Journey To The Center Of The Earth | Tropic Thunder | Pineapple Express | Fly Me To The Moon

Better avoid them

Drillbit Taylor | Superhero Movie | Meet Dave | The Mummy - Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor | Open Season 2