JAWAN : Girl Power + Mind Blowing Action + Emotion = Entertainment Guaranteed

Thanks to SRK and Atlee, this is yet another entertainment filled weekend for the Indian cinema lovers.

The perfect cross of South Indian masala-filled cinema with the aura and charm of a pan-Indian superstar.

If you look at the story, its nothing extra-ordinary. It's a plain old revenge saga with a tinge of vigilantism sprinkled on top.

It has all the tropes of a typical Atlee film such as -

- Sorrow filled back stories of side characters shown in excruciating detail that will squeeze a tear out of you.

- Villain causing the death of the hero's wife.

- Hero fighting for the greater good of the society.

However, what makes this movie really entertaining is the screenplay and action scenes. There are multiple scenes that are whistle-worthy and that give you goosebumps when you watch it in a packed theatre.

There seems to be a trend in Indian cinema post Vikram to give the female characters a lot of action scenes. The 'Agent Tina' scene in Vikram is the genesis for this formula in the last decade at least I believe. Jawan takes that idea further and the whole movie is packed with multiple women performing swift, unbelievable stunts that catch the viewer's attention and imagination.

And boy does Nayanthara look like a 'Queen' with the Badshah on screen. Her eyes are just enough to tell how powerful the character is. I cannot imagine any other actress who could have pulled off this with so much believable authority. It's perhaps because of her other movies like Aramm, Imaika Nodigal, Viswasam that established her image as a strong protagonist that it's so believable in this movie too.

Go and watch this movie for the beautifully choreographed action scenes, SRK's charm, Vijay Sethupathi's menacing portrayal as the antagonist and much more. 

Oh and it also has so many strange call backs to other characters from other movies

- 'The Family Man' mother-daughter is paired in a scene together.

- 'Kaveri amma' call back from Swades

- 'Thangabali' scene from Chennai Express

- I couldn't resist but be amused thinking how Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara were a pair in Naanum Rowdy Thaan and this one is such a stark contrast to that.

If you liked Jailer, you will definitely like this one more.

Jailer : A Blast on the screen #Thalaivar #Nelson

 

I went to watch Jailer for a 3:30 pm show in Bangalore on Sunday. It was a packed theatre and there was a roar that I had never heard for any other Tamil movie in recent times as soon as the "SUPER STAR RAJNI" animation was played. That was just the start of the fun. 

Jailer is a complete entertainer for the majority of the Tamil mass movie fans. 

• It had all the typical "Rajni" high points
• Nelson's brand of dark comedy
• Anirudh's powerful BGM
• A very strong antagonist 
• Mass cameos by stars from other movie industries
• A revenge story
• An absolute twist in the end
• Powerful and visually captivating action scenes
• Memorable supporting characters - namely Dhanraj, Blast Mohan, Dhivya, Jafar.
• No unnecessary song breaks. 

These are just some things I could remember. Overall, the experience of watching a Rajnikanth movie amidst 100s of other Rajni fans who are hooting and whistling for every action scene is something to cherish.

Overall, I would encourage the young people who haven't yet experienced Rajnikanth's aura, should go and watch this movie in the theatres.

Khaane mein kya hai? ft. Sudha Murthy : A feel-good episode with Mrs.Giggles

 I think we should call Sudha Murthy ma'am "Mrs.Giggles". Such a warm and heart-touching smile and laugh. Keeping that aside, this episode of "Khaane mein kya hai" with her is an instant mood lifter. 

Sudha ji completely owned the episode and with not a care in the world was enjoying telling so many interesting food stories. The episode was sprinkled with her brand of witty humour as well for instance when she said "It wasn't love at first sight from my side, but maybe from his side" when quizzed about her love story with Mr. Narayan Murthy. 

The way she enjoyed the meal was a sight to see. The way she tasted each chutney as it was served, explaining each item to the anchor Kunal Vijaykar and completing everything that was served showed the values she upholds. One must not forget that she is a billionaire with a "B" but still she has the heart of the wise and warm grandma next door. 

This episode was a treat to the ears, eyes and the mind alike. Kudos to the team for bringing this to us!

Neeya Naana - Love Marriage and Parents : Oh boy! This one hit the nail on the head

Neeya Naana has been a show I have been following for at least 14 years now. It's uncanny how the topics chosen reflect the events from either my own life or my surroundings. This morning released one such episode titled "Love marriage and Parents". For so many years, I thought it's only me who is going through this situation, but now I get that this is a problem that is happening to a lot more people from my generation. 

This episode dishes out truth-bombs like it's there's no tomorrow. It's such strange times that Indians are going through culturally, as we grapple with so many 'Firsts' as a society. Let me point out some of them and I urge everyone to go and watch this one.

• The transition of parents from being firmly against love marriage to them reluctantly accepting it for their child's happiness to now where they ask their children to go out and find love. I have seen all these 3 generations of parents in my own lifetime of 33 years.
• While I was growing up, I was told I must only focus on my studies and not let me focus quiver in 'any' other direction - This 'any' encompassed co-curricular activities and attention to the opposite sex. They are also not to be blamed, the competition has increased so much that unless we truly focused on our studies and career, it would be hard to escape the middle-class. Every middle class parent wants their child to accomplish much more than them and hence they raised kids with blinders on and focused on their career only. Now that the kids are grown up and successful, the parents want them to start finding partners -- I am not sure how that's done -- All I know is to work. I feel doing anything that doesn't help me get ahead in my work is a waste of time - this includes finding a partner.
• There is also a lot of fear in my generation's mind -- "What if I choose the wrong partner?". This seems to be a result of so many stories of divorce we hear. For girls my generation, our own parents' relationship which is not a partnership of equals, also acts as a deterrent. The thought of having to become someone who serves the husband and his family is not acceptable. Having been raised to be independent people - at least financially, it's mostly a fear of being pulled down by the burden of family expectations if the husband turns out to be unsupportive. So then the thought is to not complicate a smooth life with a relationship and its expectations.
• If there is no fear of getting into a relationship, there is pressure of the expectations of society - this is extremely high in the Indian society. Let me tell you the kind of questions people tend to ask to our parents' who in turn relay some of this pressure to us indirectly: 
• Why is your daughter not married yet?
• Has your kid gone to America for an onsite yet? 
• Did your kid get a promotion this year?
• How much does your kid make per year?
• When are your planning to become a grandparent? Do your kids have any 'good news'?
• How much wealth do your kids's spouse have?
• How much did they spend on the marriage? How much gold did they give the girl?
• Society expects this generation to study well, earn well, find the best life partner, get a car, get a house, have kids, send kids to the best school in town, take care of ageing parents, etc, etc, etc.
• India as a country is ripe with opportunities and this as many people claim is 'the decade of India'. Parents who raised their kids to be competitive obviously will want to make the most of this opportunity. If you raised your child to always be first in class, how will they suddenly learn to take a backseat when it comes to their work and career? They will obviously want to put their heart, soul and energy into something that feels constructive to them. If you trained your kids to be autonomous machines, that is what you will get - What you sow, so shall you reap.

Is it even possible for one human to have the 'best' everything - I think it's not - Not at the same time at least. You either have to compromise with your choice of partner or career or be prepared to face criticism and judgement of the society. There seems not much of any other option to me. So, I chose to face the criticism and have the best career I can have for myself. Though I am not averse to finding a partner, I do not actively go out looking for someone because that just feels against my core wants as soul. 

This episode of Neeya Naana hit all the nerves inside me and triggered me to write this long post. I want to hear what others feel and think about this situation. Let me know in the comments.

Ghost Stories with Hoezaay, Suresh and Cyril : A fun cocktail of humour and horror

"Ey! Zyada Paani Peen mat", "Enchilare?", "Ghostie, ghostie", "panvel aagaya". 

If you haven't heard any of these incredible words, you must go an watch one of the Ghost Stories Live session on Hoezaay's channel.

I started watching these live sessions late 2021. This was a period when all comedians and gamers were doing YT lives in their channels and doing so much cross collaborations. Two years later, the only Live I still follow is this Ghost stories on Hoezaay's channel. He also ran another brilliant live called "Scam Stories" - that was too good as well and enlightening. 

 To be honest, I did not know who Hoezaay or Suresh or Cyril were before that. Fast forward 2 years, I am an absolute fan of this gang. I like them as much as the TISS gang :-D 

Here are my top 5 reasons why I absolutely love watching this live so much:

- The silly humour that Hoezaay, Suresh and Cyril concoct on the fly. The way they deliver rather silly and kiddish jokes makes one chuckle almost instantly.

- The dynamic between the panel and the way they handle the guest who come and tell their stories is just fabulous. You must notice Hoezaay's facial expressions especially when the stories are too ridiculous. Though the story itself might not be great, you will definitely find entertainment in the post story conversation between Hoezaay, Suresh and Cyril.

- Some of the stories that come on the live are really gems. They are few to come by, yet they are worth the wait. My favourite is obviously the Balesh story. 

- A lot of times, the guests bring in their parents to narrate the story and the 50-60 years olds seem to be absolute fans of the stream as well. This live has fans from 15 to 50 and it's absolutely deserved.

- Sometimes, when we wait for a guest to join the live, the stories of the trio's past experience at MTV are also shared and they are just as entertaining.

If you are a fan of ghost stories but feel scared, you must start with this live session. 

Transit Bites : An avid, boy-next-door traveller (Ajay Sudharsan)

 "A crazy travel lovers channel.where u could find all ur travel needs ." That's how Ajay(channel owner and vlogger) describes his channel on Youtube :-)

I totally agree with that description. Transit Bites over the past few months has become a tea-time favourite of my family. My mom, dad and I usually have tea/coffee at 4:30 pm and that's when we binge on Ajay's latest video. It usually starts with my mom asking me "Ajay video vandurcha?" (translates to "Has Ajay's video come yet?") and then its a nice 25 to 30 minutes of relaxing time sipping our hot beverage and enjoying all the places he takes us to digitally.

We follow a lot of other vlogger too, but there is some distinct personal connect we feel with Ajay. Let me tell you what I find refreshing about Ajay -

1. He has no inhibitions - at least that's what it seems to us -- he vlogs in public trains, public buses amidst people that may or may not speak Tamil with absolute confidence. There is no hesitation at all and he says what he feels with a flow that's might be the cause of envy to even the best of public speakers.

2. His choice of words and how he expresses what he feels in a specific situation is very entertaining and gives us a boy-next-door vibe. Specially love his use of "Athadi Atha..." (loosely translates to OMG) -- that has now become a part of my family's vocabulary.

3. While there are a lot of vloggers who take us to exotic and expensive locations on business class and first class tickets, Ajay takes us in public government buses and sleeper coach on trains and stays in hostels most of the time. Him just being him and not having any air about what he is doing is the coolest part of his personality. It's so nice to see young people like him not splurging money and showing off for the heck of it.

There are so many other tiny aspects of his video that are very endearing, but i will let you all go and see that yourself and experience it.

All the very best Ajay and wish you hit a Million subs this year and go all over the world.

Cheers!

Story of Cooper and Butter : A refreshing chat about buying cars

 Ever since I started following Cheeky Vlogs, Youtube has been silently pushing all her other channels. And I am glad to say the least.

I  have also been browsing Cars24 to look for cars and their prices in Bangalore. I have a 5 years old Maruti Celerio X ZXI(o) AMT model that I bought in 2018 and basically I am just contemplating whether I should upgrade to a SUV because, how do I put it decently, doesn't feel so safe on Bangalore's pot-hole filled roads. The amount of head bobs one gets in this car is not even funny.

Anyway, that was a short context but the main thing I want to talk about is this video Subha and Vignesh (remember them from my other post here ) posted 7 months ago that Youtube recommended to me today.

It's a 43 minute long chat/narration that Vignesh and Subha give us about their car upgrade experience. I literally feel like the universe is giving me signs via them now :-) Though video looks long, it's entertaining to someone like me who likes conversations. 

The way they narrated all their stories about hopping car showrooms for test drives, to Vignesh's first car delivery accident with 'Cooper' (yes he names his cars and that's so cool), to the moment when they sat in that Jeep compass in the showroom and looked at each other with a smile, etc, etc, etc.. All the scenes played through my head like a movie - with lots of humour filled moments.

It's also fascinating to see this young couple and the aspirations they have and the determination with which they approach life. They are so confident about attaining all their goals -- slowly, but definitely. That's kind of inspiring too. They bought the Jeep (and called it Butter) for ~34L and are aiming for an upgrade to a German car in next 5 to 7 years (all the best for that V & S).

I have never sat in a Jeep compass, but the way S & V spoke about it, I felt like I must definitely consider Jeep compass for my upgrade - so far, me having the middle class mindset, was considering Brezza/Creta as an upgrade to my Celerio. But this video has inspired me to look at Jeep too - perhaps Jeep should sponsor this vide ;-P

Lastly, V also spoke about that emotional moment when he sold Cooper and related that to a 'Bidaai' scene in a marriage where the girl goes away from her parent's house to her in-laws. I will be prepared when time comes for me to sell my Paprica Orange Celerio!

In any case, all I want to say is today I had fun watching this long chat and I would definitely recommend anyone who understands Tamil - whether or not you are looking for a car upgrade - go and watch this video. Just for fun.

Nikhil Kamath - WTF is Health? : Health and fitness fundas from multi-millionaires

 

This is a fairly new podcast that started earlier this year where Nikhil Kamath hosts a bunch of his friends to talk about topics that are buzzing on the internet. 

The last episode was on "Health" and the best so far in my opinion. This one had very interesting panel - Suniel Shetty (the actor), Nithin Kamath (Zerodha's co-founder) and Mukesh Bansal (serial entrepreneur best known for Myntra and Cure.fit). 

In the podcast, all of the panelists provided their take on health, fitness and their own journeys. This podcast was particularly interesting for me as a listener because it provided a sneak peak into the world of the super rich and super successful multi-millionaires of urban India and how they lead their lives. 

Here are a few interesting thoughts I harvested from this 2 hour long podcast.

1. Sleep, food and exercise are the fundamentals for good health.
2. The panelists all spoke about experimenting with food, supplements, different exercise routines and other habits in their quest to get better at their health journey.
3. There is a very logical, business-like approach that they took to the health. Everything that they did or do - like trying intermittent fasting, quitting drinking, taking supplements, all of it is dictated by risk-reward ratios. 
4. Health is also very personal - though sleep, food and exercise are the fundamentals, the details of they play with these 3 primary factors are all different.
5. There was also a lot of importance given to recovery - from massages to cold plunges to sauna -- all seem to be staples for these folks. This is one topic that is not often discussed and is quite an intriguing topic for me to dig more into.
6. There is also a common habit of experimenting with new ideas when it comes to health and they are constantly learning from how their body responds and what new information comes out from medical research. 
7. Another concept that was new to me was the talk about men's health and how there is hormonal imbalance even in men after a particular age and how it's important to get that checked.

Overall, it was a very informative and insightful podcast that I would recommend everyone to watch and not just listen to. On a side note, the banter between with the Kamath brothers was quite fun to watch and showed the strength of their sibling bond.

Also, a request to Nikhil Kamath to bring in more such interesting panels - add some female panelists, bring sportsmen like Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni (if possible). 

Has it Aged Well? (By IVM Podcast) -- Reliving 80s and 90s kids childhood

 This podcast is a very recent discovery for me - about 2 months old discovery as of today :-D 

As the name of the podcast suggests, this podcast discusses movies from the 90s and 2000s mostly. It's main hosts are Abbas and Urjita and they are super funny. They usually invite another guest who chooses the movie that gets discussed on the podcast. 

I have been addicted to this show mostly because its super funny and all credits to Urjita and Abbas for keeping the show's mood so light. Though its funny, it also discusses a lot of serious issues from the se yester-year movies. The podcast ends with the panel giving their verdict on whether the movie has ages well or not.

Also, shoutout to Urjita - she is the game changer on this podcast and without her and her vivacious and bubbly personality, the podcast would not be the same.

I have watched almost all the episodes and here are my top choices for whoever wants to get a glimpse of the vibe of this super cool podcast. 

To all the Bollywood movie buffs out there, Enjoy!!! 

Cheeky Vlogs - A window to peep into the family life of 90s kids

 

I have been an Abhistu fan for the longest time, ever since I saw the "Double meaning Tamil songs" videos. A year or so ago, Youtube started recommending me "Cheeky Vlogs"  (run by Subha who is  another popular Indian Youtuber and also Abhistu/Vignesh's wife). 

The cheeky vlogs are quite addictive and a provide an extensive look into a modern Indian family of 3 - Subha, Vignesh and their doggo Bigil :-) 

Subha's vlogging style is the perfect blend of confidence and vulnerability. She is modern yet traditional, an independent working woman yet a loving and caring wife.

Watching her vlogs provides a lot of insight about how the people born in the 90s are leading their family units. Here are some of the things that I noticed as a fellow unmarried 90s kid who still lives parents.

- They have a pet to start off with. That seems like a common trend among this generation to have pets before they have kids.

- They have a lot of house plants.

- There is a lot of online shopping of course. There is also a sprinkling of luxury shopping that is new to Indians in general but common among upper middle class in urban cities now a days.

- There are a lot of mini weekend vacations/dates. This is quite a welcome change from our parents' generation.

- Spending time with friends has become as important as spending time with the extended family.

- There is a lot of focus on health - both physical and mental health. 

- There is also a lot of effort and time spent in keeping their house clean and well decorated.

- This generation is entrepreneurial and ambitious. They invest a lot in their career in terms of time, effort and money.

Overall, Cheeky vlogs is a very enjoyable channel - Like a hot chocolate drink on a rainy day :-) 

Por Thozhil : A Gripping story

 

After a very long time, I felt like watching a movie post watching the trailer. I saw the trailer only after noticing that the movie had 9.5 rating on BookMyShow, something that doesn't happen very often. 

The trailer somehow reminded me of this movie Ratsasan and I shutdown the trailer half way through it. Then again after a few hours, the movie lingered on my mind and I decided to go for the movie anyway. I decided to close my eyes if things got gory :-D 

To my pleasant surprise, the movie was quite gripping without much gore. There were some jump scare moments but it was primarily a "catch me if you can" story with lots of twists and turns. There was no scene or character that seemed unnecessary in the movie. 

There was also a lot of witty dialogues and some humour sprinkled throughout that made the movie even more entertaining. Shout out to Ashok Selvan for his comic timing. 

Overall, this is a neat movie that I would recommend folks this weekend and repeat again when it is aired on SonyLiv.

Vaathi : Ok Sir, Thank you Sir, Poor execution Sir #Vaathi

 

Vaathi is a movie that makes a commentary on the society and the habits that plague it. Some habits have been there for generations and some have cropped up in recent years. The movie takes a critical look at these and tries to provide some practical solutions. These may seems very obvious and redundant for the people living in cities with access to the internet and working in multi-national companies but it is certainly something that people with less exposure to the outside world will find new.

There are two societal habits that the movie majorly focuses on :

- Untouchability that is practised in many parts of the country on the basis of caste.

- Commercialisation of education - "More money, more education. Less money, less education."

There were some subtle commentaries on how politics and laws are also shaped by commercial aspirations of the business people and politicians and that everything in society is controlled by money.

So, the story talks about this "Vaathi"(teacher) who tries to change the lives of 46 students in a rural village on the Andhra/Tamil Nadu border. 

The story was overall good but there were a lot of things that just seemed off about the technical aspects of the movie that made the experience somewhat underwhelming.

1. Firstly, it seems like a lot of portions were shot in Telugu and dubbed in Tamil. That was very disappointing having sold to the audience as a bilingual. The lip-sync issues especially at the start of the movie were just unacceptable for a movie mounted on a star like Dhanush. 

2. The comedy track in the initial part of the movie involving two other teachers just felt so forced and absolutely unnecessary. They added no value to move the story and felt like we were literally back to the nineties where there used to separate comedy side track in movies. At least those were funny, this was just testing our patience.

3. There were a bunch of logical loop holes that were so obvious - like how does a dark skinned boy suddenly become so fair-skinned once he grows up. If you really wanted to show that twist by hiding the name among two of the 46 students, at least you could have cast actors that matched the skin tones so that it didn't look childish. The other thing that annoyed me was how this boy whose grandfather played a critical role in the success of the 46 students lives, did not know that his grandfather's theatre had now become a big coaching centre. He knew of the "vedio" shop but not about the theatre.

In short, I was disappointed with the execution of the technical team but the story is written with the right intent so ultimately it worked well. However, I wish I had waited for its OTT release instead of going to the theatre.

Pathan : Only for SRK fans

 

There was a time when I used to like watching movies for SRK. After sitting through Pathan yesterday, I can safely say those days are long gone. I went in with really high expectations for some mad fun but was totally disappointed. There were so many things that did not work for me in Pathan unfortunately -

• Very fast paced action which keep moving so fast that my eyes ad brain could not keep up and lost interest very quickly. There should be some time/gap in the stunts so that they can be viewed, savoured and eventually enjoy the scenes.
• Poor VFX which was just distracting. Everyone, including my 63 year old dad could tell that the locations were fake.
• The movie also was perhaps not made for IMAX screen. There were so many scenes where some frames were just so pixalated that it again adversely impacted the whole viewing experience.
• A lack of emotional pull in the movie meant I just couldn't care enough for any of the characters. I couldn't care enough when Rubina betrays Pathan or when Nandini(Dimple kapadia) and her team gets blasted in their lab or when Pathan's teammate is blasted in a car in Dubai. None of that emotion ever translated to me or even my mother who can cry at the drop of a hat for a movie.

Overall, I feel that the bar for action movies has been raised so high by movies like Bahubali, RRR,  Pushpa, Vikram, etc. that it feels like creators of Pathan have just taken the audience for granted with an absolutely dated and below-average movie. Pathan is a movie we would have thoroughly enjoyed perhaps in 2012. It's not for 2023 and certainly not for audience that has been better cinematic universe movies to watch such as Vikram.