The Flow
Sept 8, 8.05 PM EST: I tune into the channel that telecasts US Open Tennis - TSN - to watch my favourite woman tennis player Henin hit it for the title. There's Carole King singing "God bless America." I get a little irritated and switch to the Discovery Channel. I see the twin towers collapsing - it's the documentary 'What really happened inside the twin towers.' I switch back to TSN; she's still singing "God bless America." Yeah, sure!
NRI
Peopal who is leaved motherland is no under standed what CHAK DE INDIA movie is it is. Only peopal who is has DESHPREM and DESHABHIMAN can surestly and sincirestly preys doesing this movie it is. THANK YOU .JAI HIND.Source
INDIANS OUTSIDE INDIA IS NO INDIANS. PEOPALS WHO IS LEAVED INDIA FOR PARSONAL BENEFIT IS NO INDIAN.
N...........NOT
R...........REQUIRED
I...........INDIANS.
Comments
I had once said that the comments section in youtube is what made it so popular in its initial days. There's something that makes people say some of the stupidest things (a lot of my comments included). It wouldn't just be stupid, it would be totally uncalled for. I'll probably say more about it later.
Anyway, the following is one of the typical exchanges you'll find.
Comment: Wow this is awesome!!! what programm do you need 2 make flash animation videos??
Reply: you need flash to make flash animation, noob
Vetti Post - 7
About 'Unnale Unnale:' I stopped watching the movie after some of 'those' scenes in the first 20 minutes. But one of my friends strongly recommended that I watch the whole movie, and I did. It wasn't too bad. The movie got very light towards the end. They stepped back from preaching sitcom clichés for sometime. And the ending is quite light and "new" to Tamil mainstream movies. So while I'm not surprised that this movie did well, I don't feel all that bad either. Actually, I would place it above Mozhi. This junk food's got way less calories and fat than Mozhi.
Even though the direct translation of 'American situations' is irritating on its own, it's a good cultural virus. While it lacks originality as an art form and reinforces age old gender stereotypes (and some new ones for TN) it slowly moulds the collective consciousness of scores of young people--albeit with a good dose of pretentiousness--into normalizing dating, boyfriend-girlfriend relationships and probably sex. It's the kind of movie that Ramadoss cannot protest against yet does exactly what he's supposedly opposed to. It slowly usurps "traditional" values(?) and puts in place a corporatized version of "love and affection." It is unrealistic for most of our social classes, but it will eventually percolate there as well.
If it's unclear as to what I prefer, I would always choose, as much as I hate it, the latter. Given our societal make up, I think the old stereotypes are far too dangerous in comparison with the ones highlighted in the movie.
PS. I know, it's another post based on a movie. This time it got worse: it's extension of a comment.
Discovery
You know why you suck it when you cut your finger and you're bleeding? Because if you don't, the blood drips all over your favourite white shirt and ruins it for good.
idhellam eppudi mudiyudhu?
About my 'Roast of Sivaji', someone has the following to say.
Why don't you look at some of their talents, thoughts, creativity and so. At least they have the talent to fool you, destroy your expectation, your dream... And you publically admit saying that you are a fool and you have been fooled, cheated. Don't you feel ashamed to share them in your podcast. They know how to make you fool but what do you know? Your podcasts show that you can be a fool, joker?Source
Vetti post - 6
For all the hype that surrounded the movie 'Puthiya Vaarpugal' it turned out to be a typical Bharathiraja's pseudo-revolutionary crap. I would have watched about an hour of the movie in all. Gave me a bad headache already. But it does seem like a trend-setter of sorts. The movie themes that dominated most part of the 80s may well have been inspired by this one. The movie hints a rape right from the beginning by building a lecherous 'oor periyavar's character(?). That in itself put me in a very uncomfortable position, because I guessed that a good part of the movie will then be spent on framing someone for the rape. Then it finally happens -- rape, murder and the protagonist is wrongly accused too. But it doesn't end there. It cannot. There is another attempt to rape in the climax. But this time the murder is redemptive (It better be, it's the climax). In between, there's juvenile 'rural romance' and sprinkling of sequences that assert "village mores". Of course, there's also a moral statement made in the end of the movie. I bought the DVD hoping that it will be worthwhile for others apart from if I released it as a torrent. But no. Well, at least now I know what the movie is. Rs. 30 for the DVD is worth that.
Songs: The songs were so bloody popular that I wondered how I missed the movie. May be I saw it in TV when I was too young and slept half way or something.
Aside: There's a long cross-dressed 'karakaatam' sequence which plays for roughly 8 minutes. The way it was played out and the apparent intention were both reminiscent of the one in 'Paruthi Veeran'.
Roast of Sivaji
I saw the movie in a theatre. Was one of the worst 3 hours of my life. (Yes, it was worse than the time I felt like my eyes were gouged and buried in sand--because I had looked directly in welding sparks for too long--and I could feel the sand in my gouged eyes.)
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Note 1: The author of this podcast claims to know everything and is a 'periya vengayam' who does not respect anyone who liked this movie. He's also scared of getting beaten by wimps who leave anonymous comments. So his address will not be revealed here.
Note 2: If you think this podcast is done to attract comments, do yourself a favour and don't leave any. Comments: If I don't like it or feel the need to reply but don't feel like because it's too immature or too smart for me to handle, I'll delete it.
Let me, please
I'm going to Madras after quite sometime, and I can imagine how much I'm going to hate it when I have to sit at home. The only time Madras doesn't suck is when you are out in the streets -- being too busy to notice the hot, moist, sticky thing that's supposed to be air. And it's always been like this. There have been times when I would get off the train in Kaatpadi and turn back to Bangalore because it would get stickier as the train got closer and closer to Madras. It's not "vellakara aatam" or "veli naatu mogam."
So please, let me whine and complain. Let me act it out. Don't call me pretentious for feeling uncomfortable in this damn place.
Sivaji vaayila mannangatti
Download
Sivaji's trailer gave out everything the movie makers were trying to keep in secret for a long time. Of course, it doesn't include the fact that 'Shankar + Rajini = masala trash' was always known - not many would have guessed otherwise. It's just that more people feel shameless enough to openly admit that they are looking forward to watching Rajini's masala than Vijay or Ajith's.
Rajini is almost like religion: anything goes if he does it. Because he's been doing it for a long time, with people's apparent approval. But I, for what it's worth, will say what I feel: It's disgusting, it's irritating and it's high time idiots stopped pretending like he's got an aura. My interest in this movie is just like my interest in religion -- they both follow an inexplicable pattern of idiotic following, almost unquestioned.
Anyway, I saw the trailer and I thought of predicting how the plot is going to unravel. That's what I've done in this podcast (partly). Then there's some Rajini bashing in the end (how about that for a "commercial" podcast?).
Sivaji's trailer gave out everything the movie makers were trying to keep in secret for a long time. Of course, it doesn't include the fact that 'Shankar + Rajini = masala trash' was always known - not many would have guessed otherwise. It's just that more people feel shameless enough to openly admit that they are looking forward to watching Rajini's masala than Vijay or Ajith's.
Rajini is almost like religion: anything goes if he does it. Because he's been doing it for a long time, with people's apparent approval. But I, for what it's worth, will say what I feel: It's disgusting, it's irritating and it's high time idiots stopped pretending like he's got an aura. My interest in this movie is just like my interest in religion -- they both follow an inexplicable pattern of idiotic following, almost unquestioned.
Anyway, I saw the trailer and I thought of predicting how the plot is going to unravel. That's what I've done in this podcast (partly). Then there's some Rajini bashing in the end (how about that for a "commercial" podcast?).
Same side goal
Anchor: We have the CBSE exams topper Divya who scored 493 out of 500 with us. Congratulations Divya, you've got 98.6 percent just 7 short of maxing it up. Not to undermine your stupendous achievement, Divya, but do you think that academic performance is the best way to measure one's intelligence?
Divya: Yeah!
Source
Jingle
TV ads are almost nothing without music - most of them are. But sometimes the jingle is so catchy that it completely blinds the images.
Tamil Media: a reality check
The podcast is quite long (36 minutes), so I'll give a rough outline of what I've spoken about.
3': How we address celebrities in TV (Kamal sir, Rajini sir etc.)
5': Lollu Sabha. A historical moment - Pokkiri's parody - Bakery.
12': "Experts" in TV
15': Nayyandi durbar, Ari Giri assembly
17': Standup comedy in Tamil TV channels (Kalakka povadhu yaaru etc.)
23': Internet's influence on mainstream media
26': Lack of Tamil social commentary in audio-visual formats in the internet.
30': Mainstream hangover in non-mainstream mediums.
34': Interviews in Kumudam.com
Aside: Lollu Sabha issued an apology the week after 'Bakery' was aired. But the sentences were structured in a way that it was obvious that they were being sarcastic about the apology. It's good to see that these people not only have the guts do such parodies but the wit to deal with potentially serious repurcussions.
Caller ID
I: hi, this is suresh. I just got call from this number
other side (OS): oh yeah, I had got a call from your number
I: oh really? this is weird. I never called this number
OS: I know, but it's ok, not a problem
I: there must have been some kind of confusion, I just got home
OS: not a problem, take care
I: you too, bye
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