Hail the KING.! - Vishwanathan Anand

Today, the 11th of May 2010 goes into the History as one of biggest ever achievement by an Indian. Vishwanathan Anand does it again, retaining his World Chess Title for the 4th time.

This time, it was an adventure, a Drama, a story and finally an EPIC.

An Adventure: A Drama

The May 2010 Tornado outbreak, volcanic Ash emissions and poor weather across several american and european countries meant that several flighs were delayed or cancelled. One of those flights for the route "Frankfurt to Sofia" had a ticket reserved for a passenger "Anand Viswanathan " who was travelling for his world Chess Championship.

With his request to postpone the tournament opener by 3 days being rejected, 40 hours of land journey is what Anand had to manage to get there for the opening ceremony of the World Championship.  Anand reached Sofia on 20th April and the opener had to be delayed a day.!

That was an added advantage for Topalov, or so would be for any player when the opponent is not in the best of his health or fitness.

While a 12 hour overnight bus journey puts most of us to dose on a Monday morning in Office (mostly Chennai - Bangalore or Coimbatore - Bangalore travels), imagine the condition of this poor champ..!!

Preparation / The army:

Well.. This is an interesting one.. Ever since IBM's Deep blue machine sent GM Gary Kasparov packing, it was widely regarded that Machines are unbeatable. But our Hero proves that a human cluster can quite easily challenge any machine cluster, afterall,  behind every sucessful machine, there is a human brain..!!

See below a picture :

This is not a scene from any of the action-movies or Sci-fi program like "Captain Vyom" , or "Mr.India" climax scene, or some "Jadoo" movie like "Koi Milgaya", or some terrorist planting a bomb types.

This is a 52 core processor computer cluster. Topalov's team had access to four twelve-core machines and eight eight-core systems all connected into a cluster of 112 processors. And the rumours said that he spent EUR 100,000 to secure this system. 

And he also had the chess programing software Rybka v4 which was not available to anyone at that time, as the Poland Government decided to hold that advanced Chess software until the championship games were over..!

And what did Anand have with him? A human cluster..!!!

The Victorious "Team Anand"

An Epic Battle:

Now starts the battle: 12 games to be played, with each player having 6 games with white and 6 games with black.

Quite the usual start to a tournament with both players securing win, and displaying the fact they are interested in a result game rather than a draw.

Comments, discussions, arguments, debates, suggestions, opinions and blames! all started to progress along with the tournament. But it was the 9th game where it all peaked and went against Anand when he missed a number of winning opportunities, resulting in an unconvincing and undeserving draw that again saw the scores level.

The History:

Then came the history, rather His'story: After two more drawn games, the scores read 5.5-5.5, preparations for the final game was in progress. The floor boys were arranging for the tie-breakers to be played the day after, assuming this too would end in a draw.

STOP THEM..! Anand has WON.. This time, with the black pieces, in 56 moves. He has once again silenced his critics who keep complaining about the age criteria. That is now a common practice - to abuse people that they are ageing and not fit for the sport anymore..

Also to say, some useful tips and support from GM Gary Kasparov and GM Vladimir Kramnik ensured that the computer cluster was easily outplayed by the human brains.

More than winning the title, it is retaining the title that is critical and tougher. That is what you call as  “CLASS” and one who does it as “CHAMPION”.

And for me, what more can I ask for: Being an ardent Chess fan, I managed some technical stuffs whereby I could bring the live transmission of the final match , from my laptop, to my LCD TV.. and on the big screen , watch Topalov surrendering his king to a “King of Chess”..!! Hail the King..! What more do you want me to say ??

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya: Varamaaten.!

It was very apt for me as I set out to watch this movie on Feb 28th, which was a full-moon day..what a co-incidence..!! That incredibly beautiful moon increased my anxiousness to watch the movie.

The plot is the same old grandfather time’s story where a hindu boy loves a christian girl and due to religion & some misunderstandings, they suffer to unite.  Gowtham Menon has offered some twists and turns in this tale to give us VTV. Thats’ all.

Coming to the review:

Introducing "Young Super Star" Silambarasan , who has changed his body language and styles totally and is available as a fresh new "actor"..!  Trisha looks adorable with her saree looks.  (Caution: Keep your wife away when Trisha comes in Saree..!!)  The on-screen chemistry between Trisha and Simbu has worked out very well and the romance factor is well shown with their acting, dialogues & their mannerisms. The costumes selection is also very good.. both of them wear real-life simple costumes.

Ganesh , who is also one of the producers, appears as Simbu’s mentor, as he fills the humor role with some "timing-comedies".

Gowtham Menon’s themes like the dialogue delivery styles, camera angles.. and his romance Mannnerisms , like Surya pumping his chest on seeing Sameera reddy in Vaaranam Aayiram.. is all there.

Songs & background music by AR Rehman rocks. He has once again shown why he is the academy award winner. But somehow, his music does not go in sync with the storyline. Maybe because we have seen more of Gowtham Menon - Harris Jeyaraj combination work out wonders, that, it may take us time to adjust to it..

Cinematography is excellent with beautiful song locations. Manoj’s camera work is brilliant & Antony’s editing is good too.

But, it is the narration and the script movement in the 2nd half where the concerns rise .

All that Gowtham Menon wants to say is that Reality is different from wishes.  What we wish to happen is different from what exactly happens.

The First-half shows us a cute, straight forward love story and the second half just messes it, drags it and spoils it. There are too many songs and they spoil the continuity. Come on Guys, there is no law that a movie should have more than 5 songs.  Seems like, if a movie like 2012 is made in Tamil, the lead pair will go for singing a duet when Newyork is under earthquake.. funny..!!

Though Trisha accepts in the movie that her character is full of fluctuations and indecisiveness, till the end, we are not sure if she really loved Simbu. At times, she hugs and kisses him, and at times, she chases him away saying "there’s nothing between us, its all over"..!!   The title "Jessy oru kelvikuri" would have suited even better.

Throughout the movie, Simbu keeps asking a question.. " there are several girls, why did i love Jessy (Trisha) ? ".. Nobody knows the answer..  At the end of the movie.. number of audiences were asking a question to themselves.. " there are several movies, why did i come to see VTV"..!!

May be that, after Vaaranam Aayiram, our expectations tripled and hence I'm not liking this VTV.. But still, this one’s not quite what one expects from Gowtham Menon .. let him better start directing police stories. that suits him better.

So, another Tamil movie with nothing new (except the songs).

Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya -   paaka pona, Theatre’a thaandi varuvaaya..!!

WATCH IT IF YOU MUST - BUT DO LISTEN TO THE SONGS WITHOUT FAIL.

Carlton Towers Tragedy - RIP

Undoubtedly, Tuesday's incident at Carlton Towers, Bangalore will be an unforgettable tragedy, not only for the families who lost their loved ones, but for the whole nation. More than a tragedy, it is an embarrassment.

Carlton towers is a multi-storey commercial complex with top restaurants like TGIF, Corner house... , software companies ranging from small office to branches of big MNC's. Plenty of innovators, young aspiring professionals with dreams of achievements, go up and down the stairs every day.

The difference between a fire incident in such a building and any other place is the loss of enormous talents employed with the enterprises & small companies located there in.

Take the case of Mr. Siddartha Padam , one among the deceased.. An IIM-B pass out, he had over 9 years of strategic planning and Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) experience in the technology and business services area. He was the Chief of India Operations at Chesapeake.

Or Know about young Surabhi Joshi, one among the deceased.. An IIM-B & IBS Hyderabad pass out, she had won the 'business development associate of the year - Asiapac' award for 2009, besides being a trained classical dancer..

The list goes on and on..

There are thousands of such Carlton towers through out India, with lakhs of young professionals excelling in various departments.

If India needs to transform into a developed nation or face the competition from other developed nations, such are the talents required. We simply cannot afford to lose such talents due to a builder's carelessness or some other silly reason.

I only hope that these people learn from the Carlton tragedy and rectify the flaws in their safety and security arrangements, to prevent future embarrassments.

For the ones who could not be saved - RIP

Note: Next time your company conducts a mock fire drill, don't bunk the event. Please participate in the event. If these people who lost their lives in this incident had that opportunity and had they participated in it, they would have known how to save themselves as well as save others.

Tamizh Padam: A hilarious comedy entertainer

The caption for this movie is : " Sathiyama idhu oru vithyasamaana padam alla " (meaning: Promise, this is not a different kind of film) .And that is what the movie is all about.

Please don’t go in search of the story of the movie.. its nothing but all that you have seen in the last 25 years in Tamil movies. The movie banks on the loopholes in tamil cinema (for that matter, these loopholes are there all over Indian movies) and the unexplained assumptions prevailing in cinemas , like for ex: (in tamil movies): Baby gets dumped into a goods train in a village and the train goes only to Chennai. Small boy is pedalling the cycle and as the titles are shown, he grows into a man. Hero becomes rich through one inspiring song, selling milk, newspaper etc., All the typical characters, the famous "Naataamai", the incredible "Sombu" etc., Not a single actor has been spared, and not a single hit movie has been left out. Starting from Ramarajan’s ’Shenbagame’, via Dhalapathy, Kaadalan, Annamalai, Citizen, Chandramukhi, Gajini, Mozhi till Shivaji and much more.. the typical scenes of famous movies have been spoofed. When it comes to cast performance for such a comedy movie, even if the acting is not good, it doesn’t show up. But Siva has done a great job , with his gifted dialogue delivery style and body language. He is in almost all frames and that , for him , is a huge promotion from his past movies Chennai 28 & Saroja where he played one among the heroes.

 Background music is excellent considering the tough requirement, because, it needs to remind the audience of the movie that is being teased, without playing the original tune. Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, one can easily guess the amount of hardwork interms of creativity that has been put in, and what one is going to expect throughout the movie. And there are some twists and surprises too.. which will only increase the laughter, as that too is common element in cinemas.

 This movie is strictly for Tamil movie fans - those who have followed tamil movies all the way from the 80’s. All other periodic tamil movie viewers - please stay away. Coz., if you don’t know which movie or actor is being teased, you will not enjoy it at all..! There is no point in complaining later. To end in typical Naayagan style

" Naalu Paeru sirikanum’na yaara’vaena kalaaikalaam..!!" :-) Be ready to get stomach pains, coughs and even headaches by laughing continuously for more than 2 hours.

 To Watch out for: The melodious song which is a remix of all the non-understandable terms like "Dailamo, Omahashiya, etc.," is a good attempt.. and you are made to laugh in the songs also..!!

Asal: Old wine in New Bottle

Aasal (or)  Asal:

The story is as simple as this:

Two brothers are trying to kill their step brother to inherit the family property & wealth which has been written

in favor of their step brother by their father before his death.

Ajith is back with yet another dual role - Father and son. Sampath Raj and Rajiv Krishna are the brothers who are trying to kill Ajith. Pradeep Rawat is the uncle who manipulates the brothers against Ajith. Don’t tell me this is a brand new story you have never heard of !!!

I recollect Ajith kumar’s interview to the Bangalore Times where he quotes "“I hope it sets a benchmark for how a film should be. It should dictate the quality of films that’ll hit screens in the next five years.” Unfortunately, it is not so. Hope the directors will soon wake up and start to attempt new subjects.

Cast & Performance is good. Ajith once again does a dual role with ease. Bhavana appears to be cute. Sameera Reddy is again back with her "Katrina Kaif" looks. There is some comedy by Yugi Sethu. Villain characters have done well.

Much to the expectations of Ajith Fans, there is a build-up song with remix of "Thala pola varuma" from Attagaasam and the word ’Thala’ is used through out the movie at least for 15-20 times.

Background music simply roars with heavy beats all around, with an attempt to create thrilling scenes, but, unfortunately, thrilling scenes do not come by background music alone..!!

Songs are average. There is a semi-remix of "Paartha nyabagam illayo.." which is a bit impressive.  The song "Tottadoin.." is catchy.  "Em Thandhai.."  song is worth a mention. Other songs are ok.

But for the direction, sadly it seems like Saran has shifted his focus from substance to luxury. He has once again provided a stylish and a luxurious film but this time with a predictable grandmother times’story.

Ajith’s costumes and look deserve a special mention, as it fits into the "Fashion Capital of the World" very well. The sizzling city of Paris has been well captured and picturised. Nook and corners of Paris are beautifully shown in various scenes, as the film has 80% of its story moving in Paris.

If not for the location, picturisation, music and technicians involved, this movie would have been another nightmare for Ajith & co.

So, yet another Tamil movie with nothing new or splendid to cheer about. Its all the matter of satisfying the fans, you see...

If you like posh scenes, luxurious ambience, sylish costumes like in "Billa", and don’t really bother about the story, go ahead.

I’m giving a generous rating of 3 mainly for the background score and picture perfect locations and Ajith’s look and costumes.

To watch out for :  Ajith.

Toys & Toys Baby Shop: Selp help is the best help.

’Toys and Toys’ is a baby shop in Indiranagar, Off CMH Road, opp. Indiranagar traffic police station.

It has three floors-
First floor - Baby dresses, baby winter wears, Games, baby products like diaper, milk powder, lotions, creams etc.,
Second Floor - Toys for kids & babies, teddybears etc.,
Third Floor - Cradles, Prams, Cycles and bike for different age groups.
As far as variety is concerned, its "you name it - they have it" kinds. The products are cost-effective and are much cheaper when compared to any other baby shops in and around Indiranagar area that i’m aware of. The dresses come from the brands of Cucumber, Disney, Classic polo , to name a few.
But it is the staffs working there who dissappoint. Manytimes, you won’t find a person to help you in what you are looking for. But you will find several sales girls, sitting down and arranging things and they are always busy in chit-chating about some rumours and gossips.
It’s better you spend time yourself on what you want, from the respective sections.
The above is based on my experience so far and i have visited this shop more than 20 times as on date. Car Parking is a bit of problem, with the metro work going on all around the place.

Advice : Please sterilize things you buy, before using them, especially dresses, as they are glanced by several customers daily and the sales girls only arrange them back neatly.
Even otherwise, sterilizing baby products before use is a symbol of hygene.. :-)

Real life Suspense-thriller movie : Auto Fellow..!!

For those people who are interested about suspense thrillers.. here you get an opportunity to face one in your real life.
You don't have to go to any theatre , no need to book any thing online , nor do you have to browse the DVD library. All you need to do is to simply follow an 'Auto rikshaw' on road. Yes.. !!!

India's common and mostly used means of Transport.. Auto rikshaw..!!