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.. :-)