It's that time of the year again...

Indeed it is...And no matter how cliched it sounds, this year DID fly by...
Thr strangest thing is this year, on this very last day of the year, I don't seem to have any reason for disliking this year..I seem to be loving my life!
Sure, I have my share of woes etc, but somehow Life seems to be blissful and I'm extremely thankful to God for that!
The worst that happened this year was I failed my graduating semester resulting in me not being able to wear the grad gown at all this year and this was after all the registering for the ceremony and renting the gowns...That was terrible but somehow it all worked out and 4 months from then, I seemed to haev survived the ordeal with little "battle scars".

Things I'm Happy for:

-I'm still as ever in Love with Arjun :) (But a strong contender exists in the form of Edward Cullen from Twilight;)

-My sweetheart released 2 movies this year (Excellent Vedam and Varudu and I caught Vedam IN THEATRE!) and my home indian channel screened three of his movie in the span of 3 months!)

- I managed to keep my path on track despite the stumbling block of delayed graduation

-My NIE classes

-My newfound friends in NIE, whom have made my world an even more beautiful place to live in

- My old friends who have managed to tolerate me and love me all these years

-The TWILIGHT SAGA! I LOVE THE SERIES!

-Taiwanese/Korean dramas!! (it started with Down with Love and I'm still Krazy over these dramas!!!!!!!!!!!)

- My loving family, which saw the addition of little Bachu (Sharath), my nephew - 3feb2010

- My Heavenly Family :)

-GERMANY (Klose and gang) rocked the WORLD CUP!!!

-I started working ($$$$ ;))


Overall,
it was or still IS an awesome year and I hope 2011 will be one that's full of love, life and laughter too!

Musing #25 : The Vedams of VEDAM

Blogging has not been my main priority of late (GERMANY, KLOSE and the WORLD CUP has been THE Priority!) and that's why there's been a dearth of posts from me *guilty as charged*.


Yet, something made me immediately log into my blog and start writing, and that was Vedam.
I know, i know, the effect is pretty delayed and given that now it's all "Raavan"/"Raavanan" mania...But since I love Allu Arjun, I had to patiently wait for the movie to hit the shores of, oh sorry, the screens in Singapore before I could watch him in full theatre-screen glory. And yes, meanwhile brushing up my Telugu by continuing with my Venky Frenzy ;)

For those looking for the comedy anecdote, pls read my post titled "Allu Arjun, be my Varudu!".
Cos sorry to disappoint, Vedam was too much gripping that everything else seems pretty uneventful (But if you must know, no guy in the seat next to me this time round, Thank God!).

*DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED "Vedam"! GO WATCH IT IN THE THEATRES FIRST- COS ALL THE MAIN EVENTS MAY BE MENTIONED HERE in the flow of my writing and I dislike altering my writing to accommodate people who don't like "spoilers"."

Oki, given all the pre-release hype for Vedam, I expected it to be different. But different how? I wasn't sure.
I perhaps expected...
an updated version of a love triangle,given the two heroes and a heroine.
songs that maximised my sweetheart Arjun's dancing skills
scenes that captured Anushka's sweet,shy expressions
Manoj's (the Good one's..manchu means good right? ;)....erm honestly I haven't seen his movies,no offence...
Manoj's (the "Happy" one!) acting and of course,
my Arjun's priceless comedic timing/expressions and spontaneous dialogue delivery....

Then I watched Vedam.

Definitely not a love triangle.
No typical romance scenes.
Arjun danced... in 1 song.
Anushka was anything but shy and coy, totally against typical heroine protocol.
Majority of the songs were brief and mainly in the background.

If these were not enough, 2 out the 5 protagonists die in the end.

Talk about different.
My expectations were thrashed yet, I felt completely involved in the movie that had such an effect on me that I was immediately compelled to write this post.

The gist of the story can be found on any movie review website, so I shall not waste space writing about it. When I was watching the movie, I expected to see Manoj (Good) , Allu Arjun and Anushka to meet each other at the intermission. All the characters were talking about Hyderabad, so I thought something may happen there, that causes them to meet each other and the story will kick off from there,post interval. Nope.

Instead, I received glimpses of the daily lives of people who come from different walks of life and how different the worlds of people even in close proximity can be. For instance, while Pooja and Cable Raju both live in Jubilee Hills, one is in the rich suburbs while the other in the "basthi" (slum) and that alone may as well mean that they each live on the North and South Poles respectively!

In Vivek's (Good Manoj) thread, I got reminded of the fact that many a times, we do things that seem inconsequential and minor but they can later lead to bigger problems. Just think about it, if that guy had just been on time to go to the airport, would he have been a part of the string of events that followed? Would things have turned out differently, like how everyone says the outcome of the Germany-England game would have been (frankly,it wldn't have. Germany rocked that game.)? Or for those who believe in it, this is called "FATE".

And trying to act smart/show off will later only end up in having another incident where you may have to swallow your pride and stand ashamed in front of the very person you ridiculed

(Like how Maradona probably felt when he refused to let Germany player Muller sit next to him in a press conference, only to have him score the opening goal against Argentina later)

-"What goes around, comes around". Ironically the Singh whom Vivek tries to overtake and later comes back to save him brilliantly illustrated the Thirukkural:

"இன்னா செய்தாரை ஒறுத்தல் அவர் நாண நன்னயம் செய்துவிடல் " (ie The best punishment to those who do evil to you, is to make them feel ashamed by returning good for evil. translation courtesy of :http://reocities.com/athens/4240/thirukkural1.html )

So did Bajpai's character when he saved the policeman who was constantly maligning him.

I saw how the 9/11 had such an impact that it has changed the way some people look at Muslims, as though they are all terrorists in the making. It probably didn't matter to me much but looking at it through the eyes of a normal Muslim (Bajpai) made me realise how insensitive people can be ( I heard MNIK addressed this topic but I've been having a hard time juggling Telugu and Tamil films, let alone Hindi, but I will watch it someday!) .
And it often takes another major event or crisis in order for you to re-examine and correct your perception (Police abt Qureshi).

Then at the other extreme, we see how some people exploit younger minds and corrupt them to make them do things that are simply put, evil just by saying its all in the name of God (The merciless people towards the end).

Besides using God's name, desperation can also make you do the most despicable things that you would normally not even consider when you are in a calm state of mind (Cable Raju stealing money from the poor Nagayya...there's a tamil saying: "pichai eduthaara perumaal, adhai pidungithu ponaaraa hanumaaru" and that seemed to be apt here). Yet, when you are able to undo the despicable thing you did , the feeling of calmness and lightness in your heart is simply too beautiful to describe; it's like wiping your slate clean and starting over. Sadly though, in reality, this is not always possible.

So, what if you are beyond redemption? What do you do next? You try to make the best of your situation.
Anushka's character for once, didn't focus on how prostitutes are those who get forced into it by some bad figure (usually a male who wants the money) in their lives and how they are waiting for someone (normally) to come and rescue them, like how most movies portray these tabooed character. Instead, there is a refreshingly, new perspective, as she is shown to be just like any other person holding a job; wanting to be her own boss instead of being under someone's fist. Unconventional portrayal? yes. But interesting perspective. After all, it is true that all of us wish to be leading the rat race and break out of the poverty cycle.

If not for ourselves, we wish that at least our future generations will be able to break out of this poverty cycle. And education is always the best long term solution for it. Here we have Nagayya and his daughter-in-law Saranya whose ambition is only to want to see their grandson/son go to school to receive an education. For that they can do any sacrifice.

Last but not least is the theme that you see recurrent in almost all Indian movies or serials but yet rings true: you can really do anything for your loved ones. Just look at

Saranya's character and her father in law : prepared to sell their kidney just to make sure the young son/grandson gets to study

Saroja (Anushka) : Towards the end, all she wants to do is to save her friend that she even tells the doctor that she will sleep with him if that is what would take him to treat the friend.

Vivek (Manoj Manchu): His primary love is Music and to achieve stardom in that, he goes against his mum's wishes. Yet, when a fellow human being needs his aid, love for humanity enables him and his girlfriend (Lekha) to put the performance aside and bring the pregnant lady to the hospital and be by her side.

Cable Raju (Arjun): Before you can live with anyone else or love them, you have to live with yourself and love yourself by being answerable to your conscience. Even though he was answerable to his girlfriend, he knew that his conscience would simply not allow him to keep the stolen money. How could he be happy with his gf if meanwhile his conscience was making him hate himself? So he did the right thing which eventually brought him to do even greater things in the name of goodness, albeit receiving appreciation posthumously.

As an afterthought, "Be careful what you wish for"- the ominous thought that must have lingered over Vivek's mum who insisted that he should drop music and instead join the footsteps of his grandfather and father and join the military. She may be proud of her son's sacrifice, but any mother would never want to be in her situation.

[On a side note, it's probably also the thought lingering over Wayne Rooney (England's striker)who was so happy that his wish to play against Germany in the knockout round came through. Bet you are mulling over it in England right now huh?:P]

Kudos to Director Krish who managed to weave the themes and characters and most importantly the storyline so beautifully.
Honestly, I've yet to catch Gamyam. Its Tamil version sank without a trace and I didn't watch it cos I never really liked Ravi Krishna (shallow i know, guilty!). But will catch the Telugu one soon.
Back to Vedam - Every member of the cast have literally lived in their role. Initially, i was wondering when the turning point was going to come (even thought it was a bit slow), but when it came, I was so engrossed in it that my heart was thudding as though I was also in the room with the rest of them, awaiting the impeding doom.

Perhaps, it was very hard hitting cos it reminded me so much of the Mumbai hotel shootings and I felt that I was witnessing the ordeal the victims were going through. A fellow Singaporean was shot in the Mumbai incident and for weeks after that, our local papers were piecing together the minute-by-minute recounts of the whole ordeal. Reading those recounts and feeling sad was one thing but watching it come alive in Vedam made me empathise and feel for the victims even more.

I was crying from the moment Bajpai was speaking to the young shooter till the movie ended. Especially more when I saw Arjun doing what he did. And after that the combined act of bravery and pure goodness by Arjun and Manoj' as well.

Allu Arjun made me laugh in the beginning, worry for him when he was caught by the police, dislike him (come on, i can nvr hate him!) when he had stolen the money, join him in his joy when he returned the money, smile at his boyish joy when he was playing "boo" with the girl in the hospital lightheartedly, fear for him when he was trying to escape to safety towards the end and last but not the least, cry for him when he did the selfless act without thinking twice. His last words and sad but extremely satisfied smile still stays in my heart and reinforces my love for him more! His pained, torn expression when he was grabbing the money from the old man while looking helplessly at Saranya as though he's of two minds whether to return the money or not is priceless and definitely makes this his best performance in terms of serious emoting. So what if I didn't get to see Arjun sizzle the dance floor more ? It was totally worth forgoing that to see a plentitude of excellent emoting and performance from him. Congrats to him for choosing to do a critically acclaimed role rather than a commercial one all the time. Hope he maintains this balance ;)

So there you have it... Vedam; a movie that evokes in you (at least in me), plenty of thoughts and reflections and a stellar cast that draws you into their emotions. Sorry for the really lengthy post but just can't help it!

PS: Simbu, if you are really doing this role, you have a tough act to follow. Ido appreciate your RECENT selection of scripts so Please don't ruin it by overdoing it. Give it your best shot and make it your best perfomance thus far. Good luck :)


PPS: GERMANY, AWESOME WORLD CUP I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!! Love you KLOSE! WILL POST ABOUT WORLD CUP SOON :)

PPPS: I did catch Raavanan first and Raavan. Will post thoughts soon too!

Musing #24: From Arjun to Mahesh and now to VENKATESH...

I sure have come a LONG way from last year October when i watched Desamuduru, my first ever Telugu film. Since then, i have hopelessly fallen in love with Allu Arjun, admired Mahesh Babu, watched movies of Prabhas & Siddarth...Have become so immersed in the Telugu film world that now, Telugu songs are a regular on my daily playlist, I watch Telugu movies by the dozen, order them online after scouring all the local shops for them, visit Indiaglitz-Telugu section every few days, converse in Telugu with my family even though it annoys them...now comes the next wave of craziness...Venky frenzy!

Prior to past weeks, I have heard of Venkatesh but I have only watched him in Super Police, the tamil version and what i mainly remember about it is the songs, especially the title song...Anyway, that was ages... ages ago!





Namo Venkatesa- first Venkatesh Telugu movie i watched...wasn't that awesome but they had Arya 2 songs in there and i found Venkatesh's acting really good...think this was 2 weeks ago. after that i had my exams, so nvr really payed attention. Last Thurs (29Apr), exams were over...since then, Venky Frenzy's in full force.. I have been on youtube and megavideo for nearly 10-12 hours a day, watching Venkatesh movies!!!! It's been a week, and I'm yet to feel tired (though my eyes are starting to protest by becoming so dry:()...


Venkatesh, what a guy man!!!!!


Such impeccable comedy sense and awesome acting, be it sad, happy, serious characters....great actor! Since then, i have watched


1. Namo Venkatesa
2.Chintakayala Ravi
3.Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule
4.Tulasi
5.Lakshmi
6.Sankranthi
7.Subhash Chandra Bose
8.Gharshana
9.Malliswari
10.Suryavamsham
11.Jayam Manade Raa
12.Vasantham
13.Nuvvu Naaku Nachav
14.Kalisundam Raa
15.Pavithra Bandham
16. Chanti


..most of them were without subs, but cos many had Tamil versions, i could follow...and the list is gonna grow! I shall now look forward to his movies as well :)..I especially liked Sankranthi, Chintakayala Ravi, Lakshmi, Chanti and many others on this list! Gharshana, though of course, Surya looked more hot in the tamil version, I felt Venkatesh did an awesome job too...
I could probably yak and yak about him for each movie but in order not to bore, i shall just share SOME of the best Venkatesh movie moments :

1. Nuvvu Naaku Nachav-
the Brahmandam-Venky scene towards the end...where Brahmandam is shocked to find out Venky is/isn't the bridegroom..the exchange between them is too hilarious, especially with Venky's expressions....the best!!!

2. Namo Venkatesa -
i really liked Venky's way of praying to who else, Venky! He will do a series of actions very stylishly and quickly and the explanation he gave was also good. I also liked the scene where Trisha, her lover and Venky will be in the car and he switches on the car radio..Both songs were really apt situation songs (I dunno the first but the second was "poyae, poyae, lovae poyae...poyae poyindhae!" (Arya 2 -My love is gone!))...Venky's expression when the Arya 2 number comes up is too good!

3. Chintakayala Ravi - I actually liked alot of scenes in this movie...So, kinda hard to narrow down..
But one that i was laughing out REALLY LOUD non-stop was the scene where he goes to Berkeley to take an entrance test for a computer course. Before starting the exam, he places Vinayagar in front of me, offer flowers ,etc...Even that was ok..but when asked the qn "Who invented the first mouse?"...He goes " Mouse means (telugu word for mouse)...who invented it means? like duh, of course its mother invented it!" ahhahahahhahahaah! cannot take it man....
Another scene was the ending, when Anushka asks him what happened, he replies to her, "come along with us. since you missed our wedding, at least come see our first night", with a straight face. Following that everyone's responses to Anushka were also hilarious, cos she keeps interpreting it in the context of the first night! I read reviews that viewers didn't really like the crude humour used in the movie, but I enjoyed the movie alot.

4. Lakshmi -
A favourite Venky movie of mine, even though it has Nayantara whom i dislike. Thank god she was in a coma most of the movie, so that helped:P...the scenes were good, esp the one where the 1st sis seemed to be haughty like her own brothers but in the end, she slaps Shinde with the slipper instead... Even though Venky only had comedy in the flashback portion, he portrayed the strict brother role very well and i admire him in this movie!

5. Sankranthi -
another elder-bro role but he handled it very maturely and the lighter side could be seen in the flashback portion and newly-married scenes with Sneha...Awesome movie, even though the Tamil original was good, I prefer Venky to Mammooty:)

6- Malliswari
Again, most scenes were really nice, especially the beginning when he's desperately wanting to get married and the last scene where he rushes back to Katrina to tell her not to call him Pellikaani Prasad! The dream song with Gajala reminded me of the Ambulimaama song in Perazhaghan, where Surya dreams of getting married to Malavika...Enjoyed the movie!

There are so many more Venky moments, may probably need another post after watching more of his movies! Just briefly...for Chanti (chinna thambi), Pavitra Bandham (Priyamaanavale), Suryavamsam (Suryavamsam), Vasantham (Priyamana Thozhi), i have watched all the Tamil versions and I love all of them! Venky has justified his performances in the Telugu versions,making them my faves too!

His versatility is amazing and he still looks good even though he's gonna be 50...Venkatesh garu, i hope you continue to rock Telugu cinema!

Three cheers to Venkatesh, Namo Venkatesa! ;)

PS Priyamaina Arjunki, badapadokku! Even though i may admire many,You will always be my Varudu ;)

Musing #23: Azhagiya Tamizh Magan - Vijay :)

It just crossed my mind that i have never posted about Vijay...
In case you are wondering, Madhavan was my first love, I've been a huge fan of Vijay since forever, and Allu Arjun is my varudu/sweetheart!!!!!!! (just to set the records straight:P)

In the whole Surya-Vijay debate, I have always been on Vijay's side.
The oldest argument is about how Vijay is stuck in the same old mould while Surya's great at experimenting roles. I agree - Surya takes risks and they pay off..But it's not like Vijay has not experimented before, it's just that they have not paid off...

He tried negative roles in Priyamudan, Azhagiya Tamizh Magan (which i love!), tried roles that are not mass-style but still are smart characters like the always be positive Sarathi in Puthiya Geethai, Surya in Tamizhan. But such risks always end up negatively.So can you blame the guy for sticking to the tried and tested formula?
1996-2001 was a peak in his career. Who didn't love Raja in Poovae Unakkaagha, Shiva in Kushi, Vijay in Priyamanavale, and many other memorable roles? He made us laugh, made us cry and root for him in those movies! I still remember a scene in Thullatha Manamum Thullum where he had to cry about his mother's death in the toilet- i still burst into tears whenever i see it...powerful acting..
After that, i believe the boost in his career gave him the courage to try other scripts but most were average if not poor at the box-office. Tamizhan and Puthiya Geethai were my faves but somehow they didn't strike a chord with the audience

But he struck gold once more in the mass hero image with Thirumalai in 2003 and since then, his mass roles were the ones that gave him a string of hits. You wish to complain about his punch dialogues? Well, who gave the great response to his punch dialogues in Thirumalai in the first place? We all have tasted failure before. As a hero, one is not just accountable to the fans but also to the producer. So perhaps he felt personally responsible and didn't want to venture into too much of risks. So, it was yet another golden era, with Thirumalai, Ghilli,Thirupachi, Sivakasi, Pokkiri..All mega blockbusters,mass-style, which helped to gloss over bad movies like Udaya and Sachien. Ghilli and Pokkiri were remakes of Mahesh Babu,whom i like but still,Vijay did complete justice to both roles and he provided the comedy and excellent dance that I personally felt Mahesh Babu lacks slightly. I think the issue of him doing remakes is not even worth discussing cos remakes are done by lots of actors in various languages.

Emboldened by this stupendous successes, he took the challenge of a double role as both hero and villain which i thought was awesome. He played the evil guy, Prasad character really well, with a comedic and cunning portrayal. But it didn't pay off that well, which i think the loopholes in logic may have been a cause as well. But audience also commented they cannot get used to seeing him in a negative shade. Then can you blame the guy for going back to mass style?
Sadly though, since then, his movies have not been quite up to the mark... yet. Kuruvi was not bad - amazing dance,fights and good comedy. Villu was kind of a all time low, Vettaikaaran seemed to improve the situation but Sura, hmm, i would say slow...

Just watched it yesterday and i personally felt that the movie seemed disjointed- just didn't flow. As usual, audience had to make up their own interpretation to plug up logic loopholes. Like when he was supposed to be burnt but he survived cos Amma statue was over him. While that was cool , that he was saved by Amma's hands, how can we make the link when he was in a hut somewhere and the statue was somewhere further down initially? As a fan of Vijay, we may take the trouble to find links but normal audience probably just scoff. Comedy at beginning was not bad but slowly died down. There were about two good strategies used by him, but ending just fizzled... Vijay's dancing potential was not maximised except in the Bommayi and Naam nadanthaal song. Mani Sharma i felt, spent too much of time for Varudu songs, so Vijay had to make do with Telugu Billa's songs. Off screen, i liked the Vanga Kadal Ellai song but Vijay's steps didn't sizzle onscreen (where's Lawrence when you need him!!!).
Otherwise, as i watched Sura, i felt it was more of a platform to launch his political career (with those do-good for people dialogues,etc)that i really hope he DOES NOT get into. So far, politics has NOT been kind to actors who have forayed into it, not just tamil but India-wide. Anyway, this post is not meant to be a turn-off for Sura- watch it..for Vijay and his dance. The one shot that stole me heart was in the beginning when there was this close-up shot of Vijay smiling, such a charming smile (i wish i could take a screen cap of it)!

Yes,yes Surya fits the conventional image of handsome- fair, good-looking, if not a bit on the short side:P, six pack etc.. But Vijay still is handsome to me. So what if he's dark? His smile is more than enough to win me over. He looks awesome in long sleeved white or black shirts especially,(cue Thaen Thaen from Kuruvi, Azhagooril from Thirumalai, Nee Mutham Ondru from Pokkiri). Style? If you are asking this, then you must have been on another planet-have you not seen Dole Dole in Tamil Pokkiri!
Charismatic and charming, amazing dance, impactful acting (won state awardS before),sings well, romantic/comical expressions in songs and excellent sense of comedy, he's a true Hero. It's not that i want Vijay to remain mass-hero. I too want to see him in roles that stretch his acting ability- he has it, so why not maximise its potential? He promised in his Sura Audio release function that he's gonna experiment with different roles...and i trust Vijay.
So to all, of you detractors of Vijay, just keep your mouths shut for awhile. We did too, when Surya/Vikram were on their lows, so, just wait patiently. It's only a matter of time before my Vijay will be surfing the high waves of boxoffice again. Why not the high waves of Stardom you say? Cos he's already up there, a brightly Shining Star. He will always be and personally, he is THE Azhagiya Tamizh Magan.

Musing #22: Allu Arjun, how i wish you were my Varudu!!!!!

This post is pretty historical , even a milestone in my life. It marks the craziest thing I've ever done in my 21 years of my existence thus far and I'm sure that it wouldn't be broken anytime soon.
I, a Singaporean Tamil, watched a Telugu movie(my sweetheart's of course! I wld nvr do smthg as crazy as this for any other guy) alone at Shaw Balestier. Me, okka ammayi, thairiyangaa, cinemavukku velltunaanu...nenu allu arjun cinema "varudu" choostaanu...heck, i dun even do it for Tamil movies. 98 % was all guys...barely 2 families.
Prior to this "achievement", i was in total dilemma whther to go anot. i looked around for khakhis but didn't get any. i dun have telugu friends. earlier in the week, i called the contact no. given to book tickets- but the rapid telugu from the guy just stunned me and whatever little telugu i knew flew out of the MRT train. I gave up.
But by today, the kind of blind courage(sounds better in tamil) somehow overcame me and before i knew it, i contacted the guy again and asked for a ticket. unfortunately, signal got cut, so i painstakingly smses the guy in Telugu. Perhaps, dismayed by my lousy telugu, he didn't reply.
Around 6.25pm, i reached Shaw plaza. It suddenly looked like the field next to Mustafa. All guys. Guys that looked blatantly. Gosh....As a pre-emptive move, i alrdy adorned my shabbiest black polo tee and the face was devoid of any cream/makeup etc. Yet, the looks were strong, resulting in me getting almost knocked down by a cab.
Taken aback, i went to This Fashion for cover. Looking around, i felt that going into theatre may not be a good idea after all. Then i spotted an elderly lady and another family. That convinced me a little. The other big push factor was "Varudu" was just 4 escalators away from me...ivalavu dhooram vandaachu, why not the rest?
So i went up, though not without a detour at Poh Kim. Upstairs, more stares, more big groups.
I saw a queue and two people at a makeshift counter. People were giving names and collecting their reserved tix. I just went there and said my number not there. The man just looked at me and asked "How many tickets?". I said "one". He gave me the onceover, and then gave me a ticket, adding in an afterthought - "it's a telugu film". Adhu naaku telida?Gosh!
But the guy really jacked up the price oki! It was $18!!!!!!
The guy on the phone said $10. Damn...but once again, for arjun :)
Ticket was really nice though! Seat K3. Just walked in head down, found the seat and sat, without looking up. I got an extreme right row towards the front. Seat was second from aisle.
So, i waited with my eyes on the hp the whole time, praying that the people who were gonna be my seatmates were nice people, not rowdy or troublemakers. God granted me my wish albeit, a bit too extremely; None came. For the first half hour, noone sat in my row, causing a guy behind me to remark to another fella, "seats ledha? ikkada kucho!", whilst pointing to the seats in my row. Thank god, the movie started screening just then, so saved by the credits and the lights out.
You do realise i said, 1st half hour?
Cos, after that this random guy came and sat next to me,in the aisle seat. After a few mins , he said " Ikkadu yevaraadhi undha? Problem ledhu kadha?". I just shook my head and said problem ledhu. I thought it was good in a way, cos that way, no potential troublemakers could sit next to me. And all was well till the intermission, except for excessive whistling,etc. But the folks were kind enough to move to the back if they wanted to dance. So, thank god. There wasn't an actual intermission break but the guy got up and left.
During the time, there was a scene where Brahmandam talks about speed marriage, and cites the theatre as example. Loosely translated, he says look at the girl on the sit next to you, get engaged by interval, get married and do "everything" else by "subham" scene. Watching with friends, haha, it will be funny. Watching from my position, er, not so. I was just thanking god that the fella was not in his seat when this scene was going on. He came awhile later.

But it's possible he still watched it, cos before you knew it, he asked me "Allu Arjun fanaa?". I wanted to reply " Allu Arjunantae naaku chala istham". But,i merely smiled and nodded.

A few scenes later ,
Guy-next-seat(GNS): " nuvvu peru enta?".
Arjun Lover: "J"
GNS: "nice name"
Arjun Lover: grim nod, and back to the screen.

A few more scenes later,

GNS: Meeru ikkada yenti chestunau?
Arjun Lover: (after a blur "huh")Cinema Choostunau
GNS: ikkada anthae ikkada kaadhu! singapoorlo yenti chestunau?study? working?
Arjun Lover: (while admiring Arjun on the screen) degree
GNS: O, ikkada studieskaagha ochaevaa
Arjun Lover: (smug look) Ledhu, nenu Singaporean
GNS: Blank

Even more scenes later
GNS: Naa peru S***( * in case of weird karma that the guy chances upon my blog)
Arjun Lover: (mindvoice: nenu adugaledhae!) Curt nod while looking at the screen
GNS: this part he was telling me what he does in singapore, but i stopped paying attention
Arjun Lover: nod again and back at the screen.

After that, i think he got the drift, cos apart from a sideways glance at me as though to share a mutual laugh with me (i didn't. i did laugh but looking at Arjun), there was no other gesture. Meanwhile, i was contemplating possible exit strategies in case the guy wants my no. or smthg. I was only being polite cos he held the access to the aisle. Luckily, the movie ended but the theare folks started screening the "Bangaru" song from Magadheera. So, people who got up started cheering and paused, letting me get past without any probz. GNS also stood up to leave, but stepped aside. Thank you Ram Charan- I owe u one!!
Outside, more curious looks and stares. So, i just whipped out my hp and yakked nonsensically to one of my best friends as a safety tactic, till i crossed the overhead bridge and took the bus safely.

Only after i walked out of the cinema, i thought how big an event was this. What could have possibly gone wrong (640pm - 915pm show). Never did I imagine I would do smthg like this. I probably only did it purely for the desire to see Allu Arjun on the big screen.
Arjun, nenu ninnu chala premisthaanu!!!!

As for the movie, i liked it, regardless of the mixed reviews. The amazing thing to me was I understood it!!! Nenu arthamcheskuntunau! While not a full 100%, i would confidently say 97%.
I only didn't understand certain dialogues in the scene where different family members, speak about marriage customs, as well as some extra dialogues by Arya and Venu Madhav. But everything else, done!!! amazed at myself!!!
My fave dialogue was Arjun saying " Veedu, Vaadu kaadhu, VARUDU!"! awesome man!!!!

Of course, the hype about the heroine. Honestly speaking, not out of jealousy(that comes in the next bit), I felt that i would have been a better heroine. I look way better than her without makeup,albeit not fair. The scenes without makeup made me think "I could have been better!!".
Pogaru? Not really. Just honest thoughts:P

The part i was freaking jealous about was of course the lip lock scene. But also the fact that she got to do the marriage rituals with Arjun. Acting with him must have been an awesome experience.I really liked the rituals done in the marriage and she is so lucky to get a chance to act with him. I really liked his costumes in the Relare song as well. Songs were pretty good, but this i was aware of even before watching the movie. Kudos to Arya for the excellent acting, but the dubbing voice didn't really suit him (no offence ravi-ji!).

Varudu, will remain close to my heart for more than one reasons. My very first Allu Arjun, or even Telugu movie on the big screen. Love you arjun and guess what? It's midnight-
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY DEAR ALLU ARJUN!!!!
CONTINUE ROCKING THE SCREENS WITH STYLE, SUBSTANCE, DANCE AND YOUR AWESOME PERSONALITY!!!!

Musing #21: FULL HOUSE - awesome mixture of ahahahah! ,azai azai fighting! and awwww!!! moments :)

Full House....thus began my very 1st major addiction to a Korean drama..but what started it off was I started watching "Down with Love", the taiwanese drama starring Jerry Yen and Ella...I was looking all around for its CD but wasn't out yet..so suddenly, i thought why not just watch one of the drama boxsets my elder sis alrdy bought...
Out of pure randomness, i chose "Full House" starring Rain and at first I wasn't super impressed. But by the second episode i was hooked man!!!! I started on Thurs night, continued Friday. My friday session kickstarted at 930pm and only ended at 430am!!!! What's more my mum got dragged into it, albeit willingly:)
We left only the last disc (ie the last 4 episodes) to continue on Saturday. And we did finish it today!!!
Really nice drama - i always enjoyed such themes; people who cannot stand each other, but bounded by marriage, eventually ending up finding the goodness in each other and learning that subconsciously, marriage is something very sacred to them, to their plesant surprise. "HAPPY", my ALL time Telugu favourite movie also has this theme, "Priyamanavalae", and now "Full House"!!!!!
Initially, I didn't like Rain, cos well, i found Jerry much more good looking, but over the episodes he kinds of grows on u...the three bear songs, the bickering, the smart lines
("pls don't talk to the poultry, just eat it.", when u are not home, the house feels dark and lonely....erm, dark cos...there's noone to switch on the light!!!!!(classic man!!!)" , numerous unforgettable scenes that make u laugh out loud, or feel so touched ( sushi feeding, three bears performance, the scene where rain says that he really thought that they were breaking up for real, bike teaching,etc etc, countless etcs!)
the little little things they do , even though it's supposedly a business deal (waiting up, panicking when one isn't home yet, replacing the ring/recorder just cos the other found it to be important, rain very carefully washing his fingers without damaging the "ring" the heroine drew for him, turning up at the movie theatre, rain never removing the ring from his fingers after he knew that it means alot to the heroine)
...such minute yet powerful actions that show that there's smthg more stronger than bonds them..amazing....
The last episode was a tad slow and like the heroine has a weird change of mind when just at the beginning she said "i dun think i want to marry you", yet suddenly she's ok....the ending, could have been even more perfect if perhaps, they showed them at the aisle, exchanging vows, this time for real, and then perhaps them interacting with the family members as well. Thought that the family members could have been included in the finale..
But, still, i really Love the series!!!!!!! am planning to buy one set myself.. I heard there was a full house 2 coming up, if only it was this cute couple again in the cast:)

Ahahahaha, Azai AzaiFighting, Awwwww!!!!