Golconda High School stills

 The confident and determined Sampath

Sampath while taking up Kireet's challenge to win the championship cup

Sampath motivating the boys

Sampath during the teachers-students cricket match

The champion team

 The talented yet untrained members

Team members with their coach ready to face the challenges

 The training

Sampath and his lady-love Anjali

 The introduction

 Anjali and Sampath having a good time over a cup of coffee

 Anjali coming over to support Sampath and team during their first match

 Sampath and Anjali in Idi Adenemo song

Sampath and Anjali expressing their love without saying much of a word

Sampath and Anjali having some romantic time together

Golconda High School



I've never been a Telugu movie fan. So much so, that I've not even watched the famous Telugu films like Sagara Sangamam, Geethanjali and Sanakarabharanam in their original language, preferring instead to watch the dubbed version of them in Tamil.

So what made me pick up a Telugu film at the DVD centre? And that too one starring unknown actors(unknown to me at least)? I don't think I can ever answer those questions. All that I can say was that something prompted me to purchase this particular film and I bought it even without blinking an eye. The movie concerned is none other than Golconda High School starring Sumanth and Swathi (Subramaniam fame) in the lead roles.

It was a wonderful watch really. The film reminds you of Chakde India, only this one is more straight to the point and less flimsy. It was much later that I found out that the film is adapted from Harimohan Paruvu's novel- The Men Within. In fact, the author even came in a scene or two, so my guess is that they have stuck very close to the original story enacted in the book.

So what's up with the story? The film is basically about a cricket coach who has to train 14 arrogant but talented cricket players within a span of 3 months and clinch the inter-school cricket tournament championship. Failure to do this would amount to the school's famous cricket ground being commercialized in order to facilitate a cricket centre by the money-minded school board trustees.

Sumanth, needless to say, plays the role of Sampath, the cricket coach with a bad past. The school lost its glory due to his mistake at a key point cricket game 15 years ago (of course it was later revealed that it wasn't his mistake but a mere sabotage by his team mate that caused the school to lose the championship cup) and has since then failed to win a spot at any tournaments. Now, not only has Sampath got to win the boys' trust, but he also has to fight against his past demons to redeem the school's lost glory.

The boys are an interesting batch to watch. Casting was good but wish their screen presence could have been dealt in a better way. While some boys are given huge prominence, some other hardly have a line, and there's one or two who you can only see in a couple of scene and disappears thereafter. Of course, it's hard to give each cast equal amount of screen time but that doesn't mean they have to be reduced to merely appearing in a scene or two. But the ones who actually get a larger dose of role clinched their part extremely well and leave a huge impact in your mind. Michael, the hot tempered batsman; Siddhanth, the arrogant and self-confessed star player; Gautham, the confident de facto leader; Rajinder, the Punjabi wicket keeper; Varun, the victim of bully; Ramesh, the wannabe film director and Nissar the fast bowler, are all delightful to watch on screen, mainly due to their natural screen presence and talent.



The shy coach and the bold teacher in one
of their love moments

Of course, watching a coach training a bunch of boys for more than two hours can be quite a bore, so in comes Swathi a.k.a Anjali, the English teacher who has a huge crush on Sampath and is not shy about opening up about her feelings. Nevertheless, being the teacher she is, her advances on Sampath doesn't come across as too open or cheeky, but they remain very delighful and cute to watch. I must admit however that it took me quite some time to accept Swathi as a school teacher as the last time I watched her in Subramaniapuram, she was playing this naive college going girl. She still hasn't lost the childlike mannerisms, and at time it really takes an effort to picturise her as a mature teacher rather than a love-struck teenager. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that she's the life of the film, lighting up the scene with her naturally cute expressions and dialogue delivery. I personally enjoyed watching the manner in which her eyes literally lit up everytime she meets Sampath. The coffee shop incident where she casually and conveniently invites him to a dinner date was such a delight to watch and the way she remarks on how cute he looks when he blushes was so done so genuinely and casually without an ounce of flirtation in it.



Coming back to the main guy, Sumanth a.k.a Sampath. His was a beautifully written and brilliantly enacted character. Sampath is cool on the outside but vulnerable on the inside. His eyes lets out the flicker of pain whenever the 15 years old tournament incident is mentioned, proving that he is still nursing the pain of losing the championship. But he turns confident and hard when it comes to showing the boys on how to face the challenges in life. There were few beautiful scenes where you can see his varying mannerisms. The way he blushes whenever Anjali teases or compliments him, the way he lits up whenever the boys are bad-mouthing him or throwing a challenge at him, the way he frowns whenever the team is losing, the dejection in his eyes when he finds the boys losing their trust on him during the final tournament, the confidence and fire in him when he motivates the boys and the triumph in his face when they finally win the championship. In each and every scenes mentioned, Sumanth relies less on words and more on his expressions and eyes to do the talking. And he's such a sweetie pie to look at which makes it even more interesting to watch him play the role.

Music is by Kalyani Malik and he has done a commendable work. I love the Jago re song and the lovely Idi Adenemo number. All the songs are wonderfully picturised too.

Overall it was a fun film. I love it and I wouldn't mind watching it again. Actually, I have been watching it again....and again, and again, and again, and, ahh forget it. You get the picture, right? ;)



2 STATES- THE STORY OF MY MARRIAGE by CHETAN BHAGAT

Though Chetan Bhagat became quite a rage after his Five Point Someone was adapted into a hit Hindi film, 3 Idiots, nevertheless, I must say that I failed to become quite a fan of his. You see, the only book of Bhagat which I had the oppurtunity to read was One Night @ The Call Centre and I certainly wasn't quite taken by it. I mean, the novel did have it's moments but the whole "God-calling-fiasco" at the climax dampened my whole spirit on re-reading the same. So I was pleasantly surprised to hear good reviews about his 2 States.

The book turned out to be nothing like I imagined. From the start til' the end, it was downright funny and I was left literally rolling on the floor laughing. Truly, after Susan E. Philips' novels, I've never laughed this much for any other novels.

Chetan Bhagat certainly does have a wonderful and addictive sense of humour. His take on the Tamilians' and Punjabis' varying mannerisms is not only funny but made in a good nature. There's hardly a time when he describes an incident without leaving a funny remark or analogue to it, nevertheless, the remarks while hits the right note, doesn't in any way seem offensive or abusive.

2 States is basically about a Punjabi boy and a Tamil girl, both of whom fall in love while doing their post-graduation degree in the same university. Hailing from two different states and from two very different culture, the couple has to fight all odds to convince their respective parents to accept their love and eventually agree to their marriage.

Bhagat might have based most, if not all the incidents stated in the book from his own life, as like Krish (the protagonist) Bhagat too hailed from a Punjabi family and married his Tamil wife after courting her during their post-graduate studies in IIM Ahmedabad (the same University where Krish meets Ananya). And the thought that this could have happened in his real life evokes more humour in one as the depictions are so clearly noted and brought to life.

Some of the rib-tickling descriptions arise when Krish is facing the dillema of watching the cultural clash forming in front of him. The extent of which Krish and Ananya went to bring their families closer during their graduation and how such a move only manages to prove that their families are vastly different from one another and further lenghten the gap between them. And how the couple partake in the other family's culture and belief from their point of view. The incidents are not funny but the descriptions definitely are. It just goes on to show how the author manage to lace every aspect of the protagonist's life with a good sense sense of humour. For instance, Krish's observation that Suprabatham* sounds akin to "a group of women marching towards the army". What made it funny was that I've been listening to Suprabatham all through my life but never had I thought someone would describe it in such a humorous yet profound manner! It hit the nail right to the coffin. And again, when Krish's masi comments to her sister "Your son is gone. This boy belongs to Jayalalitha now!" - how can you not take it in light-hearted manner?

From Delhi  to Madras, from chappatis to thosais and vadas, from Mr. Romeo to Devdas, from being the reluctant family tutor to the eager to please son-in-law, from flaunting designer clothes in Citybank to wearing Mickey Mouse underwear in the wedding, Krish's journey was full of life and joy! This amazingly funny novel will definitely make you roar with laughter, whether you wish for it or not. Go read it!

*Suprabatham is a Tamil devotional number sung for Lord Venkateswara. A famous version of the song is rendered by the carnatic singer, M.S. Subbulakshmi.

Dream a little dream

Prologue

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” - Oscar Wilde

I'm running along the bridge as fast as I could. "I have to escape from these people," I keep telling myself. With the thumping sound of their feet long gone, I know that I've outrun them. There's no way they can find me now. "But I can't rest now. I got to keep moving" I tell myself while taking a look at the bracelet in my hand.

It was then I tripped. The old bridge is hardly strong enough to hold a young girl, let alone an adult who's running. Falling to me knees, I could feel the bracelet slipping away from my hand before dropping to the bridge. "Not the bracelet! Oh no!" I exclaimed while trying to catch hold of it . The bracelet drops to the bridge floor and slips between the gaps at the floor before falling down...to the river. "My bracelet!" I shouted and held my hand to catch it. All of a sudden, I could see another hand...a man's hand, holding out and catching the very same bracelet. I heave a sigh of relief...but not for long. The man, stands up, holding the bracelet. But before he could turn around to look at me, the bridge gives way and the man falls. I quickly kneel down, just in time to catch hold of his hand. He looks up but I can't see his face, only his eyes. They were surprisingly calm, given the situation he's in. He doesn't shout or scream. Instead the eyes keeps looking at me and I could feel as if he's almost smiling. Before long, his hands slip aways from me and he falls down to the river....but not before leaving the precious bracelet in my hand.

Jade is Man's Best Friend...Literally!

There's something about Jade that always irks the hell out of me. For starters, she's nothing like a normal dog should be...she barks when she shouldn't, or rather she doesn't bark when she should; she doesn't like to stay outdoors; she hates rain; she can't take instructions; she rather play with bugs than with her owners and most importantly, she can't guard the house.

In fact, just last month, our house was broken into by thieves while all of us were at work and what did our great little guard dog did? She had an amazing time running and playing around the thieves! How did we knew that? Well, for one, my next door neighbours swears that they never heard any barking sound from Jade, which is also the reason why they never knew our house was broken into til we informed them. Secondly, we found her fur in all our mattresses, a testimony that she was indeed playing around because the mattresses are the first place she jumps about whenever she sneaks into the house. Thirdly, her toys were inside the living room and makes us assume that probably the thieves were using them to bait her to play quietly inside the house. Poor guys didn't know that they needn't have to go through all the trouble at all. Jade is always a willing party whenever it comes to playing.

Anyway the point is, she doesn't seem to have the basic instinct that a normal dog should have...that is to bark when intruders are entering your owner's house. Instead, here she was, having a gala time running around the house while the thieves looted the whole house before her eyes. Which is why she could be termed as a man's best friend. One look at the man who looted our home and she was probably drooling at his feet!

Now I would rather trust the electronic alarm system than a self-confessed guard dog like Jade. Which is why we've since installed the alarm system to guard our home. Ok, so the self confessed guard dog is a bit of an exaggeration. Jade of course doesn't say it in words but she does it in action. How? Well, she would keep barking at all the cretaures that passed through our house, be it a human, a cat, a dog, or even a bird. She would keep barking until they disappear from her sight. Most dogs do that, of course, but Jade has a different mentality. She would only bark whenever we are at home. It's basically her way of telling us, "Look, I am guarding the house, so don't complain, ok". And she does all these in her own menacing way. She doesn't simply waste her breath barking if she knows that we are not looking. But the moment she notices one of us looking through the window, she would start her duty of barking at the passer bys, all the time looking back to see if we are still watching.

My sister says that she's a wonderful dog, but she's not. The fact is, you don't know what you're facing til' you actually live with Jade. And Jade is a hell to live with. We have to make sure she eats on time or else she would go on whinning. She's also picky with her food, so we have to get her favorites, and her favorites doesn't come cheap. She can't stand the rain, so whenever there's a heavy downpour, she would insist that she's let into the house, so that not even a raindrop falls upon her. And this she does religiously, whether it's 3 in the afternoon or 3 in the wee hours of the morning. She scared of crowd, so whenever she sees a group of people coming to the house, she would go on barking while taking steps backward. In fact, more than once, my guests have complained that they have no idea where Jade is though they can hear her barking. And that's how Jade is, she would find a secluded place around the house where she's pretty sure no one can see her, let alone catch her and starts her barking from there. And we end up smiling sheepishly at our guests while saying, "She's just shy, you know". Maybe the next time I see them, I should add the following as well..."But she'll come to you if you're nice to her, say, why don't you play with her while looting our house? She would definitely love that, wouldn't you Jade?"

Farewell Appa!

29th March, 1998- The memory of the day still stays fresh in my mind. That was the day you left us to continue your journey into God's loving hands. I remember your cry of pain, the way you clutched your heart, the manner in which your body was slumped on the couch. I know you fought your way through the pain, Appa. I know you wanted to live and I know you didn't want to leave us alone.

But God is great. He knew you have done your job here. It took me years to understand this, but I do know now. You have done your job here Appa, but I just wished you stayed on to see the results of your good deeds.

You didn't merely bring life to us...you shined your ways through all our hearts, you blessed us with your ever charming smile and you loved us for the way we are. You are the epitome of life, Appa and it saddens me that I never got to convey that to you.

For the first few years after your untimely demise, I often find myself sitting and thinking about you. I walk into an empty house and I could almost hear you calling out to me. I cry myself to sleep, hoping that I'll see you the next day. I think about you in times of trouble, wishing that you can just bundle me up and solve my problems. I think about you in times of joy, wishing that you can just share the happiness I felt. I think about practically everyday, for you are a person worth thinking about.

As time passed, my life got busier and busier. So much so that I stopped hearing your voice in the empty house. I even stopped crying myself to sleep but for the life of me, I could never stop thinking about you. All because, you have never stopped being the charming person that was so uniquely you.

Every family function that I attend, there were always relatives who reminisce their time spent with you. And that's when I realized that you not only shined our lives, but hundreds, maybe thousands of lives out there. That was your gift and you never failed to share it with others. That's what makes you uniquely you.

I realized today I wasted years being sad and sorrowful without you. The way you gave joy to others, I'm very sure you wouldn't want to be the cause of my sorrows today. And so I've decided! I've decided that I'm going to be happy whenever I think about you. I've decided that I'm going to listen to every single word said by others on you and feel proud that after 13 years, you still gain a permanent place in all our hearts. I've decided that I'm going to celebrate life like you did, Appa and try to find a place in the hearts of others, just like you did.

Farewell Appa. I'm still missing you but be rest assured, there's no sorrow in my heart now. I still wish you're standing by my side today, then again, I know you'll stay in my heart forever. Farewell Appa, I love you!

Muthu muthu mazhai

Remember Mr. Romeo? The film was released 14 years back but I got to admit that I wouldn’t have heard the songs more than 14 times til’ date. Yes, I’m finally confessing. I have nothing against the album, but the first time I saw the songs on screen, my only thought was…never to watch them again! To say that I was flabbergasted is an understatement, really! It was painstaking enough to watch Prabhu Deva and Madhoo doing the clown act in Thannerai Kadhalikkum, and what about Melisaiye? Well I can’t remember much about the song except that Shilpa Shetty has introduced some reeeaal weird ways of draping a saree! In short, the experience has left me rather devastated and I never really paid attention to the songs…until yesterday.

It was late evening and I was driving back home with the company of ARR’s music, as always. One of the songs played was from Mr. Romeo. I usually skipped all the songs from the film but I was just too lazy to do that yesterday and so the songs began playing for the first time in my car stereo player…and until today, I have been hearing to the same song non-stop!

The song was none other than Muthu muthu mazhai. Gosh, I never knew I’ll fall flat for this number. Folk numbers are not really my favorite. Kuchi Kuchi Rakkama is, needless to say, my least favorite number from Bombay. The same goes to Usilampati from Gentleman or Kulicha kutralam from Duet. But Muthu muthu is truly an eye-opener! Never knew a folk number can be composed this way. Hats off to ARR sir!

The song started off with some string instrument. (Please don’t ask me what is it. By now, you guys should have known my lack of knowledge when it comes to musical instruments.) And then, comes one of the most magnificent voice I’ve ever heard. Ila Arun- what a voice! She’s absolutely amazing! There is something so mystical and unique about her. She has practically done all that’s needed for the song- she was naughty, sexy, cheeky, giving the right amount of punch and was full of energy…and all this at the same time! I can hardly believe someone can shoulder the whole burden of the song so effortlessly but Ila’s performance was waaay beyond my expectations. Yeah, her diction is not perfect but she covers it up really well. Even the inaudible mumbling sounds good to my ears.

The chorus is another plus point for this song! Together with the right beats from the dholak (I hope I’m right about it being a dholak!) they practically elevated the energy level of the song.

In short, this is the kind of song you want to see performed in a show! Wonder why no one thought of dancing to this number in reality shows? That would have been a blast! No, wait a minute, I remember watching Prabhu Deva and Shilpa Shetty dancing for this number. It was so untastefully done that my mom forbade me from watching such “adulterated” songs again (I was under-age then, you see). But my point is, if people like Prabhu Deva and Shilpa Shetty can’t do justice to the song, then no one can. Okay, forget that I ever suggested anyone performing to this number.

Point to ponder: Have any of you ever listened to a song and imagined thousands of way in which the song would be choreographed…only to be disappointed with the end result once it’s screened??

Yeah, Rehna Tu would take the cake surely, but anything else?