"Ye Maya Chesave" Telugu Movie Review

It takes two to tango. Nag Chaitanya has a slick winner in "Ye Maaya Chesave" ("Vinaithaandi Varuvaaya" in Tamil starring Trisha and Simbhu) - his second movie, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, with lot of awe and skill. If the essence of a love story is conversations, Gautham navigates the portrayal of a relationship beautifully, showing all the moments that make it, break it, and restore. It shows why some make it and many don't with lots of evocativeness, passion, sensitivity and honesty. Refreshingly, A R Rehman's music (replacing Harris Jayaraj in a coup) feels at-home, competitive and enriching. You remember the output of his early years in this movie. Nag Chaitanya and newcomer Samantha excel in their roles. Sporting to see Mahesh Babu's sister Manjula produce a different film for Nagarjuna's son. Cinematography is another major asset. There are more pleasant surprises in the movie.

Book Review: Tales From the Bench and the Bar by Vicaji J.Taraporevala

There are over 47,000 pending cases in Supreme Court, over 3.7 million in High Court and around 26.3 million in subordinate judiciary. Amidst all this insurmountable volume of work, black dress, uniform, countless PILs (Public Interest Litigation)  being filed every day, and cases for bringing lawyers' assets to book under Right To Information Act, one wonders whether a lawyer's life is all about serious stuff! Not so, according to the book - Tales from the Bench and the Bar by Vicaji J Taraporevala. Its a delightful insider's account of life on the Bench and the Bar giving some refreshingly light moments that liven up the often stern and forbidding proceedings in our courts. The author himself is a senior advocate in the Bombay High Court and has been practising for sixty two years. He gives some glimpses of sharp wit and humor, of legendary lawyers like Nani Palkhivala, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, M R Jayakar. The book is a good read and I have been distributing to a few lawyer friends and wannabe lawyers since.

Here's a sample: "A member of the Bar carrying a number of law books was greeted in court by his client with the words. "I thought you lawyers knew all the law." "Yes, we do", said the lawyer. After a pause, he continued: "Oh, these books  - they are for the judges."

"Maro Charithra" Audio Review

Mickey J Mayer has scored some refreshing music than the usual 8 1/2 beat songs he did for movies like Leader, Kotha Bangaru Lokam etc. A product of Trinity College, London - Mickey J Mayer can turn out to be Tollywood's AR Rehman if someone can help him with variations possible in percussions and re-arrangement. Mickey has definite strengths in melody-making and orchestration. This movie has one or two outstanding numbers which are, boldly, not re-mixed numbers of the old Marocharitra - that legendary K Balachander movie which has haunting melodies of M.S.Vishwanathan - the Guru of Maestro Ilaya Raja. Malay Palay Magadivo  and Yeh Theega Puvvulo may not be as good as Originals but they cast their charms on your senses, lingering on.

And now, In-Train magazine!

In-house magazines and In-flight magazines, we heard. But In-train magazines? Sounds new and exciting, right? A Hyderabad-based company - Intellium Media Consultants Pvt.Ltd has started India's first In-train magazine for the South Central Railways, released on 11th December, 2009. The magazine called  "Shades of Life" seems a promising new magazine, distribted freely to passengers (not for carrying) in AC Coaches of trains criss-crossing the South Central Railways. Considering that the SCR ferries over 20 lakh passengers every month, its a monster of a market too big to ignore for any publisher. The magazine is slick, finely produced with elegant editorial content and glossy pics with 200 gsm variety. Looks like Railways and Reading are finally going together decades after writers like Ruskin Bond, Winston Churchill, Jim Corbett, Khushwanth Singh enjoyed the experience of reading in the Great Indian Railways. Next time, you are in AC Coach, don't forget to ask your copy of "Shades of Life" and do drop in to give your feedback. I hope this gets bigger and better across Pan-India Railway network in due course.

Excellent Photography by Scott Stulberg

Check this website for some stunning visuals which blend traditional and digital photography. Scott Stulberg, googling further reveals, is a teacher and a professional in photography and is one of the most-revered photographers on the planet. He seems to make the most unobstrusive settings come alive. Photography, like social networking, is increasingly embracing technology - and Scott seems set to ride the cutting edge for many years. Savor his samples in: http://www.asa100.com/ and read about his art and workmanship in:  http://jrphoto.wordpress.com/spotlight-interview-photographer-teacher-scott-stulberg/

"Bindaas" movie review

"Bindaas" movie starring Manchu Manoj Kumar is a contrived attempt to rehash all the comedy fares which have hit the screens in the last two years - from "Dhee" to "Ready". The movie tries to concoct comedy at every turn of 24-frames and almost succeeds but the audience is tired of such upbeat nonsense. Comedy bores, if overdone. Watchable if you have bindaas time!

"Leader" Movie Review

"Leader"  - Sekhar Kammula's attempt to show leader distinguished from politicians is mostly unconvincing and lacklustre due to limitations self-imposed - his style of sober story-telling, no emotions or cinematization (except unnecessarily so towards end) and little entertainment. By attempting to address cleansing the political through dubious means and equating every politician as a crook except the hero, Sekhar has missed many points - his world only seems black or white, not grey. One expected more homework and attention to detail. The movie's highstand moments come in just two or three scenes but thats not enough to be the ideal launch for Rana Daggubati - he looks impressive, though.

What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell - an iconic writer on the hidden extraordinary in the ordinary things - weaving patterns with or without empirical evidence. After The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers, comes an eclectical collection of his favorite pieces from his favorite magazine The New Yorker   - written from his days as a Staff Writer since 1996. The book is a delicious read for Gladwell fans - and covers conceptually blockbuster ideas for his next book - the reason some choke and others panic, the reason why there are many kinds of mustard but only one kind of ketchup, the hazards of statistical predictions, the trouble with personality tests and intelligence tests, the history of the world through the evolution of hair dyes...the list is indefatigably long and multi-faceted as Malcom Gladwell is truly. There's a piece about late bloomers where he says that Genius, contrary to popular opinion, has nothing to do with precocity; infact the best writers, painters and directors made it big in the late fifties and sixties. For fans of Gladwell, this is not just a curious case of what Gladwell thinks is - its the curious case of dramatic patterns in everyday life.

"My Name is Khan" movie (Hindi)

"My Name is Khan" after all the controversies is surprisingly good film - with powered performances by Shahrukh Khan and Kajol. Karan Johar scores new high with a better story and crisp screenplay (Syed Field helped?). Its just a bit longer with low mass appeal. The movie may resonate more than recent movies on 9/11. Good music apart, you get to see San Francisco closer in multiplex. And its a movie which may bond with American audiences than here.

"Striker" Movie Review (Hindi)

"Striker" starring Sidharth is explosive depiction of true life story of a carroms player with all the "slumdog millionaire" twists. Director Chandan Arora makes up for lack of entertainment with mind-blowing story-telling and above-par performances from all. If an outdoor game like carroms can be drop-dead gripping and intense, story-tellers need not look westward or wayward. Music is another first - six composers and one BGM composer fire all cylinders.

"Maya Bazar" - Ever "Green" No longer Black & White!

"Maya Bazar" (is Tollywood's "Sholay" and greatest blockbuster) in cinemascope and color is an entrancing restoration done with lots of diligence and panache - the effort is audio-visually enhancing and mesmerising. Considering the number of Telugus and non-Telugus who will populate theatres to see it atleast once, this is a jackpot from a classic whose text and subtext, plots and sub-plots continue to haunt movie-goers and inspire generations of movie-makers. Watch with all.