I have been thinking of writing about my most favorite cricketer for a very long time. it never happened. Today I am determined to write about him, before he delivers his first ball after returning to international cricket after a real long break.
More than anything else, the best definition for Sreesanth is "The epitome for disaster"
In a country of a billion+ where a national cricketer is almost a demi god, this boy is the only exception..he is the only devil or the imp :-) among them. He is the only celebrity in kerala who is greeted by booing during public appearances. Keralites in general are very possessive about their "stars". we even try to make claims on anyone who could some way be associated with kerala. but he is our very own boy but that doesn't stop keralites from reserving their filthiest remarks for him.
now tell me, what should we call this situation???
Sreesanth could be the most known keralite outside kerala. Legends like PT Usha can only envy and whine about it. He rose to fame in almost no time; for a while, he was the only indian pacer with a brain. then came that famous booty dance against andrew nell and that match winning spell. his capacity to get the best of the contemporary batsmen won him all accolades and for a short while he was looked upon as the spear head and future of indian pace department. then our boy decided to take things in his own way, which apparently wasn't the best way.
I am still his big fan any way. his capacity to beat a batsmen can only be envied by other indian bowlers. But I am sure that the previous sentence of mine is going to invite trouble for myself.I don't see many supporting me on that.
I wish sreesanth will use his commonsense this time and capitalize this last opportunity. I wish people who enjoy personal access to this boy have adviced him enough to make him cautious,may be aware, of the real situation. People are just dying for his blood. Forget fans, he might be the only indian cricketer in our history who hardly has any supporters. even the most tainted of indian cricketers (Mohd.Azharudin is the first name that's coming into mind. but he is a wrong example), may be manoj prabhakar, enjoys better fan following than him. However in terms of accumulated hatred, he could be the richest in India (forget cricket,even otherwise there are good chances). I wish he will wake up to these realities and will not disappoint a near to extinct species (supporters of sreesanth of which I am a member). He has all the talent to erase all that past. however he doesn't seem to get things right. latest spat with an insignificant off beat mumbai player is an example of he falling prey to trecherous conspiracies to force curtains on his still promising cricketing career.
Sree..wake up and act sensibly. We believe in you but you are so adamant that you won't give us even a slightest opportunity to feel proud of you. that hurts!!!
I wish it won't be too late when you realise the truth..few games can change every thing in our country!! and that's all you need. few good games and few great deliveries (with result of course:-)) ..Concentrate on your primary responsibility and give a break to your tantrums, bollywood girl friends and cinema ambitions..Malayalam celluloid is too crowded for another super star. its better if you stay on cricket field for another few years..
I really wish you will give us an opportunity to boast about your kerala connection!!!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Prithviraj : A super star in the making
Today as usual is a rainy day!!!!
By now, I realize that I most of my creative writings have happened on rainy days. I am thinking of moving to place like chirapunji so that I can write more frequently :-). Its an unusual winter here in canada. No one here remembers a November, as warm as the ongoing one. most of the days are pleasant and sunny with occasional showers. Today is a bit different. throughout the day, it rained and towards the evening it turned foggy. It looks like a very cold day but it isn't all that cold. I was thinking of 2 posts about Sreesanth and Shashi Tharoor : 2 malayalees who are known outside kerala,mostly for their antics these days. Both of them have striking similarity : extremely good what they do;but have an inborn talent to make enemies (Believe me, they are like machines that generate thousands of enemies overnight) for no apparent reasons. However when I sat down to write, something else came up in my mind.
These days, I use a 3G phone. while returning home from work, I test it for streaming experience while on move. To make it interesting enough to continue that habit, I watch malayalam movie clips only. The very first clip I watched was not a random one but I picked it for various reasons. I know only 2 people in malayalam movie industry whom I can call friends. Devanand and Naren. Devanand is a playback singer who has sang beautiful melodies and Naren is an upcoming,promising actor. I chose a movie in which both of them worked together -- Class Mates. I started off with devan's song in that movie : Kaathirunna Pennalle... a Lovely Song.
Prithvi raj and Kavya madhavan acted on screen. (I still feel sorry for her sad episode. Like most of the average malayalee boys, I am is not able to understand how can a guy let go a girl like kavya. Though I have never seen this girl anytime in my life, like most of the malayalees ,I firmly believe she is a very nice,"homely" (That's the key word) girl next door. After all, Life is all about beliefs -- rational and irrational)
Prithviraj has an amazing screen presence. I really loved watching him onscreen till "Puthiya Mugham". I was his fan till puthiya mugham. Puthiya Mugham, the biggest box office hit of 2009 (may be now pazhassi raja took over that position) is a disaster according to me (who am I?? some one who PAYS to watch movies. some one who gets a tickets STANDING IN QUEUE...in short the average film lover who hasn't yet taken it as a passion and who watches a movie only once ). While I have 101 arguments about why puthiya mugham is a total mishap, kerala doesn't think with me in that topic. so let's leave it behind.
Back to Prithviraj !!!
This guy is the new hope of malayalam celluloid.for all those who are bored with the czars, this man is a refreshing difference. Atleast he is young to play romance (sad truth is thats the most weakest link in his acting) contrary to the sexagenerians who are even willing to act as college boys these days ( a role which never went to them, when they started off their career in 80's : and that's just a 30 years ago). I remember seeing mamootty acting a father of 1 or 2 kids those days; a role in which I don't see him these days. while I admire the czars for their acting depth, I pity them for the kind of roles they take up.
Back to Prithviraj!!!
Prithviraj, the younger son of yesteryear young turk on screen, made his debut in 2002 (or o1). acted in about 50+ movies in last 7 years. That's an amazing career. almost 7+ movies an year. which means he hardly had time for anything apart from acting ever since he made his mind. He never had any significant box office success after nandanam (the very first one). but he sailed through the toothing years without much damage (infact in an impressive manner). Things started changing dramatically since 2006. that's when he played the lead role in Class Mates. While he had not much to his credit in the phenomenal success of that movie, it's he who made the most out of that flick. ever since classmates he never looked back. chocolate was his first solo hit. Its an average movie with absolutely nothing to talk about, but it made to the hit charts (Some people call it TIME in kerala).
His commitment to work has been remarkable in these years. it demands more respect when we consider the very fact that he is just into his mid twenties. at such an young age, he never got carried away by the fame and money and looks like he is not a W&W boy so far. In these years, he definitely has made lots of good friends in malayalam media. The kind of coverage he gets testifies that (it also testifies his popularity among the malayalee youth). I always felt he has the backing of an invisible PR organisation that's doing a good job so far. With not many successes to his credit, he could successfully create a notion among keralites (Including me ) that is going to be the next super star. The shoes of the upset angry young man and of the cool romantic hero (rich and upper middle class only) seem to be perfect fit for him. His screen presence is awesome and so is his action (As in action).
I have watched almost all his movies to realize just one thing. you just see prithvi raj in those movies. No matter what's the role, its all prithviraj on screen. That's were Czars are still significant.Pazhassi raja,chanthu, ponthan mada, bhaksara pateler,arayan in amaram, the kathakali artist in vana prastham, the rich spoiled young man in dasaratham, sethumadhavan, the artist in sadayam, joji and the rough man in thaazhvaram are some of the stellar characters malayala cinema remembers. Our boy doesn't have any such characters to his credit. its all prithviraj so far in different costumes. same styles, smile, anger, walk and gestures!!!. its something like we going to work everyday in different clothes.
Future looks very promising for Prithviraj. He is on his way to the undisputed throne of the prince of malayalam cinema after the emperors retire. No other young actors look promising at this juncture. Its very surprising that there are only very few young actors (potential heros) in malayalam as of now
Jaya suriya is leading the race for the second post ( I guess there isn't any race infact). Indrajit has proved that he isn't fit for a solo hero but is an excellent actor in any other position.
Anup Menon is an amazing actor. He has shown glimpses of talent whenever he could but he isn't getting breaks for some reason. Naren looks (Or Looked???) very promising as an actor. But I don't know why he isn't seen on mallu screens so often. Every time he makes a mark, he kind of disappears. I heard him saying he is concentrating on tamil movies in a recent interview. but no tamil movie of his hasn't come out in last 2o months or so. He has tremendous potential but seem to be ruining his career by wrong decisions (or indecisiveness) so far. If he changes his mind, he will soon catch up with Jayasuriya. All other young heros appearing are like comets. they don't give a feeling that they are going to stay. The Hrithu boy, Nishan was a good change. But will malayalam adore a non malayalee hero??? I have my own doubts :-) :-).
To wrap up, Prithviraj is making it BIG !! Luck, professionalism and excellent publicity tactics is giving him the much wanted thrust and he is on his way to stardom..Let's wish him the very best. At the same time, Let's hope to see some good movies from him. While his movies are interesting and bearable so far, his interviews are not. I don't know why every malayalam actor is trying hard (desperate is more apt) to sound like a philospher genius who lost his ways in the of labyrinth of life, and some how ended up in acting and is just hanging out there for fun (you know just for the sake of it) but is more inclined and engrossed in higher aspects of life and philosphical thinking. This boy was last seen attempting to share his GK on kerala politics and cricket. its more soothing to hear him talking about cinema. ( It prompted me to remember Saroj Kumar :-) )
By now, I realize that I most of my creative writings have happened on rainy days. I am thinking of moving to place like chirapunji so that I can write more frequently :-). Its an unusual winter here in canada. No one here remembers a November, as warm as the ongoing one. most of the days are pleasant and sunny with occasional showers. Today is a bit different. throughout the day, it rained and towards the evening it turned foggy. It looks like a very cold day but it isn't all that cold. I was thinking of 2 posts about Sreesanth and Shashi Tharoor : 2 malayalees who are known outside kerala,mostly for their antics these days. Both of them have striking similarity : extremely good what they do;but have an inborn talent to make enemies (Believe me, they are like machines that generate thousands of enemies overnight) for no apparent reasons. However when I sat down to write, something else came up in my mind.
These days, I use a 3G phone. while returning home from work, I test it for streaming experience while on move. To make it interesting enough to continue that habit, I watch malayalam movie clips only. The very first clip I watched was not a random one but I picked it for various reasons. I know only 2 people in malayalam movie industry whom I can call friends. Devanand and Naren. Devanand is a playback singer who has sang beautiful melodies and Naren is an upcoming,promising actor. I chose a movie in which both of them worked together -- Class Mates. I started off with devan's song in that movie : Kaathirunna Pennalle... a Lovely Song.
Prithvi raj and Kavya madhavan acted on screen. (I still feel sorry for her sad episode. Like most of the average malayalee boys, I am is not able to understand how can a guy let go a girl like kavya. Though I have never seen this girl anytime in my life, like most of the malayalees ,I firmly believe she is a very nice,"homely" (That's the key word) girl next door. After all, Life is all about beliefs -- rational and irrational)
Prithviraj has an amazing screen presence. I really loved watching him onscreen till "Puthiya Mugham". I was his fan till puthiya mugham. Puthiya Mugham, the biggest box office hit of 2009 (may be now pazhassi raja took over that position) is a disaster according to me (who am I?? some one who PAYS to watch movies. some one who gets a tickets STANDING IN QUEUE...in short the average film lover who hasn't yet taken it as a passion and who watches a movie only once ). While I have 101 arguments about why puthiya mugham is a total mishap, kerala doesn't think with me in that topic. so let's leave it behind.
Back to Prithviraj !!!
This guy is the new hope of malayalam celluloid.for all those who are bored with the czars, this man is a refreshing difference. Atleast he is young to play romance (sad truth is thats the most weakest link in his acting) contrary to the sexagenerians who are even willing to act as college boys these days ( a role which never went to them, when they started off their career in 80's : and that's just a 30 years ago). I remember seeing mamootty acting a father of 1 or 2 kids those days; a role in which I don't see him these days. while I admire the czars for their acting depth, I pity them for the kind of roles they take up.
Back to Prithviraj!!!
Prithviraj, the younger son of yesteryear young turk on screen, made his debut in 2002 (or o1). acted in about 50+ movies in last 7 years. That's an amazing career. almost 7+ movies an year. which means he hardly had time for anything apart from acting ever since he made his mind. He never had any significant box office success after nandanam (the very first one). but he sailed through the toothing years without much damage (infact in an impressive manner). Things started changing dramatically since 2006. that's when he played the lead role in Class Mates. While he had not much to his credit in the phenomenal success of that movie, it's he who made the most out of that flick. ever since classmates he never looked back. chocolate was his first solo hit. Its an average movie with absolutely nothing to talk about, but it made to the hit charts (Some people call it TIME in kerala).
His commitment to work has been remarkable in these years. it demands more respect when we consider the very fact that he is just into his mid twenties. at such an young age, he never got carried away by the fame and money and looks like he is not a W&W boy so far. In these years, he definitely has made lots of good friends in malayalam media. The kind of coverage he gets testifies that (it also testifies his popularity among the malayalee youth). I always felt he has the backing of an invisible PR organisation that's doing a good job so far. With not many successes to his credit, he could successfully create a notion among keralites (Including me ) that is going to be the next super star. The shoes of the upset angry young man and of the cool romantic hero (rich and upper middle class only) seem to be perfect fit for him. His screen presence is awesome and so is his action (As in action).
I have watched almost all his movies to realize just one thing. you just see prithvi raj in those movies. No matter what's the role, its all prithviraj on screen. That's were Czars are still significant.Pazhassi raja,chanthu, ponthan mada, bhaksara pateler,arayan in amaram, the kathakali artist in vana prastham, the rich spoiled young man in dasaratham, sethumadhavan, the artist in sadayam, joji and the rough man in thaazhvaram are some of the stellar characters malayala cinema remembers. Our boy doesn't have any such characters to his credit. its all prithviraj so far in different costumes. same styles, smile, anger, walk and gestures!!!. its something like we going to work everyday in different clothes.
Future looks very promising for Prithviraj. He is on his way to the undisputed throne of the prince of malayalam cinema after the emperors retire. No other young actors look promising at this juncture. Its very surprising that there are only very few young actors (potential heros) in malayalam as of now
Jaya suriya is leading the race for the second post ( I guess there isn't any race infact). Indrajit has proved that he isn't fit for a solo hero but is an excellent actor in any other position.
Anup Menon is an amazing actor. He has shown glimpses of talent whenever he could but he isn't getting breaks for some reason. Naren looks (Or Looked???) very promising as an actor. But I don't know why he isn't seen on mallu screens so often. Every time he makes a mark, he kind of disappears. I heard him saying he is concentrating on tamil movies in a recent interview. but no tamil movie of his hasn't come out in last 2o months or so. He has tremendous potential but seem to be ruining his career by wrong decisions (or indecisiveness) so far. If he changes his mind, he will soon catch up with Jayasuriya. All other young heros appearing are like comets. they don't give a feeling that they are going to stay. The Hrithu boy, Nishan was a good change. But will malayalam adore a non malayalee hero??? I have my own doubts :-) :-).
To wrap up, Prithviraj is making it BIG !! Luck, professionalism and excellent publicity tactics is giving him the much wanted thrust and he is on his way to stardom..Let's wish him the very best. At the same time, Let's hope to see some good movies from him. While his movies are interesting and bearable so far, his interviews are not. I don't know why every malayalam actor is trying hard (desperate is more apt) to sound like a philospher genius who lost his ways in the of labyrinth of life, and some how ended up in acting and is just hanging out there for fun (you know just for the sake of it) but is more inclined and engrossed in higher aspects of life and philosphical thinking. This boy was last seen attempting to share his GK on kerala politics and cricket. its more soothing to hear him talking about cinema. ( It prompted me to remember Saroj Kumar :-) )
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Deepavali in Toronto..
Believe me, I celebrated the first deepavali in my life here in Toronto.Thanks a zillion to Amma and Girija Aunty who made it possible and I really enjoyed every moment of it. it all started with Amma's email to her thick friend of yesterday's who lives here in Toronto. Aunty called me immediately and told me come home. it was a very warm welcome at their sweet home in the suburbs of torronto. I happened to met her family too. we indulged in usual discussions of India, her head aches and challenges and future. it was a wonderful dinner and after that was the biggest event.."Bursting Crackers" .. I am so fond of crackers and the last time I got an opportunity was around 6 years back for a vishu..since then, I am out of country during Vishu days. My last vishu was a very uneventful one since I was stuck in Bangalore for some reasons I can't even remember now..I never knew we could burst crackers in Canada. In USA it required special permit or so in california. we went to an open ground (well we walked in almost 0 degree cold) and fired up few rockets as well. that was hilarious!!!!
I remember me and vinod getting an adrenaline rush because of cracker going off all around us in bangalore during a deepavali night. we got charged up and went to a cracker shop run by indian airforce society, stood in queue for a while and bought only those things which makes huge noise and bursted them all our neighbours ran out of their ammunition..
Surprises doesn't stop there.. I got my first Deepavali gift ever..and it was so sweet of Girija aunty and family to give us (infact they had a gift for Nidhi too) one. they made that day so warm and nice for me..I was at loss of words to express myself and I infact had to tell them I am a big failure in expressing soft emotions :-) :-).
Later I called up Naren and we spoke for a while. I am really really happy to see him prospering as an actor in both Malayalam and Tamil. He is a very promising and talented guy and people are slowly discovering it themselves. his role in recent commercial success,"robinhood" is definitely bringing him appreciation and limelight. he is already a heart throbe of quite a few (Manju : I hope you don't have issues there :-) :-) ). I wish to see him as one of the lead actors in both malayalam and tamil. may his movies make it BIG.
I remember me and vinod getting an adrenaline rush because of cracker going off all around us in bangalore during a deepavali night. we got charged up and went to a cracker shop run by indian airforce society, stood in queue for a while and bought only those things which makes huge noise and bursted them all our neighbours ran out of their ammunition..
Surprises doesn't stop there.. I got my first Deepavali gift ever..and it was so sweet of Girija aunty and family to give us (infact they had a gift for Nidhi too) one. they made that day so warm and nice for me..I was at loss of words to express myself and I infact had to tell them I am a big failure in expressing soft emotions :-) :-).
Later I called up Naren and we spoke for a while. I am really really happy to see him prospering as an actor in both Malayalam and Tamil. He is a very promising and talented guy and people are slowly discovering it themselves. his role in recent commercial success,"robinhood" is definitely bringing him appreciation and limelight. he is already a heart throbe of quite a few (Manju : I hope you don't have issues there :-) :-) ). I wish to see him as one of the lead actors in both malayalam and tamil. may his movies make it BIG.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
when I return ....
I was away for 2.5 years. it's a long break. i wasn't doing anything great during these days that i didn't find time to come over. i was lost. i was lost in the drifting currents of destiny. i just wandered, with no intention of finding shore. i just wanted to go with it. 5 minutes before, I didn't even dream of updating this blog today. in my apartment in bangalore( well i changed my country of residence last year), i was happy spending another sunday in silence..i was watching a movie.. a movie shot at munnar, where i wish i could go sometime during rains..the shots were hilarious and for no reason i became restless..AND..and it started raining outside.. my apartment has a glass door towards balcony and from the balcony, you will see an ocean of houses,mostly small ones, beyond the houses,stand the huge buildings on outer ring road, and beyond them is the green horizon..in the nights, i spend time watching the traffic on outer ring road.. i just stepped onto my balcony to see the rain..and i suddenly remembered my blog. in less than a second, i got restless again..and i felt i should visit my blog. i think my love for it got re kindled. Rekindled love is an interesting topic i guess...well i rarely had such experiences..and most of them are too trivial to state here..while i wrote so far, the light outside has completely faded, and it looks like a monsoon evening outside..sitting on sofa, with my laptop on my lap, i can see the bubbles of rain getting busted on my balcony, a 100 of them every moment. some lucky ones are floating around,waiting for their turn to get busted... (how short is their life span) ...and i am filled with that unique monsoon despair..i wish, i was home..I am lucky these days, my home is just 355 kms away (i drove last week to my home and found the distance), another 8 hrs can take me there.. rain is getting harder and is accompanied by thunders..i remember an old rainy day..me and jyothi chechi used to look at the flashes through the only chillodu on the roof (chillodu is the roof tile, with glass embedded so that light can get into the house..) whenever thunder storms came, we counted the number of lightenings. now i remember another thing..i didn't take the clothes which i had put for drying from the balcony..now i know why present always pricks and past always soothes :-) :-) (not for all,but for many)..
what do I write about? This question always puzzles me. I feel my creativity is almost dead.I cannot think about anything beyond a superficial degree. when I try to put them together, my thoughts ran away. I always lost chasing them. well not anymore..these days, I just watch them disappear like a bubble. suddenly I feel i have lots to write about. Politics, Life, cinema, elections, civic concerns, career,trips, business plans ( that's my hobby these days..discussing business plans..my wife doesn't care about them, so I don't bother her :-) :-). Me and Vinod (I call him uncle instead), can spend hours together discussing plans and ideas.)..All on a sudden, I can't stand the pressure of my topics.. I was waiting for this day to come ever since 2006. The rain bubbles outside have grown up. the rythm has changed too. its like the sound of "necklace crackers" (This word is patented by me. Necklace crackers are called mala padakkam in kerala..they are tiny crackers,may be a 100 of them, tied together. once caught fire, all of them burst one after the other) now. I just went to the glass door and looked beyond. its amazing to watch rains. I am planning to spend some time next month, watching monsoon in kerala. I have 3 plans as of now. 1 is to go to munnar and watch the rains in a tea estate on a depressing evening. 2 is go to bekal fort, and watch the rain standing on its wall..(ever since I saw movie bombay in 95, I dreamed about it). 3 is to roam around through the canals and backwaters of kuttanadu in a house boat during a rainy day. needless to say that "and take lots of photos too"... All of these experiences will be very unique. A rainy day at mookambika is vivid now..it was a different feeling, sitting on a rock in souparnika, watching the stream. what fills you up at that instant is beyond words...its a "nice" feeling. I still cherish the day we went on top of maan para despite rains on a highly slippery track infested with leaches. cloudes were kissing our feet. when we reached on top and i couldn't see vinod whom I could touch. it was an experience of life time.. i rolled in clouds, jumped in clouds, ate clouds,hugged clouds and stamped clouds.
To wind up this post, I return to a cliche..Life is all about simple pleasures, the earlier we pursue them, the more we grab. if we postpone enjoyment to another day, that day is always tomorrow. while we race to get hold of our objectives and passion in life, never forget the low hanging fruits,simple pleasures. believe me, they are very sweet. with another sunday fading away, I feel happy though I did nothing :-).
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