Saturday, March 31, 2007

Seeing RED

RED: The Dark Side poster from glamsham.com

Almost every review said it was bad. Trade pundits wrote it off as a flop. Still I preferred watching Red: The Dark Side to Namastey London.

Yes, it was very predictable stuff. I guess that is enough reason for a suspense thriller to fail. The film also looks confused about what audience to target -- the multiplex class or B and C centres. Or it targeted both and failed at it miserably. But well, it is stylish in parts, Aftab does show signs of becoming an actor, the music is catchy.. I won't call it a disaster. And it seems the film is inspired by 21 grams. I don't have anything against lifting ideas from elsewhere if that can give us something fresh and something different, and I seriously hope someone makes a better Hindi flick out of 21 grams.

One thing about some of these films in this genre (that is relatively new to Bollywood) is female characters who have some meat in their roles (not just flesh). I can think of Jism, Murder, Aitraaz, Chehra.. It will be interesting to see whether the female-centered thrillers are here to stay.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Oru Snehabandhatthin..

Mother died on March 6.

She is now with me more than she ever was.

Below is a favourite song of hers. I remember her singing it very often in our younger days. She identified very much with this song. Of a lady who went searching for love but never found it. If anyone remembers the missing two lines, please fill in.

Oru Snehabandhattin..

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Can we make Saji sing again?



Saji Chandran, 26 years. Looks younger. Hails from a village in Kannur district of Kerala.

He used to be part of "Ganamelas" (stage orchestras) till five months back. He penned lyrics, put tunes and ruled the stages. And spent his spare time drawing and painting.

Till he fell ill, both his kidneys failed. Learning in a shock that he needs a kidney transplant in less than two months to stay alive.

He's in the hospital bed now (Amritha Hospital, Ernakulam), needing a lot of money (at least Rs 3 lakhs) for a transplant. His mother is standing beside him. She is willing to give her kidney. Father Ramachandran died early.

His friends and local people have tried collecting some money, but they couldn't get more than Rs 40,000.

Can we help him?

[In the picture is an article on Saji, by my friend Rasheed, that appeared in Malayalam daily Madhyamam on Sunday 18th February. Read the article (in Malayalam) : [pdf] Page 1 Page 2]