Tingya does it, Paradesi does not

My friend Mangesh Hadawale's Marathi film Tingya is selected to Indian Panorama section of IFFI 2007 to be held at Goa. I am happy, though I am yet to see the film. Tingya, set in a Maharashtra village, is 26-year old Mangesh's first film.

Today I get news that Maharashtra govt has announced a special award for Tingya.

I am not too worried about Paradesi not making it. If Malayalam media is obsessed with that exclusion, let it be.

I hope Mangesh does not go into oblivion like many other talented directors who made an impact with their first films (and got awards for it). Anybody knows where Ajayan -- of Peruthachchan -- is? Ali Akbar and George Kithu settled for routine stuff, Suresh Unnitthan settled for TV serials when he came back after a long break..

Art of Living

From Arya's blog Theekkalam.

Redlight area

I ask for directions, and someone tells me "redlight se right lena".

Ok, I tell myself -- "redlight" is a place everyone is supposed to know. I didn't have the guts to ask how to get to the "redlight" because I was afraid people might think that is where I want to go. That would certainly be an embarassing situation, especially when it is not "redlight" one is looking for.

So I ask for directions again, and this time I am asked to take a turn at the "laal batti". There was no point asking again, and after a while it hit me that it could be a traffic lamp they are refering to. Which indeed was.

More than a month in Dilli, I am coming to terms with it. It does not matter whether the signal shows green or yellow, it is still a redlight. Delhi is a land of red lights.

The Boss

Rajni is Boss. No doubt about it.

But first half of Sivaji: The Boss disappointed. A sad heroine character and some attempts to be funny that fall flat (despite best efforts from Vivek). But the lion has to roar, and he does. There's quite an amount of fun in the second half.

If I were to pick the best thing about the film, it would be the impressive screen presence of the villain (I don't know the actor's name).



Anyone who loves the superstar would have already watched Sivaji, but amidst all the hype around the film, let us not forget a long line of films that made the superstar -- Ranga, Thangamakan, Moonru mugham, Padikkatthavan, Maaveeran, Velaikkaaran, Mappilai, Annamalai, Mannan, Uzhaippali, Yejamaan, Muthu, Basha, Arunachalam, Padayappa..

And when Sivaji: The Boss is getting so much acceptance in the metros and multiplexes, when it is getting released simultaneously in as many as 72 centres in Kerala (the highest for a Malayalam film has been 60), one must remember that less than ten years back thearte owners in Kerala were refusing to play Padaiyappa because they didn't want the "uncultured" Tamil audiences to spoil their halls.

It is intereresting to see how the amount of money involved has made all the difference. What else could it be?

Diary is not dead

Readers have been asking me why I stopped blogging.

Believe me this diary is not dead. I request the readers to stand by me through this transition period. A change in job, change in location.. I'm still settling in. I am planning to get a machine and internet connection at home.

Meanwhile, please post your suggestions in the comments. Here is a birthday reminder: On August 1 the diary completes an year of existence on blogger. The diary should be alive and kicking again by then. Thanks a ton for the support and camaraderie extended by all of you.

Shootout, Fireflies, Metro, Prathibha Patil

Back to the blogosphere after a short break.

To take stock of these two weeks, Shootout at Lokhandwala began well and crashed early enough, Fireflies made an impression on a cool evening near the shores of Brahmaputra (Gargi would write more about it), I loved "Life in a.. Metro" (and the fact that I have more choice on films as I have moved to a metro).

Prathibha Patil as presidential candidate is a pleasant surprise. (Nirmala Deshpande or Mohsina Kidwai would have been very pleasant shocks though:))