Rajnikanth, the evergreen hero of the Tamil film industry, an icon in his own right and in millions of minds in India makes a much anticipated return to film in the movie ‘Shivaji’. Teaming up with director Shankar (of Gentleman, Jeans and Indian fame) and music maestro AR Rahman, super star Rajnikanth provides 3 hours and 5 minutes of non-stop entertainment.
The storyline and plot are nothing to inspire. The usual formulaic ideas reveal themselves again. Why else would this be a Rajnikanth movie? Aesthetically pleasing with some unique numbers from AR Rahman featuring Blaaze and his rap stylings. (Blaaze actually grew up with me, so it’s nice to see him live his dream).
The heroine Shriya does an adequate job while Vivek in a comedy role provides numerous laughs particularly at Rajnikanth’s expense as he mimics him on multiple occasions. Suman plays and acts his villainous role to perfection.
The witty dialogues by Sujatha play puns on the movie’s name and the actors of yesteryear, particularly the late Sivaji Ganeshan and on previous Rajnikanth movies.
While I could go into the storyline and the nuances of the movie, to be quite honest, there isn’t much to it. Just another crowd pleaser providing good solid entertainment with plenty of comedy, drama, action and romance along the way. Set to make crores and crores at the box office, tickets have already been sold out for months in advance in India, even at an asking price of 1500 rupees.
Check it out at a theatre near you… and please leave your brain at home. Definitely one of the better tamil movies I have seen recently.
I rate it 5/5 for pure entertainment.
Monday, June 18, 2007
My Kingdom for a Coach
Graham Ford is India’s new coach – well, not really. He has turned down the job for ‘personal reasons’. As many columnists have pointed out (including Mukul Kesavan and Ian Chappell), the BCCI were very egoistical (for lack of a better word or rather because there is no better word) in their selection process for the coach. Of course, one could expect nothing less from an organisation that utilise an equally cumbersome and political process to select the cricket team itself. But cricket selection is the topic for another rant blog!
The BCCI in all their glory probably felt that the lure of several zeros before a decimal point would be all that is required to entice their chosen candidate to the coaching role. Alas, that was not to be. It seems Graham Ford put his personal life before his career and of course, money – a train of thought that would probably be lost on the BCCI.
Several comments have emerged as to why he turned down the job. The speculation is rife from his tentativeness to be in the subcontinent to the apparent shock at the appalling state of affairs within the BCCI. Of course, the other speculation is that he simply wanted a free trip to India. Is it so hard to believe that his personal circumstances may simply have changed? Or that after further contemplation, he simply didn’t feel it was the right opportunity for him at the moment? Could it be that his reason’s were oh so simple and obvious?
On thing is for certain, I wouldn’t want the Jamaican police investigating his reasons for turning down the job!
The BCCI in all their glory probably felt that the lure of several zeros before a decimal point would be all that is required to entice their chosen candidate to the coaching role. Alas, that was not to be. It seems Graham Ford put his personal life before his career and of course, money – a train of thought that would probably be lost on the BCCI.
Several comments have emerged as to why he turned down the job. The speculation is rife from his tentativeness to be in the subcontinent to the apparent shock at the appalling state of affairs within the BCCI. Of course, the other speculation is that he simply wanted a free trip to India. Is it so hard to believe that his personal circumstances may simply have changed? Or that after further contemplation, he simply didn’t feel it was the right opportunity for him at the moment? Could it be that his reason’s were oh so simple and obvious?
On thing is for certain, I wouldn’t want the Jamaican police investigating his reasons for turning down the job!
Friday, June 08, 2007
The ICC wise men - Part 1
Recently, the International Cricket Council formed a cricket committee to look at all matters cricket. At their recently concluded two day meeting in Dubai, numerous recommendations were unleashed on to the unsuspecting public. All designed to rekindle interest and better cricket all the world round.
Firstly, the issue of ball tampering reared it’s ugly head. The list of unfair or unpermitted actions included:
More to follow.
Firstly, the issue of ball tampering reared it’s ugly head. The list of unfair or unpermitted actions included:
- Deliberately throwing the ball into the ground to rough it up.
- Applying any non-artificial substance for the purpose other than to polish the ball.
How the umpires are meant to discern that the actions are deliberately to change the condition of the ball is beyond me. What if a fielder drops the ball on the ground, is that now deliberate or uncoordination? Fielders in the outfield often throw bump balls to ensure the ball gets to the stumps or fielders. Do fielders with weak arms now get penalised?
It is understandable and quite commendable that ball tampering is on the forefront of the committee and the eradication of such on their minds. However, the line between deliberate tampering and accidental is so thin that even if one were pulled up for the offence, the evidence presented may not stand up at all.
Regardless of all the rules and regulations enforced, tampering will always lurk in some corner of the cricketing outfield waiting to rear it’s ugly head. The only thing one can expect from the officials is consistency across both teams.
It reminds me of an anecdote by Chris Pringle, former New Zealand fast bowler and his escapades in Pakistan. While reverse-swing was still in its infancy, New Zealand toured Pakistan at a time when neutral umpires were unheard of. By consistently scuffing up the ball, Imran Khan and his band of merry cricketers were able to devastate through the New Zealand batting lineup. After numerous complaints to the umpire that went unheeded, Chris Pringle decided that he would fight fire with fire. Using a bottle top on the outfield, he scuffed the cricket ball to return his best ever figures in international cricket. When the Pakistan team complained to the umpire, his response was Now it is the same for both teams
More to follow.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Murder they tried to write...
Bob Woolmer, former coach of the Pakistan cricket team, was found dead in his hotel room on March 18. Since then, there have been many twists and turns in the investigation by Jamaican police. Such varying reports from strangulation to snake venom in wine bottles to the implication of former Pakistani cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed.
Enter Scotland Yard. After detailed investigations, their conclusions were a lot less sensational. Bob Woolmer died of natural causes – heart failure and chronic ill health. Claims that had been rubbished by the Jamaican Police as unhelpful.
Spare a thought for the Woolmer family, being to-ed and fro-ed in multiple directions. But still the drama continued, with the lead pathologist claiming that he stood by his story.
Amidst all this was of course public speculation on divides within the Pakistan camp and claims of match fixing and fundamentalism.
It seems that the rollercoaster has come to an end. Although, Jamaican police are yet to officially comment, it is not widely being reported that they will have to make a retraction that Bob Woolmer did in fact die of natural causes. An unfortunate but rather mundane affair after all.
A full chronology is on Cricinfo
I guess that’s why there isn’t a CSI: Jamaica.
Enter Scotland Yard. After detailed investigations, their conclusions were a lot less sensational. Bob Woolmer died of natural causes – heart failure and chronic ill health. Claims that had been rubbished by the Jamaican Police as unhelpful.
Spare a thought for the Woolmer family, being to-ed and fro-ed in multiple directions. But still the drama continued, with the lead pathologist claiming that he stood by his story.
Amidst all this was of course public speculation on divides within the Pakistan camp and claims of match fixing and fundamentalism.
It seems that the rollercoaster has come to an end. Although, Jamaican police are yet to officially comment, it is not widely being reported that they will have to make a retraction that Bob Woolmer did in fact die of natural causes. An unfortunate but rather mundane affair after all.
A full chronology is on Cricinfo
I guess that’s why there isn’t a CSI: Jamaica.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Surface-ing
First they took the desktop world by storm, then they took on Java, then the iPod (albeit unsuccessfully) and the world of gaming (with better success). Now Microsoft, look set to change the way we ‘interface’ with computers. In the world of computers and software in particular, user interface design and methodologies are often overlooked as a means to an end. Of course the times have changed with the advent of the rich Web 2.0 and feature rich operating systems such as Windows Vista.
Mobile devices and tablet pcs took human computer interaction to a new frontier with interfaces more ‘natural’. The push for user friendly interfaces has become more prevalent in today’s world with design principles such as natural mapping coming to the fore. The importance on look and feel of an application is almost as significant as if it actually works. Often devices fail not because of their inability to function but because they are not user friendly or intuitive.
Of course there are exceptions, such as the Blackberry. Why such an expensive, functional device has a keyboard so small still amazes me? After much contemplation I have come to only one conclusion – outsourcing. It must be cheaper to build a blackberry in the land of Lilliput! But I digress…
Where is all this going? Microsoft of course! Microsoft has taken human computer interfaces to a new degree. The Surface. Yep – that’s what they called it. It’s describes as a coffee table computer that interacts with whatever is placed on the surface. So you can write on it, use a touch screen. There is even a suggestion that placing a cellphone on it will automatically download ringtones to your mobile device.
Some might say it’s just a glorified tablet. That it may be, but if truly integrates with it’s surroundings, it presents a significant advance in device-to-device communication. Of course, being a table, it enables multiple users to interact with the system at the same time. A whole new meaning to the word – lunch/coffee meeting. The concept is that you can sit around this ‘coffee table’ and hold meetings, conferences in a significantly different way.
As impressed as I was with this coffee table of tommorow, one question still irked my mind: Where do I actually keep my coffee? According to some comments, barcode technology will be used meaning that the Surface will not interact with any device it hasn’t been programmed to recognize. So rather than refilling my coffee cup when I place it on the Surface, I’ll simply get an unsightly stain.
Maybe the next plugin to the Microsoft Surface should be the Surface Cleaner!
Mobile devices and tablet pcs took human computer interaction to a new frontier with interfaces more ‘natural’. The push for user friendly interfaces has become more prevalent in today’s world with design principles such as natural mapping coming to the fore. The importance on look and feel of an application is almost as significant as if it actually works. Often devices fail not because of their inability to function but because they are not user friendly or intuitive.
Of course there are exceptions, such as the Blackberry. Why such an expensive, functional device has a keyboard so small still amazes me? After much contemplation I have come to only one conclusion – outsourcing. It must be cheaper to build a blackberry in the land of Lilliput! But I digress…
Where is all this going? Microsoft of course! Microsoft has taken human computer interfaces to a new degree. The Surface. Yep – that’s what they called it. It’s describes as a coffee table computer that interacts with whatever is placed on the surface. So you can write on it, use a touch screen. There is even a suggestion that placing a cellphone on it will automatically download ringtones to your mobile device.
Some might say it’s just a glorified tablet. That it may be, but if truly integrates with it’s surroundings, it presents a significant advance in device-to-device communication. Of course, being a table, it enables multiple users to interact with the system at the same time. A whole new meaning to the word – lunch/coffee meeting. The concept is that you can sit around this ‘coffee table’ and hold meetings, conferences in a significantly different way.
As impressed as I was with this coffee table of tommorow, one question still irked my mind: Where do I actually keep my coffee? According to some comments, barcode technology will be used meaning that the Surface will not interact with any device it hasn’t been programmed to recognize. So rather than refilling my coffee cup when I place it on the Surface, I’ll simply get an unsightly stain.
Maybe the next plugin to the Microsoft Surface should be the Surface Cleaner!
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