Manjummel Boys Review

We saw the Manjumme Boys movie this week and it was quite a unique experience for multiple reasons. This was our kid’s first night show! Our first Malayalam movie on the big screen. And for the first time ever I resisted the temptation to hog on popcorn!!!

I went for my first ever night show movie after marriage and I was so thrilled! Staying up that late and going out was unheard of before marriage. So, to go for a movie at 10PM and to be on the streets around 1AM was quite a thrill! Sadly, my kids seemed rather ambivalent about it. They couldn’t see why it is such a big deal. However, I was happy to have broken them into this lifestyle rather than let some random stranger take credit in future 😉

This is probably the first time ever we saw a Malayalam movie on screen, and I am happy that we did. I don’t think we would have got the same experience on TV. The visuals and audio effects in theater couldn’t be replaced by watching on TV. Maybe it is also a first that a Malayalam movie deserves a theater-viewing rather than TV!

And for the first time ever I resisted the temptation to eat pop-corn! I stood firm by my intermittent fasting schedule and refused to eat past my dinner time. Except a few sips of cold coffee (who can resist Satyam cold coffee?!) I didn’t eat or drink anything until breakfast the next day!

Oh, one more first: It took us less than two hours to decide, book and leave for the movie. Randomly (first time ever ever!) Anand suggested that we go for a night show around 8-30PM and within a few minutes he booked the tickets and we were out by 10-30PM!

Now coming to the movie: I suppose anyone who has watched would know the interesting plot, where it is derived from and how it connects to Kamal’s Guna. But there were other other aspects that made it all the more interesting for me.

I got to know of this movie when we were watching a YouTube video where the boys interacted with Kamal and Santhana Barathi. And I thought they were fanboying Kamal so the movie is most probably a soppy tribute to Kamal. But there were so many positive reviews that I was tempted to watch. Except the animated version of the song in the beginning and the song played at the end, reference to Kamal and Guna were quite subtle. They just happen to decide on going to the Guna cave because one of them has heard about it. The mallu accent while reciting the famous dialogue was quite funny, while the reinterpretation of the divine love was quite amazing (more on that later). And if you look beyond the realm of the story, I quite agree with Kamal that the original is more of a duet between Kamal and Ilayaraja (if you have heard the audio cassette version of making of Guna songs you would know what I mean; and yes, I am that old!). It is a completely different aspect that he hasn’t stayed loyal to Ilayaraja. He not only worked with multiple music directors, but also compared some unworthy ones with Ilayaraja! All the same, there is this deep connect between them that shines through in songs likes this.

Looking at the way the boys plan their trip and how they travel was quite humbling. Except for needing a big car there was hardly any pre-planning required! In this age, we spend a really long time identifying a place and then at least a month planning our itinerary, hotel room, ticket booking, etc. My recent week-long trips took us couple of months of planning and organizing. Even if we consider trips we took before kids, they still required a lot of planning. All the boys needed was a dorm for stay, roadside eateries for food, hopping from one sightseeing place to another – that is all it takes to make a trip fun! No fancy resorts, or adventure sports, or luxurious mode of transport, or apparel shopping…the list could go on! And just one camera for a group of 9!

I don’t know if the backstory for the boys is true to real life or if it was just for cinematic effect. The whole ruckus around losing Tug of war and practicing for it was quite funny. I am sure there was a lot of humor in the first 15-20min during the wedding scene, but the dialogues and subtitles were running so fast that I couldn’t keep pace. How the tug-of-war comes into play while rescuing their friends was quite interesting, but again am not sure if this is just for the movie since we usually like to see things nicely wrapped up.

I was especially impressed by the picturization of the trauma Subhash goes through while inside the pit. I have only seen such articulation on book, and often on screen it is all very murky and confusing. But the director got this perfectly on screen. Here again, I am not sure if the back story of Subhash saving Kuttan in their childhood days is real. If it isn’t, then we really didn’t need that kind of background to justify Kuttan stepping up for Subhash.

The most goosebump inducing moment is the last scene when Subhash is finally rescued and is carried by his friends, with the ‘Undaana kaayam engum’ line from the ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ song playing in the background. Until recently the song was merely Kamal’s interpretation of how an illiterate would compose a letter to his beloved with a good dose of exaggerated expression of his love. I personally found the main line (undaana kaayam engum….etc….) extremely annoying (btw, the only part I loved was Kamal’s piece towards the end (‘la la la laalala….’) because of how wonderful his voice sounds!) But with this movie, you realize how this line can be reinterpreted for a completely different situation and made all the more beautiful! Time and again we have seen movies and songs on friendship, but this movie took it to an all-new level.

Reinterpretation of a song for a different situation reminds me of how my mother could interpret a love song for a mother-child love. I discovered this when I had my kids and my favorite song was ‘Poo kodiyin punnagai’ from Iruvar – and it turned out to be my son’s favorite. I could always calm him down and put him to sleep (and no silly jokes on my singing skills please!) with this song! Now those days are long gone………..I guess nothing really lasts forever………..just like how I can never get annoyed with the ‘Kanmani anbodu’ song ever again!

Revisiting an Old Favorite is not always a good thing!

Anand and I often try to introduce our kids to movies and music from our times. So far there have been many hits and a few misses. With Ponniyin Selvan, Mani Ratnam made a huge impact on our kids. For a long time we put off showing them his classics as we thought it wont be age appropriate. But with my kids watching Leo, Jawaan and Jailer (with overtly violent scenes skipped) we thought might as well show them Mani’s movies. 

We were debating which one to pick between Nayagan (my husband’s favorite) and Agni Natchathiram (my favorite) and went with AN since we couldn’t find Nayagan. Anand wasn’t very enthusiastic and couldn’t understand how I could prefer AN over Nayagan. He strongly felt the movie to be inappropriate for the kids and I couldn’t understand why! Later I realized he obviously has a better memory considering he was in his teens when the movie released 😉 

 Since I hadn’t really watched the full movie after the first time I only remembered just the good things – handsome Karthik, somewhat good-looking Prabhu and the hospital scene copied from Godfather. All these from the bits and pieces I had seen over the years. I prepped my kids with - awesome music, a younger and fitter version of Periya Vellar from PS, the thrilling fight scenes, crisp storytelling, and on and on. 

When the movie started I was super impressed with how Mani sets the stage with the very first scene – the interview scene where Karthik beats up the interviewer (VK Ramasamy) for asking inappropriate questions about his father. And then the cringe-fest started: 

• We are repeatedly shown how everyone deals with and is affected by Viswanathan's two families
• There is a tit-for-tat in almost everything between Gautham and Ashok
• Amala’s loosu-ponnu character was so super annoying! Even my daughter commented her mental age is of a pre-kg girl and the pairing is like a pre-kg girl and a 11th std boy
• There are soooo many songs! We are in an age where there are hardly any songs, and even the ones are usually in the background without interfering with the flow of the story
• The Janagaraj-VK Ramasamy comedy track – what was Mani even thinking?! I thought he made family-friendly movies. The comedy just gets worse and worse as the movie goes. We had to forward all their scenes!
• Karthik-Nirosha romance was also cringey 

Except for the thrilling bit with the politician the movie ends up being a fight….strike that….a quarrel between step-brothers! With a peep into their love life and friendship. The scene I was looking forward to (the hospital scene) came so late into the movie that I had lost interest by then, and went back to my book. 

My kids were seriously wondering just why I recommended this movie! 

• They were too young to understand the family situation of Viswanathan or why Karthik was constantly angry
• They found Amala unbearable
• The Karthik-Nirosha jokes weren't age-appropriate 
•  They are so used to movies without songs that they were super annoyed with songs constantly interrupting the movie
• am sure there were more.....but by then I had left the scene :p 

But the best part of the movie, for me, is rediscovering the beautiful songs in this movie. 

It is often said that Raja-Mani combo produced the best songs. While I do love the songs in Mouna Raagam and Nayagan, am not a big fan of Dalapathi songs (except Yamunai aatrile and Chinna Thaayaval). Now listening to the songs from this movie I realize this has got to be the best that the duo produced. Every song is so beautifully composed and the singing is just amazing. I personally do not like songs with a strong Carnatic influence but that is just me. However, it looks like the songs were specifically composed to showcase different Carnatic ragas, so that explains why almost every song sounds like a keertana! After repeated listening, I find only Thoongadha vizhigal to be overly Carnatic, the others not so much. 

There is another interesting discovery from my listening – Ninnukori, Oru poongavanam and Va Va anbe are rather unlike typical Raja songs. I don’t claim to know his songs well and my preferences lean towards ARR. But Raja’s songs generally stick to a certain tempo and pitch, unlike ARR who goes all over the place with speed and pitch. Raja’s songs are never too high or too low nor fast. But these three are an exception. Ninnu kori is a very rapidly sung song while Oru Poongavanam, Va Va anbe tends to go very high and at times very low. In all these songs the timing of the pitch goes perfectly well with the lyrics. I also realized that my favorite songs of Raja (Poova eduthu oru, Putham pudhu poo, Inji iduppazhaga duet) all follow this format! I suppose you can make me listen to Raja songs even then ARR lingers 😊 

This is probably common knowledge, still – most of the music you hear in ‘Raja-Rajathi rajan indha raja’ song are often heard in chase sequences as bg music. I think it was even copied by DSP in Dasavatharam. 

Another interesting point is how the songs are spread between Chitra and Janaki – they each have a solo (Janaki one more than Chitra) and a duet. Both have done an exceptional job with every number. Yet Chitra got the national award – not sure why or how! I keep listening to the songs and I can’t pick one over the other at all! They are so wonderful in their own way! 

The lyrics of the songs are also quite beautifully written. Except maybe Thoongadha Vizhigal, all other songs are lovely. This is quite unlike that time period when most songs had very vulgar or crass lyrics. Wonder if Mani had anything to do with it. But then again I can’t get past the comedy track so not sure if I can credit him for the lyrics. 

The next day we found Nayagan on Prime - not sure why we didn’t earlier! Both loved the movie, and Anand gave his usual teary-eyed tribute to Kamal. So my pick is long forgotten! 

Side note: While writing this I wondered why Anand didn’t pick Dalapathi since that is his most favorite Mani movie. Then I remembered – we were earlier watching SIIMA awards where Kamal was repeatedly climbing stage to give or take awards. And it concluded with Kamal getting Best Actor Award (surprise! surprise!) for Vikram (the movie, not the oh-so-talented actor!). And Anand was exhilarated from watching his idol get an award, yet again, even after all these years, beating (bulldozing?) the younger actors (who had also done an award-worthy job!). So he badly wanted to go back and relive the thrill of watching Kamal at his best! This was also triggered by Mani receiving award for Best Director for PS and them talking about Nayagan-2. Btw, Vikram (the actor, not the forgettable movie) was not even in the picture! Anyways, thank god he was looking for a Kamal-Mani combo and not just Kamal. Otherwise, we would have ended up watching Guna!

My Favorite Male Solos......

My favorite male solos…

Female solo songs expressing love have always been my favorites. And there are so many of the kind! The first one that comes to mind is ‘Evano oruvan…..’ from Alaipayuthey. Then going all the way back you have such gems as ‘Naalai indha neram paarthu….’ (from Uyarntha Manithan), ‘En vaaniley….’ (from Johnny),’Kannaalaney….’ (from Bombay), ‘Kala kala vena pozhiyum…’ (from Rythm), just to name a few from my favorites. In all these songs the expression is of how she feels being in love. It is never about the looks or any physical form of love. But just the deeper feeling of being in love. The male versions are bordering cocky. It is either about how beautiful the woman is,  or how well he will take care of her,or what a wonderful life he expects to have from her, or how she is the definition of a perfect woman, you could go on…….. It is almost never about the feelings of being in love. In my observation this is rarely found in the male solos.  So, in all the noise of umpteen romantic songs I found a few rare songs where the lyrics, the singer and music bring together the beautiful feeling of being in love from the male’s perspective. Here are 8 of those songs that are in my favorites. Feel free to add your’s! 

Note: I am not getting into the meaning of the songs as it is not possible to retain its beauty in the translation. But where necessary I do pick a few lines here and there that made an impact. 

Also, the songs are in no particular order except I wanted to start with my all-time-favorite (Munpaniya) followed by my recent favorite (Mogathirai)

1. Song: Munpaniya

Singer: SPB

Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Lyrics: Pazhani Bharathi

Movie: Nandha

The lyrics of this song brings together the story of a boy who has been bereft of love, getting a fresh breath of life when he falls in love with a girl. The lyrics carries an understated bewilderment of the guy at finding love. This has got to be one of SPB’s best. His voice is so pitch-and-tone perfect. The nuances he brings in at the right moments are just amazing.The song gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it. And am never tired of waiting for those beautiful moments (‘maatram thandhaval needhaane….’, ‘naan unn moochile….’, etc.)

I always thought Nandha music is by Ilayaraja but today I was surprised to find out it is by Yuvan! I seem to keep making this mistake of attributing Yuvan’s classics to Karthik or Ilayaraja! I attributed 7G Rainbow Colony to Karthik raja! 

Somehow all soulful songs seem to carry flute music. The beats in the background carry just the right amount of subtlety to not impede the smoothness of the song. And after all the chorus, and different instruments,the flute is what stays with you. 

The interlude by Subha and chorus brings in the right lightheartedness to this heavy song, and also gives a glimpse into how the woman is feeling. When I had initially heard this song I somehow found this interlude jarring. After years of listening to different romantic songs and appreciating the multiple flavors within a single song I realize how well this interlude fits in to the song. 

What can I say about SPB’s singing! It’s out there for everyone to hear it, feel it, fall in love with it! He never stops to amaze me with his subtle beautiful singing. While not the same genre, ‘Thanga thaamarai magaley’ is another all-time favorite of mine in his voice. Of course there are hundreds of songs, but in very few he gets to exhibit such nuanced singing. 

2. Song: Mogathirai

Singer: Pradeep Kumar

Music: Santhosh Narayanan

Lyrics: Kabilan

Movie: Pizza

Sometimes Saavn does wonderful things. Adding this to my collection because I was into Santhosh Narayanan songs was one such. I initially found this song too hazy and couldn’t really follow it. We are so used to the standard format of movie songs, that I couldn’t really get a handle of this. Add to this, the completely new genre (not sure what it is but it has a lot of guitar and keyboard and harmonium also I guess…..dont really have an ear for instrument) made it harder for me to follow the song. 

For a long time I couldn’t really follow the point of the lyrics. The song ends with him expressing how all-encompassing she is in his life, but from the beginning it ranges from pointing out the beauty in nature to some vague lines on how he feels? I am still not sure but something about the soulful melody that latches on to you. Yet another thing that threw me off about this song: I assumed the last bit to be the typical complementary nature of a couple. The ‘unn samaiyal araiyil’ type. But after repeated listening I realized what those lines meant and was amazed by the depth of the lyrics. One of my other favorite line is ‘Unn kaadhalaal ennull nooru kanaa’. 

The song is by Pradeep Kumar, who I am not a big fan of! I feel he has very limited range,and rarely adds value to a song. But this song seems to work perfectly well for Pradeep’s style of singing. The singer only needs to deliver the lyrics without expressing too much emotions (unlike SPB or Sid Sriram?!) and let the focus stay on the music and lyrics. 

3. Song: Satrangi Re

Singer: Sonu Nigam

Music: ARR

Lyrics: Gulzar

Movie: Dil Se

Yet another classic of ARR where it looks like he is going all over the place but the end product is well put together! This is one of those ARR songs where everytime I listen to it I discover something new. This is one of his most arresting songs ever! I fell in love with it from the moment I first heard it. In our Dilse cassette, I would keep swapping between Chayya Chayya (the first on side-A) and Satrangi (the last on side-B)  repeatedly! This song is a 7.5minutes of pure awesomeness!

When I first heard the song, I couldn’t quite understand how the expression of his love and calling her the seven-colors of his life are connected. Mind you, my understanding of Hindi is very poor and this is Gulzar’s lyrics. So really tough to follow. But recently I came across a Tiktok video on this song and understood the connection. At that time and even now I feel Mani trivialized the depth of the song by making Manisha wear outfits in seven different colors. It seems so in-the-face. 

Taking pointers from this site (which also refers to the tiktok video I mentioned earlier), the song actually talks about the seven stages of love: Attraction, Infatuation, Love, Faith, Worship, Madness and Death. It is impossible to pick any single line of this song. While I dont get the exact meaning of all the lines, the song has an all-encompassing effect. This combined with Sonu Nigam’s rendition and ARR’s music makes it all the more beautiful. 

The more you listen to this song, the more you notice the nuances of the music and singing. The whole song I think is meant to show the mesmerizing effect love has on him. This is brought to life with the soulful rendition by Sonu Nigam, haunting humming by Kavita, use of what I found out is accordion (which to me sounds like pungi - the snake-charmer’s instrument). All this while, we have the consistent beats to keep a steady tempo. And the song itself varies in tempo throughout. Sonu Nigam’s singing starts slowly,  then goes into a frenzy and then slowly mellows down keeping in line with the ebb and low of the stages of love. The instrument at 5:55 alongwith the ‘ishq par zor nahi….’ is particularly touching. And Sonu brings it to a beautiful closure with ‘Mauth ki godh….’. By the way, another blog mentioned use of flute but I somehow can’t identify that in the song. 

Here again, Kavita’s humming and the Mirza Ghalib couplet seemed unnecessary when I first heard the song. All I wanted was ARR music and Sonu Nigam’s voice. But after repeated listening I see how beautifully all these fit together. 

At the risk of offending the fans of Tamil version, there is no way Srinivas’ singing or Vairamuthu’s lyrics can hold a candle to the Hindi version. The first time I (inadvertently) listened to the Tamil version I stopped immediately. Srinivas sounds whiny! not an iota of passion in his voice. I didn’t want to put down the Tamil version without properly going over it so I read the lyrics. Counting down the 7 stages of love is so in-the-face! And somehow it sounds more crass than passionate :(  

4. Song: Usure Poguthey

Singer:Karthik

Music:ARR

Lyrics: Vairamuthu

Movie: Raavanan

Yet another beauty by ARR this time in Karthik’s voice. How can anyone come up with a passionate song at the time of kidnapping and make it so memorable?! While Mani has given his own backstory to the kidnapping there is no denying that the antagonist is falling for a married woman. Just like in the DD-version Ramayan and here, I root for the Raavan character! 

I think this song is best heard and just heard. The picturization seems a little overdramatc with Aishwarya flying all over the place. The first time I heard this song I simply loved it but I did have a problem with ‘udhatta nee konjam suzhikkayile’. It is usually used in a vulgar context, but after seeing the movie you realize the context is very different. Again there could be two different meanings: Either she is quivering her lips from fear or from disgust! And given the context, to me the latter seems more appropriate. And that makes you feel all the more for the guy. 

Here again there is a certain flow to the lyrics and the tempo of the song. It is not just about the guy expressing how his love is forbidden and he has no right falling in love with this woman. The song starts off with how smitten he is with her, and how he longs for her. In the next stanza he jumps to justifying his love - that there are always people who break the laws and there is a new law written to accommodate such people, after all the laws are man-made (so why should I toe the line?!). The song (like most of ARR love songs) starts with a slow tempo and reaches a peak halfway and again after the second stanza. I don’t know if this is my imagination but I feel there is a certain stoicism in Karthik’s tone of singing. The song is a soliloquy of sorts - the guy having  a conversation with himself on his ill-fated love and his own justification for his love,  and eventually thinking about death. 

The one line I especially love is ‘Etta irukkira suriyan paathu…..’. Unlike the typical comparison of a woman with a flower, here the woman is the sun while the man is the lotus coming alive. I find this a very refreshing change in our lyrics. 

I also like the rustic elements of the song that goes so well with the movie and character. Fire in a teak forest, calling himself her maman (?!), thailaan kuruvi, manthirichha vitta kozhi, and few others. My only gripe with the song is the timing. He just kidnapped her and it is probably just an attraction. But the song is too passionate for a love-at-first-sight context! Anyways, you have to give it to Mani-ARR-Vikram combo to make you look beyond these issues and simply love the song! 

5. Song: Thalli pogathey

Singer: Sid Sriram, Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam (ADK)

Music: ARR

Lyrics: Thamarai

Movie: Achcham Yenbathu Madamayada

This song is a perfect example of how beautifully one can write the confusing feelings of falling in love. Trust Thamarai to come up with such a beautiful expression of love. The guy’s emotions range from being confused at how he is feeling to being angry with himself as he cant stop thinking about her, and then the fear of losing her. Here the metaphorical comparisons are very refreshing. He compares her to a mighty ocean while he is an insignificant being. Often moon is compared to a woman’s beauty, but here the man sees himself as the moon that stays up the whole night. And then again, he compares himself to a wilting lotus. 

Like I mentioned before, lyrics from male POV are often cocky with the man assuming complete ownership of the woman - body and soul! With Thamarai we see a refreshing change - the man is just as shy yet eager for a physical relationship. And hopes she would understand his longing. 

Between Sid Sriram and ADK they bring the insecurities and longing of the protagonist alive. Somehow I feel at the beginning the woman’s humming is coming from a distance while the male is singing at a very slow tempo. Slowly the tempo builds and when you hear her voice closer, ADK jumps in with a frenzy! My favorite lines: Kangalil yekkam, Kaadhalin Mayakkam, Aanaal Partha Nimidam,Oruvidhamaana Thayakam. 

6. Song: Adiye

Singer: Sid Sriram

Music: ARR

Lyrics: Madhan Karky

Movie: Kadal

Another beautiful rendition by Sid Sriram. While the theme is similar to the previous song here there is also the bewilderment and curiosity of where this is leading. There are many wonderful lines in this song. I especially love how he compares himself to a kid (aattu kutty) - something associated with cuteness and innocence! 

My other favorite line is about how she brings out his insecurities:  Kannala kannadi senju, En achatha kaaturiyae . There is also the underlying meaning - that he is too scared (shy?!) to look her in the eye. 

It is surprising to find such a feministic song from Karky. I am a fan of his lyrics, but somehow this sounds a little unlike him. Also, my only gripe with this song is the chorus. A soulful solo rendition would have better suited the lyrics. 

7. Song: Ei Suzhali

Singer: Vijaynarain

Music: Santhosh Narayan

Lyrics: Vivek

Movie: Kodi

This is a very fast-paced number with beautiful lyrics and wonderful singing by Vijaynarain. All thanks to Santhosh’s music. Unless the music is obviously ARR a song rarely catches my attention. What really drew me to this song is catchy-teasing lyrics placed all over the song. I loved this song so much that I googled and found the lyrics and meaning when it was newly launched. This is from the singer’s blog and the translation is quite well written. All the same here is my two cents :) 

In one line he calls her a beautiful oleander flower (arali) - the hidden meaning being arali is not only beautiful but also poisonous. In another line he says he is frothing as he is unable to handle her beauty. 

While in most male POV songs the male is rather confident and knows how to conquer his love here he is scared of what she is doing to him and just wants to be spared. He also compares his heart to something as fragile as an egg shell. 

The song ends with a load of sweet nothings shared in nature. The lyrics are so beautiful that it actually comes alive when you listen to it. The guy suddenly realizes that he is drowning in love - as in he seems to find romance/love everywhere and wonders what has happened to him. He compares himself to a fish that thought it was caught in a snag only to wake up and realize it was all a dream and that it is still alive and in familiar waters. 

8. Song: Chittu kuruvi song

Singer: ARR

Music: ARR

Lyrics: 

Movie: Chekka Chevandha Vaanam

Oh what more can I say about this gem by ARR?! I have covered it all here. 

There are also some beautiful Kannada songs that I love. But not many are solo and even the solo ones I dont think I know enough to write about it. So leaving it out of this list. Hope you found some of your favorites here! Let me know your favorites too! 

One pleasant rainy evening - artoonsinn event

Prerna had a weird sense of deja vu while listening to her husband, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. There had been an influx of fresh graduates in his company which brought a breath of fresh air. The sight of wide-eyed freshers always kept the oldies on their toes, wanting to look young and energetic while imparting their wisdom from experience. Apparently they had some freshers in Aniket's department as well. As a Senior Lead, it was his responsibility to put them through an orientation and help them identify a career path.

Prerna and Aniket were a happily married couple with a daughter and son entering college. Their married life had been fairly uncomplicated. She had been a copywriter in an advertising agency while Aniket was already climbing up the ladder in his IT company. Once in the family way, she chose to become a homemaker.  

It was a pleasant evening with light showers. She loved these quiet family times with her family chatting in the living room, while she got busy in the kitchen. It felt so warm, cozy and just perfect. She got the expected enthusiastic response when she announced hot samosas and tea. Though her son followed-up with ‘just one for me Amma. I am cutting down on oily food’; and her daughter ‘me too Amma. I had a late lunch.’ That’s alright. She will save the balance for another rainy day!

She suddenly heard rolling laughter from her husband. Apparently one of the freshers was a very witty girl with a healthy humor. Prerna was suddenly taken back to her younger days. She was one of the college freshers hired as a copywriter in her agency. She hit it off with her Senior Lead, Rajesh, from the get go. After every witty remark, she always looked out for that chuckle from Rajesh. Slowly she gained confidence and interacted more directly with him. The extended coffee time, perfectly timed water breaks, stolen glances, unnecessary virtual chats….all came back to her. There was definitely some chemistry between them, though it never went beyond the office walls. 

She quickly stole a glance at her husband, when he happened to look her way. What was that look on his face? Guilt? Did he have a crush on this girl? If so, wouldn’t he keep it a secret? Why talk about her? Did Rajesh ever talk about me with his family? Was I the topic of a light conversation on a rainy evening? Or a guilty secret he never revealed? What did he even think of me?

Oh come on………..why fret over something that happened so long ago! It hardly matters now. But why is it suddenly so quiet in the living room? She noticed her husband lost in his own thoughts, her daughter pushing her snack around the plate while her son hadn’t even looked at his plate. And suddenly she felt a gush of cold air…

Author's Note:

Deja vu is a French word. It literally means 'already dreams'. It is a feeling of having already experienced the present situation 

Marete hodenu song - Jun 2019

This is my current favourite kannada song. It is beautiful for the lyrics and music. The lyrics is romantic, sweet and tongue-in-cheek. There are two versions to this song, but I like the unplugged one better-probably because I heard this first. 

Those who know kannada can appreciate it better, but here goes my attempt at translating it to English, just the first few lines:

I forgot what I started out to do....I was so struck by your lightning presence

Forgive me, but the fault is ur's if I fall into your arms

There is a beautiful bond between a fragrant flower and the snatching breeze

Luka chuppi song - Nov 2019

I was always so caught up with the fast numbers in this movie, I never really noticed this song. When I heard it recently I wondered how come I missed it! Then checking on YouTube realised - the picturization is so sad and the complete song doesn't come thru in the movie. Nor does the context bring out the beauty of the lyrics . 

This song is way beyond just a melody. This has to be one of the most beautifully crafted song of a conversation between a mother and her son. Lata's voice has the right touch of motherly feel to it, while ARR sounds so young, excited, vulnerable all at the same time! 

Though I knew the general meaning of the song, I went online to check the word-to-word meaning and it brought tears to my eyes. The play on the word 'dheep' and 'chaand' is so sweet. And when ARR sings 'Lage bin tere mujhko akela' there is so much longing in his voice! And the ending duet is yet another beauty. 

In case you dont know Hindi well, check the lyrics meaning here:

http://songnlyrics.blogspot.com/2006/01/lukka-chhupi.html?m=1

And here is the full song, not the movie version:

Listen to the song 'Luka Chuppi' on Saavn at https://www.saavn.com/s/song/hindi/Rang-De-Basanti/Luka-Chuppi/QQk0fAxGbmk?referrer=svn_source=share&svn_medium=com.google.android.gm&utm_source=share&utm_medium=com.google.android.gm

'96 movie review Nov 2018

Here is my review of the movie #'96. A beautifully crafted romantic movie in Tamil. 

Let me get my one gripe with the movie out of the way, the last 30min could have been crisper and I wish the characters had continued showing the same restraint. Otherwise, ’96 is one of the best movies ever! 

The movie is so wholesomely beautiful that it is hard to figure out where to start! It is a story with a very simple premise……school sweethearts meet after 20+years, what happens next? We have seen many movies portraying teen love, lovers meeting after their life take different paths, even an old man going in search of his lover! While it would be normal for both to have lead a normal life of career, marriage, family, etc., here the guy doesn’t get married. He stays single and still misses his lover. While we would normally see such a guy as a loser or a creep, we are left feeling sad and sympathetic. Full credit to the director and Vijay Sethupathi (VS) acting that he evokes a feeling of helplessness among us. You wish you could do something to make him feel better, but you know there simply isn’t. Probably because the movie starts off showing us what he made of his life that he becomes an intriguing and interesting character from the word go. And combine that with his amazing acting, you root for him all through the way!

I never feel comfortable watching movies that depict teen love. Somehow I feel it is never handled with the sensitivity or finesse it deserves. But this movie does a wonderful job of it. Rather than find a reason for love, the movie focuses on how two young kids bond with each other and how it is so deep, and broken so abruptly that it lasts rest of their adolescent and adult life. There are no cute girl gimmicks or macho stunts. It is a simple and quietly pretty and extroverted girl juxtaposed with a boy who suddenly discovers his feeling and is forever tongue-tied around her. No stealing glances, stolen kisses, etc. It is a really sweet portrayal of love. 

Rather than question his everlasting love for her, everyone accepts his feeling for what it is and lets him be. Isn’t that wonderful? There is no need to look for a certain goal or an end. Just a feeling you want to carry forever, and be content with it! And there is no condemning her for moving on with her life either. The impromptu way in which they discover the misunderstanding and how they missed a chance at life together is so realistic and painful. The unassuming way in which VS reveals his attempts to meet her and keeps track of her can only leave a girl feeling special. How bittersweet is that! 

Do you get that unexplainable vague, yet wonderful feeling when you hear a really beautiful romantic song? A song that is so encompassing and consuming? For me songs like ‘naan paesa ninaipathellam…’, ‘eghirikudhithaen….’ (from boys), ‘ninaithu ninaithu…..’ (7g rainbow colony), ‘yae kahaan…’ (silsila) does that. And now this movie!