Saturday, April 24, 2010

In need of quality cinema..

Every Keralite knows who the two M's of the Malayalam Industry are - Mohanlal and Mamootty. Most people opine that we do not get to see quality cinema like the 80's. And I too belong to this strata of people. Quality cinema is of a rare thing now. Some blame it on script, some on the story, director etc. One argument goes that there are no stories to match the caliber of these two actors. But, why is the enacting of the role so bad in whatever roles they get. If they are indeed exceptional actors then why is it that I feel they are acting on screen, as opposed to the feeling one got from the older movies - where you wouldn't be able to make out that they are acting. They were performing.

I happened to see Ividam Swargamaanu last night. Mohanlal looks so artificial, even in the climax scenes. It feels like he is putting an effort to act. If you pick any of his movies from the 80's you will be able to mark a clear difference, between performing and acting. Same is the case for Mamooty, his short-length role in Kerala Cafe leaves you surprised. I am not an ardent follower of Mamooty movies, but still the attempt to act is clear in the recent movies.

There may be a lot of external factors like, story, script, director etc, but if the delivery on screen is bad, then how can viewers expect quality cinema?

It is obvious to any viewer, that a movie like Ividam Swargamaanu has been written to bring back the quality that existed in Malayalam cinema 30 years back. I found, Lalu Alex, Thilakan, Kaviyoor Ponamma more natural than Mohanlal.

Paleri Manickyam, was a good story, Mamooty bagged the State Award for best actor, because he was better among the lot. If you compare his old movies to Paleri Manickyam, you would award him 10 state awards for his performance.

Fans associations of these highest paid actors in Malayalam cinema, may give them the returns for their investment, but quality performance from these actors is strongly missing. I would rather watch a move like Neelathamara for entertainment, where the expectations are low and will not fail to entertain me.

There are a few movies out of the blue that actually catch your attention. One such movie was Kaiyoppu. Everything was neat. Another example was Kerala Cafe - Island Express, the one with Siddique and a few others. Awaiting more quality cinema like these.

- An ardent movie viewer!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Dreams..

Dreams, there is no scarcity of you,
Hopes adding its touch of bliss
Tears blossom from the heart
Fading the dreams away

Silence which deafened me
My ears yearned for voices
The wind chimes Oh so loud now
Are disturbing my solitude

Rules and bonds so strong
Nothing can break them
Looking with magnified eyes
Maybe there is a crevice somewhere

Dreams and hopes again
Of staying away from norms
Tears beginning to bloom again
Fading the dreams away..

Monday, April 5, 2010

Unkept promises

Word uttered from the heart
Assured that they will be made to happen
Scenes from an unknown future
Promises never to be kept
A walk under dark clouds
With the pitter patter of raindrops
A day out in the wild
Carefree, whistling away the fears
Promises, or just words
Utterances to be forgotten..

Thursday, April 1, 2010

W kisses..

People who know my younger son, will instantly know what 'W' prefix means. When my little guy asks for something, we ask him, how many you want, coz he is never satisfied, he keeps saying 'cann-i have some more?' So when we ask him 'how many' his instant reply is 'w' and he looks at his hand, brings the thumb and little finger together and opens up the other three fingers, meaning he wants three. If it is something that he 'lubs' (loves) then he recounts the same three fingers to usually ten or twenty, the biggest numbers he knows and says, 'I mean, I want ten'.

This little brat wakes up at the crack of sunlight seeping into my room and starts shaking me up, even on a weekend and says 'amma wake up, its mornin time, see the sun is out'.. this happens even when there is no daylight sometimes. I tell him, 'no kevi, its night, go back to sleep' and this is at 9am sometimes on weekends :)..

He has to brush by himself, even on days when I miss the alarm. 'I wannto do it all myself'.. and he takes ages to squeeze the teeny weeny amount of toothpaste from his train picture flouride-free toothpaste tube to his little Diego toothbrush. He brushes the same set of eight front teeth, over and over again for the next three minutes and spits out at regular intervals. After he's sure that he's wasted enough of my time, he says 'ok, now its your turn'.

The first thing after brushing is his boon of life - paaa.. (Milk). And for this too, he has to pick his own straw, the straw I pick from the same pack of straws finds its place in the trash can. 

Then he's ready to watch some cartoon till I get ready to work. Mickey mouse, umizoomi, dora, diego, max and ruby, everything possible on Nick Jr and Playhouse Disney. He has his share of cornflakes from my bowl, picks up his show and tell toy and he's ready to go to Grandma George - his daycare.

On the way, he wants either Chak de from Salaam Namaste or Zoobi Doobi from 3 idiots to play on the car stereo. These are the hot favourites now. If the sun falls in his eyes he says 'amma, tooo sunny'.

Getting down from the car at Grandma George's place, ends up in my arms and I ask him for W kisses, followed by more, more and more, till Grandma George opens the door. He waves bye and goes inside.

I wonder what he does in there. Eats, plays, sleeps, again plays and wait and waits till his mommy is back to pick him up. I feel so grateful to him, for spending his days at a childcare, longer than the hours I spend at work, silently understanding the fact that I need to work and he needs to be at someone else's place with other kids, while I am gone. 

The gleam in his eyes in the evening when I pick him up lights up the whole room. He comes running, hugs my legs and says 'amma', meaning to say, 'i am so glad that you came back to pick me'. Does he have a fear that I may not come back? 

Once home, he is all set to fight with his brother, making up for all the hours of the day followed by 'I dont wanto tak-a baath..' 'Can I eat maamu (food)..' 'Can I watch a CD..' 'Can I have some appe joos..' or complaints like 'amma, i didnot find the remot, and you were making maamu, u did not come, and that is baad..' 

After a lot of irritating everyone in the house, around 9pm, this guy lands up in the bed. He turns and rolls for sometime and asks 'amma can i hav some wather (water)..' and makes me go downstairs and get him water.. everyday.. After another 20 to 30 minutes of turning around, jumping, playing, talking, he finally rolls over wrapped in a 5feet by 5feet comforter and sleeps. Before he closes his eyes, he says 'i lub u amma' gives me w kisses and says 'i dont want to sleep..'

A thousand expressions on his face, this huggable, lovable, little brat of mine ..