Contact – Carl Sagan
Rather a naive book in its premise, but, but, every once in a while, some cool points. The book comes highly recommended by us. We think, if this book were more widely read, there would be a little more common sense in this worl, as well as a sesne of wonder and awe.
The book is – Contact.
Ponniyin Selvan, an update
So, a while back, I wrote (in such gushingly naive language) of the Kalki epic Ponniyin Selvan
That post of mine, more than any other, is the most active and is still receives comments. Mainly from people desperate for English translations of the book, or PDFs. So, all you folks – go here
The bigger story
There are only two stories in this world.
- The guy gets the girl
- The guy doesn’t get the girl
Everything else you can come up with is a variant or add on of this.
Ghazni, Godfather and a lesson in lost opportunities
But first, a round up of the Deepavali Chennai Bloggers Meet.
Throw in 11 people, one empty flat (courtesy Vaijayanthi) with a private terrace, the sea in the not too distant place, some nice chill breeze, a Smirnoff for those who like it, and Pepsi for the rest, season it with flaming fireworks, and you get a fantastic way to spend an evening. Especially if you end it up with a movie that shows lot of promise.
Report on the Chennai Blog Meet here.
Krithiga, the puttu was damn good.
As to the title,
The Blog meet broke up at a time approaching 8. Sudermani had some tickets for Ghazni and wanted to know if I was interested. I was, for I hadn’t yet seen the movie.
The movie itself is pretty watchable. Especially if you haven’t seen Memento. Especially if you suffer from short term memory loss and nothing in the movie makes sense.
Oh all right! I liked the movie. The movie began with a good promise. Great camera work and editing, nice lighting and all. The story too showed brilliant promise. Somebody out for revenge and means to get it. Yes! All well and good. Only, if they didn’t go about it in so ham-my a way.
Most things in the movie is good. Except the ending.
I seriously think that very few Tamil Movie makers know how to end a movie. A climax scene is where you crown the whole piece. You want to end with a flourish, either by escalating the tension, or dampening it. Either of which is okay for me. But not a sentimental, wimpy, melodramatic ending, sorry! No, it doesn’t do for me.
Surya could do with taking a piece out of Kamal Hassan when he wishes to play a mentally retarded/deficient/screwed up character. For that matter, any body could benefit from Kamal’s example, including himself. But that is neither here, nor there.
Oh, another thing. I really am not a fan of heaving thighs and flabby paunches. If you do want to include a item number, can you please arrange for someone who is atleast good looking. Better still, why don’t we make away with that entire idea? Please!
I digress, but for a good cause. Back to the title. The movie Ghazni ended at roughly 2. Thanks to Shyam, who very generously offered to drop Prabhu and me back, we made it to distant Saligramam in about 15 minutes.
Just in time, as it turned out, for Godfather I on HBO.
Now, here’s a movie that could have been a Ghazni. Here’s a movie that could have even been a Nayagan. But it wasn’t. And it so emphatically wasn’t, I am not surprised nobody thinks of how wrong it could have gone. Everything in that movie could have been reduced to sham – Michael Corleone’s original intentions and his final acceptance of the family’s way of life. His desire for revenge. His way of getting it.
Ghazni and Godfather are similar in that the both the heroes want revenge of a wronged death and will have it at whatever cost. But while Michael is pure brilliance and strategy, great support and firepower, Sanjay is just a guy with short term memory loss, some bewildered shaking of the head and a Polaroid camera.
Add to it, some moderate acting support from the typical villains and one misguided “college” girl, you have a movie that doesn’t live up to its hype, nor to its very good start.
And this can be traced to one simple piece of paper – the screenplay.
Cutting Edge Advertising – Jim Aitchison
Chenthil gets the post he wants. Here’s a review of the book I am currently re-reading.
Jim Aitchison’s Cutting Edge Advertising. To be honest, this is possibly the fifth time I am reading this book, and so this can’t technically be called a review. But still.
Ever wish for somebody who’s made it big in your field of work to come home one day, give you some tips and pointers to you over a cup of hot coffee? Ever wish to get into the brains of the top pros and see what gets them kicked? Well, with this book you can.
That’s so not a cutting edge beginning for a review. Let’s see if I can better it. Here goes.
Throw out every damn thing you hold dear! Throw out everything you’ve ever learnt. Throw it to the ground, stamp on it and grind it into dust. This, and this is the only way will you be really creative. Learn things anew. See things from a different perspective. Learn to love what you do. Learn to love words and what they are capable of.
That, folks, has been my takeout from by far the best book on Advertising. Or as David Abbott says, by far the best book on print Advertising.
Every page filled with heavyweights in the industry, from Indra Sinha and Neil French to David Abbot and Bob Barrie. So much so, turning a page is a real pain. So much to learn, so few pages. A little tip here. A big idea there. A fantastic way of looking at things everywhere else. Combined with neat little examples and you have a book that will practically sell itself. And it has. Incredibly well, too. They even came out with a second (Cutting Edge Commercials) and third (Cutting Edge Radio) and a revised edition of the first. In short. A brilliant book.
Nah! This still isn’t a good enough review to call cutting edge. Let’s see. Get out! Get out and buy this book if you want to be in advertising!
Well, almost.
(cross posted in The Chicken Rules)
Biloxi Blues – Evam
Evam, the theatre group that should claim credit for popularising/reviving theatre in Chennai, and playing to full houses all this month, also blog.
But that is not what this post is about, is it?
The play, Biloxi Blues (an adaptation of a play of the same name by Neil Simon) can be summed up in a few short words. A three hour play that felt like a five hour one, but didn’t bore.
. The play is about 5 people…nah! You’ll have to see the play to know what the story is. But I’ll tell you this, it’s quite funny and revealing at the same time. The lines are really good. I would rate the lines/dialogues on par with Shawshank Redemption (the closing line of the movie is plain brilliant). Traces of Full Metal Jacket too, in this play. But one little grudge. The dialogues could have been spoken a bit faster, more naturally. The way the lead actors presented, it was as if they were wrought by internal conflict over the propriety of the dialogues.
The best part of the play though, as for every play of evam’s is, is the efficient and clever management of the Stage and props. Minimal props, used effectively. Scenes are changed before your eyes, no hiding behind black screens. As a friend remarked, that’s attitude.
All in all, a good three hours. Do catch the play, today. At Sivagami Petachi Auditorium.
About
Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan is a copywriter, photographer and goofball from Chennai. He is also an archaeologist, historian and a city lover. He is currently a documentary film-maker and desk-monkey for a film production house.
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