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It’s not every day that a “Thalaivar padam” releases in the theaters. In fact, this event seems to happen only once in two or three years and is a celebration of sorts. Sivaji’s release is no exception. So, non-Tamil readers of this blog, please excuse. The others though, please see Sun TV VJ/host Vijay Sarathi’s interview with Shankar.

Part 1 of 3

YouTube link

For the remaining parts, (more…)

YouTube link

P.S: Special thanks to “Ilaya Naadhaari” Praveen for letting me know about the news report!

And just like that, Marty wins! And gets the prize from the hands of Messrs. Spielberg, Lucas and Coppola.

And a few minutes later, the “first film with a plot that (Marty) ever made”, wins too!

Dear Gautam,

I am disappointed.

The thing is, Gautam, you seem to better off making movies with actors who have still not made it. Case at point, Madhavan, who had 3 movies before Minnale with only one hit (Alaipayuthey). Even Surya, who had a dozen movies before Kakha Kakha, had only one decent hit (Friends). The moment you go to established stars, you seem to become overawed and you start to go to conventional plots that cater to their ego, leaving your loyal viewers in the lurch. (more…)

What the fuck is wrong with CNN-IBN? You think you belong to a nation of stupid cricket lovers and suddenly you get a dolt who can’t talk in camera to save his skin? So this guy, supposedly a cricket correspondent, rambled on and on and literally begged for the 30 member World Cup probable list to be shown on screen to save his posterior. I wouldn’t bat an eye-lid if it was economics or politics, but an Indian gent under 30 who can’t talk cricket? Where the fuck was the teleprompter?

I just wish to add that this sounds as surprising as my self-adopted guru doing a post last week highlighting a blog dedicated to Kamal’s career. Since he had advised me, his own protégé, “grow up or to stick to Rajini and Disney blogs and never come close to a political blog” like his, seeing that post has left me speechless. So much that a comment I put in vanished into thin air. Leaving me not just speechless, but comment less too.

Things like these only demonstrate that it is a new year after all. And that things change. WTF! Ya, go ahead and say it again for good measure.

Passion for Cinema has been up and running for a couple of months now. Oz’s a movie freak and even before PFC even existed as a concept, his posts on cinema were quite popular even in the mainstream media. There were lot of hushed whispers that Bollywood insiders were regular readers and there were unverified rumors that people like Anurag Kashyap sometimes even commented anonymously on posts on cinema. (more…)

To commemorate 75 years since the release of the first Tamil talkie, Baradwaj Rangan revisits one of his older posts about Iruvar - a movie that in addition to being a biopic about two Tamil politicians (you can see a nice frame by frame scene breakdown here) also gives one a background about how Tamil film industry functioned from the ’30s to the ’70s. (more…)

In June, after I read a post titled The Highest Paid Indian Actor, I volunteered to do a post on DesiTrain about the actor, who despite occupying the same pedestal as Mithun Chakraborty in the collective consciousness of millions of people on the other side of the Vindhyas, still makes more money than any other actor in India. A couple of weeks later, I sent the post to Oz. But since the PassionForCinema group blog was in the cards, Oz told me to hold on to it and post it as my first post on there.

So here is the post, perhaps the first of a series…..A Brief History of Rajini..

It was a full house last night at the 11:30 pm show (which finally started only at 12:15 am) for Vettaiyaadu Vilayadu here at Edison. Seriously, I have to admit that, for someone with a perverse interest in chewing on people and their extremities ¹, Kamal sure has a large contingent of fans.

Kamal’s presence is why this movie will probably do good business, in spite of glaring holes whereever you look. this movie does not boast of a strong Kamal performance. He was merely adequate if you consider other cop movies that he has done in the past, like Kuruthipunal and even Soora Samhaaram, both outstanding movies, not just in comparison. But, Kamal clearly looked the part of the middle aged police officer, ample across the waist, tiredness showing on his lined face. Method acting or disinterest, you can argue either way. (more…)