Leader - Telugu movie

                                                                     
Director : Shekar Kammula

  I decided to watch this movie for two reasons first its directed by Shekar  Kammula whose films i have enjoyed most in Telugu industry (Godavari and Happy days) ,second  Leader's production house :AVM , the name speaks itself.

  Leader is a story of young man(Arjun Prasad) trying to overcome his father's bad name in politics.Sanjeeviah was a corrupt chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, he was killed in a mine blast.So the search for the next chief minister starts with Dhananjay as a front runner , he has the support of the party supremo.

  Arjun Prasad is back in India from US on hearing the blast ,in death bed Sanjeeviah asks Arjun to become next chief minister.He decides to fulfill the last wish of his father and the only wish of his mother Suhasini: that he succeed his father as the Chief Minister of the state.He came to  realize the path to reach the chair after having seen the party leaders specially Dhananjay and other ministers who are all corrupt.Using the same means i.e bribing he become the Chief Minister.He  vows to bring  one lakh crore rupees black money to government by passing legislation that allows ACP (Anit-Corruption Police) to ride the houses and offices of anyone except MLAs.Then the villain's plan to overthrow him from Chief minister chair and his plans.. usaual track.. predictable..

   Suhasini lends dignity to her role as a mother who has survived her husband’s follies but dies unable to accept that her son is succumbing to the political game.She wants him to be a Leader than a politician this makes Arjun to think and he started to act on his own will instead of succumbing to family politics.He takes own route legal(non violent,non corruptive) route and become the chief minister again.

                                     
  Rana Daggubati as Arjun has done a good job , he carries himself as a Leader but even romantic scenes he keeps his face the same.. (first film na!!) ,hopefully this guy will come good in future and no one film wonder.Kota Srinivasa rao as a party supremo done a wonderful job.Harshavardhan as Ali (chief minister's aide) has enacted his role beautifully.The heroines Richa Gangopadhyay and Priya Anand looks good and given a good performance.

 The movie is about making choice.. its never late to do something good.. in this case the hero decided to fulfill his mothers wish by becoming a Leader and brings changes in the corrupted political system.

 One of the highlights of this movie is music Micky J.Meyer has given wonderful composition.I liked all the songs and background score is also beautiful.Keep it up man..!!

ANURANAN

Directed by :Aniruddha Roy-Chowdhury
Music :Tanmoy Bose

ANURANAN is a bengali word which means resonance.Yes this movie is about resonance between two married couple.Rahul(RahulBose) and Nandita(Rituparna Sengupta)-made for each other couple.From London Rahul who is creative designer arrives in Sikkim to build a resort with his wife.Amit(Rajat Kapoor) and Preet(Raima sen) are the other couple.Amit is a business partner in India for Rahul's company, they developed good rapport when they were in London and they continued their good relation in India as well.

First the husband and wife relationship between Rahul and Nandita was lyrical,now then Tagore's lines and beautiful dialogues.The cinematography was great through out the film.Beautiful country sides of London.. These two are content with their life even though they do not have any kids.They both knew that they can not have kids as doctors told them she can not bear a child.Rahul and Nandita strike a chord at a different level which continues to reverberate. They experience a unique bond and emotionally connect with each other.

Quite opposite is the relation between Amit and Preeti.Amit speaks and do business everywhere.Preeti loves to read and go out.The friendship between the two couples creates way for Preeti to have greater bond with Rahul, as Rahul is very friendly and shares some common interest.The resonance between Rahul and Preeti is the crux of the film.

when Amit to London for a business meeting, Preeti meets Rahul who is in his worksite in Kanchenchunga ,they spent time in enjoying the beauty of the mountains and stays in a same house but in different rooms.Rahul dies of some cardiac problem,everyone started doubting the relation between the two including Amit.But the love between Rahul and Preeti is pure and she believes in her love.The understanding between Nandita and Preeti at the end of the story signifies a new relationship/resonance.Simple story told beautifully..

Rahul Bose is great as Rahul.He is a great actor, very natural.Rituparna Sengupta is has done a commendable job.Raima sen ,her eyes speaks more than her mouth..simply superb.Another feature of this film is music and cinematography.
Nice movie..
cast:
* Rahul Bose as Rahul
* Rituparna Sengupta as Nandita
* Raima Sen as Preeti
* Rajat Kapoor as Amit
* Haradhan Bandopadhaya as Nandita's Father
* Dolly Basu as Preeti's mother
* Mithu Chakraborthy as Nadita's sister
* Barun Chanda as Mr Guha
* Jacqui Dawson as Roda
* Laura Price as Victoria
* Peter Wear as Rahul's boss in London

Awards:

2008 National Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali

Oru Puliamarathin kadhai -- The Story of a Tamarind Tree

Author:Sundara Ramasamy

Great book.Its a story of a tamarind tree.The center of the village was a Tamarind tree,it was a very old tree ,the central bus stand was also nearer,so that place surrounding tamarind tree is always busy with people.The author narrates the story of the village people and their habits with Tamarind tree at the center.
First Damodaran guru's story telling and his ability to keep the attention of everyone to him was told beautifully,specially the story of Chellathai's death.Then the entire story is moves with two main characters Ali and Thaamu.The author really brings the people of that period alive with typical tamil and their way of doing things.Everything is there in this story politics,King,business.These two guys fighting in their business,politics and atlast they both ends up in jail.The plan to cut the tamarind tree was told beautifully and the character Isakki , the journalist was simply superb.Most of the journalist are like him now.. Atlast they cut the tree as it was poisoned by Ali's man.

Overall a great book. In my hometown Pamban ,we too had a tamarind tree at the entrance of our village.That place is called 'Tamarind tree bus stop' or ' Puliamara bus stop',even after the tree was cut and completely destroyed we are still calling the place with the same name. Like in this novel many things happened in those days around the tree, the fruit vendors,the tea stalls ,balloon vendors etc.. when i was child thats our market place.Many meetings were held in that place. Great memory.

This book is a classic on its own.

'Oru Puliamarathin kadhai' is the first Indian book to be translated in Hebrew.

2 States - The story of my marriage

Author :Chetan Bhagat

Another good book by Chetan Bhagat.This is a love story of a boy(Krish) from Delhi(Punjabi family) and a girl(Ananya) from TamilNadu.This is a story about these two and how they are managed to get their parents and relatives approval and blessing.

Two different cultures meets.. the result .. Hilarious .. laugh rite.. Chetan is a master of handling or depicting Indian mindset.. This is not classic but worth reading , i read this book when i was traveling from India to Singapore.. i laughed a lot..

Read it once .. if you like this story telling .. definitely you like Chetan's other books 'Five Point Someone', 'One Night @ Call Center' and '3 mistakes of my life' all these books are worth reading ..

About author

How to train your dragon

Anyone can watch this movie, great story and great visual.Its a story of a Viking's son Hiccup who wants to become a dragon killer like his father. Unfortunately Hiccup does not have muscle or draining to kill one.But he shot down the most feared of dragons 'Night Fury' on the battle night unfortunately no one noticed that and no one believed him either.

Frustrated Hiccups roams around the forest and found the Night Fury trapped in the net shot by him, he scared first and decided to kill it but when he saw its eyes, he decided not to kill(later he explains why he didn't kill it, the reason he saw himself in Night Fury's eyes).The Night Fury was not able to fly because of torn tail.Hiccup decided to help the injured dragon by building artificial tail.He named the dragon 'Toothless' as when he doesn't attack something, he hides his teeth.As Hiccups helps Toothless started to trust him. His father Stoick asks him to go to Dragon draining ,in training he applies whatever he learned from Toothless and becomes the best in school and a local hero.

As his father came to know the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless , he felt shame and told him that he was not his son.The Vikings captured the Toothless when it came to protect Hiccup from a dragon and with its help they went to the breeding ground(nest)and destroy it.But monster of all dragons woke up and started attacking the Vikings ,Hiccup with his friends rode different dragons and rescued the Toothless and kills the monster.The father was very happy with Hiccup and Toothless.The film ends with the happy notes..

The relation between Hiccup and Tootless was told beautifully. The theme of the movie was understanding both sides of the warring faction just by listening to each other, which is needed for this world to solve all the problems.Hats off to Hiccup and Toothless..!!

Directors:Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
Cast :Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, America Ferrara
Character Names:Hiccup,Stoick,Gobber,Astrid,Snotlout,Fishlegs,Tuffnut,Ruffnut
Distributor:DreamWorks

BBC Sport - Cricket - Surrey line up surprise bid for Windies star Brian Lara

BBC Sport - Cricket - Surrey line up surprise bid for Windies star Brian Lara: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Football World Cup 2010 schedules and features

As usual im eagerly waiting for this years worldcup.I always support Brazil but this time i don't think they will win.I bet on Spain or Argentina.First world cup in Africa , it will be good if any one of the African teams wins.For me matches to watch are:
12 June, Argentina v Nigeria (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
14 June, Italy v Paraguay (Green Point Stadium, Cape Town)
20 June, Brazil v Ivory Coast (Soccer City, Johannesburg)
25 June, Portugal v Brazil (Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban)
So far no cable network in Singapore got rights to telecast all the matches. Hopefully they will get it and i can watch matches.

Mascot:

The official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is Zakumi (born 16 June 1994 (1994-06-16) (age 15)),leopard with green hair. His name comes from "ZA", the international abbreviation for South Africa, and "kumi", a word that means "ten" in various African languages.

Match Ball:

The match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be named the "Jabulani", made by Adidas, which means "bringing joy to everyone" in isiZulu.

Prize Money:

* $9 million - Round of 16
* $18 million - Quarter-finals
* $20 million - Semi-finals
* $24 million - Runners up
* $30 million - Winners

There are 32 teams with 4 in each group.

Groups and Teams

GROUP A	France, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay
GROUP B	Argentina, Greece, Nigeria, South Korea
GROUP C	Algeria, England, Slovenia, United States
GROUP D	Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia
GROUP E	Cameroon, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands
GROUP F	Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia
GROUP G	Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea, Portugal
GROUP H	Chile, Honduras, Spain, Switzerland

Schedules

Date	Teams	Venue
11 June	South Africa v Mexico	Soccer City, Johannesburg
11 June	Uruguay v France	Green Point Stadium,Cape Town
12 June	South Korea v Greece	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
12 June	Argentina v Nigeria	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
12 June	England v United States	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
13 June	Algeria v Slovenia	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
13 June	Serbia v Ghana	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
13 June	Germany v Australia	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
14 June	Netherlands v Denmark	Soccer City, Johannesburg
14 June	Japan v Cameroon	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
14 June	Italy v Paraguay	Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
15 June	New Zealand v Slovakia	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
15 June	Ivory Coast v Portugal	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
15 June	Brazil v North Korea	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
16 June	Honduras v Chile	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
16 June	Spain v Switzerland	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
16 June	South Africa v Uruguay	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
17 June	Argentina v South Korea	Soccer City, Johannesburg
17 June	Greece v Nigeria	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
17 June	France v Mexico	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
18 June	Germany v Serbia	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
18 June	Slovenia v United States	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
18 June	England v Algeria	Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
19 June	Netherlands v Japan	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
19 June	Ghana v Australia	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
19 June	Cameroon v Denmark	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
20 June	Slovakia v Paraguay	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
20 June	Italy v New Zealand	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
20 June	Brazil v Ivory Coast	Soccer City, Johannesburg
21 June	Portugal v North Korea	Green Point Stadium, Durban
21 June	Chile v Switzerland	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
21 June	Spain v Honduras	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
22 June	France v South Africa	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
22 June	Mexico v Uruguay	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
22 June	Greece v Argentina	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
22 June	Nigeria v South Korea	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
23 June	Slovenia v England	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
23 June	United States v Algeria	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
23 June	Australia v Serbia	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
23 June	Ghana v Germany	Soccer City, Johannesburg
24 June	Paraguay v New Zealand	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
24 June	Slovakia v Italy	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
24 June	Cameroon v Netherlands	Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
24 June	Denmark v Japan	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
25 June	North Korea v Ivory Coast	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
25 June	Portugal v Brazil	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
25 June	Chile v Spain	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
25 June	Switzerland v Honduras	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

Round Of 16

Date	MatchNo	Team1	Team2	Venue
26 June	49	Winners of Group A	Runners-up of Group B	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
26 June	50	Winners of Group C	Runners-up of Group D	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
27 June	51	Winners of Group D	Runners-up of Group C	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
27 June	52	Winners of Group B	Runners-up of Group A	Soccer City, Johannesburg
28 June	53	Winners of Group E	Runners-up of Group F	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
28 June	54	Winners of Group G	Runners-up of Group H	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
29 June	55	Winners of Group F	Runners-up of Group E	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
29 June	56	Winners of Group H	Runners-up of Group G	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town

Quarter-finals

2 July	57	Winners of Match 53	Winners of Match 54	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
2 July	58	Winners of Match 49	Winners of Match 50	Soccer City, Johannesburg
3 July	59	Winners of Match 52	Winners of Match 51	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
3 July	60	Winners of Match 55	Winners of Match 56	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg

Semi-finals

6 July	61	Winners of Match 58	Winners of Match 57	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
7 July	62	Winners of Match 59	Winners of Match 60	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

Third place play-off

10 July

63

Losers of Match 61

Losers of Match 62

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Final

11 July

64

Winners of Match 61

Winners of Match 62

Soccer City, Johannesburg

StarHub Urban Run 2010

Date :10/04/2010
Venue:Around Esplanade,Singapore
Distance:6.5KM
My bib number:2321
This was my second race of the year but its very different from other races which i ran over 2 years in singapore. This race has nine obstacles over 6.5 KMs.I really enjoyed it but the irritating thing was queue before all the obstacles there was a big queue.I took 68 minutes to complete the race which was more than the time i took to complete my 10KM race without obstacles.Anyhow i had a great time in running with many wonderful people, i saw a father and a son running together, husband and wife , bunch of school kids with their unique approach to the obstacles.

It was a non-competitive run ,so everyone took their own time and enjoyed.I liked the these 2 obstacles 'Sony Ericsson Vivaz Parkour' and 'Adidas Original Superstar'.
There were other competitions also held in the venue .
check this for more details of the event : StarHub Urban Run

A Thousand Suns by Dominique Lapierre

A Thousand Suns

Another great book by Dominique Lapierre. This book is something like a travelogue ,he explains his experiences with different work assignment and different people associated with it.Its like a mini autobiography.

The book starts with the story of 'Santa Maria' a cruise ship hijacked by Hendrique Galvao,a former administrator in the Portuguese African Colonies.The story of Hendrique Galvao was so inspiring, the way he handled the situation and how struggled to make the Portugal a free country was amazing.He fought again the rule of Antonio Salazar and he was banned to enter in several countries,he lived a life of refuge in different places.He wrote many books also.

The next chapter is about the authors new land(he named it as 'Great Pine') in St.Tropez,as usual the way Dominique explains the details of even the minute things are amazing , only he can do that and make it interesting.His love for the horse and their great gallops and rounds were just breathtaking when i closed my eyes and imagined that.

Then the author shares his meeting with Caryl Chessman,an accused of armed robbery,kidnapping and sexual assault at San Quentin Penitentiary.The life of Caryl Chessman was remarkable , i was moved to tears when i finished reading this chapter.I decided to buy the book written by Caryl Chessman himself about his life in prison ' Cell 2455-Death Row'.Even though he didn't do those accused things he suffered for 12 years and died in the gas chamber,it shows the loopholes in law.Again Dominique's detailed description of the prison,the gas chamber and the press was something unique to himself.I liked this quote by Chessman when he replied to the chief warden of the penitentiary "My journey in the company of hatred is over.I have had my life saved from justice too often to react emotionally.Death has lost all significance for me. I am as ready to die as to go on living,that's all." Chessman avoided the gas chambers many times so he knew what it would feel like.Read about him.

Then there is a story of Nazi officer who disobeyed Hitler's order.I like the next chapter about the bullfighter El Cordobes.Hw was in life what he was in the ring:an unpredictable,instinctive being as much an animal as the wild bulls he fought.
The remaining chapters are about Jews survival,the death of Preferido,the horse ,the meeting with Kozo Okamoto ,a Japanese who was one among the terrorist who killed many at the Israeli airport - this particular chapter deals with how the Japanese carried out their attack on Israel.All the remaining chapters are all interesting .

Totally a great book to read and cherish for a long time!! Hats off to Dominique Lapierrie.