Monday, August 31, 2009

Tribute to Michael Jackson concert

Sunitha Sarathy the singer, is an old friend of mine. We go way back. KG days in school. As we grew older, in our teens, we would sing together and won many competitions mostly because she sang wonderfully whilst not overpowering the rest and our band had instrumentalists, which was quite rare for girls' schools to have. Her solos even then, clinched the prize for us am sure. Later, she pursued singing and has a truly gifted voice -- sings very very well. Am not convinced that she has got all the accolades her singing deserves, but that's another matter.


When I heard that she was singing in a tribute to MJ concert, I was quite kicked. As it is, i consider myself a major MJ 'appreciator' and now this. So, I paid a thousand bucks to attend this concert, with the proceeds going towards a cause. I knew there were others as well: Shankar Mahadevan, Benny Dayal, Blaaze, and so many others, but the main attractions for me were Sunitha, Shankar and Blaaze.

As we walked in to take our places on Wesley Grounds, my friend remarked: "You know, MJ has not yet been buried so if these guys don't sing well, he will get up and come and slap their faces!". Hmmm. Something to think about.;)

At the concert, I found out just how tough it was to have even dared to do a tribute to a performer like MJ. Clearly we are grossly challenged in the dancing department, but it was a shock that we were challenged in the singing department too. Honestly, not because she is my old friend or anything, but Sunitha Sarathy saved the day! She can sing and her passion for MJ was evident in her body language too. Other saviours were Blaaze, Timmy and Naresh Iyer. Anu was not bad either.

The rest of the female singers other than Anu were like some hotel/nightclub singers. RJ Suchi as Radio jockey and playback singer Suchitra is better known as, sang Beat It and it was ...nothing to get excited about. She should have just sung it in her bathroom and been done with it. Oh and the actress Andrea who sang did not do wonders, but no blunders either. There was just not enough MJ in her singing, that's all.

Other singers were 'pitchy' too. Benny Dayal was soooo insipid in his rendering of MJ songs, it was an outrage. Why sing when your heart is not in it? Especially when it is NOT a free show? Nee maduraikkey poidu pa.

The others like Kavitha, Suvi, Roshni, etc. whilst not particularly pitchy, gave very hotel-like and nightclubby performances. Ok for an evening out with nothing to do but drinks and eats. Not Ok for a tribute concert, dearies.

Naresh Iyer was good. Did justice to the songs he sang and is a sincere singer. Sincere to the music. We need that. Haricharan also seemed sincere but sadly, a bit pitchy. Was most enthu and anyday, i can forgive an enthu singer who makes a few mistakes when compared with a know-it-all who ...just does not cut it.

Shankar Mahadevan: The great attraction and wonderful singer. Came on stage, raised expectations to the sky and sang 'aaaaaaaaaa' for a MJ number (did not recognise it but assume MJ number) Indian ishtyle, which was nice but not nice enough. Tribute to MJ, remember? And then, he introduced his son to the audience and got HIM to sing the song. Ummm, hallo? Pulikku pirandhadhu poonai aagumaa and so on is so NOT impressive when you try to shove the poonai down our throats. You, Shankar, made a mark on your merit. Allow your son to appreciate that. Don't hoist him onto your golden platform, cos we do not appreciate it. Let him sing his way up and not ride uppu mootai on your back. Capiche?On top of that, there was a nephew of his also around. Puh-lease.

Blaaze I quite enjoyed. He is cool and the chorus of his own composition as a tribute that went "one: I like Michael, two: you like michael, three: WE like michael" was slightly childish but at least something refreshing. Plus the rap style and 'yo'yo' business was quite perfect.

Then there was a powerful performer called Timmy who was very good. Not GREAT for MJ style, but otherwise great. Thank you, sire for being there. One of the saviours of the tribute.

A young girl sang a childhood number of Michael's and she too fitted the bill. Forget her name.

Blink and you'll miss him was Karthik. Frankly, the nightclubby singers quite put me to sleep that I had to rouse myself for the better numbers with difficulty. Why then did I stay for the entire show? Oh, because it was tribute to MJ and not about these various singers with only 4 out of a dozen worth a 'watch and listen' that night.

At the end, predictably, we had 'Heal the World' and 'We are the World'. Both were fine because we, the audience, sang along.;)

The music was produced by Pravin Mani and whilst it was a good effort, it was not good enough. The dancers should have practiced better and if a singer was not cutting it, he or she should have been cut out. Please, people! When are you going to give credit ONLY where it is due? Why does everything have to be diluted by pleasing this bozo and that? There was one dancer who stood out with a cool moonwalk to his credit. Very smooth. MJ would have been proud. Another good thing was they had a screen as the backdrop that had many an MJ still. That was cool and a great respite from much of the singing!

At the end, I have to say that MJ is inimitable and thankfully, we have the many videos and music recordings to listen to that will finally be the real tribute this golden performer deserves.

Immortal music and performances.

Now, you other so-called MJ fans-cum-pseudo singers out there, just BEAT IT!


The Film: Kandaswamy...hmph. REALLY.

After the review at www.blogeswari.blogspot.com, a wonderful read, you would think I would have nothing to say on this film. But I have to vent. Had I not been warned about the film, I would have been dumbstruck to see one of my most favourite actors -- Vikram, acting in this film with its sheer lack of substance or whatever it takes for a film to be at least 60% watchable. But I had been warned and still crept into the theatre at 9 am on a Sunday (great feat for Teesu. Only other time that saw such an effort was for a Harry Potter film), armed with a chilli cheese toast for breakfast!! Free tickets they were -- please note.

And so it began.

My immediate reaction to Vikram's get up as a rooster was (I hope it was a rooster!) ...why? It just struck me as a weird bird to choose for a superhero getup. Or is there something I am missing? Anyway, after a point Vikram's prancing and rooster-like postures and behaviour were indeed good enough even for the most critical eye.

Then came his super-CBI officer getup. I just wanted to launch myself out of my seat to wipe that smug smile off his face! Did n't know one had to have a smug mug to come across as a sharp guy. I mean even Kamal Hasan had smug looks only whilst romancing his heroines and that, in a man's Kollywood world (HMPH) is normal. C'mon Chiyaan Vikram, greater things are expected from you.

And then there was this woman-getup of Vikram's where he is to entice some jokers and then whack the daylights out of them. So, when I saw Vikram in a white jill jill saree trying to act all coy and seductive, I was shocked. Taken aback. And not in a good way. Vikram on screen is a man -- all man. A man's man. A woman's man. You get the picture. His innate manliness is a great part of his charm. Dressed as a woman, he looks frightening. True, his body language was superb as were his expressions and moves. But his body and face are so very SQUARELY in the male zone that you do shake your head and say 'tsk tsk, NOTHING like Kamal' who even in Avvai Shanmughi as a woman in her late fifties, could pass off for ultra feminine and bashful-o-bashful. Kamal has the advantage of a certain softness in his big expressive eyes. Yes, the eyes might have done poor Vikram in as well as his overly developed upper body -- sideways that is. Big biceps and enviable shoulders et al.

For this absolute STAR from films like Sethu, Dhool, Pithamagan and Anniyan to have acted in this mostly rubbish film is like a slap in the face. Please! Choose a better basket for your eggs next time. (heh heh, no pun intended. After all roosters don't lay eggs...I know that!)

Shriya. Oh dear. Shame shame, puppy shame! Now, now, NO cattiness here at all -- am highly OK to say Simran was sexy or Jyothika was cute or even Trisha is appealing, but Shriya's face just reminds me of MN Rajam's. No insult to the latter though. Villi-ish face and just because of her body, she gets these meaty roles? Kollywood needs to to grow up.

Shriya seriously needs to try wearing clothes and see if they suit her. I mean what else does she have going for her? Certainly not acting and CERTAINLY not dialogue delivery even in mere lip sync. DISGUSTING.

The film, such as it was, was disjointed. I actually felt sleepy somewhere in between which is truly a first for me. Why do the scenes shot in Mexico have to be yellowish? Why did the songs have to be so blah? (save one or two?) Why does Vikram have to overdo expressions like macho-pride-smugo so? Very disappointing. I can only think that this is a phase for this hardworking actor to have gone through and that he should be clear of the dark tunnel now!

After Anniyan, really...Bheema was a chappai matter but all was forgiven -- aftr all you cannot deliver a super duper hit EVERY time, but now this? REALLY.

Oh and Chiyaan Vikram must have really been talking through that feathered hat of his to have said that this movie is one for kids, etc. Which parent in his or her right mind would want their kid(s) to watch this unnecessarily sleazy flick replete with a drug-addicted, sex-addicted villain running rampant on screen? Huh?

REALLY.

Ok, stop rant Teesu! Idhuvum kadandhu poyaaachu. (This too has already passed)

Monday, August 17, 2009

Fantasy dinner party (Tag from cuz dear)

I loved this one so, I copied it...my own answers of course: -

The rules are:- you can invite anyone, living or dead- you have a table that seats eight, but as you are one, you can invite seven people- you have to explain why you'd invite them. And for bonus points, what would you serve them for dinner?

Guest No. 1: George Clooney. Just to see if he is as dashing in person and to talk to as he looks. Think he may be more mouth watering than the menu...er, no, maybe not. NOTHING beats yummy food.

Guest No. 2: My father: A complete party person averse to NO party element and very interested in people, funny, charming and is sure to help me out a LOT with the entertaining. Oh and will not come in the way of my ogling Clooney. Quite a 'today's Dad' he was, at ease with my crushes and such.

Guest No. 3: Shivaji Ganesan: Again, want to see whether he is as stylish as he was in the black and white films or as over-emotional as he was in the colour films;). Plan to also make him recite some old dialogues, enact some favourite songs with the expressions, etc. Also to keep my Dad company (his age group) and let me attend to Clooney and Guest No. 4 in peace. TOO much eyeing of eye-candies will get me into trouble, no matter how cool the Dad is...!

Guest No. 4: Hariharan. Purely for the music he would bring to the table. No instruments required. Aahaaaa.

Guest No. 5: Aden character-guy from Sex and the City. At least, I think that's his name(!). Very nice-guy types. Eye candy too. Well, why not?

Guest No. 6: (Oh, no, am running out of space at the table) A girlfriend. Just whoever springs to my mind the morning of the dinner. Has to be a close friend who will help me out with the hostessing and one who won't steal my thunder. (Ho ho). What with Clooney, Aden and ...Shivaji and all. ;) So, girlfriends, if you want to make it, you know what / how to be with me hereafter!

Guest No. 7: S.B. My first MAJOR crush that lasted for a good 5 years. Even now, I consider him a crush-worthy guy in real life! But he will be at the dinner just to see how popular I am with Clooney and Aden. Eat your heart out, SB. Not that you really knew about my crush. (God forbid).

This is all assuming I was single and ready to mingle of course. Oh and if one of the above did not show up, I would put actor Vikram in. Very chatty and polite and nice. Need a person like that for any dinner party. Oh and am sure he is chivalrous too.

Dream on Teesu...

Menu: Few dishes from home (by yours truly -- just enough to show off but not so many that they would tire me out!), and some dishes from the Boat Club.


Now...for that zzzz to get on with the party...

Newborns


Oh they come into this world
All half-blinded and perhaps half-numbed,
Not knowing from where they come
And certainly, clueless ...even about mum.

They blink and then clear up
Burp, crap, pee and spit up,
Gaze pointlessly and then sleep
Not knowing that life's going to be deep.

They were squeezed and pushed through...
Hustled out into life,
Picked up, checked and wrapped,
And some even get their bottoms slapped!

Quickly, they learn to cry,
Little mouths wide open,
Faces all screwed up and coloured,
Their voices and lungs empowered.

Freed from the womb's confines,
They wave their tiny limbs about,
Go from feed to feed without purpose, without goal...
Until the exertions of sucking and just being, take their toll.

zzzzzz...

Newborns are little miracles alright,
Perfect little humans in their own right.
Helplessness and innocence at their core
Evoking feelings of protectiveness, tenderness, unconditional love and...much more!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Who is the fairest of us all?

Who, indeed?

Annoying that people have such an obsession for 'fairness'. Fairness creams galore. 'Fair and lovely' it seems. What are the 'non-fair' then? 'Dark and doomed', is it?

Stupid inclinations.

You know, one should really not CARE one way or the other about one's skin colour. Because of all this fairness mania, I am inclined to go the dark way!! Yes, I have taken to saying things or rather, singing things like 'karuppu dhaan yenakku puducha colour-u'...!! (song from some murali film about how black is a cool colour because of how many nice things and people are black!)

I am not happy with me for doing this either. Why should we bracket people who are fair as beautiful, and dark as...I don't know, people who are 'colourfully-challenged'!!!

Often heard: 'she/he looks nice, BUT she/he is dark...'!! As if that is the problem! Worse, they will even say 'he/she does not look great but at least he/she is fair...'!

What's with all this? Where did it even originate?

Not worth pondering over, huh?

It's all skin deep anyway.

Krishna Jayanthi

I am not really sure who likes butter, ghee, milk, cheedai (both jaggery and salted), murukku and sugary aval more. Lord Krishna or I?

Tough competition.

Being a God (!), am sure he can eat how much he likes and whenever he likes.

But...I am going to get some today:)

Saturday, August 08, 2009

What's in a name?

I see a shop named 'Sperm' all the time. I suppose they sell menswear. It is not only amusing, it got me thinking about how I am not sure it's a great idea for a name ...you know, to do business. True one would easily remember it, but...kind of close to the 'taboo' line.

Speaking of which, I then recently saw another store that made me give it a second look, in sheer amazement because of the name. It said 'G-Spot Garments'. Supposedly for women. I mean ...honestly. (Harry Potter influence).

Would I actually tell people 'I got this T-shirt from SPERM...' and 'This top is from G-Spot!'.

Errrrr...

I don't think so! Not unless I was talking to people who would n't be aghast by these announcements, which number I can count off my fingers. What were they thinking when they named these shops so??

But then, I AM amused enough to consider shopping there. Besides, I heard SPERM's collection is very good!!!

Saturday, August 01, 2009

What I have registered from a TV serial

Good days are really good...and bad days are really bad. But each does pass for sure. That's life...?

I can't say I care much for Tamil TV serials in spite of watching one now and then (ONLY now and then -- one is always in serious danger of an overdose with these 'megaserials'). Mindless TV of the lowest kind, I say. Too often, they are nasty, have nasty characters etched into them (the kinds you certainly will NOT tolerate on your doorstep leave alone have them close to you as an aunt, step mother or mother-in-law!), horrible dialogues, bitchy women, weak, STUPID, insipid and/or dangerously evil men, with some children thrown in in the middle of all the hysteria and used as victims, women who are evil beyond your wildest imagination, and so on...

The detailed funeral scenes in these serials are breathtaking to say the least and obviously, NOT in a good way! Long-forgotten and best-forgotten rituals associated with a corpse can make the strongest of stomachs churn unpleasantly and you simply switch off the TV in disgust. Or you SHOULD. But then, I will also say you should not be watching these in the first place, right? And, days of mourning will follow. Why, why, why? Why do people want to watch them? The most-often heard response is: "I have nothing else to do. How will I pass my time?"

May I suggest a few hundred options like blowing bubbles, giving yourself a foot or any-other-body-part massage or better still, getting one from someone else, sleeping, reading, singing, listening to music, forming a book club or even a recipe or cooking club...even eating! Stuff your face or on second thoughts, exercise, walk, shop, window-shop, join some course, do some course-homework, or simply sit in a park or roadside or terrace top and gaze out and about. Or just switch to a channel that has music or laughter or ...ANYTHING else. Best is meeting up with other people to talk and make merry, who would otherwise rot and languish in front of these horrible TRP-rich brain-fryers...there! You would be keeping them out of mischief too; doing good to society.

I believe TV serials are like any other temptation that one must resist and distract self from. (Am talking about those who are compulsive TVserial watchers).

There are too many people in my household who watch them. Therefore, the first hand info. The ONLY good thing -- if I must call it that, that has come of being exposed to these daily nightmares is that there was this one dialogue in the forerunner of Tamil TV serials with one-perfect-woman in the lead -- Chithi. It was delivered by the highly annoying character of the actor Shivakumar (yes, yes, the father of the terribly popular DARE I say a wee bit of a metrosexual actor - Suriya). In his usual tacky and boring style in delivering serious dialogues, Shivalumar's character often said therein: "Idhuvum kadandhu pogum". (This too shall pass). For Shivakumar fans, true, he has given formidable performances in the past (YAWN!) but the only one I can personally agree with is in the film SindhuBairavi, but alas, even that film had his usual 'ways' in it.

Anyway...

So, this dialogue was annoying then but always made sense. Moreover, I really do think about it a lot now and then. Of course, never during the good times...;) Who in her right mind would want THAT to pass?

But I have to say...thence, ten years later, I have still not come across any other useful (if you could call that that!) thing in ANY of the serials I have had the misfortune of overhearing or chanced upon.

People need to focus away from theTamil megaserials. Oh and am sure TV serials in every other language are equally bad. English, Hindi, Telugu or whatever. Clearly they are being designed to feed the LONELY, nasty, vengeful, even evil sides of the viewers. There is 80% negativity in them. Every true life's happening is tweaked a LOT to make it a LOT worse before it is presented as a part of the Tv serial to you. After all with serials, no disgust-value, no TRP-value, eh?

Mind it! Or should that be Miiiinnnd Eeeeet...