Long Post warning. Ponniyin Selvan - Part 2

My take.

Happy to have got tickets on the 4th day of its release. PS2 has been watched. Here’s the thing. For PS1, all those who had read and loved the book(s) were cautioned not to compare movie and book and they ended up having a great experience watching PS1, for the most part.

With respect to PS2, everyone seems to have forgotten the movie NOT-equal-to book thing and also, I guess there IS a LOT more deviation from the original story. Having not read the books yet, I was in the ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ mode and the experience was pretty close to bliss, I must say. The music was more uplifting in PS2 than PS1 I felt, despite ‘Ponni Nadhi’ being a favourite song of mine. I don’t know if the song ‘Veera Raja Veera’ was meant to cause goosebumps, but it did for me. Tamil blood and all that jazz. 

May I say that Vikram must only act in such films and STOP choosing his own scripts (!)  which have mostly been rather abominable starting with Bheema. What a magnificent performer who’s not acted in good-enough films for too long. It’s such a relief to see him in this one.  He steals every scene he’s in. The other (apart from Actor Karthi)  who is his partner in crime in stealing scenes, is  Aishwarya Rai. I haven’t ever given her too much attention as a performer because like all the kings and princes who are stupefied by her beauty in PS, in real life too, it’s her beauty that distracts. This role as Nandini has GOT to be the biggest feather in her cap as far as I know.

Someone online weirdly suggested that Nayantara could have been Nandini but er…erm, NO! A resounding NO. First of all, Mani Ratnam aka MR, knows better (!) and second of all, let her emote more first. Sure, she’s pretty and has an amazing screen presence, but I’m sorry that no director has brought out her acting skills to the fullest as yet. I believe she has IT but is largely under-utilised as an actor. Keeping a poker or serious face ain’t no proof of great performance. We’ve all played STATUE as kids, eh. (Granted, we lost to giggles and snorts)

Besides, to add to the mind-numbing beauty quotient, the colour of Aishwarya Rai’s eyes enhances the effect. (No, no don’t say contact lens can do it and all). Her countenance in every scene was simply riveting. 

I feel that all the actors have FELT their roles in this one. I bet the coach had a lot to do with it (MR). Not everyone can be a Sivaji Ganesan and wear the role of a king or GOD (!) like their first skin — not even second. Today, most folks need help. Well, they’ve apparently got all the help they need and the costumes are super without being over the top, the sets and scenes are stunning without taking away from performances, and the music has truly uplifted the film with the right crescendos at the right moments. The language is also not overwhelming.

Karthi is just getting better and better as an actor and so is Trisha. Jayaram is always a class act in any role.
Performances 
Music  - ARR Vaazhga!
Story  as a movie. Blissfully ignorant about movie versus book but let me share that there seem to be plenty of miffed Kalki / PS fans out there. But even they must agree that it’s a good film. The producer must be gungho! Great result.
Fight scenes  I dislike violence and gore like yanything, but in a movie like this with a war scene, what to expect if not bloodshed. Even that was tastefully done.

I’ll be watching it again sometime later.
Make of that what you will 

#ps2 #ponniyinselvan #moviereview #personaltake
Images Courtesy: Google / somewhere online 

Vanakkam from Chennaigaga's Co-Founder and Owner. My name is Sujata Tarakesan. Check out the website and brand here: chennaigaga.com

Do you know? I have run Chennaigaga for 13 years now. First of all, I cannot believe that I have been at one thing steadfastly for 13 years (which I just wrongly typed as 30 and backspaced the hell up. THAT post is for another time -- in 17 years, to be precise! :))). 😊 

Before you judge, I make this statement about sticking with this one thing because of the number of setbacks I have faced with it quite single-handedly -- both personally and professionally.

I have gained a helluva lot of experience, witnessed first-hand the sheer joy of mirroring the customers' happiness, and engaged with thousands of people through these years with Chennaigaga. I have also acquired more knowledge in the zone I work in, empathy towards people and situations, the warm friendship and unconditional support of many of our customers, and a deep understanding of the word 'consequences'. 😂 

Doing something for the first time which others didn't get around to -- ie, making Chennai themed t-shirts and merchandise thereby providing people with souvenirs they had always wished were available for Chennai city, is the biggest and plumiest feather in my cap. 

I do however, have mixed feelings. I've suffered losses in people, partnerships and money in these 13 years. Some losses are forever while others can and will be replaced. 

Business (micro or macro) changes you as a person. You evolve. And there's no going back after that to who you used to be. And it shows in my eyes, in my face, in my persona. It's time and experience. I have no intention of botoxing my way through anything and so, in a nutshell, I have aged a lot. Especially since Covid hit. That was below the belt. 

This had to be said. I need it out of my system. We were re-christened twice. Each was better. At first, we were The GAGA Shoppe, a multi-branded but predominantly Chennaigaga store in Besant Nagar. And then we were Chennaigaga(R) - The GAGA Shoppe on TTK Road. And THEN, we were the FIRST OFFICIAL CSK SUPERSTORE at the same location. That's the time Life showed us how GOOD it could have been for 12 days before the Covid pandemic shut us and everything else down! Things came to a standstill. 

As for me, after being a bustling individual rushing between motherhood things, home-making, shop-management, people-management, creative concepts, marketing and sales, hearty customer engagements, statutory work and more ... to staring at the ceiling completely lost. During the first Lockdown of 2020, I cooked, cleaned, walked, did what I could online with no scope of daring to dream further. I listened to birds chirping a lot and wondered whether they had chirped before the lockdown also! That's a peek into my urbanised life. I LOVE greenery, the mountains and the ocean and I love gazing at high res pics of all the beautiful birds and animals. I LOVE trees and bushes and shrubs. I always prefer a holiday in the hills, to disconnect from the digital life and daily routines and reconnect with Nature in a purer form. But the lockdown was not the time for that. It raised my anxiety. As SOON as they allowed us to open stores, I dashed out of the house, got the store cleaned up and masked myself and my 2 support staff up and got back to work. It wasn't just about Chennaigaga, I also had to keep the CSK flag flying high. But that just wasn't the year for either CSK or retail in general and so, we had to shut the physical store in December of 2020. The 2021 surge in the deadly pandemic pushed my anxiety to depression. (I know I am not alone in this plunge but this is my post and I am unable to stop myself typing this stuff all out now.) Nothing looked possible. Every effort was blocked. Multiple workshops, gyans from online business Gurus and boosts from close friends to help me sustain Chennaigaga didn't really work. It was me. My spirit had cracked. 

End 2020, when they ripped the name boards off the walls outside the store and pulled the hangers and fittings off the walls inside the store, I had to stand there and supervise and dispose of stuff. Dismantling, disengaging, disconnecting. I had to let my truly well-trained shop staff go. We helped them find alternatives as best as we could, but it was hard. I did put on a brave face using the phrase 'practical decision' a lot, but it was tough. I, who had sat stoic through my beloved father's funeral when I was 22, called upon that weird numbness to get through the process of closing the store down. It was not an old store we were closing. It was in a brand new 'Chennai & CSK' superstore avatar, but the losses were huge (for me as an individual) and so, it had to be a cold, hard decision. One I am not allowed to regret because that was the only practical way forward. I was and am, lucky to have the support of beloved customers, friends and family who helped in different ways and continue to help till date, even as I type this and I hope I do justice to all that unconditional support one day very soon.  

Anyway, that all said, on a deeply personal note, what I love most about Chennaigaga is that I am not bored with it at all. And I'm banking on our customers feeling the same way(!). I love most of the designs we have come up with. I love the way people engage with the brand. I love the way they come back for more. I love their involvement and feedback. I love their patience when we are not being all that we could because of financial difficulties. I love their support and their emotional connect because it helps me carry on in search and hope of a brighter future. There's still so much to be done at Chennaigaga. As a brand, it's only now a teenager. A lot of shaping up and channeling our strengths in greater ways is happily prospected. 

All we need is a like-minded investor...or two. 

You may think "Oh, investment -- well, this is The Story of all businesses"? 

Maybe, but we have a wonderful USP, a powerful niche and proof of a rich customer history in our records, as well as 'social proof'. So, this is me telling the Universe that this wholly-woman owned business is going strong in creativity and operations and needs money in funding and reserves to march on, to get bigger and better with super-exciting prospects still hidden up our sleeve. 

Email me at sujata@chennaigaga.com if you would like to be a part of our growth journey in any way.

Thanks for reading. Check out the website and brand here: chennaigaga.com

Loss of the fundamentals

Well, hello and Vanakkam, I am writing this post after quite a few years to indulge in a little rant. I just saw a guy on Linkedin driving and giving gyan on the topic of his choice.

Unfollowed him just for that. C'mon. Isn't this so very basic? How is it Ok to place your mobile in front of you just because you're in traffic (even if slow-moving) and go on a long monologue which you're recording and announcing so also. 

It's off-putting because it's a distraction at the wheel. Believe me, I am the Queen of being distracted and I love driving and I am not faultless in that department either -- of multi tasking while driving. But at least I wouldn't put it out on a serious platform like Linkedin as though it's alright and would not hamper my judgement at the wheel. Say what you want, but it will! 

Not recommended for a person who wants to put himself or herself 'out there'. 

So that's one unfollow of the day. Keeping it simple and blocking what bothers me. 

Works well. 

That, and posting about it here, of course. 

End rant.