Variety is the spice of life

When i saw a few episodes from the earlier seasons it was nauseatingly gory and alarming instead of Dystopian. The Black Mirror series, i felt, was meant to scare people on how irresponsible use of technology will destroy the fabric of humanity. The latest season seems to be a much-diluted version when it comes to the disturbing reality of the future and has a lot of human emotion mixed in as the base theme. The very first episode made me wonder at how realistic the possibility of such a scenario happening and, in some cases, how it is already happening!! There is a happy couple, an engineer husband and a schoolteacher wife, who are trying hard to get pregnant and suddenly the wife is diagnosed with a fatal disease, which is albeit uncurable by present day medication. There is an up-and-coming startup who offers an experimental treatment at a limited cost which the husband readily agrees to. Initially, the monthly subscription for the treatment is a bit manageable, but the side effects...

 For those who grew up with Sun TV, Marmadesam would be synonymous with great story telling and riveting weekly thrill ritual. It was one series that played a great part in establishing Sun TV as not just a credible replacement but a very strong opponent to DoorDarshan, which later waned into oblivion with its proud spot as the defacto (being the only option) channel for the masses. While DD was known for identifying gem of talents, Sun TV cashed in on their creativity with unhindered freedom. Indira soundararajan, the author of the books on which the marmadesam series were made, became quite popular after the series. I've seen Vidaathu karuppu, Rudra veenai when i was abroad and was amazed at the production values and the kind of casting alongside brisk story telling , which has made those series as fresh today as the day they were made. Never had a chance to watch Ragasiyam and by luck stumbled on an Youtube channel, who are playing these series. Thanks to them for bringing these...

For a long time i've wondered how directors convince producers to fund their films. When someone shares their experiences during their interviews i used to find it unconvincing. How can some guy, especially if he is a first-time director, convince someone to spare crores of rupees to fund a story!! How convincing that guy had to be in effectively making the other person part with their hard-earned money!! And how gullible they sound if they are throwing good money after bad at some guy who had narrated a story, how much ever interesting it may be!! And to top it all, most of the time the producers borrow money at cutthroat interest rates to fund those projects, more often than not ending up with debt that has proved fatal in many a case!! And imagine the skill of those story tellers who doesn't just make you fund their dreams but also push you to the extent that you borrow money to pay you!!! And despite knowing that 9 out of ten movies fail miserably, there are still so many p...

This is not a fanboy post. For it requires a certain sense of knowledge and level to appreciate or even talk about this mad genius. Mad because, despite all those accolades and appreciations and awards, i still believe people are yet to grasp the full impact of what this man has done and been doing for several decades!! When the news of his symphony being performed live at London started pouring in, i had a dream that day. I am going somewhere and there is a huge crowd pushing each other to witness some one walking in front of them. That personality is none other than the Maestro himself. Possibly returning back after a successful rendition of the symphony. Our eyes meet for a moment and not knowing what to do i stand still for a moment with tears streaming across face. Incidentally i could see the same emotion on IR's face as well, possibly more of a relief having completed one more of his dreams and conquered yet another peak for others to follow. I had never been a die hard fan ...

Music has this special place in everyone's heart. Even the lyrics that you might not have heard for years, comes rushing to your mind the moment you think of it or hear the music associated with it. At times it becomes a ear worm that refuses to switch off, playing continuously in loop. Likewise are the singers i would say. Years back, when my friend mentioned about Mohammad Rafi, i was hearing his name for the very first time and was thinking of him as some foreign individual. It was several years later only i got accustomed to his mesmerizing talent and all those fantastic songs in his honey dipped voice. Kishor kumar got introduced as a comedian in movies and later only realized it was the same guy who sang all those master class songs. Even now, the moment i think of him, his performances in padosan or chalti ka naam gaadi comes to mind and then only his mellifluous voice. Ditto goes for SPB.  For long his name was a default one that i assumed to be present on every movie title...

 I started this book at around 3 AM one night, unable to sleep and wrapped it up by 8AM same day. At that time, I was still in the second part of Silent Parade which i had started almost a month back!!! Netflix seems to've bought all of Coben's novels and have made them into web series. The catch being that, most of them are set in Baltic or Eastern European region. So right from character names to the lead actors almost everything is European about it!! Naama enamo Americala poranthu valantha pola, somehow the American setup, seems to have a sense of familiarity about it that is strictly lacking in Europe, especially Baltic or Scandinavia, based stories. While the book was much easy a quick read, having been based on America, seems like the series by the same name, is set in Poland. For the first time, i get to see a Coben series, after reading the book. And going by the first episode, seems they've tweaked the story majorly!!! Adhey kadhai thaanannu lighta doubt coming. F...