URUMI 2011

Movie    Urumi
Director Santhosh Sivan
Music     Deepak Dev
Cast        Pritviraj, Prabhu Deva, Genelia, Jagathy, Nitya Menen
Santosh Sivan’s Urumi is a miniature masterpiece of moods, emotions, anxieties ruled by a thirst for revenge. The film unfolds like a ballad and is a sweet and simple fairy tale. The 170 minutes film works to a large extent to its perfect casting, fantastic performances, soothing score and technical brilliance.
Santosh has made it like how a period drama should be made without too much talk about freedom struggle, no bombastic dialogues or playing to the gallery for heroism. His vision and concept gives this epic the feel of a Brave Heart or Gladiator.
It provides us a new insight into the hearts and minds of ancient heroes and shot in locations that reflect the period as everything looks fresh, green and clean and one can feel even the mist. Another major plus is that there are hardly any CG special effects that one would associate with a period war film.
Shankar Ramakrishnan’s script is simple and straightforward and keeps the narrative absorbing and inspiring. The film starts in the present day with a modern don’t care youth Krishna Das (Prithviraj) and his friend (Prabhu Deva) having a jolly good time. A big corporate offers Krishna Das a bomb for his ancestral property in Kerala.

On his arrival in Kerala to sign the papers, he learns the truth about his land and ancestors, which is told in a flashback. A brave warrior (Arya), wants to kill Vasco da Gama, the Viceroy of Portuguese Empire in India. But he is brutally killed by the invaders and his son Chirakkal Kelu Naynar (Prithviraj) is out to take revenge with a golden Urumi, that he makes with the ornaments of dead women and children who were burnt alive in a ship that was going to Mecca. It was set on fire and sunk under the instructions from Vasco Da Gama.
The film is spread between the second and third visit of Gama to India and chronicles a varied version of how Gama could have met a bloody death in 1524 AD. Kelu is supported by his childhood Muslim buddy Vavvali (Prabhu Deva). In the journey he meets warrior princess Ayesha (Genelia), who has her own axe to grind against the foreign invaders. Will they be able to kill Vasco Da Gama ?
The major highlight of the film is the performances of its lead actors. Prithviraj as Kelu Naynar is dashing. You cannot take your eyes of him, it’s a difficult role and he has come out with flying colours especially in the climax scene. Prabhu Deva is there in as many frames as Prithviraj, and is a real treat to watch. He does comedy and romance with ease and the chat song with Nithya is a scream.
However it goes without saying that this is Genelia’s show. She has shed her bubbly image for an out of the world controlled performance and her Kalaripayattu action scenes are thrilling. Nithya Menen looks pretty and is a scene stealer, while Jagathy is outstanding. Amol Gupte, Alex, Robin and others are lifelike. There is also walk in cameo appearances by Arya, Vidya Balan and Tabu.
Music of Deepak Dev enriches the film with Aaro nee aaro, Chimmi Chimmi and the theme music is haunting. A pat for Shankar Ramakrishnan for his intricately crafted script, super editing by Sreekar Prasad without any gimmicks and eye catching beautiful camera work by Sivan and his assistant Anjuli Shukla.
Santosh Sivan has come out with a story of valour with an admirable degree of craftsmanship and clarity. The producers Santosh, Prithviraj and Shaji Natesan can be proud of this epic.

Urumi is a fairy tale fantasy film that has a heart and technical artistry. Go for it.

Christian Brothers 2011

Much-hyped and much-expected Malayalam movie Christian Brothers has released this weekend. The film has everything like family sentiments, fights, music, dance and twists and turns. But there is no much gist in the story selected by director Joshiy. The screenplay has been made as to attract the fans of superstars like Mohanlal, Dileep, Suresh Gopi and Sharath Kumar.


Christian Brothers is a mass entertainer movie with all the commercial elements. Mohanlal, Dileep, Suresh Gopi's acting is the main attraction of the film. Deepak Dev's music, Anil Nair's cinematography and fights sequences are the other highlights of the film. But all these entertainment elements are made in such a way that fans of each actor should be impressed. There is more of artificiality than natural flow.


The duration of the film is 2.55 hours because it is multi-starrer film and each lead actor has been given equal focus in it. In fact, it is not easy to handle the subject of multi-starrer flick. But script writers Sibi K Thomas and Udayakrishna have done it very well. They have maintained equal focus to all the lead characters, which help the film to hold the attention of audience. The movie is all about a retired army officer and his two sons. It also throws light on issue like land grabbing.


Palamattathu Varghese Mappila (Saikumar) is a retired and well-to-do army officer, His sons Christy (Mohanlal) works as an informer in Mumbai and Joby (Dileep) is sent abroad to study theology. Situations make them fall out of their respective responsibilities, which irk their father and make him loose interest in them. What happens next will form the interesting part of the film.


Mohanlal has larger scope in the film when compared to other lead stars.
 The comic scenes between Suresh Gopi are Dileep are really good.
Sharath Kumar has just guest appearance role. Leading ladies Kavya Madhavan, Kaniha and Lakshmi Rai do not have much scope in the film.Saikumar, Biju Menon, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, Vijaya Raghavan, Suresh Krishna, Salim Kumar and others have done justice to their respective roles.


Deepak Dev has composed music for four songs like 'Karthaave...', 'Kannum...', 'Mizhikalil Naanam...' and 'Sayyaave...' and all of them are melodious and good to listen. Anil Nair's camera work, Ranjan Ebraham's editing are also commendable. In a nutshell, Christian Brothers is a good entertainer for this weekend masti






Producer: AV Anoop and Maha Subair


Director: Joshiy


Cast: Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Sarath Kumar, Kavya Madhavan, Lakshmi Rai, Kanika, Saikumar, Biju Menon, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, Vijaya Raghavan, Suresh Krishna, Salim Kumar, Suraaj Venjaramoodu, Jagathy Sreekumar and Kavya Madhavan


Music: Deepak Dev

DO's nd DONT's on FACEBOOK

London, Nov 08 (ANI): Wonder how much of personal information is fine on Facebook? Well, an expert tells you the dos and don'ts of being a part of the social networking giant.

Dave Whitelegg said that although Facebook is a fun way to keep in touch with friends and family, it can also be dangerous.

"Posting certain photos or information on the site puts you at risk of being fired, a victim of crime, or even worse. There are computer programmes called 'data mining' that sweep Facebook to collect dates of birth, phone numbers, addresses etc. That's gold dust to criminals," the Sun quoted Whitelegg, an IT security expert, as saying.

Here are the 10 things you should never post on Facebook and why.

Date and place of birth- This places you at massive risk of identity theft. They are the most commonly used security questions on password resetting sites.

Mother's maiden name-A lot of sites use your mother's maiden name to authenticate who you are. They also commonly use the school you went to as a security question.

Address- It again puts you at risk from identity fraud, but also from burglars and stalkers.

Holidays-If you post an update on Facebook saying: "Can't wait till next Wednesday - two weeks in Miami yeh!" you are basically saying: "Come and rob me."

Short trips from home-Again, this can put you at risk of burglary and stalking.

Inappropriate photos- Don't post racy, illicit, offensive or incriminating photos. Bosses and prospective employers are increasingly looking at Facebook pages.

Confessionals-These can also get you fired or haunt you for the rest of your life. Posting you are skiving work, who you are sleeping with, or doing something shameful is just dumb.

Phone number-Unless you want to be bombarded with unsolicited phone calls from people trying to sell you something - don't.

Children's names-These can be used by identity fraudsters or, more sinisterly, by paedophiles. It is much easier to steal a child's identity. An adult will eventually discover something is wrong by, for example, their credit rating being affected. Children won't.

Don't post a full public profile-It won't just exist on Facebook, it will go on any internet search such as Google. Only give the bare bones such as a name. Keep everything else private. (ANI)

YENTHIRAN REVIEW tamill movie-2010

Superstar Rajinikanth ‘s Yenthiran is a science fiction movie and director Shankar does justice to the title. Stamping his authority on compute graphics, Shankar once again proved why he’s an ace filmmaker. The cost of the budget was clearly evident in songs and action episodes as Shankar truly depicts a passionate Yenthiran story.

Vasikar (Rajinikanth) is a scientist who does research in Yenthiranics and Sana (Aishwarya Rai) . He introduces a Yenthiran (Chitti) and aspires to present it to Indian Defence to bolster their resistance mechanism. Chitti does all the unbelievable activities and rescues operations as well. However, Vasikar Professor Bohra (Danny) denies permission to send this to Defence on the grounds that Chitti is purely a Yenthiran and kills anybody. Just when Vasikar is about to destroy, Chitti says that he loves Sana. Contrastingly the envious Bohra develops a killer Yenthiran for terrorist activities. The plot unveils as to how Vasikar destroys the killer Yenthiran and wins SANA.

Yenthiran review was the much awaited one, and we have to say that the movie’s technical competencies are on par with Hollywood. Against his conventional style of film making, Shankar has gone for the Yenthiran technology, but caught in a spot of bother in terms of story and screenplay. The story lacks the required fizz and intensity, and also did not end convincingly. Interestingly, in Yenthiran, Rajnikanth also plays a negative shade in the form of killer Yenthiran.

From Rajinikanth’s viewpoint, he donned a different character as against her earlier movies, which has complete commercial dialogues as Yenthiran movie runs entirely on Rajinikanth. Amidst these fantastical, futuristic images, Shankar keeps the flavour severely home- grown. But in the end, Yenthiran is only technically brilliant – unrivalled and unsurpassed.It’s not a great story and with twists and turns, but you can surely enjoy the roller coaster ride. The first half of Yenthiran is exciting with high voltage graphics and entertainment. But the second half loses its firmness and rather becomes unconvincing towards the end.

Superstar Rajinikanth delivers breath taking performance. However, don’t expect typical Rajnikanth dialogues in this film. As it goes, Rajni gets better with age.Aishwarya Rai is aptly suited for her role and does well. Shankar captured her stunning visuals and looks in few tight close shots. Danny is adequate. Music by AR Rahman is very good and the background score in action episodes is very thrilling. Couples of numbers are very well composed. Computer graphics hogs limelight for Yenthiran more than anything else. The CG work is world class and visuals are stunning. Rathnavelu, the cameraman does a fantastic job when it comes to close shots.

All in all, Yenthiran is a technically proficient movie and its worth watching such a brilliantly made film. It’s the first of its kind movie in India for sure. Go watch for sheer computer life likes and ascribe to ace director Shankar.

casanova malayalam movie 2011

Mohanlal-Rosshan Andrrews movie \"Casanova\".
Rosshan Andrrews says the story of Casanova is about an “ International businessman and acclaimed charmer, Casanovva to be played by Mohanlal who is an admirer of all things beautiful. No wonder then that the owner of Casanovva’s Eternal Spring’, an international chain of flower boutiques, is always to be seen in the company of the most beautiful women. He has at his beck and call a faithful array of female followers – staff, friends and former girlfriends – who will do anything for him. Awakening envy in all men and romance in all women, Casanovva’s philosophy in life is simple – love cures all. With his penchant for the good life it is little wonder that four enterprising young criminals decide to use him in their quest for some quick money”. Mohanlal plays Casanovva, which has Shriya Saran, Lakshmi Rai, Sanjanaa, Roma, Jagathy Sreekumar as his faithful assistant and Lalu Alex in a supporting role. Four fresh faces star as the gang who tries to beat the master and four newcomers join in as pivotal female characters.

CROOK (2010) hindi movie synopsis

Jai has a knack of getting into trouble. His Father was a gangster who wanted to reform. On assurance from his friend Inspector Joseph, Jai's father agreed to rat on his evil bosses. Inspector Joseph guaranteed him that he would find Jai's father and Jai a safe passage into the world of good once his bosses have been exposed. But the unexpected happened. Jai witnessed the fatal double cross on his father, despite his confession, by a senior police officer. Joseph's valiant effort to save him went in vain. This traumatic incident left a lasting impression on Jai's mind that there was no point in being good and that 'It's Good to be Bad.' Joseph adopted Jai out of guilt and tried to instill his Christian values of finding a God within but the memories from the past had already cast themselves deep in Jai's mind. Despite repeated attempts to reform him, Joseph failed to ignite the light of good within Jai's soul. And when matters went almost completely out of hand with Jai's checkered criminal life, Joseph arranged an alternate identity for him as Suraj Bhardwaj and sent him away to Australia – a land far away from his past. Jai had promised Joseph in Australia he would stay clear of any trouble. It was a golden chance to feel the grass on the other side of the fence. Almost immediately after landing, Jai met Suhani, an Indian Australian with an unadulterated honest vision of 'one world'. Although she hailed from a conservative traditional Punjabi family that took pride in being Indian, Suhani secretly fostered a much liberal outlook towards life. Her elder brother Samarth was just the opposite. Samarth was convinced that Australians had a one-point agenda to bring Indians down. Jai found his home with the bumbling punju boys GoldE and gang. They were happy go lucky 'sardar' boys who knew that the ticket to heaven was through attaining a permanent residency in Australia. GoldE almost echoed Joseph's voice when he warned Jai to stay out of trouble and concentrate on his work – he arranged for Jai to get a job as a taxi driver in Samarth's garage. Suhani was intrigued by Jai's manner. He was flirting but with a flair. He was lying but in style and he was conniving but with a pure heart. She could spot in the first instant that she met Jai that beyond his prankster lying front, Jai had a deeper side to himself that he refused to acknowledge. Jai knew that if he could make Suhani fall in love with him he could eventually attain permanent residency by marrying her but her brother was too much of an obstacle. So while Jai was busy scheming for Suhani's love he was also flirting with Nicole, the stripper from a nearby strip club. But his problems with Nicole were almost similar to Suhani's as Nicole's brother, Russel, was a rowdy skinhead from the block. Trouble followed Jai where he tried to run away from it as he witnessed the cold-blooded racial assault on Samarth. Going to the police would mean an investigation on Jai's credentials and walking away would mean losing Suhani. Jai had fled from India to find a new hassle free life and now found himself in the heart of a racially disturbed city. Jai's plight grew as the racial attacks spread across the city. The only way to deal with the issue at hand was to take the bull by its horns. He found himself at a crossroad of good and bad. But ironically the line dividing good and bad was running straight through his heart. It was a time when Jai had to figure whether it's Good to be bad or it is Good to be Good.

Less is more: Get slimmer on two wheels now

In this day of adrenalin rush, we tend to forget (or ignore altogether) how to breathe and how to chew the food in out mouth. Why don’t we invest in a little bit of our time to kick back and chillax if it makes us live longer? It doesn’t need to take hours, how about just 30 minutes of walking?
If walking isn’t your cup of tea, how about cycling? I stumble upon this picture in Google and it immediately put a smile on my face. I hope it does the same to you too!