Destination Infinity's Blog, page 50

2015: Top 10 Tamil Songs of the Year

**If you don’t have much time, just listen to Songs #2 or #1. Both are incredible**

Here’s a yearly top 10/best Tamil songs list for 2015, selected and rated by me. The songs below were composed for movies released during the last one year. Please note that I did not listen to all Tamil songs released in 2015, and hence have included only those songs that caught my interest and were made popular by TV/radio channels, websites, etc. So this is not a comprehensive list.

The rating is my own, based on my musical tastes and preferences – I did not conduct any voting or go through any top music lists, etc. And I don’t claim any musical expertise — I am just a normal music lover like you all. OK, here’s the COUNTDOWN

#10. Song: Kaara Aatakkara (Movie: OK Kadhal Kanmani)

I know this is the trailer, not the song. But it’s the jingle that’s too good – the full song didn’t hold my attention. Music director: A. R. Rahman; Singers: Aaryan Dinesh, Dharshana, Shashaa Tirupati.

#9. Song: Adi yendi yendi (Movie: Puli)

This song has a nice punch and nice beats. Slightly old-fashioned, but it holds my interest alright. Music director: Devi Sri Prasad; Singers: Shruti Hassan.

#8. Song: Oh oh… (Movie: Thangamagan) 

This is a different song. It starts slow and melodious, but the guitar brings in the fast-paced change in rhythm. I didn’t like it initially, but liked it after I listened to it a couple of times. Music director: Anirudh; Singers: Anirudh, Dhanush & Nikitha Gandhi.

#7. Song: Mental Manadhil (Movie: OK Kanmani)

This song is not great, but has an excellent rhythm. It’s a good song to hum or sing along. Music director: A. R. Rahman; Singers: A. R. Rahman.

#6. Song: Katthikida (Movie: Kaaki Sattai)

Generally, I don’t like such loud songs, but this one is a class apart. You’ll have to stand and dance while you listen to it. No escaping

Thirukkadaiyur Temple in Tamil Nadu: For 60th & 81st Marriages

Thirukkadaiyur Temple, near Mayiladuthurai/Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, India, is specialized and famous for conducting 60th & 81st Marriages. Recently, one of my uncle & aunt had arranged their 60th marriage to be performed here and I went to attend it. This Temple is called Amritaghateswarar-Abirami Temple and is dedicated mainly to Lord Shiva.

The Legend is that when Devas churned the ocean of milk to create Amruta – the liquid that grants immortality, they forgot to worship Lord Ganesha. Angered by this, Lord Vinayaka takes away the pot containing Amruta and hides it in Thirukkadaiyur, where he pours some of it over a Siva Linga created by him. Thus, it is believed that the Lingam in this Temple can grant longevity. ‘Amrita Ghat Eswarar’ literally translates to ‘Lord that leads to immortality’.

Probably that’s why one of the rituals they follow in this Temple is: relatives pouring water on the couples head celebrating their 60th Marriage. There are small compartments all around this Temple where Homam & Pooja are held individually for each couple. These compartments are small and does not have a physical barrier, hence around 20-30 relatives can gather around each couple comfortably.

Once the Homam, Pooja, and Water pouring rituals are completed, the Groom and bride dress up as mappillai and ponnu and the groom ties the chain around the bride once again for 60th marriage. Note that this Temple can get very crowded on Auspicious days – when we went, around 100 couples had registered to perform their 60th marriages. Each ceremony might take around 2 hours and it maybe better to arrange the ceremonies early in the morning to avoid the peak crowd.

Actually, from Chennai I went to Chidambaram Temple first (will write the travelogue for that Temple shortly) and then reached Thirukkadaiyur by bus – it takes around an hour from there, but there are many buses. Then I visited Poompuhar, which is a tourist attraction nearby. I then went to Mayiladuthurai from where I had booked my train journey back to Chennai.

There is another interesting story of Markendeyan that is said to have taken place here. Markandeyan’s parents did not have children for a long time, hence they prayed devotedly to Lord Shiva. Pleased, Lord appeared before them and told them that they can either have a son who is exceptionally good but will live only for 16 years, or a son who is average and will live longer. The parents opted for the former.

When Markandeyan’s 16th year was approaching its end, his father asked him to hug the Siva Lingam in this Temple. When Lord Yama came to take him away, he threw a noose which tied Markandeya and Lingam together. Angered by this, Lord Shiva appeared and stopped Lord Yama. God Shiva also granted the boon to Markandeya to always remain 16 (Endrendrum Padhinaru!).

Destination Infinity

Photos by Destination8infinity (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Chennai Express Movie Review: Super Fun!

Chennai Express Bollywood Movie Trailer:

Chennai Express is a bollywood movie starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. It is directed by Rohit Shetty and the music is by Vishal-Shekar.

Movie Review: I think this movie is SUPER FUN.

Yeah, this movie has huge lapses in logic and sequences. The director & script writer introduce too many unbelievable events to get their story moving in the direction they want to. Most of them are unrealistic and some even jaw-droppingly so.

But the humor works (at least for me). The dialogues are cool. Shah Rukh’s characterization is good and so is his sense of humor. Deepika — though her Hindi is vague — is simply cute and awesome, both with dialogues and action. Like in Om Shanti Om, this pair has worked magic in Chennai Express also, me thinks.

If you want to watch a “realistic” “art” movie, this film is obviously not your cup of tea. But if you want to get entertained, jump into the train

To me, the biggest surprise was how well the team handled the emotional situations in the end. In a comedy movie, the director generally messes up with this, or there are no emotions at all. But in this one, I must compliment Rohit Shetty for having handled the emotional part (near the end) quite well.

The music is very good. The Lungi Dance, being so peppy and fast, is obviously a super-hit, but the melodious Classical Tamil-Hindi mixed song (Titli) is also too good. Here it is –

The settings are too grandiose for a South Indian village, but they are a visual treat nevertheless. I just wish the situations and conflicts were more realistic, but had they done that, the movie would be less entertaining. So I am fine with the movie as it is

I am not sure why this movie got so many bad reviews back when it was released – I would have watched it in the theater, if not for those reviews. Irrespective, I enjoyed this movie now and would recommend it for others.

Hint: If you want to get the maximum out of this movie, don’t take life too seriously (at least while watching it)

I am Looking forward to the Hindu Literature Festival 2016, Chennai

I was at the Hindu Lit for Life last year and enjoyed many sessions. This year, Hindu Lit for Life 2016 – the premier literature festival @ Chennai, is all set to be held from Jan. 15 – Jan. 17: Friday to Sunday. Be sure to be there early and reserve your seat — the venue can get crowded quickly. 

The venue, Venkata Subbarao Hall in Harrington Road is HUGE and has excellent sound facilities. There are two tracks — Sessions happen simultaneously both at the main hall, and in an open air Hindu Pavillion, nearby. There is ample parking for cars and bikes. Food from multiple caterers was arranged within the venue last year, and I guess it will be arranged this year too.

Here is the list of speakers and sessions. The lit fest is free of cost to attend, but you need to register at their website liked above.

This year, I am looking forward to discussions by Omar Abdullah, Amish Tripathi, Devdutt Pattanaik, Shashi Tharoor, Anita Ratnam, Sharan Apparao, Chitra Madhavan, Barkha Dutt, Baradwaj Rangan, Thirumavalavan, etc.

Not sure if I will be able to make it on all three days, but I hope to…

Destination Infinity

Where are Law Colleges and Courtroom Scenes in Bollywood Nowadays?

There was a time in the past, before a few decades, when many Bollywood/Hindi movies prominently featured scenes in Indian Law colleges and Courtrooms. Entire movies were set in Law Colleges in Delhi and Courtrooms in Mumbai.

I wonder then, what happened to such movies nowadays? Have the law colleges and courts disappeared? No. Have courtrooms disappeared? No. Are there fewer number of cases or lawyers nowadays? No.

Then why did Bollywood drop its fascination for lawyers and legal thrillers? I know it’s a difficult question to answer as no one knows when something gets out of vogue and when something else catches the fancy of people.

Lawyers are always in demand and theirs is one of the best-paid careers. Many laws and activities that affect the masses are brought about by lawyers, and some of them go on to become politicians, bureaucrats, and other top-level officials.

I am sure there is no dearth of interesting cases to base a movie upon. There is so much drama and perhaps even action, inside and outside courtrooms that each case can potentially become a Bollywood movie!

Then why are Bollywood directors no longer interested in making movies that revolves around lawyers, any longer? Perhaps other professions have become more glamorous, or perhaps the movie standards have come down?

Movie makers no longer seem to be worried about minuscule things like good story, etc. Maybe they are happy with giant sets, latest technology, big stars, and huge marketing glitz?

There are some good TV shows based on real cases. It’s good to know that at least TV is still interested in showing police procedural/legal mysteries and thrillers. I am sure there are good books being written on this genre, both in Hindi and in regional languages.

I think it’s time for Bollywood to reengage with its one time crush. People will definitely fall in love with stories that feature lawyers and their efforts in solving important cases. At the end of the day, mystery and justice is what we all want. And we ought to realize it through the lens of the movie-world as well, in order to inspire more bright minds to enter into the legal profession. One can certainly hope

Destination Infinity

Big Christmas Trees @ 6 Malls in Chennai

Forum Mall, Vadapalani, Chennai

 

Yesterday I decided to undertake a small adventure. I (rightly) guessed that the malls in Chennai would’ve erected big Christmas trees for this festive season. So I thought why not visit the malls, take photos of the Christmas trees, and show it to blog readers? To make this challenge more interesting, I decided to use public transport instead of going in my bike. 

Result? I visited six malls at various locations in the city using just buses and metro (except one route – Express Avenue to City Center, where I had to take an auto). I started from my home at 2 P.M. and was back by 10 P.M. I realized one can easily travel in buses across the city. Of course, since it was a Sunday there was not much crowd, and that was important for me to even consider taking up this adventure

Here are the pics of Christmas decorations/Large Christmas Trees from six malls, in the order in which I visited: (First one is above)

Phoenix Market City, Velachery, Chennai

 

Spencer Plaza, Mount Road, Chennai

 

Express Avenue, Royapettah, Chennai

 

City Center, Mylapore, Chennai

 

Sky Walk, Anna Nagar, Chennai

 

 

Destination Infinity

Photos by: Destination8infinity (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

For Authors: eBook Publicity Service with Guarantee!

If you are an Indie author like me, you’d know that writing and publishing an eBook is only half the work. Creating publicity for your eBook and reaching it to a sizable audience, especially when the book/author is new, is critical for its success.

Publishing platforms like Amazon Kindle Desktop Publishing (KDP) allows you to give away your book for free for five days for every three months, if you are enrolled in their Kindle Select program. Ideally, you’d want to get maximum downloads within those five days so that a few people will actually read your book and recommend it to others.

Even if you make your book free, they don’t get magically downloaded. I’ve been there, done that. At best, a few people will download your book and even fewer will read it. So it is important to invest a small amount of money to get the word out to a large group of interested readers.

You can go around announcing in forums, social media, and every other place where you anticipate readers might be, but you’ll still be able to convince only a small number people to download your eBook. Besides, that takes a lot of time and makes you look like a spammer.

Recently, I decided to use the services of Books Butterfly. While there are many eBook publicity services in the market, no one gives you a guarantee. This site not only gives a guarantee for the minimum no. of downloads, but if they don’t make your book achieve the committed number, they even offer to return the (balance) money on a prorated basis.

They provide this service for free eBooks, deeply discounted eBooks, and boxed sets. In case of discounted eBooks, they commit a minimum no. of sales with the same prorated return of money guarantee. Of course, these services are subject to your book qualifying for their terms & conditions.

I made my eBook free for a couple of days and listed it with them. In spite of having no reviews, the book was downloaded by many people. The number certainly exceeded my expectations. If your book has a few good reviews, I am sure it can do much better. I think it is important to give that small nudge in the beginning so that the book will gain sales momentum on the long run. Also you can get a few reviews from actual readers.

Destination Infinity

**Pasanga – 2** A Counselling Session for Parents (Movie Review)

Pasanga – 2 is not a movie. It’s a 2-hour counselling session for parents disguised as a movie. I can’t believe the same director who made the brilliant Pasanga movie earlier, made this one! There is no story whatsoever. 

There are two kids who are hyper-active, create mischief, don’t study well, and get thrown out of all schools they get admitted to. Imagine how much potential there was to show the mischief of these two kids in a humorous way. Except the scene where the plastic cover filled with water falls on the flat secretary, nothing else was interesting enough. Some scenes were mildly humorous, though.

From the scene where Surya enters the movie, the movie becomes an elongated counselling session for parents. Aamir Khan might want to remake this movie in Hindi because he will surely be impressed with the subject of this movie. And Surya’s role.

Will you go to a movie hall expecting to be bombarded with ADVISE?

That said, the issues raised in this movie were important and pertinent ones that every parent would relate to. But the concepts were handled more like a non-fiction Neeya-Naana TV show, than a movie with a story and a subtle message. Imagine a debate show where only one side gets to talk. Obviously that side will win. Now how will that be interesting?

The fake emotions of the kid when she tells her own story in the climax Talentina reality show, where she is supposed to show her story-telling prowess, is the peak of absurdity. The story she told earlier while getting admitted to a school was much better. But I must add I have heard a similar story elsewhere.

I hope the makers will make a Pasanga – 3 and do it better than the original Pasanga. I am sure they can do it. But this movie is a bore.

Destination Infinity

Sri Kanyaka Parameswari Temple, Parrys, Chennai (Vaikunta Ekadesi Celebrations)

Sri Kanyaka Parameswari Temple, established in 1720 and managed by SKPD Charities, is an important pilgrimage center in Chennai. This Temple is located at the intersection of Anna Pillai street, Audiappa Street and Acharyappan Street near Broadway, Parrys. Here is the exact location. Recently, they had organized celebrations for Vaikunta-Ekadesi festival and I went to attend it. Here are some highlights from that event.

In the morning, they had organized poojas, rangoli competition, and paramapada games. The above photo shows a few interesting rangolis on various avatars/images of Gods made by participants. Since I went in the evening, the rangolis were not in perfect shape, but were in clickable condition nevertheless.

By around 7:00 P.M., a fancy dress competition for kids was held. This was an exciting event with cute nursery kids donning the roles of many different Gods. The above photo shows the collage of a few participants, clicked by me. All the kids were wonderful and prizes were given for everyone.

Then came the Devotional Songs & Bhajan by Sri Balaji Bhajana Mandali, Chennai. The popular Doma Venkata Subramaniam brothers troupe sang many devotional songs in Telugu and Tamil for the occasion. This, I guess, was followed by a devotional movie screening late in the night, but since I had work on the next day morning, I had to return to my house by then.

Before I sign off, I should tell you all about the legend of God Kanyaka Parameswari or Vasavamba Devi. In the 10/11th Century, Vishnu Vardhana, a Chalukya King, visited Penugonda and fell in love with Vasavamba, who lived in that city. He requested her hand in marriage, but since Vasavamba refused, he decided to attack the city and take her off by force.

Vasavamba, to avert large-scale blood-shed due to war, decided to jump into the fire and kill herself (along with 102 other couples) before the King could reach the city. The above rangoli depicts this ‘Gunta pravesam’ scene. On hearing the news, the King repented his action and he too died on the spot. Thereafter, Vasavamba, believed to be an incarnation of Godess Parvati, was worshiped as Kanyaka Parameswari. Here’s the full story, if you want to read.

Destination Infinity

Poompuhar: Ancient Indian Sea Port, Now Tourist Destination in TN

Poompuhar is an ancient Indian port situated along the coast of Bay of Bengal, Tamil Nadu. No one knows when this town was created, but it has been mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature works like Manimekalai (4th Century BC), Silappathikaram, Pattinappaalai, etc. Also known by the name Kaveri Poompattinam, a significant portion of this port town was submerged into the sea due to repeated Tsunami, erosion, and floods. Government is now trying to establish this town as a tourist attraction in Tamil Nadu.

To get to Poompuhar by bus, one needs to reach Karuvi, Mayiladuthurai or Sirkazhi. From there, direct buses are available. The above photo shows the Silappathikaram Art Gallery. It seems, this famous Tamil Sangam-period story of Kannagi, Madhavi and Kovalan was set in this very town. The sculptors at Mamallapuram Art College have carved a few sculptures depicting the story in brief and that has been showcased at this museum. There is a Rs. 5/- entrance ticket for this.

Silappathikaram Story (in short): Kovalan is a rich shipping merchant at Poompuhar and Kannagi is his wife. But Kovalan is attracted towards a dancer called Madhavi, falls for her, and lives with her for sometime. He loses a major portion of this wealth and comes back to Kannagi. Since they are short of money, he decides to sell Kannagi’s golden silambu (a jewel worn on the legs) in Madurai. As he approaches a gold merchant there to sell it, he is captured and sent to the King who had been searching for a similar-looking silambu that was stolen from the Queen. Kovalan is mistaken to be the thief and is executed.

The above sculpture shows Kannagi about to break the silambu to prove to the King that the jewels inside it consisted of ‘mani’, that belonged to her, and not ‘muthu’, that belonged to the Queen. Once the King realizes his error in judgement, he faints and dies on the spot, and so does the queen. I know this story because I memorized a few verses of Silappathikaram for school competitions and have won many prizes reciting it

Another good tourist spot in Poompuhar is the Light House along the beach. This lighthouse was constructed and opened just four years back! Needless to say, the view from the top of the lighthouse is too good. It is well maintained and there are circular steps to reach to the top. Here is a view from the top,

There are large stones all along the Beach coast (to prevent the water from further eroding the land, I guess) but there is a small opening (shown above) that allows people to go to the water and experience the waves. I saw a few people swimming here. BTW, this town is also called ‘Kaveri Poompattinam’, which is roughly ‘Kaveri Pugum Pattinam’ or the town where Kaveri Enters (the sea).

On the extreme right, you can see the river Kaveri entering into the sea through those two stone bunds or whatever. There are a few monuments built to be tourist attractions (like the one shown below and in the first photo of this post) but none of them are maintained well.

There is one Temple near the beach, but I didn’t go inside. It seems there are other old Temples nearby. There is also a Marine Archaeology Museum which contains a few old coins and objects excavated from nearby. It’s a small museum – go if you have time. I wanted to go to the Danish Fort, in Tharangabadi, 22 KM away. But I didn’t have enough time on that day.

To me, the view from the top of the Lighthouse alone was worth the trip.

Destination Infinity

Photos by Destination8infinity (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.