Variety is the spice of life

Agatha Christie is flavor of the season for me. Ever since I was done with “orient express” was waiting to start off on this one. Read in some review that they were similar themed and even the movies that were planned on them had connections. I could find the reference to the train one even in this book. But nevertheless, it was an interesting read to say the least. Somehow the familiarity of the writing or assumption based on context, have helped me overcome all those French and German dialogues that are strewn around. Story wise, it is similar as well. Instead of train, the murder(s) happen on a ship. Another similarity that I noted was with a different novel of hers itself – Endless nights. Plot wise they are almost same except for the location. In fact I had seen the movie before I read that book, for it was mentioned as one of the top ten horror/thriller movies of its time. Considering that so many novels and stories have been based out of the same setup, it felt a bit stale. Agai...

Wifey: “Arisi upma panna saapduvingala” Me: “Yaar pannalum saapduven” That goes with a typical look which is accompanied by unmentionables in comics, with a balloon mind voice picturing danger symbols and other regular expressions. Her biggest worry is Junior picking on the mokkais. He is very keen to watch out for any different tones in conversations and has a knack for picking the mokkai ones quicker. Ever since I had to wfh, my worry was how will junior take it. I was wondering if he would ever allow me to take calls and open laptop. For it involves two things he is very fond of – mobile and laptop. But, touchwood, he had taken things really well and has been extremely supportive as well. Whenever I say I have to close the door to take calls, he would wave me bye and whenever I used to step out for a bit, he would ask me is office work done to make sure if I can join him for playing. Nowadays, he has started his own “office” hours and tasks. He would say that he has office work t...

Had it not been for Amazon Prime and Netflix, I would’nt have tried any of these movies and glad that they come with subtitles as well. Another telugu movie, quite a decent one as well, a detective thriller to top it all!! It has all the making for an amazing franchise, if the subsequent attempts have such a strong story line and thought process. The movie would make an amazing web series in itself too. The premise, the buildup, the crime and the deduction all have strong desi flavor and there is nothing phoren about any of it at all, except for the self-confessed love for Sherlock Holmes by the lead character and his fetish for crime movies from Hollywood. Right from initial name credits till the end, there are scenes running non-stop and despite that the movie doesn’t feel lengthy, at least for majority of the portions. Right at the beginning itself, the relation between “Agent” Sai and his sidekick lady is established - as No Romance. Initially I thought it was a spoof movie on dete...

A typical Rollins novel would sum up the entire effort. He has built up a perfect template that works well for him. Pick up some fantastic myth/legend/historical location/any event from history of any region – check. Make that into a weapon or threat to the world – check. Have it linked with some famous personality from the past like Galileo/Da vinci/Newton – check. Have one Brainiac of a researcher/teacher/scholar checking on some inhospitable terrain, looking for some ancient stuff that people only have read about in stories – check. Have a black sheep character whose “grand reveal” will be the twist near the climax – check. Have a brawny character who experiments in different modes of torture only to be killed by similar or same mean in the end – check. Have puzzles and maps that has been unsolvable for centuries get resolved in matter of chapters – check. Have the synchronization of chases across the globe between the Sigma group and the villain group to culminate in destro...

“Appa..play me that song” “Edhuda?” “Antha black and white mickey mouse varumay…antha song” “apdinna?” “Athaanda..YouTube la varumay…nee YouTube podu” After seeing me silently trying to escape that situation, he went and got me my phone. “Inthada…YouTube podu” “Poatachu..ithula varalaye” “Illada..black and white mickey mouse song search pananum” “Search!!! Ithelam unakku yaar sollikudutha” “SEARCH PANNNUUUUUU” Saree shop assistant pola, I tried showing him multiple mickey mouse songs and he rejected them like the ammani’s who do Diwali purchase. “Poda..antha song YouTube la illa” He gave me a look, took the phone from me. I was quite sure he doesn’t know the spelling to type out any new searches. He simply enabled the voice option and said “black and white mickey mouse song” to pick the first one that came from the results. He didn’t even bothered to say “Idha thaan theda sonen” and started dancing to that song!!!! Ithana varushama phone use panren, I’ve never ever trie...

A book that was released 86 years ago!!! Believe it or not it, that is what wiki states that the book was first launched on 1934.  Even after nearly a century later, if the book thrills the new reader, that definitely says something about the story and the author’s caliber. Agatha Christie clarifies any doubt as to why she is the queen of murder mysteries by this book alone. I would’ve started this book, several times previously, but the pacing was never per my comfort. With this lockdown and having already tasted the effect of the previous 2 novels that I read, dived headlong into the book and wow, what an experience it turned out to be!!! There are quite few sections that can still be trimmed and the count could be reduced to half a dozen instead of 12 and there are some other pointers that anyone can suggest. But having to think the situation and build a case from top down, backtracking on the response for each character and appropriate question for them, that doesn’t reveal the...

Awe (Telugu) – movie review If not for this lock down, I would’ve never watched this movie. Got to read about this movie from a friend of mine who had mentioned it in his recommendation list. The name sounded over confident and when I googled about the movie, understood that it was a debut attempt by the director. Right from the way the name reel was constructed, till the end, the movie was..hmm..new, for want of a better word. It resembles a web series in way of presentation and the story line was quite novel. It reminds of black mirror web series, where each episode is quite dark in theme and has a neat twist in the end. Here we’ve an anthology of stories, all taking place at the same venue same time and how each of them is tied in the end, forms the climax. I loved the chef and fish story, a direct lift off from Ratatouille movie. Instead of the rat it is a fish and a talking tree which teaches the guy how to cook. The next in my liking list was the time travel one with the watchm...

There are actors who overact, there are those who underplay and there are those who are blank and expressionless (not referring to Mahesh Babu or Vijay). But then there are those who are so good in their craft that they make you forget about them and breathe as the character they are donning on screen. The realization that they are enacting a role and not in real, when it hits you, makes you go WOW!! Irrfan Khan and Vijay Sethupathi stake claim to this clan of actors based on quite a few of their performances. After watching “Dear Zindagi” feels like Alia Bhatt can well and truly demand her place, based on this movie alone. There is a scene where she gets to know that her crush, whom she did reject a couple of scenes before but secretly is still in love with, is getting engaged to someone else. The reactions she express and the way she chews green chilli to hide her actual tears, the abruptness with which she cuts the conversation not willing to know the fiancée detail and the conclusi...

One good thing out of this lockdown is the amount of time I get to spend with Junior. Luckily for us his aunt also got tied in our place when the lockdown was enforced. All of a sudden he has 2 more people to share his house with during day time has made him super excited. I could see in practice that when we talk more to the kids they pick up more words and sentences and as compared to how he used to communicate, his vocabulary has improved. Logically with more people to interact he gets into different conversation topics as well and that helps. Other than that, he is getting extremely naughty and at times it is scary to even think how he is going to adapt to school when things go back to what they were before. From directing us to speak our designated dialogues to casting us on different characters in his -plays, he is inventing newer games to play. Never did I realize that “Hide-and-seek” is a possible game in our 2 bhk house. I always think on straight lines and with junior, from d...

As requested by Thala, a movie review. Been a while since I posted about  movie reviews. First things first. Even more than the lead heroine Ritu Varma, the second heroine Niranjani I the likings. Story wise, it is yet another hammered nail on the coffin of “good triumphing over bad” themed stories in movies. Crime does pays and it pays so generously well along with eye candy heroines and above all, makes a mockery of the law and justice. Rakshan, whose claim to fame was anchoring comedy competitions on Vijay TV, has a meaty role and shares roughly same amount of screen time as the main lead Dulqur (Mamooty’s son). Guess this bit of information would’ve been mentioned on every review ever written or to be written about this movie, for it was quite surprising to see him land up with such a big role, which is not just mere hero’s sidekick for comic relief, but actually a second hero role in a lighter vein to compliment the lead guy. Gautam menon, replicates the body language of a t...

Well, counting pennies of positivity amidst the bullions of bad news could well be the intent of this post. Many a thing that one may actually wish out loud, have all been happening in this lock down. Working from home had long been privy to mostly IT folks and not ops. With the present situation, I could see companies scampering to shift even desktops to employee’s home to ensure connectivity. People who often crib about commute to office (Yeah..itsh me) have their wish fulfilled. Those who aspire to spend quality time with their family, have their wish full filled. Wives get to know what actually their hubbies do in office all day long (definitely not the positive penny). Kids get the best of the lot, getting passed to next level with no exams and extended holidays, even though they can’t go out. Husbands get their dream desire when the mega serials get stopped (the best penny of the lot) even though the satan’s minions find a way to start re-runs of so called superhit serials (not ...