NEW ZEALAND ROCK!!!

I didn't want to blog about this again but it's just too tempting when the Aussies lose.. Imagine a team breaking the same record twice in a span of 4 days.. Amazing is not the word..

Aussies began brilliantly and set a huge target of 347.. Hayden scored 181 which is the highest score by an Australian.. I guess the Aussies will now begin to expect losing whenever they score more than 330.. Brilliant batting by New Zealand.. Superb whitewash..

Some stats about the match courtesy cricinfo,
1. New Zealand's total of 350 for 9 is the second-highest in a successful run-chase.This result also means that the top four successful run chases in ODIs have all come against Australia.

2.This is also the first time since 1997 that Australia have been blanked 3-0 in a bilateral series.

3.Matthew Hayden's unbeaten 181 has now become the highest ODI score in a losing cause.

4.The 26 sixes blasted in this match - 16 by Australia and 10 by New Zealand - equals the record for most number of sixes in a game.

5.The only two players who have been a part of all four highest run-chases are Michael Hussey and Nathan Bracken, and neither has done a bad job in these games. Hussey has notched up scores of 88*, 81, 105 and 13 - 287 runs at 95.67 - while Bracken has taken 9 for 218 from 38.3 overs - an average of 24.22.

6.Hussey has the unflattering record of having lost every ODI he has captained.

The Aussies were in enough trouble already and their next blow came today when Mathew Hayden fractured a toe.. This means that he also is highly unlikely to participate in the World Cup..

A Day that belonged to New Zealand.. A series victory that was well deserved..

PACHAIKILI MUTHUCHARAM

Gautham Menon's fourth outing as director comes with a lot of expectations.. After handling 2 cop stories (Same story told twice actually), he moves into a new territory, life of a middle aged man..

The movie begins with Sharath Kumar and his happy family.. His son's illness slowly brings about some tension between his wife and him.. He meets Jyothika then on the local metro, one thing leads to another and infidelity comes into play.. What happens from here forms the rest of the story..


The best part of the movie was Harris Jeyaraj's music.. 4 beautiful songs, but i wish they had pictured 'Karu Karu' properly instead of using it as background score.. I thought the 2 twists in the second half were good though none of my friends seem to think so..


Jyothika's performance was easily the best in the movie.. Sharath Kumar and Andrea played their parts decently but they should both learn how to emote in songs.. Milind Soman would've made a really convincing villain if not for the dubbing.. I still don't understand why Gautham Menon keeps using his own voice for villain characters..


3 things i learned from the movie,
1. Never talk to pretty lasses in the local metro (Madhavan should be told this :))
2. Never go to any resort on the ECR stretch
3. Never expect so much from a movie just cause it's by Gautham Menon


A mediocre effort which i would rate above 'Vettaiyadu Vilayadu' but not up to Minnale or Kaakha Kaakha..

POKKIRI

Supposedly the best pongal release.. Also marks Prabhu Deva's debut as a director in Tamizh.. I must say i expected more from this movie having seen Nuvastante..

Starts off in standard vijay style, with him bashing up twenty guys and an intro song which also features Prabhu Deva.. What follows is what we have already seen in umpteen movies.. Asin falls for Vijay.. Love blossoms with no reason.. She thinks he is the bad guy right before the interval..

How vijay proves that he is the good guy and how Prakash Raj is captured finally forms the rest of the story.. Typical masala vijay entertainer.. Normally one of the highlights in his movie is songs.. Only 2 songs stand out here though 'Vasantha Mulai' and 'Dole Dole'..

Vijay is the only one who stays in your mind after the movie.. Nasser, Napolean and Prakash Raj play their respective cameos well.. Asin's role is absolutely meaningless.. They could've reduced the amount of blood in the movie though..

Surprisng how a movie like this can get so much fame while a movie like Aayitha Ezhuthu is put down.. Anyway, If vetti and nothing else to do, go watch this movie..

A DAY TO CELEBRATE

I guess Mcgrath's expression says it all, yet another day to forget for the aussies.. The phrase 'yet another day' normally figures with an Aussie win but the tides seemed to have changed now..

Aussies began the day brilliantly by posting 336 for four with brilliant knocks from Haddin, Hussey, Hodge and White.. Hodge is becoming very consistent.. Shane Bond was excellent given how quickly the aussies were scoring with figues of 9-4-39-1..

I don't know what inspires New Zealand to play so well against the Aussies.. A great cricketing rivalry.. New Zealand chased down the target with 10 balls to spare.. Ross Taylor scored another century which laid the platform.. Supporting knocks form Fulton and Mcmillan saw the kiwis home..

This was a day to celebrate not because of the Aussie loss but their fall from dominance.. Cricket was getting a bit boring with Aussies winning everything they played.. With 2 succesive series losses and 4 losses in a row, guess all teams will be a bit more confident to take on the might Australian side..

I'm sure there will be arguements like Aussies played without 5 of their main guys.. Even if Ponting, Gilchrist and Clarke had played, i don't think they could've scored faster than what Haddin, Hodge and White scored today.. Lee is doubtful of playing the world cup anyway, so no point saying he'll strengthen the team..

This incidentally was the second highest run chase ever in ODIs.. The three greatest run chases so far are,
438-9 (49.5 overs) South Africa v Australia Johannesburg 2005/06
337-5 (48.4 overs) New Zealand v Australia Auckland 2006/07
332-8 (49 overs) New Zealand v Australia Christchurch 2005/06

Aussies at the recieving end all three times.. Hmmm, guess greatness has a way of showing itself.. To be a little fair to the Aussies, they have the fourth highest run chase ever..
330-7 (49.1 overs) Australia v South Africa Port Elizabeth 2001/02

This loss meant that South Africa move to the top of the ICC cricket ratings.. Hats off to them.. Like i said in my previous post, i sincerely hope the Aussies bounce back but not enough to win the World Cup :).. Wishing them all the very best..

GOLIATH FELLED??

We've witnessed some great cricket the last couple of weeks.. India showing what they were capable of, both at winning and losing.. South Africa coming back very strongly in the last 2 one dayers.. None of this was as surprising as to what happened to the Aussies..

Going into the finals of the VB series in grand style, they were expected to take the trophy home with ease.. What followed was absolutely spectaculer.. England was a team that was tarnished by media and cricket legends all around the world just a few weeks back.. Making a great comeback, they made it to the finals of the VB series..

Inspired by great batting from collingwood and a superb performance by Andrew Flintoff, England took the series 2-0.. Aussies knew they were in all sorts of trouble with Ricky Ponting admitting that aussies wouldn't make it into the World Cup semis if they played this way.. Kudos to England for a fine achievement..

The next problem facing Aussies was the World Cup squal selection.. With Gilchrist making himself unavailable for the first 3 weeks and Symonds in serious doubts of playing, the Aussie team doesn't look so strong on paper.. A surprise was the exclusion of Stuart Clark.. No idea what they have against him..

If all this wasnt't bad enough, nightmare struck Australia today.. Australia took on New Zealand in the first ODI of the Chappell - Hadlee series.. And for the first time since 1979, they were bowled out for less than 150 runs in a completed first innings.. Shane Bond just ripped through them.. What followed was worse.. For the first time in cricket history, the Aussies were beaten by ten wickets.. Hats off to New Zealand..

All this isn't very encouraging before the World Cup.. Brett Lee now is down with a knee injury and is in serious doubts of playing the world cup.. Ponting and Clarke are fighting a Back and Hip injury respectively.. With half the squad in injury or in doubt, one seriously wonders if this world Cup will see the fall of the Aussies..

Another interesting info about them is that the Aussies have been at the top position in the ICC rating ever since they were started in 2002.. If they lose the Chappell - Hadlee series, they will for the first time, move to second place..

A very gloomy month for the aussies but i sincerely hope they come back.. I surely don't want them to win the world cup but it wouldn't be a proper tournament without a really good Aussie performance.. We just have to wait and watch whether this Aussie team can bounce back..

STAR ROCK

The occasion was supposed to be Gau’s birthday but due to some late planning, we never did make it that day.. So, decided in college itself and made plans to go there the next day.. Chennai has too much traffic at seven in the evening.. Most of us got delayed and we finally made it there at 7:30..

This is the second time i'm going there and i thought the place was different from how i remembered.. For one, they were playing loud music (read 'loud').. The place was a lot more crowded than the previous time..

Each one of us ordered our favourite drinks.. Santy did too, he had Fruit Punch :).. The best part of Star Rock is the pop corn, chips etc they give.. It's free and it's unlimited.. They were playing great music, loud but great.. We were laughing for everything anyone said.. Great time..

The excitement for me was on the way back.. Was driving gau's bike and we were joking.. Turned to the right to say something to gau and didn't see the bike parked ahead of me.. Some idiot frying peanuts in the middle of the road.. I hit the guy's bike, just a small part of his bike.. Santy later told me i knocked off that guy's indicator and some damage to his rearview mirror.. Panicked and immediately drove like crazy.. Took some crazy turns and saw some guy chasing me.. Finally slowed down to see who it was and it turned out to be Santy!!! Sucker..

Went to the beach from there and laughed quite a bit about it.. Great night, super excitement.. I should thank my lucky stars i didn't have a bigger mishap.. This is to the man of that day, Happy Birthday Gau!!!

THE PRESTIGE

This was movie watching at its best.. The movie has a huge starcast.. Hugh Jackman, Chritain Bale, Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine with Chritopher Nolan at the helm..

Just imagine starting a movie with Hugh Jackman dying.. Don't worry, this is no spoiler.. Sets the tone of the movie brilliantly.. The tagline describes the movie perfectly "A Friendship, That Became a Rivalry...A Rivalry, That Became a Battle."..

Two upcoming magicians, Hugh Jackman and Chritian Bale go out of their way to ruin each other's career.. Their friendship is embittered by one incident which makes them rivals, and this becomes an obsession to be better than the other one.. Brilliant story, an even better screenplay.. The last 30 mins of the movie is absolutely electrifying (literally, watch the movie and you'll realise why)..

I can't think of any two actors who would've pulled off the 2 roles like these guys did.. Hugh Jackman was just awesome in a role that needed to show obsession and loss at the same time.. I never thought Christian Bale was a great actor but this movie changed my mind.. He seethes evil into his character.. This is a pure evil vs evil battle.. Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson are perfect as supporting cast..

Most credit for this movie must go to the director.. To visualise of a story like this shows his creativity.. Magic is no simple thing.. Christopher Nolan achieves it here with great applomb.. A must watch..

For those who want to know what the title means,
The Pledge : the magician shows the audience something that appears ordinary, but is probably not, making use of misdirection.
The Turn : the magician makes the ordinary act extraordinary.
The Prestige : the effect of the illusion is produced.

AUDIO COUNTDOWN

I've decided to start putting up a songs countdown whenever a significant number of songs have released between each rating.. So here goes my current list

1
Song : Thoduvaen
Movie : Deepavali
Composer : Yuvan Shankar Raja
Singer : Haricharan

2

Song : Karu Karu

Movie : Pachaikili Muthucharam

Composer : Harris Jeyaraj
Singer : Naresh Iyer, Karthik, Krish

3

Song : Unnakul Naane
Movie : Pachaikili Muthucharam

Composer : Harris Jeyaraj

Singer : Bombay Jayashree

4
Song : Pogadhe
Movie : Deepavali
Composer : Yuvan Shankar Raja
Singer : Yuvan Shankar Raja

5

Song : June Pona

Movie : Unnaale Unnaale
Composer : Harris Jeyaraj
Singer : Krish, Arun

Special mention to Unn Siripinil from Pachaikili Muthucharam and Unnaale Unnaale title track.. Yuvan and Harris have been giving some great music for a while now.. Hmmm.. Wonder if Rahman's reading this..

FIRST LOVE

This post is to pay a tribute that means so much to me and has been a vital part of the last four years of my life, Besant Nagar beach.. It all started in 11th standard i guess.. Going for a small ride along the beach after IIT classes. . The frequency of visits slowly started increasing and last year i'm sure i went there atleast 250 days (I'm not kidding)..

This has become my favourite hangout place.. Initially just friends meeting up and chatting.. Then came the craze of frizbee which died out due to some unfortunate circumstances.. We had made it a point to meet at the beach and play frizbee during every day of our exams.. Awesome fun..

Over the last year and a half, have started parking my bike in front of JP, sit there for a while and then go to beach.. Juice Point (JP) is a small coffee shop at the end of the beach.. Lovely place, guys will just love it.. Do go there sometime..

Niru has been the one guy who was always ready to come to the beach.. I remeber so many times when we've messaged each other saying "Beach?" at 9:30 and we would both end up going there at 10:00.. Or stopping at the beach at 10:30 before going to stay over at some friend's place.. Thanks for those wonderful times mate..

This place is not only about all the fun, it has seen my sad times too, which is what makes it great as a whole.. Whenever i am upset or angry, i immediately take my bike and head to the beach.. Go to JP, complete 'formalities', have a coffee and chumma sitting helps getting back to normal.. I've had quite a few arguments here (Some pretty serious).. But when you leave the beach, you still find yourself somehow calm and free of worries (atleast i do)..

The beach has given my friends and me a lot of wondeful memories, pity i can't quote most things here.. Gau will remember a couple.. Meeting up in the beach at ten in the night to discuss 'current developments' and its consequences.. Making Niru and me go in search of things along the entire stretch of the beach..

We've had a lot of hilarious moments here.. Niru giving his various theoris on stars and what not.. Each guy commenting about people walking past.. Referring to various directions to look in 'Machan, super hot chick at 3'0 clock'..

I could go on and on about this place.. I hate one part about me though.. Been going there all this while and i keep forgetting the name of the monument in the picture (Yes, it has a name).. This place has been integral to me for the past few years and i have no idea what i'll do without going there every week.. Hope TCS has a heart..

BABEL

Just got back from watching BABEL.. The title means 'A scene of confusion and noise' and that is exactly what the movie portrays..

An american couple (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett) go to moroco to spend sometime alone.. When Cate gets shot at, all hell breaks loose.. America immediately say it's terrorism.. Everything that follows is confusion..

Simultaenously, story moves to San Diego where Brad's house keeper takes his kids across the border for her son's wedding.. Here again, the cross border conflicts arises..

The last track is that of deaf-mute chinese girl who feels lonely and alienated.. A small thread that connects all three stories is what forms BABEL..

While each part was shot brilliantly, the thin connection doesn't have much significance.. Some sequences that were particularly well shot were the Boy going to the cops saying he only shot the ameriacn and that his brother wasn't at fault, Brad pitt's anger when the ambulance doesn't come & the scene that follows and finally, the scene when the house keeper is deported back to Mexico.. The finale with the girl willing to begin life afresh was also well written..

I'm now not sure what the Indian government uses as guidelines for censoring.. If the level of nudity and blood shown in the movie is allowed, then i see no reason why AXN should be banned.. Wierd..

As usual we guys ended up laughing for lots of mokkai's (Thanks mostly to ara).. Nice movie experince.. I still don't see how this movie beat 'Departed' to win the golden globe though.. Realistic cinema is the order of the day i guess..

MOVIES I LIKED IN 2006

The Departed
Probably 'The Movie' of the year.. Huge star cast.. Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin.. Directed by Matrin Scorsese.. Doesn't that say everything.. The movie talks about moles in the Boston State Police and moles in the mob.. A great story (adapted though) with amazing screenplay made this movie a must watch..

Pirates Of The Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest
Marked the return of one of my favourite characters, Captain Jack Sparrow.. Savvy?? It is tough to match upto a succesfull prequel, but this one did that with effortless ease.. Hats off to the writers for bringing so much creativity on screen incorporating real life legends in reel life (Davy Jones, Flying Dutchman etc).. This was the movie i liked most in 2006.. Lots of twists and turns with a finale that made everyone sit up.. Did we just see what we think we did?? Can't wait for the third movie..

X-Men 3 : The Last Stand
Probably the most anticipated movie of 2006.. So much hype around it given the popularity of the first two movies.. What a way to wrap things up.. Amazing is not the word.. Cyclops was removed from the story and a couple of new characters added.. Wolverine and Jean Grey stole the show.. It's a pity they killed the character of Charles Xavier but that scene did take the movie to a higher level.. The last scene was the best.. Great movie, Great series..

Lucky Number Slevin
I'm not sure how many of you have even heard of this movie.. Still hasn't managed to release in India though Sathyam has had the poster there for a really long time.. Starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kinsley, Josh Hartnett and Lucy Liu.. This had to be the best screenplay of 2006.. Extremely funny when it needs to be and serious simultaneously.. Josh hartnett comes up with a brilliant performance.. Highly recommended..

Rang De Basanti
Indian movie of the year.. Formidable cast, Rakhesh Mehra at the helm, A.R.Rahman music.. Everything was perfect.. A movie that made every Indian realise that he/she has a voice too.. The impact was mainly due to the cast.. Aamir Khan, Atul Kulkarni, Kunal Kapoor and Sharman Joshi played their parts to perfection.. Maddy was good in a brief cameo.. The man who stole the show though was Siddarth.. A south indian making Bollywood look up to his performance (Kamal still doesn't have that hold over them) is not a simple thing.. Kudos to Siddarth.. To all of you, Rang De Basanti!!!

Lage Raho Munnabhai
Yet another sequal this year.. This year has been really good as far as sequels are concerned (atleast the popular ones).. Great movie, no two ways about it.. Extremely funny and heart warming.. If Rang De Basanti followed Subhash Chandra bose, this spoke about Gandhigiri.. I don't think anyone else could've pulled off the roles played by Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani.. Great story, excellent screenplay.. This movie would've influenced more people than any other this year..

Don
Now, this is one movie i'm sure will meet with mixed reactions.. I haven't seen the original Don, so i didn't go to the theatres wondering if SRK will be better than the Big B.. Good story, nice twists and extremely stylish.. SRK played both parts perfectly.. Wasn't too impressed with Piyanka Copra.. Boman Irani is becoming really good at negative roles.. This movie may not be highly spoken of or win any awards, but it delievered what it promised.. Entertaiment..

Pattiyal
There have been many tamizh movies talking about gangsters this year.. But this movie stood out due to it's presentation.. A story about 2 orphans and what happens when they become hired hit men.. Perfect casting was the trick.. Aarya as the perenial drunkard was fun to watch.. This was probably Bharath's best role upto date.. Playing a deaf and dumb isn't easy but he seemed to do it with great applomb.. Terrific acting.. Certainly my tamil movie of the year..

It's a pity only one tamizh movie made it into the list.. Here's hoping to another great year of movie watching..

LONE WOLF

I did something last night which i never ever expected myself to do.. I stayed back at IIT for the lone wolf quiz that was supposed to go from twelve in the night till the first rays of the sun appeared.. I do agree, the hope of free vodka influenced my decision more than wanting to stay for the sake of the quiz..

I guess the cops knew about the drinking too.. They were there at the OAT till about 1:30.. The quiz began an hour late.. I couldn't believe that so many people were actually vetti enough to watch the quiz.. A major part of the audience were people from Quiz Federation of India (QFI).. Those guys have a pretty good sense of humour..

They went about the quiz in a very slow and relaxed manner which was okay given the fact that they had the entire night ahead of them.. At about 1:45 the QFI guys started passing a bottle of beer amongst themselves and people started smoking.. The guys who conducted had vodka as their theme i guess.. They had a round called absolute round and all of them had brought absolute vodka bottles.. Before the quiz, the caption on the screen read
God made grass,
Man made booze,
Choose your pick,
Main Quiz OAT
Guess their objective was clear from the beginning..

I am not an avid quizzer, so i may not be a good judge of things but i still think the way the guys answered the questions were phenomenal.. I have no idea how these guys are able to corelate all these things and even more surprised by how they came up with such questions.. Adi made us all proud by getting an answer about 'Pulp Fiction' right.. The brilliance here was that none of the QFI guys knew the answer.. Kudos Adi!!!

The Long Visual Connect had 28 images.. Phew!!! Swami (Last year's winner) actually cracked it within 12 images.. The next correct answer came at 24 i think.. The first break was at 3:30.. Think most guys there got high at this point only.. All of us went outside in J's car to a place called 'Hi-Look Cool Bar' outside IIT.. The bread omlette there is amazing..

When we got back, the quiz had started.. The effect of alcohol was pretty obvious in the audience.. The audience prize for correct answer was vodka again BTW.. The best question in the quiz as far as i am concerned was the second Long Visual Connect.. Here, instead of using images, they had used videos.. Hats off to Ramkumar (Kabala) for actually cracking it when he did..

The best part of all this was that it all happened in the presence of 2 professors from IIT who were part of the quiz team.. They didn't seem to care and were enjoying the proceedings.. It was a pity none of us had any alcohol with us.. It might have made the night a whole lot more memorable..

I always had this impression that IIT was Nerd Central.. Yesterday showed me how wrong i was.. Chetan bhagat had shown a similar scenario in 'Five Point Someone' but i wasn't convinced.. These IIT guys know how to have fun.. Work while you work and play while you play seems to be their moto.. Another thing that surprised me yesterday was the number of girls who stayed back to watch the quiz.. I didn't know Chennai had stop being extremely conservative..

We left by five thirty cause we had college that day.. Guess the quiz would've gone on till six or six thirty.. Gau later told me 'Pota' (not sure if that is how it's spelt) won the quiz.. He was leading comfortably anyway.. Nice experience.. Next time though, we need to make sure we don't go there empty handed..

LIGHT MUSIC AT SAARANG 2007

Went for the light music finals last night.. Didn't go with much expectation.. Was vetti anyway, so went there..

The performances ranged from average to good.. Nothing extraordinary.. I personally don't like people performing hindi songs here unless it's a really good track, so didn't like the first performance by the team from Bangalore..

CEG, guindy were okay.. 'Hello Mister' from 'Iruvar' was really well done.. SSN i thought were really good.. They performed 'Chaiya Chaiya' and 'Konjam Nilavu' very well..

Crescent didn't register much of an impact.. I liked only 'Aadat' in the performance by Patrician college.. They could've done a lot better considering they are an arts and science college.. Loyola began with a very old song but i thought the singer was just brilliant in that.. Very well performed.. They screwed up 'Dhoom' though..

When the judges said they had looked for consistency and then said Loyola were the winners, i was pretty surprised.. SSN deserved to win..

The judge was Naresh Iyer, who's been singing a lot for A.R.Rahman off late.. When he came on stage, we realised the night wasn't over yet.. He began with 'Roobaroo' which was nothing short of brilliance.. Followed it up by an energetic rendition of 'Paatashala' that left the audience wanting for more..

He then performed 'Munbe Vaa' with just his vocals.. Beautiful.. The next song was a pleasent surprise.. 'Breathless'.. I'm running out of words for praise here.. The IIT guys said time was over and he had to stop performing now.. The crowd wanted a lot more.. The airtel sponsor was nice enough to request IIT to let Naresh perform one more song.. And what a way to end it, 'Dil Se Re'... I may not have been too impressed by his judging skills but his rendition ensured he won himself a new fan..

CHENNAI DREAMS

Yes, Chennai finally got a match that wasn't rained out.. India Vs West Indies.. Though i've got bored of seeing these two teams play so much against each other in the past one year, i still went cause i was sure we would have a match..

Chepauk never ceases to amaze me.. Each time u enter the stadium, it's just breathtaking.. Gau and me got there an hour and half before play thinking there would be too much crowd.. The roar that greeted the players when they came for practice and warm up was unbelievable..

Indian innings began badly with gambhir getting out the second over.. It was all fireworks after that.. Uthappa's innings was one of the best i've seen by an Indian in recent times (Dinesh Karthik's innings in the previous match comes close).. His timing was so perfect and he seemed to play with so little effort..

I thought Sachin and Dravid did a great job by staying there long enough and taking India to about 230 in 34 overs.. Both played beautifully and got to well deserved half centuries.. An interesting point to note is that Sachin hit just 2 boundaries in his knock of 60 and still managed a strike rate of 91.. Terrific running between the wickets..

When Dravid got out, all hell broke lose.. The famous Indian batting collapse began and i still can't believe we were bowled out for 269.. Horrid performance considering the start we had..

It was a dream start for India in the bowling department too.. Getting Chris Gayle LBW first ball.. Morton followed soon but not before Sreesanth bowled what was possibly the worst over of the innings(22 runs with 10 runs as extras).. I still can't believe Ajit Agarkar has become India's pace spearhaead (Barring Zaheer Khan of course)..

Samuels is an underrated cricketer.. Economic bowling and he showed us today that he can weave magic with the bat too.. Amazing balance and placement.. Terrific innings to watch.. Pity he was dismissed at 98..

Lara is just style personified.. There is so much grace in his batting and today he showed why he is considered one of the best batsman ever.. Super innings by him and his partnership with Samuels ensured a Windies win.. Windies of course have a reputation to keep up and hence still managed to lose 7 wickets from the comfortable position they were in..

The only sour point of this match was a kid in front of me who kept jumping right through the match and kept blocking my view.. Idiot.. His dad must have given him an entire bottle of glucose before bringing him here.. So much energy..

Chennai crowd is just amazing.. They applauded not only the Indians but also when Windies made good stops etc.. It was very nice to hear them chant 'Lara Lara' when he was batting.. Great atmosphere for cricket..

Actor Rajnikanth was in the pavillion and apparently everyone there spent more time looking at him, than at the match.. Like they have a rule that each bowler must bowl only 10 overs, there must be a limit on number of times a trailor is played on the big screen.. They must've played the trailor of 'Pachaikili Muthucharam' like a million times.. I wanted to watch this movie badly but now i think i'll reconsider my decision (I know, i'm gonna end up watching the movie anyway)..

All in all, a great day of cricket.. Five really good innings that kept us entertained.. Samuels might have ensured his team a victory but it was Uthappa who won our hearts with a spellbinding performance.. This may not be the fairy tale ending that we hoped for but hey, it atleast didn't rain.. Thank God for that..

CREAM CENTER

Heard a lot about this restaurant called Cream Center in R.A.Puram, so thought i'll go there for dinner.. A few friends of mine and me went there today..

They had told me there are a lot of people waiting there everyday but we were lucky and got a table pretty quickly.. The ambience was pretty good.. Very well designed.. We happened to see actor Aravind Swamy there.. The menu was pretty similar to New Yorker's..

Those were the only things good about the place.. The Cheese Quesadillas was not that great and quantity was miniscule given the price.. I particularly didn't enjoy the pasta.. The worst had to be the starter.. The lesser said about the paneer chilli fry, the better.. Bad would be an understatement.. The channa batura was good..

The only good food we had were the desserts.. The sizzling brownie with ice cream was just amazing, so was the chocolate sundae.. The chocolate milkshake wasn't that good apparently..

This is a place i certainly wouldn't recommend to people.. Extremely over priced, food not that great either.. Disappointing..

GLOBAL RHYTHMS

Just got back from IIT.. Went there for the opening of Saarang 2007.. It began with a performance by a group called Global Rhythms.. They play a lot for Rahman nowadays..

I wasn't too keen on going in the beginning but the article in 'The Hindu' which said Rahman had made a promise to come if he was in town pushed me to go.. Got calls at 5PM saying IIT was jam packed and that there was no point going there.. Was vetti anyway, so a few friends of mine and me ended up there at 6:45..

To my surprise, the place was half empty and the band hadn't even come.. It was a long wait and the show finally started at 8:00PM.. By this time, the place had become full..

They started off with a classical number (which made a couple of my friends leave).. This was followed by a good fusion piece called 'ecstasy' and solo performances on the drums..

They played a mix of rahman songs next but sang only the raaga in each.. Very innovative.. The mandolin performance next was amazing.. The 'Thaniavarthanam' (not sure if i spelt it right) was a brilliant fusion piece on the drums, mirudangam and gadam..

What followed was the best part of the show.. They performed 'Shakalaka Baby'.. Amazing.. When the host said that their chief guest was coming, i was so excited it was going to be A.R.Rahman.. To my disappointment, it was his sister A.R.Rehana.. She performed 'Chaiya Chaiya' which began badly but was pretty satisfactory in the end..

They say the best is always saved for last but it unfortunately wasn't so.. The 'Dol Dol' performance didn't match upto Shkalaka Baby.. All in all, it was an evening well spent.. A little part of me thought Rahman would actually come.. Pity, guess i just have to wait till next time..

OPPORTUNITY LOST

Yet again India missed out on making it into the final five of the oscar list for Best Foreign Film and this time we have only ourselves to blame.. Take a look at the nominations and you'll see Water amongst them as Canada's official entry..

Directed by Deepa Mehta and comprising of an all Indian cast of John Abraham, Lisa Ray and Seema Biswas, this movie has been through all problems that a movie can go through.. Shoots being cancelled, sets being wrecked.. Many would've given up under such circumstances but Deep Mehta gave it everything cause she wanted to finish the Fire-Earth-Water trilogy.. What a way to end it, an Oscar nomination..

You now wonder why this movie wasn't sent as India's official entry.. When Deepa Mehta started shooting for the film in varanasi, Hindu activists protested against the movie saying the movie besmirches India.. I didn't know Deepa Mehta was handing out bound scripts to everyone..

The movie focuses on the lives of widows forced into poverty in the city of varanasi during the pre independence era.. Water was appreciated all over the world getting rave reviews but didn't even manage to release in theatres here.. Not that they didn't try releasing it.. Every theatre that accepted to release the movie were threatened into not doing so.. Every distributor was scared to even buy the film..

On Feb 27, 2007 we'll know who takes the oscar for Best Foreign film.. I sincerely hope it goes to Water, not only cause it is an Indian film but it would some appreciation for the woman who put her everything to make this movie.. The good news is, the film might actually release in India before the Oscars.. It's been slated for a Feb 23 release.. As Deepa Mehta gears up for the oscars, i am sure so are the 'Hindu' activists for Feb 23..

GETTING STARTED

Well, everyone seems to be blogging.. So i thought, why not see what it is all about?? I wouldn't say i'm good at writing but this sounded like fun.. Anyway, Welcome, Namaskar, Vanakkam..

ps: This maybe my only post..