Too much

The Satyam fraud has thrown the spotlight on the fact that man cannot be happy with a few thousand crores in his bank. I have always wondered how much is too much.

The other day, I found a picture in one of the newspapers which showed Ramalinga Raju being led away after a court hearing. He was not handcuffed as petty criminals are. This spoof is to highlight that larger the loot, higher the respect from the authorities.

Slumdog Millionaire

Saw both versions (English and Hindi) of Slumdog Millionaire.  

Some of the scenes have been removed from the hindi version. Notably the ones where foul language is used.

I liked the movie and am a little surprised that it has won so many awards.  Probably the west is fed up of movies showing a clean and sanitised environment all the time. 

What surprised me most is why did the director need to take the liberty of showing the Quiz Programme (KBC) as a live one. He could have got the same effect even with a recorded version of the quiz. Altough the slums and the connected events have been captured 'as it is' to give arty look to the movie, the deviation in the quiz format is indeed surprising.

I wonder what would be the reaction to the movie if another dimension like smell is added to it. Would the west be able to sit thru the entire movie and heap awards on the same?

Hope someday we will have cinemas where besides the sence of sight and sound we will also have an active participation of smell and even touch if possible.

Movies 2008

Kamal Hasan's Dasaavataram (Tamil) is my choice for the most entertaining movie of 2008. Really enjoyed watching the movie. Thanks Kamal for taking the effort.

Movie of the year would go to Srinivasan's Kathaparayumbol (Malayalam). No doubt that it has been remade in Tamil as Kuselan starring Rajnikant and as Billo Barbar starring Shah Rukh Khan.

Gajini should get the hype of the year award. I have learnt not to get carried away by the hype created by the promoters.