Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring ....

Kim Ki-duk, scores another triumph in the same kind of remote lake setting in which mythical stories can be told, in the captivatingly beautiful, deeply touching "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring."He uses the seasons as a metaphor for man's life while presenting Buddhist teachings and concepts of rebirth and nirvana.

Horror Through a Child’s Eyes

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Hai friends,

Having watched th film "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" in the film festival of our college,CET, I couldn't be silent about the film. I juz wan to tell something about the film.

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is a fictional story that offers a unique perspective on how prejudice, hatred and violence affect innocent people, particularly children, during wartime. Through the lens of an eight-year-old boy largely shielded from the reality of World War II, we witness a forbidden friendship that forms between Bruno, the son of Nazi commandant, and Shmuel, a Jewish boy held captive in a concentration camp. Though the two are separated physically by a barbed wire fence, their lives become inescapably intertwined. The imagined story of Bruno and Shmuel sheds light on the brutality, senselessness and devastating consequences of war from an unusual point of view. Together, their tragic journey helps recall the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust.

Director: Mark Herman
Writer: John Boyne, Mark Herman
Cast: Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis, Rupert Friend, Richard Johnson, Sheila Hancock, Jim Norton, David Heyman, Asa Butterfield, Cara Horgan, Amber Beattie

It's Jai Ho for RAHMAN again

It's Jai Ho for Rahman again. The double-Oscar winner shared the 'bestcompilation soundtrack for a motion picture' Grammy with lyricistGulzar for the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. "Jai ho" was judged thebest motion picture song.Music maestro A.R. Rahman continued his winning spree by strikingdouble gold at the 52nd Grammy Awards here but two other Indianhopefuls Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Zakir Hussain lost out.Rahman, 44, registered an early win in both the categories he wasnominated for, the 'Best Compilation Soundtrack for a Motion Picture'category and in the 'Best Motion Picture Song' for 'Jai Ho'. He sharesthe award with lyricist Gulzar and Tanvi Shah, who penned the Spanishlyrics of the international hit.Sarod maestro Amjad Ali, who was nominated in the Best TraditionalWorld Music Album category for his album "Ancient Sounds", lost out toDouga Mansa by Mamadou Diabate.Tabla maestro Hussain, who had won a Grammy last year, was nominatedin the Best Classical Crossover Album category for his album "TheMelody of Rhythm", failed to register a win this year. He lost out toYo-Yo Ma's "Songs Of Joy And Peace".But it was a golden moment for Rahman. His win was reminiscent of thevictory at the Oscars last year where the 'Mozart of Madras' hadbagged two Academy awards for his composition in 'Slumdog Millionaire'besides winning a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award."This is insane, God is great again," an elated Rahman said whileaccepting the golden gramophones at the Staples Centre here.The composer also thanked his friends and family members after hishistorical win."Hey guys in India... We got two Grammys again and God bless you all,"Rahman said."Jai Ho" has been sung by Sukhvinder Singh, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Tanvi
Shah, Vijay Prakash and Rahman himself.Rahman beat Steve Jordan for "Cadillac Records," Quentin Tarantino for'Inglourious Basterds', the producers of 'Twilight' and 'True Blood'to bag the award in the best compilation soundtrack for a motionpicture category.In the best song category his competitor were Bruce Springsteen forhis song 'The Wrestler' from the Oscar-nominated movie of the samename.This is Rahman's first Grammy win and the musician joins the league ofstalwarts like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayak andVishvamohan Bhatt, the previous Grammy winners from India.

3 IDIOTzzz..................

Movie Review: 3 idiots;Production Company: Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions Director: Rajkumar Hirani Producer: Vidhu Vinod Chopra Cast: Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani, Omi Vaidya, Parikshit Sahni .MUSIC_DIRECTOR:Shantanu Moitra.

Directed by Rajkumar Hirani the flick opens with Farhan(R. Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) beginning a journey in search of their lost friend Ranchoddas Shaymaldas Chajaad (Aamir Khan) who leaves college all of sudden. The movie proceeds through narrations that take you into the flashback when Rancho, Farhan and Raju arrive at a premier engineering institute to begin their course. The three are roommates and go about their life at college in a lively way occasionally Raju and Farhan being worried about Rancho’s antiques. The so called “villain” of the flick whose ways are against that of Rancho is the Dean of the college Viru Sahastrabuddhe (Boman Irani). In addition, to make matters worse Rancho happens to find love in his daughter Pia (Kareena Kapoor). The movie has some really hilarious moments with wedding reception mayhem of Viru’s oldest daughter played by Mona Singh, Raju’s father being reached to the hospital in a very funny way on a two-wheeler and so on. The first half keeps you at wits end. But, enter second half and you are no longer given the same experience of the first half. The end stretches a bit too long and some things are just too away from spontaneity. The music is light and entertaining. On the whole a decent flick. Only time will tell if it joins the ranks of Aamir Khan’s other blockbuster movies.

പോപ്‌ രാജാവ്‌

Mayyazhi Puzhayude Theeranghalil

M. Mukundan has confirmed that the book has been translated into French and English. The French version is brought out by the famous publishing house, Actes Sud. The English translation is published by East-West (Manas), Chennai, India
Now, a brief note on the author and his books. Mukundan is, undoubtedly, one of the most reputed writers in India today and his books make great reading. Wikipedia points out ‘Mukundan's magnum opus Mayyazhi Puzhayude Theeranghalil (On the Banks of River Mahe) fetched him the award for the best novel published in the last 35 years…’
Mukundan was born in Mahe, the former French Colony, in 1942. Starting from 1961, he has been a prolific writer. Thirty-two books by him and two about him are in Library of Congress collection. Three novels by Mukundan were made into movies. He wrote the script for one of them and won the award for the Best Screenplay! A number of his works have been translated into English.
Mukundan is the recipient of many honors including three Kendra Sahithya Academy Awards (National). Mayyazhi Puzhayude Theeranghalil also won the Crossword Award. In 1998 the French Government conferred on Mukundan the title Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
Mukundan’s language is simple and expressive. There are innumerable compliments paid to this great writer by publishers, critics, editors, the media and readers. I would like to quote one by Prof. KN Panikkar in ‘Interrogating Colonialism: Novel as Imagined History, ‘Mukundan's novels provide a reading of the history of colonialism unavailable in a historian's oeuvre.'
Mukundan lives in Mahe. He is currently the Chairman of the Kerala Sahithya Academy.

The Legends Of Khask

Ootupulackal Velukkuty Vijayan (Malayalam: ഊട്ടുപുലാക്കല്‍ വേലുക്കുട്ടി വിജയന്‍) (July 2, 1930 – March 30, 2005) was an Indian author and cartoonist, who was an important figure in modern Malayalam literature. Best known for his first novel Khasakkinte Itihasam, Vijayan has six novels, nine short-story collections, and nine collections of essays, memoirs and reflections.

The first novel of Vijayan appeared in 1969 and took twelve years’ writing and rewriting to reach its final form. It set off a great literary revolution and cleaved the history of Malayalam fiction into pre-Khasak and post-Khasak. It was serialised first and appeared in book form later. The novel is about Ravi, a teacher in an informal education centre in Khasak, and his existential crises. The central character is a great visionary in astrophysics who completed his post graduate programme in Physics from a famous college at Thambaram. The novel ends when Ravi begins his journey to some other realms of existence. The existential puzzle of man as to why he should exist is thoroughly explored in this novel. It was a kind of stepping stone for the writer himself to that world and marked the arrival of a truly visionary writer.