They went...played(did they)..and got conquered!

NOTE: This is just a personal opinion and based on what I have read and seen in the media . So, just don't take it t00 seriously

28-Mar-07

It has been a long time since I had disturbed by blog space, but I couldn't resist writing this time even if it meant I hadto spend an hour. I had already wasted quite a few sleeping hours watching all the 3 Indian matches all through the night intoearly morning!

A billion hearts were pounding hard as the 'men in blue' were givingtheir final touches against the match with sri lanka. Probably it was too much of an injustice to have put india in a group with Bangladesh and Srilanka.Netherlands and Canada would have been a fairer justice. Well ICC can't really do everything what the 'men in blue' want. By the way whats this 'men in blue'.Probably its right not to call the Indian cricket team with their country's name, or may be the 'men in blue' have long forgotten that when they take thefield they not only take their so called skills, they are taking the nations 'soul and pride' and they can't give it up without a honest fight in the middle.May be their super celebrity status weighs on them more than their cricket gears when they walk to the pitch.

Now, that the hope of a billion people has been crushed, the post mortems have been going on fast and thick. who else to lead it from the front exceptthe modern age news channels we have. Every channel have their own expert panels made up of Imran Khan, Sunny,Arun lal,sir hadlee,Sidhu,Jadeja and many more. To the extent that, It was horrendous to see that Akshay Kumar and Katrina kaif were discusssing cricket with sir Richard hadlee. While Katina wasgiggling all the way not sure what to say, I felt so sorry for Sir Richard that he had to continue his show on cricket somehow with the discussions of shooting efforts of namaste londonalso pitching in. Not sure what on earth sir Richard must have been feeling.

While the news channels were making a mince meat out of Woolmers murder and India's debacle, it was much more horrendous to see the news channelssqueeze the nations passion for the game, by making a big deal out of banglaesh vs bermuda match and giving the viewers hopes of some miraculous chancefor India to get it. Come on how on earth can we even expect such a disgraceful entry to the super 8's at the mercy of Bermuda.And the coverage on Sony Max, there were ads even after the 5th ball. Even if a player bends down to tie his shoes, a commerical break was aired.Is so surprising, how the new channels can just take turns and try to create sensational news just at the spin of a coin.Channels were literally preying on the viewers passion by airing all sorts of contest, in all forms of colour- blue billion, green billion or whatever.Anybody who can speak on Indian debacle or Woolmers murder got air time on these channels!!!, literally.A sample of the hypocrisy that can be seen. Just before the world cup one of the magazines wrote that Vengserkar has revolutionised the selection process.Now at the time of writing this, one of the news channels is broadcasting that reliable quote from BCCI puts the blame on vengsarkar too for the failure.Another sample of what politics can do. While Sharad Pawar was quick to point out that the BCCI will take a hard look into the players and coach's performanceand strict actions will be taken on the day India lost to Srilanka, but yesterday he was squarely blaming the media pressue for the team's failure and players shooting for ads has no bearning!, as ifthe players commitment and skills are of secondary importance. He absolved the players of their deeds.

Why did we fail to make an impressive show at the world cup, even though a billion souls (except one and thats me) were praying for our team to do welland win the world cup. I thought I can save my prayers for a much better cause rather than waste it. As the saying goes 'God helps those who help themselves'.our prayers would have been answered had the men in blue had helped themselves with some dignified effort. Least to say that the team lacked application, some of themen in blue were giggling in the dressing room even after losing to Bangladesh. Lets save our prayers for the ones who need them the most, our soldierswho have sacrificed so much for us for a fraction of what our players get paid, who eventually let us down anyway.

As one would expect, the heads have started rolling, starting from Greg and Dravid being replaced, to forming multiple teams.BCCI has got whatit wanted though, huge sums for telecast rights. Now, its the headache of the Indian business houses to figure out how to make ends meet and recovertheir costs. All of a sudden the sunfeast featuring sachin is now featuring the king Khan. World cup laao ad has gone underground. Indian tourism is makinga loss of 30 crores, event organizers are said to lose lot of money. Broadcasters are being pepped to lose 150 crores and so on and so forth.

It was rather apalling when Greg Chappell said that he is answerable only to his employer BCCI. By the way what does BCCI do? Its only asset is the passionof the nation for the game. Ultimately all the cost of broadcasting fee (apparently BCCI was paid 612million dollars) are borne by sponsors, who pay huge sums for ads on televsions and for the players who are their brand ambassadors. And its no rocket science to tell that the companies are not shelling out such huge sums out of their pocket as a charity. Ultimately, the cost in pocketed by the customers and thats us. The price we pay for a product ultimatley is inclusive of not only taxes, but also the price for ads being produced and aired, and the huge sums being paid to the players. Its all because of the passion of the nation for the game. If BCCI's riches (and Greg Chappell's salary)were not dependent on the paying public, then our own national game hockey which is in doldrums would not be governed by an improverished Indian Hockey Federation.

On the positive side, as some of the mail forwards which most of us would have seen, the early exit has helped save valuable electricity and productive man hours ;).May be this debacle would have instilled some sense of common sense into the minds of the sponsors who pay ridiculous prices to rope in the models in blue for their ads,which might even backfire as it has done now!

-Madan

Reel Review - Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu

NOTE:Apologies for any technical/factual errors.

Eventually the much awaited kamal-gautham thriller was released last friday and luckily I got free ticket to watch it the very next day. Gautham yet again proves that he has the mettle in him to repeat his success and his previous 2 hits Minnale, Kakka Kakka were no mere flash in the pan. Unfortunately, 'another episode in a police officers life'(as the title says) falls way short of kakka-2 be it the way the characters have been portrayed, the songs or the conviction with which the story has been told. On top of that traces of kakka-kakka is seen now and then during the entire movie. For example, joythika's daughter's name is maya(remember jyothika's name in kakka kakka), the location in songs sequences in 'Paartha mudhal naal' reminds you of the pondicherry retreat where surya-jyothika visit, kamal in unform talking with jyothika is similiar to surya talking to jyothika all remind viewer of kakka kakka. Also, Daniel Balaji, the villian in the movie was one of the inspectors working with surya in kakka-kakka and hence the voice sounds very familiar and one could relate it instantly to kakka kakka. Finally, the name Illa used in kakka-kakka is used again in this movie. And the grand finale, the one to one between kamal and daniel balaji reminds you of the one to one between surya and jeeva in kakka kakka.

Nonetheless, the movie is a perfect racy thriller unlike kakka-kakka which is a straight
forward battle between the cops and the bad guys. Gautham has worked up enough suspense and a sensible plot to take the story from a remote village near trichy(or madurai) keeranur to newyork and back to the chennai and finally nailing down the bad guys.

It all begins with Prakash Raj's daugther being kidnapped and killed in keeranur and Prakash
Raj summons his junior Raghavan(Kamal) from CBI to investigate. Though Kamal manages to find the body of Rani, he is unable to find the criminals. Prakash Raj's calm and subtle role catches and you feel for him when he cries in front of his dead daughter. He is a class of his own. An unmistakable product from the K.B school like Kamal himself. The kidnapper kills leaves Rani's finger tied in a rope with a lemon and chillies in front of Prakash Raj's house leaves you numb at the cruelty. The viewer gets a hang of it when the post mortem of Rani reveals that she had been killed with a surgical equipment, with precision cuts. That makes one guess that kidnapper could be related to medical profession. Well is it true(or NOT). We have to watch it to find out. Then Raghavan is in for a surprise when he learns that Prakash Raj and his wife have also been murdered in the US. This sets him flying to Newyork to investigate the case and at the same time an accidental meeting with Jyothika attempting a suicide in the hotel he is staying brings them closer. Unfortunately, the sequences invoking Kamal and Jyothika and slow and silent and distract you from the narration. But, the song 'Manjal veyyil' is a hummable melody beautifully shot. Raghavan and Anderson (the NYPD inspector) find out the killers have not only killed Prakash Raj, his wife and daugther but they are serial killers and have killed many girls and have buried them all in a mass grave. From there on the narration picks up momentum and as they get close to the duo serial killers, Andersen gets killed and Kamal is almost killed.

Daniel Balaji revels in his role both in terms of acting and the appearance of a highly
qualified doctor who is a real psycho.And his partner supports him well in his role throughout the movie. Then the duo escape from the US and enter India, and then finally reach chennai and almost get their hand on Jyothika and when you think she is almost finished...you have a surprise. (See it to find out :)). The last half hour chase of the duo by Kamal has been told with a racy pace. But, then you find that 2 highly qualified doctors from the US,who as psychopath killers turnout to doing some antics like street smart rowdies, which sort of looks odd. Finally, when you expect to know the reason for their behaviour, its left as a open puzzle and one finds that there is not enough merit why they do all these things and how it all relates to being the best doctors in the world!, and why would they want to all these when they know its not going to advance their ambitious medical careers, but it might even end their career, which eventually happens!!

Kamal's first wife Kamalini Mukherjee brings a new freshness with her. The song 'Paartha
Naal' has been beautifully shot. The flash back involving Kamal,Kamalini and Kamalini being killed by a villian with knife, in front of Kamal just reminds you of the way Jeeva kills Jyothika in front of Surya's eyes.But, there is not enough justification why and how it all happens. Truly speaking Kamal's first wife episode finds no relevance in the entire story.

Gautham could have avoided so many things that remind you of Kakka Kakka.Kamal looks older and has put on weight. Even for a actor of his caliber age has let him down. Honestly, Surya beats Kamal handsomely with his performance and appearance in the 1st episode of a police officers life. VV, is a true victory for Daniel Balaji. In fact, VV is a hunting ground for him and has truly played around with the Tamil Nadu and NYPD before it all comes to and end.

The camera work by Ravivarman is excellent, and if its true that several short in NY have
been shot on natural light with handheld camera, its a marvellous job. Harris Jayaraj's background is of very high standards and the songs 'Manjal veyill', 'paartha naal', 'neurppae' are already smash hits and will take VV to the blockbuster list. Editing by Antony gives the narration the momentum and the makes the viewing of song, NY sequences appealing.All in all Gautham has scored another winner and is a hattrick for this passionate movie maker , and it will make it to the hits of 2006 and the viewer definitely won't be disappointed and its truly a thrilling experience and will set the cash registers ringing for sure.

-Madan

A 1000 reasons not to smile - Middle East and Beyond

NOTE:These are just my personal views, and one of millions of people asking the question why are we fighting and killing each other. By any stretch of imagination I don't have any relation to any of the warring nations or religions involved in the middle east conflict. Though I have tried to state the facts to the best of my knowledge, apologies for any factual or technical errors :)

It feels as if the sense of happiness has been taken out of all us from our day to day life.It has become difficult to enjoy ones own happy moments when we see all the things happening around us. The loss of so many lives in Indonesia tsunami, the 6000 people dead in Iraq in 2 months (an average of 100 a day), the 200 dead in Mumbai blasts, the soliders and civilians killed in Iraq,Afghanistan and Kashmir, the people dying due to civil wars in several countries in Africa, when the continent has already been facing so many deaths for decades due to something which every living creature coming to this planet deservers - food.Things have been made all the more difficult to ignore with the invasion of our homes with live coverage of all of these by our brave reporters.

It was another day this monday and I was praying against all hopes that I dont see another carnage making headlines in the Lebanon-Israel war. But, to my horror it turned out be the worst day in 20 odd days of war(should we say genocide or brutal abuse of military might by Israel). 34 innocent children and several elderly people were killed with a total toll of 70 plus dead by the Israeli raids over Qana in Lebanon.
Not to mention the dastarldy act of blowing up 4 UN relief officials without mercy, even when one of the UN Irish army officer had warned the Israelis atleast 6 times after one of the Israeli rockets landed very close(infact 300m) to the UN mandated post in southern Lebanon and which has been well in existence even before the war broke out. Well, its nothing short of a cowardly act on the part of the Israseli's to just rub it off their shoulders saying that it was not deliberate. Probably they take the entire world to be made of fools outside the Israeli border. And Kofi Annan, should be appreciated for his courage in putting it straight to the Israeli's that it was more of a deliberate attack than a mere accident, even when he knew that it might not be well received by all.At the end of the day what really matters is he stood up for the cause of his subordinates, who gave their precious life serving their duty to save the innocent lives.

One might wonder why should I write about something to which I bear no relation. I dont belong to any of these nations or to any of the religions that are warring, and I might as well be better off writing about our own Mumbai blasts that happened recently. Well, the difference is that Mumbai blast was a genuine case of terrorist attack which was no different from the other attacks we have witnessed the world over in recent years, what Israel is doing is a sheer case of state terrorism sponsored by a regular army and literally the world has come down on its knees begging it to stop it, but still couldn't stop it. At the end of the day it will come to an end, but it inevitably will be too late and Israel would have got sufficient time to accomplish its so called mission - wiping out Hizbollah and creating a buffer zone in the southern Lebanon. With already close to 1000 people killed, stopping the war even tomorrow is not going to do any good.

Now lets come to the point why the entire offensive by Israel could be termed as a state terrorism.While it might be difficult to define what terrorism is, different groups and nations have their own definition, of course to suit their needs. Well all this for what? For the 2 Israeli soldiers held by Hizbollah operating out of South Lebanon and 1 held by Hamas operating out of Palestine. So, now lets ask the fundamental questions. What happens to the hundreds of Hizbollah and Hamas prisoners held by Israel as prisioners of war. Its also an altogether different matter, if these prisoners being treated by Israeli army as per the Geneva convention.

We can't ask the same question to Hizbollah or Hamas, because you see those are terrorist organizations, and going by our own description of a terrorist organization,they dont care about any rules. But, what about the Israeli Army? But, it makes me wonder if the Israeli have ever read the Geneva convetions rules of a war. It says the civilian lives and property should be spared from any attacks. Now it makes you wonder what made them to blow up several brigdes, the TV station, wireless towers, apartments, UN posts, relief vans. And ask Israeli's,for them all these are terrorist targets and terrorists are hiding here every where. We know the pain in India, how much tax payers money and effort goes into building flyovers and bridges. With the brigdes blown, the Lebanese refugee movement to Syria was hampered.It makes ones heart skip a beat when you realise that more than half of the killed were children and almost the entire population was civilian population and Lebanon's 6 years of effort of rebuilding their nation has been undone in a few hours.Israeli's will shout again that these were terrorist targets. And, the Israeli reponse to the Qana carnage and UN post attack was apalling to say the least. For them its another case of mistaken target. What was the need to launch such a full scale war even before trying to initiate a bilateral dialogue.when what Hizbollah wanted was a swap of prisoners.
It also made me wonder how hard hearted the Israeli nation's conciscience could be. One report on one of the news channels showed that the 85% of Israeli's wanted to hit Lebanon harder and they have nothing to say more than the rockets landing in Haifa and other Israeli areas. With due respect to the right of every country's right to defend its land and people, Israel has all the right to defend it self and why should the innocent people in Isreael live under the constant fear of rockets from Hizbollah, while Lebanon people had no such threat from the Israeli army before the war borke out.But, bottomline is who has suffered the most. If rockets were a concern, why launch a full blown air raid and a subsequent infantry attack on lebanon. Israel could have as well used their 'precision' rockets. It makes me wonder how better are the Israeli rockets or the men guiding them than those of Hizbollah rockets, considering the fact that so many Israeli rockets have so hit so many wrong targets (anyway for them all those are terrorist targets).By any standards the Hizbollah rockets have caused less casualty in terms of property and civilian life.While the entire world is engrossed in the war on the lebanon side, more than 100 have died due to the Isreali offensive on the Gaza strip,well they want the Hamas government out you know. While Israeli people are shouting from top of their voice about their difficulties, anyone who compares the living standards in Lebanon/Palestine people and Israel itself will know the truth. By the way, Israel has blown up several power supply stations in Palestine, as if they thought why not add little more gloomness to the existing darkness. Anyway its not going to be a big difference. If the facts in one of the British papers is to be believed, Isrealis had their own organization called Ingun which had similiar style of operations to that of Hamas and Hizbollah. Well, its for you make a call what to call it, if Hamas and Hizbollah are called terrorist organizations. More striking is the reference in the article that the Israeli prime ministers immediate ancestors were part of Ingun and had close ties with it during Israels struggle for a free state.

One of the statements by a US official caught the essence of it all. He says 'we will continue to counsel Israel to show restraint', as if acknowledging that Israel is behaving like a physchiatric child which needs to be taught some discipline. But, the question is who will do it?

Its time to realise that we are facing greater battles in the form of global warming,bird flu, deforestation,water shortages and food scarcity. Its time to realise that in the mindless wars to save a piece of land for oneself, we might loose our earth in the bigger battle.

Lets pray that we learn to treat every human life to be as precious as our own, and mother nature shows more kindness towards all the creatures on earth, which is the only place we will ever get to live and ofcourse to die!

Gerrard saves England from a 'deadly' date with the Germans

Jun20-
It was as if the English team had risen from the ashes like a phoenix bird. The first halfsaw much more energetic england team, though starting without Gerrard was not a surprise,considering the fact that another yellow card in this match would have made him sit in the bench for the 2nd round knock out match.But, later as the events unfolded, Gerrard yet again saved theday for the English team, and saved England against a 2nd round clash with the Germans, whichwould have been a certain elimination, considering the Germans have peaked at the right timeto trounce Eucador convincingly with a 3-0 score card.

From the very outset, England played as if they have reinvented themselves, with Rooney providing the much needed moral booster, though he was not in his elements. In the 34th minutes, J.Cole drove in a beauty from nearly 25yards, with a full volley after controlling the ball with his chest, as if he had got some divine inspiration from somewhere.

But, much was left to be decided once the 2nd half started. The English were lacklusture from the very beginning, and it was looking like it won't be long before Sweden equalised and I had an instinct that Sweden might go on to win 2-1, but then that was before Gerrard came in. England needs to be reminded that football has to be played for 90 minutes, and playing a fast paced game for 45 minutes in not good enough to win a match. Still the Swede's true to their spirit equalised in the 51st minute throuh Allback.

Crouch, the freaking striker was jogging as if he was taking a morning stroll to warm up himself.Crouch and Lampard have made a habit out of taking shots at goals and ensuring they never made it past the goal line. Beckham was shoddy to say the least and his 65th corner makes one wonder what was the hurry to take the kick when only 3 of the English palyers were in the Sweden box area. And his free kick in the 81st minute was no way close to the Beckham free kicks we know of.Rooney was fast and athletic,but was skeptical in his tackles, proabably the thought of damaging his injured foot was nagging him all the time. Funniest of all was the extraordinary defence from England, or should we call it the 'strategic defence'. It was alarming to see the players forming loose walls for Sweden's free kicks and that too a wall just not in line with the trajectory of the ball and literally the wall was formed at the opposite end and just one player was standing facing the player taking the free kick.But for Gerrard's entry in the 70th minute and a save in front of the goal the very next minute, England would have been languishing with the score card reading 2-1 in Sweden's favour. It was like making a mockery of footballing defence, the English defenders never marking the Sweden frontline players one to one, even during freekicks and corner kicks, all of them running towards the ball possessor, as if being pulled by some kind of magnet, leaving enough room for other Sweden strikers, which finally undid them when a thrown from Larkkson, made it to the English goal in the 90th minute, and which was not at all a surprise.

One can expect a honest effort and give his best, when Gerrard is in the field. His 85th minute header was a perfect example of how to head a ball, probably Crouch can take a few lessons and realise that to be a good header, something more than 6foot 7inches is required. But for Gerrard's save in 71st minute and his 85th minute goal, England would have been down 3-1 to Sweden. As I said earlier, England will owe everything to Gerrard, even though Englang going beyond the Quarter finals is a confirmed unsourmountable task. England was just lucky enough to evade meeting the Germans in the next round, which would have been nothing but a definite ticket to London on the next flight!

15th JUN 06' - FIFA World Cup ENG vs T&T -Crouch's header saves his head from being axed!

Similiar to what Indian Cricket team makes out of encounters with bangalesh, England made a show out of its match with Trinidad and Tobago.Apparently, the match which was assumed to be a cakewalk for the England team,was turned into a nightmare for 83 minutes by the consitently off the mark shooting by the english front line strikers, Crouch and Lampard.
Neither it was surprising that the crowd started to boo and wanted Rooney to pitch in to save the souls of the English men.Rooney and Lennon's entry brought in some sense of urgency with 30 minutes to go.

Crouch, was looking silly as a footballer, and it was hard to believe he was playing for a national team in the world cup finals, and it looked as if, but for his 6ft 7 inch figure,which apparently would send in goals from headers by the dozens, looked awful yesterday,when he headed the 2 trade mark crosses from Bechkam from the right way outside the net.Probably he suits the volley 'ball' game, really not the one who looks cut out for a game of football.His 83rd minute, lolly pop header saved him. It was yet another brilliant cross from the rightflank, from the king of 'bends' - Beckham. Beckham was the work horse for the most part with his diligent right crosses, though a couple of his free kicks were well below his standards.

Lampard, the Chelsea striker was off colour(missed chances at 34,77 minutes),and Owen was just not his self misguiding a header in the 56th minute.
But, for Terry's heroic effor to save the goal in the 45th minute, England would have been left in an embarassing position, not to mention the English fans and media who were already baying for their blood with no sight of a goal till the half time.

My favourite footballer in the England team, Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain, let his boots talk with his 91st minute left foot drive from outside the box bulging the net to save some grace and make the score card look a little decent.

Beckham,was the only English player I had known, until I saw the FA cup final between Liverpool and East Ham.With Liverpool down 2-1, Steven Gerrard scored a stunner from outside the box, and then yet again scored in the 91st minutes by driving in another goal of a half-volley pass from outside the box in the 91st minute to win the cup for Liverpool.

Gerrard may not be the most media saavy player in the English team, and he has mentioned earlier that he has not been able to produce his club form in international matches for England, probably because he does not get to play his favourite position in the national team. But, if England have any hopes(Its very low going by the awful passes and slowpace shown yesterday), then in all likelihood Gerrard will be the most important contributor, ahead of Rooney, Beckham, Owen or Lampard.