A combination of topics!!!

Well this post seems to be mixture of things and I am just typing down anything and everything that comes to my mind. As always I have been intending to post something and as usual I have put it off. How typical of me now!!!

Well, one main reason was that unlike during the earlier days, I was not getting enough opportunities to blog hop or even pen down a few words for my own blog due to work and some situations.



One thing I badly wanted to do during that period was that I wanted to pen down a few things about the movie ‘Pazhassi Raja’ as soon as I saw it, but kept putting off that too and finally ended up chucking the whole thing off. I do know there was a lot of praise and criticism for the movie, but it was good anyway. I did however feel that some element was missing and do not know what exactly it is…

Even though I am a Keralite, I certainly do not know much about the proud history of the state. Well u really cannot blame me for that as that’s the situation with our school systems. Another reason is that due to having done part of my schooling abroad and later part of it even though I did study in Kerala and all, I didn’t have to deal with Kerala History at all due to having followed the CBSE syllabus and all… Well one thing I can say I am proud of is that I learnt to read, write and speak Malayalam on my own and the toughest was learning to read and write. Well I won’t say that I can write well, but can speak well anyway :)

So at least watching a movie like ‘Pazhassi Raja’ made me wonder about the history of Kerala and all the brave people who fought for it etc. Although certain facts may or may not be correct in the film, we do have to give the film its due credit. After all it’s more of a film in this current era and not some autobiography or something… The film was picturised well and I did like it although I did feel that some of the foreign actors could have done better. Another thing is that for a Malayalam movie, this budget itself was way too much, so I really do have to say that they managed really well with whatever was available.



Now moving on from that topic - it’s December and even though the weather is turning cold and all, I do enjoy the holiday season and mainly the mental feel of it all. Well ya true that we won’t get much of a holiday feel and all coz we are in the gulf and there is no holiday as such for Christmas. Another sad fact is that Christmas will be on a Friday this year so most people will not be able to take an extra day off, but in another way it’s good for all those who won’t get off days anyway.

I guess it’s in India and other countries that we feel the festivities and the mood of the holiday season and all. I just love looking forward to the colourful holiday season, the celebrations related to Christmas and new year, the excitement that is seen among everyone, looking forward to the end of another year and the start of a new one hoping that it will be filled with wonderful things etc etc…

Another new thing for me this year is that life is going to take another turn and stepping into another phase in life is certainly a huge step and at this point very frightening for me. Motherhood and its responsibilities were a distant thought for me and suddenly I am faced with the realities of it. Well I guess the full shock of it will be set on me only after the delivery and the after the arrival of the little one. That’s when I am going to really really wonder what I have got myself into for a lifetime :)

Well, thanks to all the dear friends and well wishers who have already gone through the experience, they all are trying their level best to calm me and are telling me that’s it’s ok, no problem; it’s a wonderful experience and so on; I sure do hope that will be the case and that I will be able to deal with everything positively.
I am now finishing my 38th week (that is 2 weeks past my 9th month) and have around 14 to 15 days until the due date that my doctor has officially given. Basically the official date is for around Christmas and God only will get to decide the exact date. So I’m hoping to work till the end of next week if everything goes according to schedule and all.



Moving on again to another topic – I watched the Malayalam movie called Swa Le (short for Swantham Lekakhan, Staff Reporter) 2 days back and liked it a lot. Even though my brother and hubby were not at all interested in watching the movie, me and mom dragged both of them and my dad along and went for the movie. My poor tired dad as usual had a peaceful sleep during the whole movie while I saw my dear hubby and brother laughing their heads of on hearing some of the jokes in the movie. Ohh ya I (the devil in me hehe) did make them admit that it was a really good movie :D
I am not giving a review or anything about the movie as it will depend upon each person’s outlook and taste. I certainly am not saying that the movie is a huge thing or anything and even though it opened with such expectations, there were some flaws and all. But still it did provide me with the necessary entertainment.

In case any of you want to know what the story is all about, here is a small description:
The story set in the late eighties (a time before the 24-hour news channels and mobile phones) mentions about the big dailies of Malayalam, its fight over circulation, their staff reporters trying to do something overboard to support something anew, exclusive for their news papers etc.

This current generation which is used to the technology, will find it hard to digest the fate of many working with specific deadlines. Same was the case of the news man who had to really travel distances to fetch and create scoops and stories. ‘Swa Le’ has Dileep as Unnimadhavan, a committed reporter of Janachintha, chasing for stories, with an ill mannered part-time photographer Chandramohan (Salim Kumar). He has signed for a seven year bond with the small daily, which is in full throat activity to increase the circulation. With his meagre salary, Unnimadhavan finds the going tough and struggles to find enough time to devote to his pregnant wife Vimala (Gopika), who is staying in a rented house away from the city in a quiet village, that also across the river, with no proper health facilities and transportation. Since they married without the consent from her parents, and his parents r deceased there is no one to help them.

Things get worse as Unni is sent to report the state of a famous writer Paalaazhy Sivashankara Pillai (Nedumudi Venu) who is in his death bed. As he is asked to stay at the writer’s house daily till 3 am, until the last edition is out, Unni has to face the problem of having his pregnant wife all along at home, the problems she is having and all such things, but has to keep it all for himself due to fear about facing legal action from the paper if he leaves his job and so on. The movie goes on to tell how his struggles with time and emotions, finally provide fruitful, making him a big name in the media business.

The movie has succeeded to illicit some lighter chuckles all the way with the sensitive handling of the subject and with the honest narratives and plenty of inside jokes about the industry of the period. Dileep makes a cake walk through the role of Unnimadhavan, depicting the struggles of the working journalist with flare. Gopika also did a good job, even though I felt that her role did not have enough to do in the movie.

I guess that’s enough explanation about the movie right?

I am so happy to know that a very good and close friend’s short film ‘My Paper Boat’ has been chosen to be screened in the Copenhagen summit. And another amazing fact is that it competed with films from very experienced directors etc and has been the only short film from India to be chosen to be screened at the summit. Another thing is that I am also so happy to see many of his hard work paying off and happy that he is slowly being able to realize his dreams step by step.

Here is a link to the write up that came about them –

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Chennai%20to%20Copenhagen&artid=oEJL5ark2AU=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&SEO=&SectionName=rSY|6QYp3kQ=

Here is the link to the campaign site:
http://www.1minutetosavetheworld.com/

In this u can view the short film My Paper Boat

I guess I better stop writing now as I might go on and on about a few things and also about lost dreams and all :P