Barfi  - The oscar choice
I feel the Indian oscar committee has always had a distorted view of which movie should represent India and which should not. In all these years, only three movies made it to the top five and that speaks a lot about their judgement.

The disappointment on the choice of Barfi (not because the movie is not oscar worthy, but because it is lifted in parts) should only be directed towards the deciding authorities and not on the film maker who has all the while been open about drawing inspirations. 

Anurag Basu has a point when he says that the alleged inspiration / plagiarism would have not come to light if not for his blatant interviews (much before the release of the movie) citing those specific inspirations.

There is a reason why movies like Vazhakku En or any other movie with a strong Indian flavor should be the frontrunners for Oscar. These are movies that draw inspiration from real life instances that no world cinema would have ever portrayed.

Ok. Am a crazy fan on Illayaraja. Even in the era of AR Rehman, IR's songs have not lost its sheen to me. The long drives and the lonely nights in the company of his melodies always enthrall and entertain me.

And so, NEP was something I have been looking forward to. IR, joining hands with Gautham Menon, is sure to spin some mesmerizing music. Or so I thought. 

Now, after few times of listening to the songs, I can either pretend to LOOOOOVE the songs just for the IR factor, or accept the truth and move on. That is not to deny that the music is good. Just good it is. The teaser featuring Neethaane en Pon Vasantham or the Kanmani Anbodu scores only seem like a marketing gimmick. It created an  anticipation in the kind of music that would eventually be rendered. Unfortunately, I do not know if the album was able to meet the hype that was always surrounding it. But for sure I can say that it did not meet my expectations.

P.S. If there was any music director who should have never ventured into singing, it is Yuan Shankar Raja. And Not sure why GVM would insist on featuring him. That was suicidal.
You go to an individual’s wall and wish him / her a very Happy Birthday. I equate it to giving the Birthday baby a personal call. Or walking into his / her  home and making a wish. Then why in this world do some folks respond at the end of the day with a very generic, “Thanks to everyone who made my day with your wishes”.

It is like standing in the street and screaming thank you, hoping it reaches everyone that made a wish. In the pre-Facebook era, it was a common bcc mail that thanks everyone in one shot.

When you get a call, you thank them on the phone. When you are wished in person, you thank them on the face. Then why can you not write personal thank you comments when the wish is on your Facebook wall ? When the wish is personal, I cannot figure out why you are so lazy and lethargic to respond with an impersonal broadcast.