Naanum rowdythan - my review

There are rarely any realistic movies now a days, all we see is a super hero with godly abilities to trash villains in one go. Naanum Rowdy than, is a movie which is in a rare genre that touches the reality. Our hero Vijay Sethupathi (Pondy Pandi) has got a much wanted image makeover. His neatly shaved and trimmed beard looked much better than his previous images. He is looking handsome in fact and had all the woman audience glued to the screen whenever he was present.

The way our hero aspires to become a ROWDY in this film during the built up to the grown up story adds nice touch to the film and also gives a taste of how the film is going to be – a light hearted comedy story in which our hero acts as a villain but in real is a comedy piece only to be discovered during his love for the heart throbber – Nayanthara (Kadhambari).

Nayanthara does brilliantly her role of a deaf person who watches the lip sync carefully for understanding what the opposite person is saying. She also shows her shy side of not letting others to know that she is deaf and keeps repeating more often than any other person would have actually found J. The story revolves around Nayanthara, who has so much love for her daddy just like any other woman.

Each and every scene is this movie is worth describing, because there is so much brilliance in dialogue, screenplay and acting. All the roles were perfectly played by all the characters. I couldn’t find a single boring scene in the movie, even though some scenes were slow moving at some juncture.

The story goes such that Nayanthara gets into a tangle with a police constable because the constable was responsible for breaking her mobile; the police doesn’t know that she is deaf and lands up in police station, only for our Hero’s mother to notice that she is deaf and lets her after knowing that her father is also a police officer.

Our hero follows Nayanthara from here and the scenes that follow is sure to add sugar to our eyes and ears, there is so much fun in everything that the hero does to turn the girls attention without knowing that she is deaf. Finally they end up striking a conversation and our hero finds out that she is deaf and his love grows for her from this moment. Their relationship start in the form of exchanging mobile phones and sim card and finally forget exchanging them back after hero’s mother comes in between them.

The follow up of events from here adds laughter as well as tears to our eyes. There is an external enmity between Nayanthara’s father and a politician turned gangster Parthiban (Killivalavan; yes you heard it right). They play a cat and mouse game and finally the villain ends up killing Nayan’s mother and father. Nayan wants to take revenge on the villain for killing her mother, without knowing that her father also gets killed while her relationship with hero is developing.

How our hero hides this news and tries to take revenge on the villain is the crux of the story. RJ Balaji does a superb job which is expected out of him by siding with hero and helping him in his plans to kill the villain. One particular scene in the state highway where they stall the villain’s car and make him run does add so much humor to the entire story. Parthiban is chased by another politician villain (Mansoor) and also by our hero, who both thatch a plan to get him killed but don’t succeed.

The climax is yet another twist in the story, which is worth watching than describing in words here. It sure is going to add lots of laughter in all of us. But the crux of the story is same – the hero in trying to become a villain ends up being a comedian. Yet our heroine doesn’t know this! The rest is history!! Definitely a must watch movie, if you are either a Vijay Sethupathi or Nayanthara fan. Even if you are not a fan of either, you can watch this film for its realistic nature of events and/or script. Director Vignesh Shivan has hit the jackpot with his debut movie!

A Blast from the past...

It was an intense summer that day, the temperature recorded 48°C. It was a 30 over match and I was batting at No.3 losing our opener. It was good opportunity for me to come at No.3 when the stakes were down early on. I had a chance to prove myself today, I had a feeling that today I am going to score big. Initial 5 overs were bit slow on the scoring rate, and I was just rotating the strike, I was waiting for the sun to burn down the bowlers stamina before I could counter attack.

But something was wrong, I was already burning since morning due to high fever and a blocked nose. But my determination and will power were stronger than the fever that was preventing me from being fit. I scored a handsome leg glance first up, that opened the boundaries for us. Followed by a square drive and cover drive. Next over was really easy for me, after having hit 3 fours in a the previous over, my confidence was sky high, I scored a straight drive boundary which was a pleasure to many eyes, including my father who always enjoys watching me bat.

Then came on the spinners, to give respite to their fast bowlers. I was going strong, confident and having the highest stamina among all the players out there. It was in me that every time the temperature soars in Chennai, I get a good field day. I outshine other players in hot humid weather conditions easily. It was a gift to me I thought and I realized it that day. With such thought in mind, came a dolly from spinners hand and I hit the ball straight down the bowlers head and it was a sixer, just managed to cross the ropes.

They were all getting tired by the end of 15 overs and I had just scored above 40+ that time. Few wickets fell the other end and my stronger partner started scoring some big shots giving me some rest and I was just rotating the strike happily for him. It was a good relaxing time for me, but I had to still do all the running. I could sense the hot air going in and out of nostrils by this time! By the end of the innings I emerged not out around 60+ runs and my partner scored a quick fire 40 odd runs. We scored a good 180 runs on the board by the end of 30 overs.

We came to bowl, and their players were already dehydrated and exhausted under the sun, but our players were looking fresh, well thanks to me of course ;-). We dismissed them within 100 runs and I was rightly adjudged the player of the match. I remember the words of the opposite captain that day, “You played really well even in this hot and humid condition. Well done young boy, I wish to see you play for India one day.”

This was the day that I cherished the most and the words of the opposite team’s captain did motivate me to do better in coming matches. It was also the day when I realized that hot humid climate does no harm to my body and I was adaptive to such high temperatures. It was a good realization for me that day, to know my ability, my body condition and my stamina/endurance. 

Windows 10 upgrade - quick review

Just wanted to share my side of the Windows 10 upgrade story (from windows 7). Depending on the number of devices that your PC / laptop is currently supporting, the file size for the upgrade varies. For my PC it took nearly 2.2 GB size for the whole downloading of OS / driver files.

 

Using the 1 Mbps BSNL connection, it took nearly 4-5 hours for the download to complete. Then the Windows asked for a reboot, upon reboot, the windows configuration starts with absolutely no manual interaction from the user.

 

The actual upgrade runs by starting to copy the OS files, followed by driver files and finally the configuration starts.

 

The whole process took less than 1.5 hours and the desktop was up and running within another 5-10 minutes time.

 

The Changes:

 

1)       Your old desktop and all the files are retained. Whatever theme packs you were running on before upgrade still exists (even installed ones). So the desktop still runs your themes that you would prefer to have.

2)      Start bar is really beautiful and stylish with the search box at the left side. Default search engine is Bing.

3)      Upon clicking the start button (windows key in keyboard), your recently used apps lists and the live tiles are loaded on the right side. Its rightly a marriage between Windows 7 and Windows 8.

4)      In the start menu, there is an option to search for all apps, which would list us the apps in alphabetical order as in Windows phones.

5)      Live tiles are stylish and updates real time.

6)      All the applications that you had before upgrade still exists and runs perfectly without any hitches.

7)      You can configure what live tiles you want to see.

8)      The Start menu has settings option, which contains everything you want to configure in the PC/laptop (from device drivers, to installation of apps, to configuring background colors etc.)

9)      Microsoft has dumped IE and has come up with Edge browser, which is good so far.

10)   Default programs to open pics, videos will be setup

11)    Windows media player is missing. Groove music player is the new kid on the block!

 

If you already have a webcam, that is connected via USB, you might probably need to download an update post setting up the PC. The driver will install additionally and set it up for being compatible with Windows 10.

 

Windows 10 is definitely sleek, comfortable and easy to use. With Service packs coming up, it is definitely going to fix any ongoing issues and make this OS a win-win for both MS and customers alike.

 

Windows 10 is free for an year post upgrade.

 

Note: In case you need to downgrade from Windows 10, you can do it only within one month of the upgrade. Post which you cannot downgrade the OS. This is a good option for customers to try out Windows 10 for now, and go back to the shell and live within their own comfort zone.

Products that harm us

Most of us would have used these products in our life time sometime. We would have used it mostly in our teenage I bet. I also bet that we would have at least tried one imported product of this category and would have recommended our family members or close friends/relatives. It was a part of my life too until couple of months when my wife raised a concern about cancer causing chemicals that are used in these products. These products are: deodorants and antiperspirants.

I am really against any of the products that act against our natural body system. Soap for instance, blocks the pores in our skin that would otherwise be helpful for perspiration of skin and also used as a channel for releasing sweat. The sweat contains urea, minerals and lactate. Our body sends them out because they are either in excess or they have the potential to cause cancer cells in our body. This process of sweating in humans is called perspiration (also called as transpiration).

Clearly the name antiperspirants should have ringed an alarm bells in your mind by now! Now let us see what chemicals do these products contain and why they might be potentially harmful for our body. Remember there are studies that are out there which determines the potentiality of cancer cause in people who use deodorants and antiperspirants. These studies are yet to determine and prove a direct correlation however. So caution needs to be exercised in understanding what I am going to say further.

Both Deodorants and Antiperspirants help in reducing the body odour that is a result of sweat.  This odour is caused by specific bacteria underneath our skin (underarms). Deodorants tackle the odour by targeting the bacteria. To do this, they contain antibacterial compounds, such as triclosan and chlorhexidine. Antiperspirants, unlike deodorants, don’t do anything to act on the bacteria that produce smelly sweat compounds. Instead, they contain chemical compounds whose goal it is to prevent you from perspiring at all. These compounds are always either aluminium or zirconium-based; aluminium chlorohydrate is one of the most commonly used, but a number of others can also be employed.

Triclosan has been proven to contribute to bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Though this only proven in animals and in humans it might be different and there is no concrete study yet. The solvent, cyclomethicone is used both in Deodorants and antiperspirants evaporate very quickly and easily. But studies have proved that this solvent causes dry skin and other problems. Apart from that there are growing concerns of potential bioaccumulation in the environment. It doesn’t break down easily in water, and also it is further not clear if they are the reason for toxicity in water which threatens aquatic life. Aluminium compounds that are used in Antiperspirants have been under major controversy with links to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Both Deodorants and Antiperspirants have been under lenses and are posing a great health risk upon prolonged usage. It would be wise if each of us look at the ingredients in these products and see if any chemical used in it is having potential to cancer of other major controversies. It would be good if we can avoid such products and choose a safe alternative.

Thani Oruvan - moview review

Brilliant screenplay is all you can say about this film. What a performance by Arvind Swamy, he oozes style and smartness throughout this film. The role that Arvind Swamy got is really good and he enjoys it to the fullest, till the last scene. He is really lucky to get this role in a comeback sorts of film. What a terrific performance!

‘Jayam’ Ravi as he is famously called, completes his role succinctly. As a tough police officer who tops the ranks during training and very good in collecting information about his enemy even before his posting is confirmed really creates lot of expectations on his role. We eagerly wait to see how this brilliant cop is going to snatch an almost uncatchable enemy. The film starts with a succinct tag line ‘Tell me about your enemy, I will tell about you.’

There are lot of hypes created around the role of ‘Jayam’ Ravi’s Mithran. Mithran however disappoints us with his emotionless approach which all movie watchers would expect in a hero (main screen). But his role was such to not to display any emotions (soft side) on anyone. Nayanthara finally gets some flesh on her face, a much needed change after her appearance was commented all across the magazines and film news. We get a chance to see Mahima (Nayan) as a brave and tough woman who fittingly loves an equally brilliant hero, Mithran.

There was not a scene in this film where you will feel let down. Thambi Ramaiah cameo in this serious film was much needed and provides the much needed laughter in all of us. Theatres erupted in laughter for his comedies when Siddharth (Arvind) talks to his dad of his plans in the car while driving, especially the one when he says ‘Naan eppo rendu kolai panna plan sonnen’ (When did I plan to kill two people). Thambi Ramiah as Sengalvarayan provides the lighter side of politicians who match in real life scenarios, who would just read whatever is printed in their material (reading).

Mithran finds that all petty crimes lead to larger group, all the gangsters add up to one head who oversees all the operations without his name coming out. This is typical of Illuminatis mode of operation. The director is also brilliant enough to show how newspapers (media in general) mislead people and how they shape the thinking process of people. A good ground work done by director Mohan Raja this time. It needs lot of courage and effort to know these details to the point and another type of talent to bring it to mainstream media (cinema) without creating much buzz or tension. Hats off to director in this regards. He carefully handles the script.

Technically the scenes were up to the mark and how Mithran’s friends help him without much fuzz was much welcome change in the film. It shows their friendship and loyalty to each other. There were lot of truth that had been attempted to be revealed in this film and I am sure people who watched this film can connect these facts to reality (in life). Especially what the pharmaceutical giants (and mafia) do in order to make sure that our country doesn’t get the best (and cheap medicine).

All in all this film is wholesome factual movie that can still be valid at any point in future. The way the director exposes the network of goons, big business players and finally the head of all these organizations is a commendable work. A brave and breezy film that should be encouraged and watched by everyone to know the sad reality in the crimes happening around us.

Thani Oruvan is not just about a single person fighting the cause, we all must collectively (individually) know many facts around us and act upon it to make sure that our future is safe, best and peaceful. That was the message from the film as per my view. Watch it and enjoy it J!

Digital India

I was roaming jobless that time. It was a tough period, I knew I am going to win this battle and get in to one of the top IT companies in some time, but the going through the hardship was testing my patience, honesty and dedication. It was the time when I lost in crucial HR interview at Infosys itself. People were telling me that once I clear the initial technical round, then I am in the company. But the offer letters were sent for my colleagues who met me at the interview and not for me.

I felt devastated, in disbelief and also in disarray. Then came an opportunity and I really wanted to prove a point why I deserved to be in a top notch company with smart salary. There were nearly 20K people and only 30 out of them were selected in a college off campus, and I am proud to say I was one among them. First round was about aptitude test and I cleared it easily as with many other companies attended earlier.

Then came essay writing, where I am the best since childhood and my own English teachers were proud of and also referred me as a best example. I would write essays with such strong message which strikes the reader where it matters the most. I was asked to write why they would recruit me for getting in to that company and I did write it neatly.

Then came the Group discussion round which was scheduled for the next day. Around 5K people were selected for this alone. In my panel we had around 10 people who were asked to speak about “technology: is it a boon or bane”. I was only listening till the end and whenever I opened my mouth to strike a balance with my panelists, I was only taken over by a stronger voice who would not allow me to continue with my view points.

The GD panelist was noting this behavior and he did give me a chance to speak at the end. And I didn’t mess it. I spoke for just 3 minutes and without a break, with such fluency that the entire classroom wowed upon it and clapped their hands (including the panelist). Even I felt good at my viewpoint and encouraged my way of positive thinking.

The thing that I spoke 10 years back exactly echoes what our current PM Narendra Modi spoke at the San Jose CEO meet. Especially the view of ‘Digital India’. I echoed similar sentiments and view points and was vouching for empowering villages and poor with technology to update their status not only physically but also online. I voiced for learning through technology and also better planning with technological advancements.

‘Let us use technology to educate people about the good and ill effects of using it and let us create a positive, wholesome environment that doesn’t discard anyone based on their financial status.’ I concluded.

It was not over, Later I went through a technical code testing interview. This was followed by one one-on-one meeting with Executive VP of the company who testing my emotions. Later I was offered a job in their company within a month’s time. I will never forget my first employer and interviewers who shaped my career now.

Sivapuranam Vilakkam

Opt for Regional diet

Super markets are really useful in a way that we get all the products required for household maintenance at one shot. They have changed the way people used to shop for different things at different shops. They have brought the convenience factor into play which people of this generation would love to explore/use.

We get both regional and international products at super markets. One need not have to say what the perception among people upon imported products is. Everyone reckons they are quality and pure ones. Our own regional products (Made in India) are however looked down upon thinking that they do not have sophisticated machines that can give a quality output.

But one thing people forget about imported goods is their shelf life. They are very high, in fact some might have taken months to reach the shelves. Whereas our regional products are fresh and hidden from the stardom. This is somewhat acceptable for non-food products. When it comes to food-based products we must carefully reflect upon this point. This is where people turn a blind eye.

We get lot of processed food in super markets in the name of Macrons, Noodles, Pasta, Ready mix powders, so on and so forth. Though we have the foreign vendors manufacture them in Indian premises, we must carefully explore their ingredients and nutritional information. Here is the recent case of a famous Noodles vendor going in a soup. Reason being they have high levels of lead and MSG. This is uncalled for and unwanted ingredients in a processed food. They are the prime reasons for causing cancer in our human body. The research has exposed this lately. But do you think people didn’t know the ill effects of such ingredients while making this product? Were they blind eye to this fact? Why to have them in accepted levels at all, if that is what the vendor is claiming as in the case of the above said one? Poison is a poison be it consuming a table spoon or ten table spoons!

Now let’s shift our attention to vegetables and fruits. We get export quality vegetables and fruits from super markets and other markets too. But when you closely look them, especially in the case of apples, they have a sticker stuck to it with some other country’s name. Even the vendor selling that apple knows how bad that apple for our health is. It has high level of preservatives applied to make sure that it travels all across the border for months and stored in multiple places/climate/environmental conditions before coming to our place. If we eat such an apple, we get many diseases which goes unnoticed with time. We all assume that we had healthy fruits/vegetables and yet we get ill and blame it on the pollution outside.

We can apply the same to all vegetables. We have lost the nutrient value of vegetables due to high application of fertilizers and pesticides. Affording Organic vegetables is also out of reach for middle class. Still some argue that those who sell organic products are also lying and using pesticides and fertilizers instead. This leads to a void on whom to trust and whom not to. Then we think about growing fruits and vegetables at home, which is not feasible for all.

Our daily diet should be divided into three. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I need not have to remind you how each should be since there is an old age adage to this. We are sacrificing our healthy diet to the likes of Noodles, Cakes, Burgers, Oats, Corn flakes etc. We do not realize that they are not of Indian origin and that we have even forgotten what our Indian diet consists of. How many of our households cook breakfast for us? How many of us eat outside for breakfast and lunch? How many of us have homemade food at least once per week? Thanks to this competitive world, it has given birth to TWO minutes noodles which comes as a boon to most of our folks to cook this unhealthiest of food and bill ourselves in hospitals within 10-15 years of time.

It is time to go back to basics, ask your grandma, grandpa, your old age friends and relatives what they have for breakfast. I am sure there will be some who stick to the ancient diet of Idly, Dosa etc. They were the best scientists to date. They knew that really needed for our body to sustain it without any diseases for 100 years. They are your best doctors. We must learn from them. We must stick to their diet plans. We must get their opinion on food matters. If you haven’t done it yet, I request you to do it right away.

Now a days even water is packaged, and people have forgotten about the tap water filtering and boiling it for consumption! Let us understand how the foreign multinationals are exploiting our life style to sell their products to support the medical industries. Let us not give a chance for them to exploit our future generation at least. Let us choose healthy diet, a regional diet that your forefathers used to have. Let us say no to Noodles, Pizza, Burger, Coke etc. Let’s bring back the good health. Are you ready to take the oath? I have taken already.

Live and let live!