He never heeded to his mother’s advice to use a helmet. He took his bike and left home that day in the morning to meet his friends.

In the evening his mother and friends tried to reach him. His mobile replied, “The person you are trying to reach is in out of coverage area”

Elsewhere TV news flashed – Four youths died in bike accidents at different places. None of them were wearing helmets.

End.

 

 

Professor stepped into the class. The noise abated and there was silence. He asked,            ” What is the topic you have chosen for this week’s debate? Is there a consensus for the topic chosen?”

Yes – came an immediate reply in unison.

The student’s representative replied, “The topic we have chosen for this week’s debate is – Which of the two films garnered more revenue in Tamilnadu film box office this week – Movie X or Movie Y “.

There was excitement in the class.

That excitement didn’t excite the Professor

Lowering his head, he said “You have chosen a topic of national importance”

End.

 

Photo : Krishnan

He studied hard, became a doctor to fulfill his parents dream. His parents were happy . He worked hard eighteen hours a day ,earned lot of money – His entire family was happy.

Then, one day he left everything and started to pursue his passion – Travel and Photography – He was very happy.
End.

Story:

A village karate master resurfaces as a hostel warden after a long gap to settle an act of revenge. His target is a powerfully dangerous politician and his gangster son. Who wins is the story.

Review:

It is a movie of the Rajni fans, by the Rajni fans, for the Rajni fans. For others, it is a Pongal gift.

Director Karthik Subbaraj weaves the magic wand and brings back the young and energetic Rajni exactly as he was seen three decades back. It is astonishing and surprising to see a man who is nearing 70, still has the energy to carry the entire film with his style and agility, making it more enjoyable.

The film opens with a question – trademark Rajni punch line “Naan Veezhven endru ninaithaayo?”. And ends aptly with another question – punch line “Indha Attam Podhuma?”. Between these two questions, the answer is found, why he is still the Superstar.

His makeup team deserves full credit for making him young and much younger in the flashback scenes. Action sequences match that of the ’90s in speed.

The film reflects the Hero in him as seen in Baasha, Angry young man of Mallum Malaram, Murattukalai , ROMCOM hero of Thambikku endha Oru, Padiayappa and few other aspects of his characters in other films which makes it refreshing and memorable.

The film’s star cast is excellent, though others have a very little to contribute they have all done their part very well. Like Nawaszuddin Siddique, Vijay Sethupathi, Sasikumar, Director Mahendran, Bobby Simha, Trisha, Simran, and others. Rajni – Simran & Rajni-Muniskanth scenes were very good though little.

Rajni can only draw inspiration from himself to do the role of Kaali in this film.

To conclude,

Indha Attam Podhuma? – Podhathu, enum neraiya Vendum

பேட்ட – பழைய ரஜினி சேட்டை.

Title Meaning:

Seethakkathi is the name of a person who lived in the 1650s. His real name was ‘Sheik Abdul Kader’ which is said to have changed into spoken Tamil as Seethakkathi.  He is known for his generous nature and there is also a phrase after him in Tamil – “செத்தும் கொடுத்தார் சீதக்காதி” (Sethum Koduthar Seethakathi) which means he was generous even after his death.

Story:

A very principled and talented artist whose life was completely devoted to the theatre (stage plays). He is very passionate to perform in front of the audience (Live Performance), hence refuses film offers. What happens when he starts acting in movies is the story.

Review:

First the director Balaji Tharaneetharan should be appreciated for the following.

1. Like his earlier film “Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (NKPK)” he is successful in picking a simple but terrific idea and presenting it very well.
2. More with less – The leader character (Hero) is found only in one-third of the film despite the hero’s presence is felt throughout the film.

Vijay Sethupathi as Ayya Athimoolam has done remarkably well especially in the scenes which shows the transition of the theatre from the 1950s to date and how it declines over the period.

Mouli sparkles as Ayya’s faithful staff and well-wisher. The film starts slow and picks up the pace. The dark comedy in the film needs a special mention without which it would have been a much serious subject to watch. The comedy mix is perfect. There are some very good talents visible in the film, notably the people who played the characters Dhanapal and Saravanan.

It has all the elements of an art film, also entertaining.

சீதக்காதி – நல்ல செய்தி

13th January 2019 – 5.00 AM in the morning, it was me vs the Alarm Clock.  The Snooze option allowed me to extend my sleep for few more minutes, remaining lazily intact inside my rug with just my face experiencing the January morning chillness.

Somehow with a lot of will power, I got up and readied myself to attend the NAC 2019 (National Achievers Conference 2019), the event I registered three months back. But for a reminder from the organizers the day before, I would have missed this program and would have continued my morning sleep.

Something inside me pushed to attend this event and I am glad that I did it.

With Jack Canfield as the keynote speaker, it was a transformational one-day event which touched upon many areas of improvement both in Personal and Professional life. It triggered a lifetime of learning from the biggest and reputed National and International Motivational Speakers, Self-development and Business/ Market strategist.

The experience was enlightening leading to the process of your own self-discovery. It stretched the mind and enhanced the confidence to face the future. Topics covered by the speakers were real and relevant to the current circumstances.

It was really recharging and below is the gist of the key messages from the speakers of the conference

1. Thaddeus Lawrence

International Speaker, Trainer, and Author:

• Everything in this world is energy and our thoughts control the energy
• Our Mindset is the software/ blueprint to our success

 

2. Nik Halik

The Thrillionaire Entrepreneurial Alchemist, Civilian Astronaut, Extreme Adventurer, and International Speaker.

• Always ask – How can I extract the most out of life?
• Imagination is more important than Education
• Do it now
• Character matters more than your reputation
• You are always judged by what you finish and not by what you start
• Every problem we face as a human is a Business Opportunity
• Don’t ask the price of the Shovel when you dig for gold

 

3. Sandy Jadeja

Chief Market Strategist and International Trading Educator

• Poor People think about today

      Middle-class people think about months

      Rich people think about years

      Wealthy people think about decades

      Elite People plan for generations

• Don’t chase something in life

      Set that up so that it comes to you

• Life is too short to work for others
• Trade strategies for fast profit

            

4. Surendran Jayasekar

 Founder & CEO of Success Gyan

• We need to have a compelling reason and burning desire to live – Purpose of our life
• Lifelong we need to invest in our education (Books, Videos, Seminars)
• Fail fast, fail forward
• WIN – WIN – WIN (In your business customer should win first, then your Vendors if the first two win you will automatically win.)

5. Rajiv Talreja

International Bestselling Author, Global Speaker & India’s Leading Business Coach

• Dreams do come true
• Think of how to build a business which can grow without you?
• People buy only results
• Hope is the raw material of losers – Action matters
• If you change your role model, you can change your results
• 2 Principles and 3 Focus areas of business success

      Two Principles

1. If you are the best in your team, that is worst for your business
2. Impossible is a lie – It is an excuse for – “not knowing”.

       3 Focus Areas

1. Team – We need to build a Committed and Competent team
2. Systems – It should be simple and sustainable
3. Strategy – It should be magnetic and profitable.

• Lack of knowledge is not equal to the lack of possibilities
• I don’t know doesn’t mean I can’t have

 

6. Sujith Kumar

Founder & Managing Trustee of Maatram Foundation

• It only takes 2 minutes to make a difference in one’s life
• The differences and inequalities around us can be changed not by fighting over them but by building

       newer channels to build over them.

 

7. Karan Hasija

India’s leading Author Coach

• Marketing creates Visibility
• A book is the purest form of marketing
• Systems work and people don’t
• A book differentiates you from your competitor
• A book will build trust with your customers

 

8. Jack Canfield

Renowned Global Speaker, Internationally recognized leader in personal development and 

peak performance strategies Co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series.

• Four things that differentiate the super high achievers

1. They take 100% responsibility for their results and they are action-oriented.
2. They have unusual clarity of their purpose, values, mission, vision, goals and objectives

iii.    They have developed effective habits of success – Disciplines of success.

1. They have built effective accountability systems into their lives.

• Give up all the blaming – You can make a million excuses or million dollars
• If it is meant to be; it is meant to me
• “You only have to control over three things in your life – the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, & the actions you take.”
• Goals are must – it gives you the direction
• Learn to earn.

Continuous learning is the key to our success and I did that by attending this event. It was awesome and impactful. Just thought of sharing this with you, thanks.

 

Someone rightly said like the need for brushing our teeth daily, we need daily inspiration. My today’s inspiration was the talk from a great lady of our Neighboring country Pakistan – Ms. Muniba Mazari.

I was touched, moved and Inspired hearing it.

Key message

Be grateful for what you have

Never giving up is the way to live.

Hear this out when you have time and get inspired.

Story:

A police officer suffering from a near-death experience, finds similarity in a series of ongoing murders. He struggles to crack the case as the killer also dies after every murder.

How he unfolds the mystery is the story

Review:

Sci-fi movie with the usual Tamil film elements. Plot based on immortality, which many desired from ancient past and still some do. The script is perfect and it communicates the complex plot well.

A good attempt. It could have been better if certain scenes deviating from the main plot are deleted.

Maayavan – Sagathavan

Story:

One’s Country’s Interest over their own self and family.

A 20-year-old college going girl accedes to her father’s request and spy for her country risking her life. Did she succeed?

Review:

The film is based on a real-life story as documented in the book Calling Sehmat by Lt Commander Harinder Sikka (retd).

A very well-made film which brings out the heroics of people who work behind, quietly without much fuss and often risking their lives for the sake of their country. By design, their accomplishments/ contributions go unnoticed without much of public glare and recognition. And it rarely comes out much after their lifetime or at the end. This film is about one such person – Sehmat.

Alia Bhat as Sehmat has done wonderfully well exhibiting perfectly the emotional conflicts of a young girl handling a risky spy assignment. Particularly in the scenes where she had to kill some people to accomplish her mission and in handling the very close instances of the risk of being exposed to her secret work.

The film is very gripping with a lot of tense moments as the movie unfolds- Sehmat a Kashmiri girl getting married to an army officer in a high ranking Pakistani army family., entering their house in Pakistan, earning their goodwill and start gathering the required critical war intelligence from Lion’s den and passing it back to Indian Intelligence Bureau.

A decent movie which portrays the patriotism at both sides in the highly tensed Indo – Pak pre-war period of 1971.

Certain movies enrich your knowledge and experience, this is one such movie and I strongly recommended watching this movie.

Raazi – Patriotic Desi