Amelie !!!

Hi everyone !

I saw this french movie 'Amelie' last weekend. ( with subtitles ofcourse ! ).This movie was absolutely delightful and a joy to watch! This post is not a review of the movie , but to tell you all to not miss this one, if you can lay hands on it. It is very original , warm and funny and it will leave you with a big smile on your face .It will even teach you how to appreciate life more . The actress whos played Amelie, Audrey Tatou wow !!! You will fall in love with Amelie in the movie !

This movie has currently made it to the No 2 spot in my list of most loved movies .(In my English movies list)

The No 1 spot is occupied by the 'Before Sunrise' and 'Before Sunset' combo!

Jallikattu

This is an article that i wrote in January 2008.

A couple of my friends asked me what is the cruelty that the bull is subjected to in jallikattu? And why shouldn't it be conducted? Here are my answers and arguments.

The cruelty to animals :

The Bull is made to drink alcohol , chilli powder is rubbed on its eyes and genitals to make it ferocious, it runs crazed with pain and fear among the crowd. On ndtv today ' Not much changed with cruelty to the bulls. Bull tamers pulled the animals by the tail and many treated the bulls just like a football and officials did nothing to stop this.'

For the people?

Today's news says 'At least 129 people were gored by rampaging bulls'.Jallikattu bulls are owned by rich landlords who let the animals lose on the poor villagers. Their sons do not join in. Then, how many educated villagers take part? None. It is the poor and disposable villagers who take on the bulls in the hope of earning some money.Villagers need education and jobs, not jallikattu which merely keeps them backward

Culture and bravery?

Jallikattu belongs to a Paleolithic period when man fought animals with bare hands as he tried to domesticate them. True, it has probably been practiced for a long time. But neither history nor culture is static.Man must evolve from one stage to a higher one. The modern-day jallikattu is a farce, a commercial venture. Where is bravery in a violent mob harassing an animal? Can cruelty be condoned in the name of entertainment and sport? This is not Tamil culture .We ought to feel ashamed.

My opinion:

The Supreme Court had taken a bold decision in refusing to allow jallikattu.It was not surprising that the ban was followed by wide spread protests and resentment by the villagers. It is a major event and has been a source of entertainment for them . But Doesn't our chief minister know what is good for the state? Him sending a team to delhi to file a review petion can best be seen as a vote-bank politics to appease a segment of people .Their argument that they would take all the 'safety measures and precautionary steps' holds no water. Where were their safety measures if 130 people were injured yesterday ? And the famous Alanaganallur jalliikattu would be going on right now, today. Wonder how many will get injured? It is impossible to hold a sport of this nature and magnitude without harm to human and animal life. The SC , under the threat and pressure of the state government had no other go but to relax the ban. While the ruling DMK has played it safe, for thousands of bulls in the state it has been another season of trauma.

( Other than the 'My opinion' part, the rest is compiled from various articles from the Hindu )
Thiruvalluvar, in 200 B.C., who said "Diverse are the teachings of the religions of the world, but in all will be found that compassion is that which gives men spiritual deliverance.'

Important

Please have a look at this comprehensive report on Jallikattu, which was presented in the Supreme Court in the following link :

www.scribd.com/doc/6659313/Jallikattu-Report orhttp://www.pfachennai.org/docs/JALLIKATTU(BULL%20FIGHT)-REPORT.pdf

This report was prepared by my friend and animal welfare activist J.Pragadeeshwaran, whom i currently work for .Below is a section from the report that provides an observation on the image at the top of this post:

A close observation of the above image taken at a Jallikattu event clearly shows the following:At a single point of time:

• A huge crowd pulls the neck of the bull with a rope towards the front direction. Thesudden pull with huge force cuts the throat of the bull.
• Its tail is twisted and pulled harshly towards the left direction.B
• oth its hind legs are lifted and pulled towards back direction to immobilize the animal.
• A group of people jump on its hump. To get a grip on the running animal people use theirsharp finger nails to hold the body of the bull resulting in bruises all over the animal’sbody
• Another group pulls its horn. People attack the animal with non stop blows

Can an animal be subjected to more cruelty than this?
The animal suffers with extreme pain because at a single point of time its body, limbs, tail and
horn are pulled in multiple directions, scratched with nails and thrashed to the ground by the
huge angry mob.

Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu Review

This review might come a bit late , but i felt like writing it. This movie is what happens, when u cross successful sports movies with a heart like Chak de ,Lagaan with the recent crop of movies that depict rural village life realisticly. And the debutant director has more than enough talent to pull it off successfully. Well does he ? Almost, untill the climax , that leaves you wondering 'wat was the director possibly thinking '? If it were not for that one mistake, we would have had a sure winner !! Theres one trend that ive noticed in our tamil movies . Why do even very good directors think they need a dramatic,tragic end( read 'someone dies' ending) for their movies ? Examples are

Kalloori - a truly wonderful movie, but i would have been happy if the director dint go in for a 'ending' but just left the movie as it is .

Paruthiveeran - I still havent seen this movie but i heard the ending is so very tragic.

Veyil - Is Pasupathi dying the only way for his father to learn his lesson?

Pattalam- Please dont watch this movie, but it has one of the worst endings you can think of , for a movie for and with school kids.

Positives

• Another refreshing film that transports you to the rural heart of TamilNadu ,Kanakkanpatti near Pazhani to be exact :). You get to see their lives,their thiruvizhas and ofcourse their 'Kabadi'
• Good characterisation of the entire cast ( except the hero, surpisingly ).
• All the characters look their part. No lighting , makeup or camera angles to gloass them up. They are so raw and believable.
• I would say the characters that truly livened up the movie were the pencil thin guy with a ravenous appetite :) and appukutty. The mill owner and the coach had also performed well. Saranya Mohan was cute. But the hero Muthu , sorry ,not much acting there. He looked the part, but thats about it. Anyway my favourite 'Muthu' will always be Kalloori's hero (Akhil).
• The humour thats part of the screenplay .
• The two songs "Pada Pada' and 'Lesa Parakudhu'

Negatives

• The climax !! Undoubtedly ! Cant forgive the director for this one.
• Editing could have been better. In the first half, too much emphasis on the romance, both the duets closely placed, etc
• The small characters in the movie have not acted well.

Verdict

• Its a very good enjoyable game, that you should go for , but the game is lost in the end !

Hoping for good movies to come from this promising director , Susindran .