I’m not a targeted viewer for the Hunger Games movie. Yet I decided to watch it on the opening weekend and it was as expected, not very interesting. Having read a couple of similar game-of-death books and even watched a very comparable movie back in the day, to me, hunger games is a missed opportunity. It is very obvious that the producers decided to reduce a violent hungry movie into a PG 13 to laugh their way to the bank and it seems like ‘the odds are ever in their favor’. In that process they killed the possibility to make it into a spine-chilling thriller.

Here is how the screenwriter’s palette looked like – a dystopian post-apocalyptic world, an emotional family sub-plot, worker class revolution, gothic political rulers, game-of-death, a forest where every inch is monitored through video cameras and ofcouse designed-on-demand AutoCAD wild animals. The movie’s payback does not match the build-up to it. Mel Gibson would have aced through a story like this, just like how he managed to pull-off an apocalypto.

I was actually bought into the movie during the first 20 minutes and then as they delayed and delayed the start of the game, it seemed to me like they were going in for a kill but what do I know, just read the first line of the post again.

Not a big fan of calling out birthdays and such. But it has been ten years since this and 35 altogether. So much has changed and to that note so much has not changed. As in corporate speak, let’s do some high level numbers -

From and including: Monday, March 21, 1977
To, but not including : Wednesday, March 21, 2012

It is 12,784 days from the start date to the end date, but not including the end date
Or 35 years excluding the end date

Alternative time units –
12,784 days
1,104,537,600 seconds
18,408,960 minutes
306,816 hours
1826 weeks (rounded down)

[from: sunil's cove | original story ]

Thanks for all great moments of cricketing joy and ofcourse this innings that one could never forget.

[ Image: Vikatan]

Shankar talks about the Enthiran that could have been and shares a sneak peak here in Vikatan.

18. இதை வாசகருக்கும் எழுத்தாளருக்கும் உள்ள ஏற்பாடு என்று சொல்லலாமா?

ஒரு நட்பு என்று சொல்லலாம். ஒரு வாசகர் தனக்கு பிடித்தமான எழுத்தாளரை ஒரு நண்பரைப்போல் தேர்ந்தெடுக்கிறார். காரணம், அவர் எழுதுவது இவருக்கு புரிகிறது. கதையின் எதோ ஒரு பகுதியை வாசகரால் தன் மனத்தில் மீண்டும் வாழ முடிகிறது. அந்த எழுத்தாளர் அந்த வாசகரின் வாழ்வின் குறையை ஏதோ ஒரு விதத்தில் நிரப்புகிறார்.

19. அதற்குக் கதை புரியவேண்டும் அல்லவா?

ஆம். கதை வாசகருக்கு புரியவேண்டியதை மிக முக்கியமாக கருதுபவன் நான்.

20. சிலர் புரியாமலேயே கதை எழுதுகிறார்களே?

அவர்களைப் —- — ——.

- சுஜாதா [சிறுகதை: அடிக்கடி கேட்கப்படும் கேள்விகள், 1998.] [தொகுப்பு: கடவுள்களின் பள்ளத்தாக்கு]