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Aranmanai Siruvayalil is a play sponsored by Seattle Tamil Sangam on the account of Pongal celebrations at Seattle. Though Pongal completed a week back, on Sunday Jan 29th, this play will be staged in Sammamish High School, where the Gujus play Dandia during Dussehra.

Incidentally there are two bloggers out here, who are playing a role in this play. A long time blogger Swami and his wife Lakshmi are the bloggers who are playing play roles in Aranmanai Siruvayalil. Both of them have prior experience in stage plays, given their experience in staging S. Ve. Shekar’s Thattupillai, and acting alongwith him. If you are around Seattle, do take a spin.

I’m going nuts over NPR. National Public Radio as its alternatively called, NPR is one of the finest resource of un-biased news, told in the most interesting way. Though I was aware that such a thing exists, its only a couple of months back I discovered the profoundness of news stories in NPR.

One of the programs that I get to listen everyday is The Market Place, produced by the American Public Media. The core team of Market Place team is currently visiting China and for the last couple of weeks they have been reporting on the Chinese market culture. Though I have read at least one book on Chinese Market and its culture, these reports that come-in through Market Place team has provided some fine insight into Chinese market behavior and prevailing situation in their market. It’s a treasure. And I loved every inch of it.

If you live somewhere in the USA, NPR is a must-listen. And its probably the only news source thats enough to keep you ahead without causing an information overload. This blog alongwith other numerous blogs and news sites, is adding to the information overload on every single individual reading it.

Ezhai Dhinam Dhinam Sirikanum
Oru Pidi Soru, Avanukku Kidaikanum
Maayam Vilakanum
Arasiyal Saayam Velukanum

Medai Pechum
Vaarthai Veechum Enn !!
Theemai Engey
Thedi theerpom Vaa !!

Sathyaa. One of those rare films, dropped by the us(Tamilians), in the box-office. How crazy can we get ? From Sathyaa to Mahanadhi to Hey Ram to Anbe Sivam, we owe Kamal Hassan more than what we can comprehend.

Raja Sen writes an amazing ode to the copycats, especially to Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay known for shot-by-shot unauthorized remake of hollywood films in Hindi, is on the hot seat. His recent flick, Zinda seems to be an outright rip-off from famous Korean flick, Oldboy.

I read about Oldboy on Hemanth’s Instant Kaapi. Someone had commented there about Sanjay Gupta re-making Oldboy as Zinda. Seems like this has come to the limelight, finally. Even if Sanjay Gupta originally concieves a film, the next time, people would be trying hard to find a similar match from the hollywood world.

This one is a well rounded column. A must read. From the column, Why I won’t watch Zinda[Via - Sunny] –

Cinema belongs to no one, Mr Gupta, and when we watch a film that excites us, we want to share. There is a school of thought which actually says that you are being altruistic, by remaking films most Indians have never seen, and ‘bringing them good cinema.’ I disagree vehemently. When Tarantino is thrilled by something like Iron Monkey, he doesn’t make a version of it himself, he just makes sure enough people in the US know about it when he re-releases it.

It would be incredible if you pioneered such efforts here in India, ensuring people get to see quirky, incredible, violent, earth-shattering films in theatres, instead of just the standard Hollywood popcorn fare. Get Sanju to redub them in his groovy voice, have rocking press-conferences, talk about why the movie is so special. Fans will freak out. I’ll wear a ‘Sanjay Gupta Rocks’ t-shirt, I swear.

[Source - Madras Talkies. Via - Brijesh]

There is this relatively old rumor[a month old] that Mani Ratnam‘s latest flick will be a Bollywood film with Aamir Khan.

Few days back, they let the cat more or less out of the bag that Mani is looking to direct another bollywood flick with Abhishek, Aish and ‘Parineeta’ Vidya Balan.

So what’s the movie name? GURU. Yeah, more or less[in Times of India tone], its Guru. Is that why my collar seems to be perpetually raised, since then ?

P.S – Its a surprise to see the image of Mani Ratnam on Madras Talkies site. Its probably the first time, I see Mani indulging in such a self-promotion. Either Yuva must be spotted in some recent film festival or, I’m guessing, some webmaster who is an ardent fan like Guru[yeah, this is me] put up Mani’s photo on the homepage.

Mr.Mani , If you are reading this, can you ask that webmaster to send me a bigger image with better resolution. I need an image like this to be hosted at maniratnamfilms.com.