Poor competition at ISS 2008

Maybe the people behing ISS 2008 are wondering why they had to have seperate prizes for the ladies and the gents. In the ladies section there is hardly any competition. Instead of running the show any further they simply can give away the award to Sonia. Gayathri seems content with second position (I believe the second prize is 100 sovereigns of gold) and is offering little or no competition.

As for the gents though Prashob did well in the Kutchery round it wasn't really the show of someone fighting for the first prize. ISS fans will recall last years' masterpiece from Thushar that left the judges crying. It was Thushar's leap to the top 5 position.

In fact last year's show was good enough till the end though everyone knew that Najim would eventually win. Last years winners and participants would also find this years competition and prizes a little hard to digest.

Meanwhile, today is Somadas's acid test as he is singing the Kutchery round. May God help him.

Another exciting thing. We just came to know a couple of weeks ago that Vivekanandan is Jaya's second cousin's son. I have a great song for Vivek to perform live on the violin but will that happen. Let me try.

ISS -2008 -Sonia sparkles, Gayathri does miserably yet judges praise her

It was a total disappointment watching a breathier Gayathri sing "Kannan varum Velai". Her voice was so muffled and so much out of tune when compared to the original. The entire performance was a disaster but I wonder why judges didn't want to tell her that. Instead they kept beating about the bush telling her she was OK, good etc.

On the other hand Sonia did extremely well singing "Oru Murai vandhu paarthaya" and though she was given an 89 I don't think she got the praise she deserved from the judges except for Usha Uthup.

The horror comes to Indian T.V now

I have been watching advertisements of "The Passion" on T.V these days that it is due to be telecast on one of the channels.

Years ago when it was released I knew what was inside this torture-fest of a film even without watching it. I wrote three elaborate reviews of the movie on Amazon.com and one about the book (that had pictures from the movie) well before the movie was to be released on DVD. I told viewers to stay away from this horrible and unreal film on Christ, an unreasonably exaggerated gory blood bath from start to finish. My reviews on Amazon.com were removed for reasons I don't know. They have a reporting feature on Amazon where people can flag reviews for removal and Amazon has the rights to remove them and they do. They were well-researched articles of the abominable film, a film that has nothing to do with the love, grace, forgiveness and spirituality that Jesus is all about. The articles were not anti-Christian or anti-Jewish either.

I had even predicated then that Mel Gibson's next movie would be on Human Sacrifice. Somehow the guy's mind has got so addicted towards cutting, maiming and killing of humans. Remember the final scenes of Bravehart where our hero is hoisted on a cross almost like Jesus. One website even tried to offer a psycological explanation saying Mel Gibson was trying to get rid of some problems of his by making such films. I had predicted that he would make a movie about the Aztecs and their human sacrifices. I was close. He did a movie on the Mayans.

Stay away from this horrible film. You and your children are much better off not watching this gory torture-fest where you only imbibe thoughts of cruelty, hatred and barbarism. Is that what Christ's birth and death were all about?

Let this post not give you an impression that I am against Christ or Christians. I am a Hindu in this lifetime of mine and I am also a believer of The Christ. Jesus did die a horrible death but it wasn't like the one Mel Gibson is exaggerating in this movie. The nobility, purpose and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ's death is missing. Many of these guys don't even understand why Jesus sacrificed his life when he could command 12 legions of Angels to his rescue. I am told that there is even a scene showing Jesus nude. Preposterous!

Another memorable song I have been searching for long, found!

Oh my God! What a trip it has been so far on YouTube. Reminding me so much of School, the 80's, Chithrahaar and Panama Geeth Maala (yes there was one to defy Binaca Geeth Maala). Here is another song I have been searching for ages.



A Suresh Wadkar, Hemlatha hit from who else, Ravindra Jain of course. The move is Paheli made in 1977.

I'll stop here with another great number, another Ravindra Jain hit, this time sung by Yeshudas from the movie "Nayya".

The incredible song from "Manzil"

I used to remember when I used to work abroad and come to India for my holidays I would somehow end up watching this movie on T.V and what a movie. Another reason to watch this movie is this incredible song by R D Burman. I prefer the Latha Mangeshkar song to the Kishore Kumar version. In fact I avoid listening to the Kishore Kumar version. Unforgettable is the video, probably one of the best videos ever from a Hindi movie. Too nostalgic and beautifully-melancholic. I have been searching for the Latha Mangeshkar version but it is rare online. Thanks to YouTube it is here in all its beauty.



I wish the uploader had only loaded the few seconds before the start of the song where Amitabh is wondering what to do in the inclement weather on his date when Moushmi tells him, "..let's go out in the rain where it will be a lot of fun." Ah! those lines, the characters and movies of the past. Where do you get them these days?

Jins does well at ISS 2008

I haven't written much about Jins though he is a good singer at the competition. However only a few performances of his had impressed me. But yesterday I thought he did well in the Kutcheri round though there were flaws. I wonder how Somadas is going to handle this round.

Jins performance is in two parts. If you wish to watch here they are.