And the Best Actor award goes to...THESE OVERRATED ACTORS of India

Yes yes...no prices for guessing,Iam gonna write about 'quite-a-big-list' of Overrated actors in India...ok lemme not waste words and go into the analysis.Here they come,

Small B/Abhishek - Big B's son and Aishwarya's husband is what comes to my mind when I think of him.So much hype,hoopla and ruckus is made whenever he's spotted with his family,especially with the "fairy" Aishwarya(pun intended...) Sure he's had his share of struggle in the industry,it took him quite a long time to taste success,but my question is 'Did filmmakers ever realise that the innumerable chances given for bachchan baby will be given to any other actor from a non-filmy family?' First he had Refugee and a series of terrible films,with awful make-up and costumes.I think he's a very very mediocre actor with too much luck.Part of it given by Maniratnam.....uffff....moving on...
Saif Ali Khan - Saifooooooooooooooo is what his girlfriend kareena aka bebo calls him.With a crazy pet name and a size zero girl by his side,Saif is easily the biggest news provider for the media.Talking about his films,ok.. he did HUM TUM (which is a direct lift of 'when harry met sally' but our bollywood badshahs will never accept),LOVE AAJ KAL (which was a kool movie),OMKARA (havent seen it but heard a lot).But all this doesnt qualify him for a national award and a Padmasri (???!!!!!) Star kids enjoy all the perks....lets get to the next one...
Akshay Kumar - Khiladi no.1,Khiladiyon ka khiladi,international khiladi...phewwwww!!! He's no khiladi in acting.Overrated to the core,with all the heroines mewwwwwling (pun intended) his pet name like "Oh Akki is so sexy,akki's so smart,akki this,akki that".Any regular indian film-goer whose seen his films and is neutral will go with me.

Lets go down to the south...

Rajinikanth - Ok...I know...all you fans out there wanna throw stones at me.That is not going to stop me from voicing my opinion.After watching Kamal Hassan,Steve Martin,George Clooney and Tom Hanks,I cant help but laugh off at all the hullabaloo created for every Rajini's film.His potential was first and last tapped by K.Balachander.K.B gave him some of the best movies until he was labelled the 'Superstar'.All I can say is,demi-god worship is not worthy for a human who is just another actor.
Vijay - If I can think of one actor sans good looks,charm,personality and talent...it can only be this guy.I dont wanna say more....
Surya -  I can hear a surya fan saying... "wow...such a disciplined guy" "wow...he dated and married the same girl""wow he's got a great dad"  There will be millions of people living like him,but this kind of illusion and hype has been created by him and his family,so much so,the other day when I watching one of the tamil TV programs,a common girl interviewing Surya says she wants a guy exactly like him...Well all I can say is "GROW UP"!!!And all this does not make him a good actor...besides,he's a terrible dancer....
Karthi - Like father,like brother.....following the same Self-propoganda method.Who also looks like his heroine's uncle.
Dhanush- Dont even wanna talk about...Just a tag attached to the Rajinikanth family.
Simbu - With a funny dad and stupid attitude,am surprised that he's even surviving in the film fraternity.His Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya was superb,but that is not enough to put him on a pedestal!!!

That's it for heroes,as far as I know,cant think of anyone else....let's shift the analysis to heroines...

Katrina Kaif - Had/Has (status known only to her...) a beneficiary Salman Khan as her boyfriend.Cant speak her lines,cant emote,cant dance....on the whole....too much hype.
Kareena Kapoor - She's a decent actress,but,unbelievably overacts.KHUSHI,MEIN PREM KI DIWANI HOON,K3G are all vivid examples.Who cares??? She's a kapoor kid.She has to be given hype.
Shriya Saran - She's one heroine whose always been given too many second chances which she doesnt deserve.The thing I hate about her is her attitude towards the language.Even after so many years in the South Indian industry,she doesnt give a damn about getting her lip movement right while speaking her lines.Unacceptable!!!
Tamannah Bhatia - Is she kareena's second cousin? third? distantly related? I wonder because she apes kareena so much while emoting.GOSH.Especially after she did the JAB WE MET remake!!! Overacting queen..The girl with a crystal clear,snow white complexion,who looks like a Russian ballet dancer "must" be widely accepted in South India.

This might be one of my longest blogs...but it doesnt stop with this...How can I? After writing so much about the overrated,it will be unfair to leave out the underrated.It's my next blog.
                     ------------------------To be continued-------------------------

Natural Excellent Self-Made,but sadly "UNDERRATED" actors...

Continuing the discussion/debate....here's a list of the most deserving actors who have been sidelined in many ways...

Kamal Hassan - If you're an avid Indian film-goer you must be thinking..."y the hell does she think that kamal is underrated?" Answer is,"Yes he's underrated or rather overshadowed in many ways" Kamal is an actor who taught me the way to admire cinema and acting.I grew up watching him and love him.Being a crazy devoted fan,and also being neutral,nobody can disagree with what I say.I always think Indian audience do not value him the way they should.I personally consider him on par with Ben Kingsley and Al Pacino who deserves more international exposure.Nobody can challenge or even come anywhere near his versatility.Like for example,be it playing the role of mentally retarded,or playing 65 at the age of 25,or a psycho villain,or an NRI,or a midget,or a cook,or a "lady",or a stuntman....OMG...this man is an epitome of talent.He has so many feathers to his cap,Like...Assistant director,choreographer,singer,producer,director...WOW!!!

Moving on...

Mohanlal - When anybody thinks of the Malayalam film industry,they talk more about Mamootty.But Mohanlal has so much charm and is a natural performer.This chubby hero has done a variety of roles and is worthy of National fame.

Prithviraj - Admit it or not....he's one of the best looking actors in the country.This mallu boy has achieved a lot in a short span of his career.But somewhere down the lane,his talent went unnoticed.

Rahul Bose - Interestingly,I havent seen much of his movies,except MR&MRS IYER.(thanks to my husband for making me see the film).This one movie spoke so much about his talent.Such a natural performer who handled the complex role of a muslim falling in love with a traditional married iyer woman.His eyes are his greatest asset,speaks a lot while emoting.Wish he could be given more opportunities in many languages.

Ok...let's finish the discussion with the leading ladies...

Konkona Sen - My most favourite actress and a natural performer.She's a firework of talent.She's not been given enough chances just because she doesnt dance around the trees wearing skimpy outfits...very unfortunate!!!

Nandita Das - Wonder what these bengali girls do to be such talented actors??? Nandita is a beautifully talented actress,who has never got the right kind of recognition.She's been sidelined in many ways.When I think of the kind of roles she does,especially her tamil films (azhagi and kannathil muthamittal),it's a shame that she's not even been considered.

Rani Mukherjee - I hated her in the early stage of her career,until recently when I saw HUMTUM,Saawariya and so many of her excellent performances.Sadly,I missed out on BLACK.But will try to catch up.Rani has been the center of media attacking ever since her friendship with Ash soured.It's sad that she's been criticised a lot on the account of her personal life.

Sneha  - No no...I dont like her smile.But she's a good and natural actress.Am neither her crazy fan nor her critic,but,I know for a fact that she has never been recognized enough for her talent.She has done some great roles in Achamundu achamundu,pirivom sandhipom,parthiban kanavu etc etc...but she's never been in the "hot list" of preferred actresses...not even once.She also knows the language.Ohhhh....tatz not a requirement!!!

Priyamani - Extremely underrated and labelled a lot by the filmy clan.Very natural performer and great in emoting....but dons the glamorous image that doesnt suit her at all.Also "unfortunate" in not having a "crystal clear,snow white" skin!!!(pun intended,again...)

You guys can share your opinions,there was nothing personal on these blogs,just my thoughts....Am not sure whether you had fun reading,but,I had a lot of fun thinking and putting down my thoughts....that's the best thing about blogging.

Miles to go....

For a moment,this looks like the title of one of my favourite sitcom's episode,in which,one of the characters does adventurous stuff out of his way....I relate a lot with him coz I crave  for adventure too,but in my own way.Like,be it watching horror movies,reading thriller books,walking in a totally desolated place like an explorer...or trying different kinds of food.All these may not sound like hardcore adventures,but they certainly give the thrills.One of the things I love to do is explore places...be it a park,an unknown route or a street.I've become more observant to intricate details lately and that adds to the excitement of exploration.

And after turning out to be an ardent follower of the TRAVEL channel here,I've made up a list of my hot favourite places to visit before the end of my lifetime....Here they are :

1. India  - yeah....my own country which I never got to explore....i mean the North-East,West and Middle parts have been untouched.I wud also love to explore places in my own Kongu Nadu.Lot of history and literary excellence has happened there.

2.Italy - I always feel Italians and Indians are interconnected.Both are traditionally rooted,have a great deal of family heritage and are big foodies.And I got to see a virtual tour of Rome in the film EAT PRAY LOVE.Julia Roberts was happily roaming around the city eating pasta,pizza and putting on hell a lot of weight!!!

3.Paris,Cannes - The first one mainly to see the Eiffel Tower and the latter one must be visited when Aishwarya Rai gets there for the film festival.I've heard and read stories about her fan following in the place.Wanna check out and pull up my sleeves ;-)

4.African Safari - One stop destination for wildlife,I must say.When I saw a show on travel channel about one of the safaris,I was spellbound....actually went almost speechless when I was googling about the cost of a safari....which you dont wanna know!!!

5.Cambodia - This place is connected to the roots of my birthplace,coz,many of our ancient kings have explored South East Asia."Prasat Angor Wat" is the historical 12th century temple located here and my explorer mind loves to visit the sanctrum sanitorium.

As I was typing,I was literally dreaming of visiting these places...dreams are what we are made of,we fantasize about them....In rustic reality,after toiling in the work for so many years,after fulfilling our responsibilities,after striving so hard to save that extra money,after yearning for retirement.....And once we get it,we like to lay back and sleep on the couch kissing good-bye to the explorer in us...!!! 

I would like to fantasize,dream,live reality...but not forget the explorer in me...

Size "0"

The other day when I was picking jeans from a store,I happened to bump into a section which read SIZE "0"...hmmm...so this is the one,for all those ultra-skinny ambitious girls who starve for months to fit into it.Crazy,i thought.The concept of becoming pencil thin and skinny is labelled as SIZE ZERO.I heard about it only when Kareena Kapoor became one while making the movie TASHAN.Which flopped miserably.Tatz another story.
Till then,I was an admirer of the bubbly and moderately slim kareena.When I saw her for the first time in Tashan,she looked like an anemia wrecked patient.Seriously that was the exact thought that crossed my mind.It dint stop with kareena,looked like she passed on the "fever" or rather spread the "size zero virus" to many other actresses.It was Rani mukherjee,Deepika padukone (who always looks like a needle...) till our very own chubby mallu girl Nayanthara.
All these girls look like nutrients in their bodies been sucked up with an air pipe.It's more like "No food for me,help!!!" .People who hate size zero will agree with me.Am quoting kareena here,who once said,"am happy being size zero,coz the whole nation is talking about it".(???) Self-propaganda at its best.To compliment and satisfy her vanity,SONY VAIO made her the brand ambassador and launched SIZE ZERO laptops.I guess some people just love to play morsing for celebrities.
I have nothing against toning the body,but trying to attach the size zero tag is just not worthy.The diet,workouts and sometimes medicine involved can put one's health at risk.Above all it's the pressure to maintain the so-called magic of size zero that surmounts everything.
Yesteryear actresses Rekha,Sridevi,Hemamalini,Madhuri and more recently Kajol did not go for any body sucking transformation and all of us have thoroughly enjoyed watching them on silver screen in the most glamorous outfits.Y is this sudden rage about wanting heroines to look like elongated drum sticks???!!!! I vote no.And if your thinking healthy,you will too.Coz burning calories is not burning one's charm...

Blame it on India...

This is written right after I read the disgusting news on Common Wealth Games,CWG,as it is called,which is going to take place in India the coming month.Firstly,when i came across the news about part of the stadium structure breaking down and that the CWG committee in India being screwed up for their facilities provided,I cudnt help but think only about the political incapability of my country.Am not picking at India,or trying to pull it down.Dint want to sugar-coat.It's a shame that a prime minister has to intervene in such issues to straighten things out.I mean,is he jobless? Am sure he has enough to do? Mrs.Dikshit,being the capital's CM,dint have the time to look into details before signing contractors?At the end of the day,whose to be blamed?
Now every international news website has been flashing news about lack of facilities in India,everybody's already been waiting for such an opportunity,to say the least.Did any of these international news channels make such a big hue and cry when Indians were attacked in Australia?Everybody has turned task-masters today,keeping an extra eye on CWG committee in India.Assumingly,it's not only the international news channels who have taken great pleasure in doing this,but our very own demi-goddesses of hindi films,amisha patel and shilpa shetty have reportedly tweeted about all this.Literally...taking a whip and shilpa tweets "wake up india" (madam...u were also in a long slumber until u married an IND-BRIT) and amisha tweets "disgusting and disgraceful by the govt".I mean who is this lady? An arm-candy walking around in tights and glossy make-up...!!!! Does she even know the total number of states in the country...??So now any Toms,Dicks and Harrys are criticizing Indian govt's carelessness.
Reporters all over have been cashing in on this news and indian govt must totally be held responsible.Y not have an open feedback ground and involve some educated citizens while planning the CWG?My next biggest concern is,can the structure be rebuilt within the next 48 hr time limit? I wonder,how...?Our VVIPs will have their safest seats,but it's the common audience,who just did the sin of buying a ticket to watch CWG,will be risking their lives.But then with so many athletes withdrawing,I wonder if the seats in the stadium will be filled at all.Our very own ministers give interviews and reassurance speeches sitting in a perfectly built air-connditioned room,which only adds pain to the agony.
It's hard to be tight lipped about certain things happening around the world,but nothing can be done by you or me.Let's atleast not bring down India(directed at indians in particular who read this...) the way some Non-Indians do,coz India is a precious country with so much history and integrity,but it's the politicians who fail to understand it.

Once upon a time....In the MEGAANNUM

Am talking about the time on earth some 65 million years ago when dinosaurs ruled.Dinos,as I like to call it,have always been our fascination.I still remember the day when I saw the blockbuster JURASSIC PARK in a theatre and came out dumb-folded.I cudnt dream in a million years that I will get a chance to even look at dinos,even on screen for that matter.Wow.What a movie.I was in my 4th grade when the movie released,but,the memory of seeing it never ceases to amaze me.I've been missing this movie for a long time,and i got to see it again recently.All the 3 versions.And I must say,I love the second part.....THE LOST WORLD.

I got to see the making of the film,which is a part of the DVD,and I was astonished by the workmanship,hardwork and team effort put in by Spielberg and his men.Kudos to them!!! My respect and admiration for CGI professionals,sculptors and sound engineers grew manifolds.Talking about Dinos,it got stuck in my head,the fact that we are living in a world,which was once filled with these dynamic huge creatures leaves me spellbound.I mean...look at the world around you,be it India or Africa dinos have been there.And I keep reading and hearing news about discoveries of dino fossils,and jus thought 'what if a real John Hammond arises with curiosity and sets up a cloning lab?' 'what will happen if dinos come back on earth again?' Ah aa no.....no way....but...Humans have created technology,landed on the moon and we are in the tech era,so who knows....We may find thousands of ways to Hunt the biggest Hunters.

The films gave me a somewhat clear picture about T.Rex,Velociraptors and Pteranodons.My best pick will be the chasing sequence in the first version,between the 2 kids and 2 raptors.It is an edge-of-the-seat sequence.So thrilling.

According to popular belief,Dinos and Humans can never co-exist.....which I do not agree totally.Coz If left undisturbed,dinos are not gonna bother us.But just like me,there are so many inquisitive humans,but on a bigger level,who always want to make the impossible possible.

'T'WITTERATTIES

My title can sound funny and look odd...but tatz the way social networking is today,sometimes funny,sometimes odd.Around 20 years ago,you (whoever is reading this) and me wud have never even dreamed that chatting and uploading photos will just be a click away.Wow.Not exactly,coz,it can pry into your privacy completely.Just like twitter.I dont have anything against it.Infact,am not even on it.
'Then who am i to judge?',that's because I've been a regular reader of TWEETS.
With twitter having 190 million monthly visitors....(how cool is that!!!) and so many celebs on it.It is easily the source of news for the media.
Twitter and celebs go hand in hand.As we all know,atleast people who read online filmy portals,know that most of the news and gossip about celebrities are fetched from twitter.
It can be anything,like for instance,in the timesofindia website,there was this link about some feud between hindi actors bipasha and priyanka.The article said that both of them had problems with each other coz they attended some designer show ,but,posted 2 different pictures of the show on their twitter pages,cutting out one and another....grow up....ALL OF U....
Another instance was when Karan Johar had issues with many followers asking him personal questions,more than personal ones about his sexuality (???), marriage and lingerie (???????).I read one of his tweets where he hit back to his followers saying that his personal life is not of anybody's concern.Well gud for you karan.keep it to urself,also stop asking silly rapid fire questions on KOFFEE WITH KARAN.phew!!!
Also when Abhishek posted some appreciative comments about Amitabh,a judgemental follower of his,came with a sword warning abhishek that amitabh is not all that great and he does not accept it.Abhishek literally wrote him off almost saying "mind ur business it's my twitter page" (well...not exactly)
Me being an admirer of bengali beauty Konkona Sen,read one of her tweets replying rudely to a follower who called her a hypocrite for complaining about the noise pollution in Mumbai during Eid/Ganesh Chathurthi....tatz India for you Mrs.Sen....
And the mighty Shobha De,passes rude remarks about movies,people and literally anything.And gets scrutinised and hit back...woman....take a break...
The one to follow Shobha De,is our very own film critic (to be precise..."a cliched critic") Rajeev Masand,who saw actor Akshay Kumar's twitter page with a photo,where he is handing over a pen to the ailing RK Laxman to draw a cartoon of his movie,where poor laxman is so fragile and ill cant even hold a pen,Masand called Akshay a "jackass" for doing publicity sans humanity.Mr.Bachchan,the angry "young" man,tweeted to warn Masand for calling akshay a jackass.
Is this a pact between media and movie stars? They got to be kidding...they say something,do something...blame it on the media...media makes the best use of it....cover stories,articles etc etc uffff.....
But on a lighter note, reading tweets is always funnnn....trust me :-) More like eavesdropping,you know your doing something wrong,but you enjoy the guilt.But dont do it always.On extremely rare occasions,its fine,as long as it's harmless.
In case you dint know,twitter maintains a dictionary for it's language,its
www.twittonary.com You oughta check out when your free....NJOY TWEEPLE!!!!

Desi Videshi

VIDESHI.....When I looked up for itz meaning in our very own search engine "google",the engine that has been run and operated by millions worldwide from a top notch scientist to a college professor,from a software guy to a 6th grade school student...the engine when set the inputs and ignited gives pages and pages of information about anything and everything,sometimes makes me wonder....Can I really call myself WELL-READ???? Am in front of the homepage of a search engine which is literally the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EVERYTHING....to say the least....and I dont even know 1/100th of the information displayed...So the very same engine showed me that "videshi" is "FOREIGN" as opposed to "Desi" which meant "LOCAL".....
Desi Local Videshi Foreign are the words that have been ringing in my ears constantly right from April 22,2009....the day I landed in "THE COUNTRY OF OPPORTUNITIES" "LAND OF DREAMS" but for you and me.....itz US or America....When I set foot in this country,I was amazed by it's infrastructure...clean roads...beautiful greenery....lovely houses.....excellent shopping centers.....cars all over....the independence....people's "i care a damn abt ur business" attitude.....clean and tasty fresh water right from the kitchen tap....well-organised kitchen....gas in the stove for 24 hrs....shopping malls....strangers who smile and make my day.....and above all....the respect that Americans have on DESIs......
Till then,till you undergo a personality transformation,till you undergo an attitude change.....u will be an HARDCORE DESI.....But then,as the hands of time keep revolving and ticking.....CHANGE comes....This stranger is always a part of our lives.....whether we like it or not...especially we Indians we Desis do not accept strangers into our lives with open arms....We are so much rooted to our "traditions" "customs" "family heritage" "lifestyle" that we cannot think of accomodating changes....The CHANGE am talking about, is not the place or the breakfast or the timezone....itz about the "attitude" and being "open-minded"....
When in India....I was never used to eating breafast....I ate lunch as early as 10.00 am.....and being brought up in a "quite" conservative household....my mom is very particular about certain things that a girl has to do in the mornings....Be it taking shower before touching the food or praying before doing anything in the day or not going near my mother when she's doing her morning poojai wearing her own set of "spiritual clothes".....it was different....but....I dint complain much....
Until....I welcomed the stranger in my life and underwent an almost complete personality transformation.....I started loving the stranger.....living with it....implementing it in all my thoughts and approach.....admiring the great role it plays in everybody's lives.....to an extent ....in my life too.....for my family and known people....i've become DESI TO VIDESHI....."changed" from LOCAL TO FOREIGN....
This hit my mind....at a certain point of time.....I had a big block.....lot of unanswered questions running in my mind.....HAVE I "CHANGED" FOR THE BETTER? HAVE I DONE A MISTAKE? MAYBE THEY ARE RIGHT....HAVE I TURNED OUT TO BE A TOTAL VIDESHI? WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES GOING TO BE LIKE? To be honest....I LOVED IT.....
The fact that i've started eating cereals or bread for breakfast....
The fact that am wearing only pants and trousers most of the time...
The fact that I luv STARBUCKS coffee.....
The fact that I luv English Films more than any other movies in the world....
The fact that I luv the Metro Rail and Bus system in US....
The fact that I've become a total computer freak....
The fact that WIKIPEDIA and GOOGLE are such powerful source of information...which i realised only after cming to US....
The fact that I started doing my own make-up and my eyebrows....
The fact that I dont mind letting my hair fall on my face just because someone on the road or in the bus is staring at me.....
The fact that I can cook 2-3 recipes at the same time...and am the queen in my kitchen....
The fact that I've become more open towards certain topics which are completely shunned away by desi parents....
The fact that I've become more open to topics like Gay marriage and Live-in relationships....
The fact that I dont really care when people give me odd looks...
The fact that I dont have 100 thoughts (whose gonna say wat or comment) before putting on a CAPRI or a designer wear....or even a lipstick
ANNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDDDDD
The fact that when our American Friend Kathleen says accolades about Taj Mahal,Sambar,Pattu Saree,Mahabalipuram Temple and India.....my heart is filled with pride and joy....
The fact that my 80-year old neighbour Emma,has such great respect and regards for Indians and says that "Indians are the most educated and they shine in technology"....makes me want to jump up to the sky.....
So....For all those unanswered questions in my mind.....I jus had one answer....
I AM A DESI-VIDESHI.....
However "videshi" I maybe in my thoughts....in my lifestyle...or approach....My roots are DESI....After all.....I lived 25 years of my life in a country which has taught me moral values,discipline,culture,tradition and family heritage.....without all I would have never found my husband,got married and travelled in the fixed-wing aircraft to a completely new world.....

So guys.....WELCOME CHANGE :-)