‘Willi’ Wonka: Mozzarella, Chennai and Fika
Renowned Chef, Willi Wilson, sits with us for a cup of coffee at his new café, Fika, to talk about Chennai, the Asian art of living, staying away from family and more
Journalism
Alwarpet’s Five rupee Annachi
Multi-millionaire Ganesan, who serves lunches for five rupees at his tea stall, believes that the rags-to-riches story of his life could serve as the plot of a super-hit movie
“Looking closer, with misty eyes”
“LOOKING CLOSER, WITH MISTY EYES” – By Bhuvanesh Chandar. HOW ILL-FATED IS FATE? – The juxtaposition THE COSMIC TOUCH! PERFECTLY USED CROSS-CUTTING! THE WHAT-IF THE BEAUTIFUL PREM KUMAR! FRAMES, LIKE NECTAR 96 – THE EXPERIENCE [ SPOILERS ALERT!] HOW ILL-FATED IS FATE? – The juxtaposition: After almost 22 years of leaving his hometown, his home, his friends, his school and his love of life, due to his father’s debt issue, and after years of finding brief solaces in his favourite Salon shop (due to dejection caused by things as simple as coming across a bus that travels to his hometown) and finding comfort in his travelling trips, after exhausting journeys to memory lanes where Jaanu resides, Ram finally travels again to Thanjavur, along with his student, Prabha. He shows her around his hometown with such passion, engulfed in the obvious scent of Nostalgia. “Enga oor oda pazhaya busstand’u, echi oorum bakery, enga oor ku modhal la vandha mall”, and hesitatingly “Indha theru orathula dhan enga veedu“. “Shall I stop near your house?” Prabha, who is driving the car, asks and he reluctantly says “Illa yaarachum paatha kepaanga, pesanum“. I, who watching this movie for the 2nd time, couldn’t help, but gulp the lump in my throat. The thought that “Oh how would they react and what would they talk, when they see this boy, who along with his family ran away from the town 22 years ago due to debt?” seems to be running in his mind. How difficult it should be to not be able to go back and talk to his neighbours, and the only place he doesn’t hesitate to go and visit, is his school. There, amidst the smell of chalk powder, old wooden benches and the taste of nectar from Ixora flowers (Vedchi poo), he will always be K. Ramachandran – 10 C. THE COSMIC TOUCH! It felt so beautiful to notice that, after missing Jaanu for over a week, he grazes her bench in the classroom with his fingers, before settling in his place. And in the present day when he visits the school, Ram sits in Jaanu’s place first before sitting in his place. Even Jaanu, after finishing her 12th standard, and after 2 years of Ram desolating her, goes to their 10th grade classroom and she sits in Ram’s place and rests her head in dejection. It’s almost as if there’s a song playing in that universe, celebrating these cosmic physical touches between these two souls. PERFECTLY USED CROSS-CUTTING! Another beautiful moment was when Director Prem Kumar decided to use simultaneity editing technique (cross cutting) when Jaanu realises that Ram has also come for the reunion and walks towards him. She is nervous, excited and confused as she is going to meet him after all these years. It cuts back and forth to a young Jaanu going back to school after a vacation, only to find that the love of her life has deserted her – at least that’s what she thought. There’s a beautiful contrast that is exhibited, in this way of storytelling – the high school Jaanu unexpectedly loses her Ram for a lot of years, and the present day Jaanu, unexpectedly goes on a journey with him for a night and loses him again. THE WHAT-IF: Life always seems to revolve around what-Ifs. Insecurities, goals, dreams, experiences, relationships – everything tends to have what-ifs in them or sometimes they are started because of what-ifs. Probably the most beautiful and heart breaking moment in the movie was when Jaanu takes Ram in a what-if ride while reciting a tale to his students as to how Ram proposed Jaanu in her college. The collateral beauty in that scene was too much to handle. I wished that What-if was a what-is. THE BEAUTIFUL PREM KUMAR: Another thing which I loved about the screenwriting is that, Prem, as a writer, doesn’t leave us hanging there when it comes to the future of Ram. There are subtle signs all over the movie that his student, Prabha, is actually interested in him. Remember that Jaanu tells him that she wants to meet his future wife and tell her that she has to take real care of him, and that she would never ever get a guy like Ram. And we also come to know that this is what Prabha tells Jaanu, when she mistakes her as Ram’s wife. This is not conclusive, yet not vague too. It gives us hope that there might be something to look forward in the life of Ram too. Dialogues such as — “Aambala naatukattai. Yaaruku dhan unna pidikadhu”, “seekram kalyanam panniko, un pasangala naan paakanum”, “yen naan K Ramachandran ah love pannitu, Saravanan ah kalyanam pannikala?” and the very fact that Jaanu is happily married and has kids, would have, hopefully, brought a change in Ram. After all, “Jaanu solli Ram kekkaama irupaana?” (Would Ram ever disobey ‘his’ Jaanu?) FRAMES, LIKE NECTAR: 96 was an experience. Cinematography surely played an major role in creating this experience. I noticed that there was a lot of symmetrical framing, and in most of them, there’s a line, imaginary or not, that divided Jaanu and Ram – whether it was the shot at the last day in school when they talk alone, or the shot when they are standing outside their classroom, or when they take a walk over that bridge, or when they travel in metro, and even in the last scene when they are at the airport before Jaanu boards her plane, you can see a line between them. Subhashini and Murali should be relieved that neither of them crossed that line! I’m waiting for the Blu-ray release of the film so that I can show you all the beautiful frames in the film and talk about the cinematography in detail. Congratulations Shanmuga Sundaram and Prem kumar! 96 – THE EXPERIENCE: I watched the movie twice and I’m still not out of the world of Jaanu and Ram. I can still feel Ram and
Can we be F.R.I.E.N.D.S?
Can we really be F.R.I.E.N.D.S? Much like every other Friends-a-holic, I started fantasising and comparing me and my friends to each of the characters from the superhit sit-com, right from the time I fell in love with the six of them. I would behave like Joey/Chandler and I’d pretend that my friends were all those characters, who had some similar character trait. I even fantasied how it would be if I had such a group of people in my life. I am sure all of you did that and If you have one such group, I am really happy for you. But giving it a much deeper thought, I asked myself, “Are we out of our minds!??”. Did we really compare ourselves to them? Okay so, for a second let’s step out of reality and go into this fictional world. Well people, to us it may just be 256 episodes of a sitcom, but for the characters in the show, in their world, it’s about 3650 days at the least. All 6 of them were together for more than 10 years and some of them had relationships with some others right from highschool or from kindergarden. But even so, if we live in their world, Can ‘we’ really be F.R.I.E.N.D.S? Okay, Think about this – How many of you people accepted your friends as however they’re – With all their strengths, weaknesses, egos, insecurities, decisions and heart breaks? How many of you would’nt judge or bitch about a friend who had a very bad break up or a divorce, because he said the wrong name in the altar or because his wife realised that she was a homosexual and not a heterosexual? How many of you would’ve still chosen to be friends with a person like Joey, who mistook your offer for a lemonade as an offer for sex, in your first meeting? Well, would you have at least been in any equation with a guy who sleeps around and not call any of his dates, even when that date maybe a person you know? Would you have been there for your friend who just ran away from her wedding altar and would you have taken any initiative to help her find her own foot? But yes, Monica was there for Rachel. How many of you people would have been friends (at the least) with a person who once ridiculed you for being fat or for being a loner? or with someone who accidentally cut your toe and because of which you were called “Sir-Limps-a-lot” ? Would you even think of being friends with someone like Rachel who has a very unstable relationship with your brother and who flew all the way to London to express her feelings for Ross just before his marriage, knowing very well that it might destroy the wedding? She even encouraged Bonnie to shave her head so that it might create some disturbance in Bonnie’s relationship with Ross. Imagine being a Joey when Chandler kissed Kathy or imagine being a Chandler when Joey asks him to get into a wooden box as a punishment. I don’t really see myself having any friend like Chandler, who would pay me money endlessly for all my needs, without complaining or even hesitating, and also when he fully knows that I don’t take up my job as an actor very seriously. No friend would do that, but hey maybe that’s one of the reasons why they’re BEST BUDS, which we may never be. And hey if I were Ross, and if I found out that it was Phoebe who mugged me as a kid, you’d have seen a “Ross sized hole in Central Perk’s door” I really don’t know what I’d do if I fell in love with my best friend who just had a kid with another best of my mine. I could go on and on like this, taking examples from every episode and even if we all could do all those things, yet we may never be like them. Just visualise this – Take away all those jokes, the audience laughter, the hanging out sessions and the different relationship scenarios and what’s left is a group of friends with very sad lives. Ross, with his failed marriages and his amazing flirting skills. Chandler, with his bad childhood, his commitment issues and the fact that everyone thinks he is gay. Monica, with all the fat shaming she had to endure, a constantly criticising mother and irregular romantic relationships. Rachel, a Daddy’s little princess, who transforms into an independent women and battles with career choices, and personal relationships. Joey, with his poor acting career, his responsibilities as a brother to his seven sisters and with dating women who eat his fries ( Ughh!!). Phoebe, well….everything? – About which she gladly jokes about. These are people like you and me, but “no one told us life CAN be this way” and so they entered our lives and our hearts, and they’re always there for us. May be that was the whole point – “We may never be like them but we can be much more than what we are” This show was there for us even when we were as alone as even Mr Heckles never was. This show was there for us when we had anxiety issues, anger issues, relationship issues, career issues and the times when we wanted to strangle all humanity and live in a planet far away from the earth. This show was there for you because, “Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s D.O.A. It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear and it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year” And I think it is because we always desire to have such friends in our life and deep down we know that it may not be possible ever in our reality but yet we still cannot avoid that teeny bit
From Letters, Stories and Memories, to Molaga Bajji and more…
Maybe having “Molaga Bajji” with a sip of “Kaapi” in between the bites is too old school for you. Maybe doing that when it’s pouring heavily outside and when Ilayaraja is trying to take you to cloud nine with ‘Raja Raja cholan’, is indeed too cliché a thing for you. That wasn’t the case a few years ago but I do understand that people have overdone it and that it doesn’t interest you any more. But somehow I feel our generation is missing out a lot as they try to hide away from indulging in a lot of things which, the masses consider as “cliché” Maybe a scene with a male protagonist posting a letter to the female lead is too overdone according to you, but when was the last time you wrote a handwritten letter to someone? To someone who need not necessarily be your romantic partner. I bet that most of you are thinking about the answer Katradhu Tamizh Karunas gave about the same, but seriously do think about it again. If not before, just write a letter filled with positivity and love, and send it anonymously to someone who is super close to you and to that person, whom you feel will be able to guess you using the hints you’ve dropped in the letter. At the end of the letter, just ask them to give some hint acknowledging the receipt; for example, ask them to upload a Batman Whatsapp DP for a day. Do share with me how you felt after it. I’ve done it a few times and neither did I nor the people I sent it, ever talk about the letters. Neither Sarahah nor Whatsapp or Gmail ever gave me such an experience. Apart from all the novels you read how many of you’ve relished the art of hearing someone recite stories? Yesteryear teens had their grandparents reciting stories to them but because of the change in the composition of a family, we don’t get such exposures as we live in this new “Nuclear families” set up. But whenever you get some free time, do go to the story telling open mics and participate in it. If you and your buddies are too bored, fix a time period, let’s say, a week, to write stories and later meet up in some beach after that week and share your stories. Robin Williams wasn’t wrong in the ‘Dead Poet’s society’, my friends. There have been a plenty of jokes about the scene in Autograph when Cheran travels back to his hometown and relives his childhood memories. But how many people actually went back to all the places they lived in, to collect back the scattered memories and to relive their life one more time? Sounds like a melodramatic one is it? Do it once and you will understand that any drama involved is just a magnifying image of your own reality. It’s fun to write about Dejavu and Nostalgia in the social media, but experiencing it is yet another story. Travelling and exploring about yourself can sometimes be about taking your old diaries, your old photo albums and travelling back in time. There are plenty of things we are missing out on and for that, for this one time, I’d like to lean upon the side which says that too much of indulgence into the digital world is not so good for ourselves. From outdoor games, to foods, to relationships, to socialising, we have grown up but we’ve left a lot too. I’ll add up more to this list in the future. Now that you’ve read this, what matters is what are you going to do about it?
Na Muthukumar – Return If Possible
“இன்னும் ஒரு இரவு” என்னும் பாடலில், இன்னும் ஒரு இரவை தேடி அலைந்து, “வழிப்போக்கனும் வருவான் போவான், வழிகள் எங்கும் போவதில்லை” என்று கூறிய கவிஞன் நீ, அதே போல ஒரு வழிப்போக்கனின் பார்வையிலிருந்து “வழிப்போக்கனின் வாழ்விலே நிழலாக வருகிறாய் நான் கேட்கும் முன்னமே இளைப்பாற தருகிறாய் தருகிறாய்……… நீ இளைப்பாறல் முடிந்ததும் போதும் போ என்கிறாய் புலனைந்தையும் கொல்கிறாய் கொல்கிறாய் நீ…” என்று காதல் பாடினாய். இன்று நீயும் ஒரு வழிப்போக்கனாய், கண் காணாத இடத்திற்குச் சென்று, வழி தொலைந்து விட்டு என்றோ ஒரு நாள், வந்த வழியை பிடித்து திரும்பி வருவாய் என்று நம்புகிறேன். அது வரை, உன் வரிகளில் வழியைத் தேடி யாவரும் ஒரு வழிப்போக்கனாக பயணிப்போம். #ReturnIfPossible #NaMuthukumar
Taramani
“Motta thalaikum mozhankaalukum mudichi podradhu” A work of art need not be politically correct. Many a people would’ve felt like the story had lots of flaws but the way I see it, with what Ram states in every interview, a work of art is indeed one person’s truth being conveyed in different forms and the story is just a document of that person’s truth – It need not be politically correct to everyone. What impressed me a lot is how honestly he has depicted even these small incorrectness and thereby further proving his strong point. Taramani is more of an ‘account of the events’ that happen in the lives of the characters, which touch upon certain issues that the plot encounters. Yes, Ram did not give any direct conclusion about any of the issues he touched upon nor did he dive into each of them and preach which was right or wrong. The dialogue in the film “Unakku advice panna naan yaaru?” is what he states too regarding this. How these issues affect the “love” story (or how he states – A story about love) is just what is being conveyed and the voiceovers of Ram stating us as to what to expect next after every juncture itself acts as an evidence to this. I feel that right from the 1st word he penned down for this script, Ram would’ve been very clear with what he wanted to convey in this film. The well written characters fleshed out so beautifully and the actors have played an applaudable job. Maybe some people might feel that the metaphors shown in the film could’ve been made a bit more subtle but nevertheless they did make a huge impact. Contrary to most of the online reviews, I loved Director Ram’s voiceovers. With gripping background scores and perfectly curated cinematography keeping us engaged to the sequences, Taramani was indeed a TARAMani Ending this with what he said about Taramani in an interview, “You will either hate this movie or love this movie but you won’t be disappointed and you won’t neglect this movie”. Hopefully.
Where was “The Nolan Factor” in Dunkirk?
We have seen enough number of movies about war/ relating to a war. I would bet that when I said “War“, you are already thinking about those massive introduction sequences, thrilling shooting scenes between the protagonist and the enemy ( like, Behind the enemy lines), bombs exploding all over and the protagonist running amidst them (Ex: Forrest Gump, Avatar, etc) scenes, the comebacks, the political twists behind the war and emotional conversations between a dying soldier and a lead character. But Dunkirk has no such scenes and Nolan was crystal clear with his approach towards what he wanted the audience to experience. When we’re talking about a real story which was documented in history, the information available is in abundance and a usual movie writer would’ve made his imagination run amok and create something out of the available. This is exactly where Nolan stood out. Purely for understanding purposes, if we take Hey Ram, Kamal haasan was clear with where his imagination should take over and where the actual facts should be highlighted. He knew what to show in it and had a clear timeline fixed to the script which circled around a particular incident and a time period in History. When we are talking about War Heroes, Commanders and Officers, one would create some spin chilling conversations between the characters ( like in Inglorious Basterds, a masterpiece of Tarantino), but Dunkirk has very minimal, yet very effective and strong dialogues. If all the above mentioned is unavailable in Dunkirk then where did the movie succeed? And the answer to that is the magic of Christopher Nolan. Without any of the above, he has managed to teleport us into the war zone, so much so that it suffocates to us when the soldiers in the movie struggle and it gives us a smile when something positive happens to them. Brilliant cinematography is another key aspect which gave a supporting hand to this magnificent writing. It was a sheer joy to see how the characters, which had no proper introduction or shared screen space, fleshed out eventually to the level that was perfectly required for the setting, only through their activities during the proceedings and the performance of the actors If Christopher Nolan is the magician to this Act called “Dunkirk”, then Hans Zimmer is the Prestige. It is safe to say that without Hans Zimmer’s scores, this movie would’ve lacked any impact and without the visuals and the writing, the background scores would’ve felt just like some alternative tunes to The Dark Knight Joker theme. It was a dual act which was executed to it’s very best. Handling stories which have morality as the base concept seems to be too easy for Nolan and we’re already ready to travel in this honest, painful wave filled of hope, a few more times. Let’s travel together into this emotional, intense, knee jerking portal and live as British/French soldiers for a solid 2 hours. Let’s experience a historical moment from the World War 2 from the eyes of a soldier
Sully: Kelly Sullenbeger
On 15th January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 which, three minutes after take-off from New York City’s LaGuardia, struck a flock of Canada Geese just northeast of the George Washington Bridge and consequently lost all engine power. Unable to reach any airport, pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River off midtown Manhattan. All 155 people aboard were rescued by nearby boats and there were few serious injuries. It was reported that immediately after the bird strike, Captain Sullenberger contacted the Air Controllers and obtained permission to land in the Teleboro Airport as he felt it was impossible to land back at LaGuardia airport as the altitude was very low. But unfortunately Captain felt that the altitude was very low to land it in Teleboro Airport too and hence decided to land it in the Hudson River. This incident was called as the “Miracle of the Hudson” and “The most successful ditching in the Aviation history”. A investigation was made on the incident and later on it was concluded that landing in the Hudson River was the best option that the Captain had to save the 155 passengers on-board. This incident propelled Captain Chesley Sullenberger to national fame. A Movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, was made on this incident [ Sully(2016) ]. Amongst the lot of emotions that was running in my mind after watching the movie, I really wanted to know about the emotions that Kelly and Kate, the 2 daughters of Chesley Sullenberger, would have had in those days of turmoil after that life changing event, when they had to face some events that no one ever imagined would happen. It is hard to replicate the feelings of a person whom i hardly know and who’s miles away from me. So I tried to collect as many information, it was possible to collect through the internet, and give a near perfect culmination about the emotion that was going through in the minds of Kelly Sullenberger. I read blog posts posted by other people who knew Kelly,and her neighbour; I stalked their Instagram and Facebook accounts to find something which would help me write this. So every detailing i have done is very precise to an extent, like the sense of humour of her sister Kate or the fact that her most memorable family outing was to the Disney Land. So let me tell you that this just an imaginary writing and it is not meant to disrespect or to harm the person concerned or any other person related to her. Hello there. This is Kelly Sullenberger. I have always been reluctant to share my experiences during the famous January 15 2009 event and what happened the days following that. But after all these years , now feel like expressing all those emotions through this post. This is about the daughter of a famous pilot who landed a passenger Airbus US Flight 1549, which was in a very critical state after a bird strike left both the engines damaged, on Hudson River to save 155 lives. This is about a 14 year old girl who lived through an incident which endangered her father’s life and also which made her witness her hero become her nation’s hero. But more than that, this is about a daughter who was worried a bit more than any other day, about her father who worked as a pilot. I still remember what we were doing that day. Kate and i were talking about the newly opened restaurant in Danville near our school. We were just playing around when Mom got a call. After brief moments she asked us to switch on the T.V and Kate immediately switched it on. That was a moment, a pilot’s kids should never ever witness. We couldn’t believe what the flash news was about. A huge passenger Airbus was floating on a river. There was no news flashing about the details of the passengers. I was worried about the people who were in it. The news reporter started reading out the report and i immediately increased the volume of the television. As the news reporter read out that the captain of the Airbus who decided to land it on the Hudson river was Chesley Sullenberger, i started contemplating the possibilities of what would have happened and about the news that the phone call passed on to Mom. Kate and I couldn’t control any more. We looked at mom. She would have understood how we felt. With a voice filled with firmness she said, “Daddy’s fine. He was the one who called” A fresh breathe of relief we had. I distinctly remember the days that followed the incident. Kate and I were glued to the televisions. There was a huge crowd of reporters and media persons outside our house. We couldn’t go out even to our neighbor Kelsey Ott’s house. Dad was the talk of the week in Danville, in San Francisco bay, and in America. Dad called mom the next day and informed that it would take some more days for him to come as there was an investigation scheduled. Kate overhead mom talking to someone about how dad was finding it difficult to sleep. We were worried a lot and we couldn’t sleep properly for some nights thereafter too. Kate and I used to talk a lot and were supportive to each other during those days. Kate’s sense of humour came to good use during those days. Being the daughter of a pilot is very tough. It takes a lot to understand when your dad is out there risking his life to make good lives for your family. During one of those days, as i had to be homebound due to the huge crowd out there and since I was sick of all those theories flashed in news which were against my dad, I sat home and read all those short quotes and pictures I designed to show