Good,Bad and Ugly-Peerless and Timeless Masterpiece!

Last month,when I came across a post 'Maestro at Work' in a blog ; I clicked on it,assuming that it might be some A.R.Rehman concert;but then it was an Ennio Morricone's Good,Bad and Ugly concert and the theme music was the one which I heard,loved since several years,but never knew which movie originally had that score!
And after I came to know the movie's name,I watched it immediately and here's my review after watching for 15th time in a month!
PLOT:
Set in the times of American Civil War(181-65),it's a one-line story of 3 men-Good,Bad and Ugly;in search of Gold hidden in a Grave!
The Bad guy,Angel Eyes goes in search of a Confederate soldier,Bill Carson,who knows the place where Gold worth $200,000 is hidden.
Now coming to the Good guy(Clint Eastwood) and the Ugly-Tuco(Eli Wallach),Tuco is an outlaw,a Mexican Bandit,who carries many a reward on his head in several towns,thanks to the many crimes he has committed.
The Good guy or Blondie,catches these outlaws and hands over them to the law enforcers for the Reward, only to free the Outlaw at the time of execution,and share the bounty with him and carry on the partnership in more towns where Tuco carries a reward on his head!
But,one fine day,Blondie finds it tougher to carry on the deal anymore with Tuco,and leaves him on the way.This infuriates Tuco, and while trying to extract his revenge upon Blondie in the desert,he comes across a dying Bill Carson;who promises to reveal the name of the grave and the cemetary where the Gold is hidden.While Bill Carson reveals the name of the cemetary,he faints before telling the Grave's name.Now,Tuco goes to fetch water and by this time,Carson has dies,but not before telling the name of Grave to Blondie.
Now,Tuco is forced to be friendly with Blondie to find the Gold,and the Bad guy Angel Eyes too follows them,bringing in more complications,betrayals,twists,the Civil War and a Grand Finale!
Coming to the Main Characters,
The UGLY: Ruthless,thankless and uncouth;he's Tuco,he might pretend to be good from outside,but in truth really bad.He has the most screen presence ironically!He has no morals,no gratitude;just thinks of feeding himself.
The BAD:The shorter role of the 3,Angel Eyes is a more straight-forward character,he's a cunning person,who goes to the extent of doing anything to get his job done,for which he's paid.
The GOOD:He's the 'Man with No NAME'!Good in his heart,he's good towards the GOOD(Like helping the Captain,offering a cigar to a dying Soldier.),Cunning while dealing the Bad,clever and agile while facing the unknowns!(Like the Bounty hunters.)He comes 20 minutes after the start of the film!
SO,What's GREAT?
MUSIC:Honestly,the film wouldn't have been half as good,if it wasn't for Ennio Morricone's Brilliant,Original Background score.The Theme music is the best score ever done for a film!Awesome,everytime,you listen to it,it gives an exhilarating feel,and being played with at times using kids' voice and some whistles,provides a comic feel often.He starts the fun right from the moment the titles appear and there are 4 minutes starting from 2:36 hrs length,where there won't be any dialogue or action,but just music to express Tuco's joy and desparation when he finds the Grave.(The Ecstasy of Gold)!
Truly,a music score worth several Million pounds of Gold! The last 30 minutes were single-handedly elevated by his Brilliant Soundtrack(Incl. the Ecstasy of Gold and The Grand Finale themes.)
I won't mind making an action movie without any dialogues,if Ennio Morricone provides an Awesome Background Score of this range!:D:P

Clint Eastwood: He rocks!He's done a great job,by making his character memorable,through his distinct mannerisms and style.He epitomises Masculinity in its most Perfect form,displayed through calmness in adversity,agility in his eyes, quick reflexes while with the gun and a warm smile in his mouth(Indicating his innate good nature),and talking less and straight!Commanding an enormous Screen Presence,thanks to his tall frame(6 Feet,4in.),a well-built body and a rugged look with an unshaven Beard,he is truly
THE ULTIMATE ONSCREEN ICON OF MASCULINITY!
It seems Director Sergio Leone liked Clint Eastwood because he had only 2 facial expressions,one with the hat and the one without.But,I believe,it's rather the Cigar which made the difference,the way he lights the cigar,or th way,he smokes calmy even in adversity and the way he chews it all make his character unique!He brings in a unique style of delivering one-liners in a lazy,casual manner!
Sergio Leone:He's truly done an amazing job as a writer and director.Although,the length of the film is 178 min.,you'll never feel it boring,because Leone spends the first 85 minutes in establishing the 3 main characters and their relations,and then comes to the plot,through this way;the characters became more convincing and closer to our heart.It's amazing that he managed to weave the Civil War theme(Between Confederates and Unionists) quite realistically into the plot involving 3 fictitious characters!He makes the action and Violence quite enjoyable,mainly because of the realistic war-type settings,portraying the war-ravaged atmosphere quite perfectly!
And great dialogues and quotes are another reason(Apart from music and action) why this movie has such a huge repeat value!Top-class one-liners suiting the Body-language and the characters portrayed by the actors!Check them here.
What's Very Good?

Eli Wallach:Though cruel and cunning,He provides quite comical relief through his porttrayal of Tuco.Watch out for his funny antics in the Ammunitions' shop,while being hanged or when he becomes helpless.He gets quite the best and funny one-liners like 'When you want to shoot,shoot!Don't talk!'(Lol),'I like Big Fat men,because when they fall,they make a huge noise!','Music is Good for digestion!'(Poor chap,wasn't aware of what kind of music he had to face!:LOL:)He provides quite a good contrast to Clint's Blondie.While Clint is warm and reserved;Tuco is a live-wire and cold-blooded too!While Tuco gets furious and impatient while facing an adverse situation,Blondie proves to be extremely calm and composed;facing things without any fear!(Just loved Clint's counter 'God hates idiots too!',when it turns out that Tuco,pretending as a Confederate soldier utters 'Hail Confederacy!God's on our side!He hates the Yankees!' to a group of Unionists,mistaking them to be Confederates!)
Excellent cinematography typical of Cowboy films!It's a visual treat with the wide shots,especially while viewing the Rugged Plains and the sight of Horses riding on the Hilltops!
What's Good
1.Lee Van Cleef's portrayal of the Bad  guy,'Angel Eyes' is quite convincing and he looks like a fox when he wears the Hat,which suits his cunning personality!
2.The handling of so many thousand of extras and everyone has quite a significant role!(Like the Captain,Bounty hunters,Bill Carson etc.)
Truly,it's amazing that even after nearly 43 years it had released,the film still entertains and gives you an other-worldly,exhilarating feel and makes you watch it again and again and again!
But,that's obvious in the case of works done with PASSION and PERFECTION!
Really,it's the best movie,I had seen in a Foreign Language,(It's an Italian film-Sphagetti Western,dubbed in English)the Ever-green top-class Entertainer!
Rating:A perfect 10/10.
Warning:This movie is not meant for those who don't like movies where Humans get killed like vegetables,and feel a bit too emotional about it!
P.S: If I ever want to make a film,I would definitely consider this movie as the Ultimate Benchmark for making a film which entertains you till the last minute!

Del Potro wins And Federer misses a record!

A couple of months ago,I was dreaming about how big the response will be,what kind of tunes/songs Michael Jackson might compose/sing,what might be the new style of Dance he may introduce next week,in the 'This Is It' concert;and I woke up to listen to the shocking news of Michael Jackson's death in the T.V. channels.
Similarly,a couple of days ago,I thought Federer is just on his way to get yet another US Open Crown and might easily defeat Del Potro and when I woke up yesterday and checked the scores through my mobile Internet,I was surprised to read that Federer lost in a 5-Sets game.
While Del Potro played well to win it,Federer somehow did not appear to be in great form like in Wimby09,or even last year's U.S.Open(Where he offered us a great vareity of shots.)Even in french Open-09,where he wasn't in great form,his iron-will/determination helped him fight back to win the Elusive French Open Crown!He played much better in the Cincinati Masters though!
The Biggest Consolation for his Millions of fans(Including me!) is however the great performance in the Semifinals,which includes the Shot of the Millenium!Just check it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hju2ZPVxE9w
Anyway,it's still a great year for Federer,with 2 Grand Slam wins,2 Masters' wins and finalist in 2 Grand Slam events!Let's hope he ends the year winning the Masters Cup to make it more glorious and start the next year with a win in Australian Open-2010.
And let's see if Del Potro wins more titles,or is just lucky enough like Djokovic/Sfin to win one,when Federer went a bit careless/overconfident!:D:P

Getting impatient!

It's been testing times and if there's one thing of mine which's being tested quite frequently,it's my level of patience.From a person with immense amount of patience,I've just ended up being frustrated by the long wait,I've to endure for everything.And,the things for which I'm waiting to happen are:
1.A return to academic brightness.
2.A win in any popular event.(It's been 4 years since I've won anything significant.)
3.To earn a handsome deal of money.
4.A wait and a search for all the Syllabus materials.
5.A reply from my friend,who in truth,is my mentor.
6.The release of my favorite star's next film
So much that I couldn't even withstand the traffic-jam or any problem with net connectivity!Impatience is the uninvited guest which just stole the happiness from my face and I feel so tired and dejected!
I just want one bright successful moment,which can relieve me from the tension and calmly pass through the difficulties,which I may face in future!

RIP-YSR

The politician who had never tasted Defeat in his 31 year political career!
No man could defeat YSR in an Assembly Election.
No man could defeat YSR in a Lok Sabha Election.
And he remains undefeated as the Chief Minister!
Only fate has claimed him finally!
YSR,you've left the Political field undefeated!

NO MAN HAS EVER DEFEATED AND NO ONE ELSE CAN!

He is the real tiger of Andhra Pradesh Politics,the mass following he claimed and enjoyed was not because of any cine craze,but purely due to his closeness to the people as an Opposition leader and later as a C.M. too.

May your soul rest in peace!

Kaminey-Worth Watching

Generally,most of the Indian films which were hyped up as 'Hollywood-range' only end up being some high-budget soulless stuff with all style and no substance,or movies with scenes and plots lifted cheaply from Hollywood blockbusters.But,Kaminey can truly be matched with any of the well-made Slick Hollywood thrillers made in recent times.

PLOT:

Based on an old theme of 'lost and found twins',Shahid Kapoor plays a double(Mumbaiites of Uttar Pradesh origin.)-one is Charlie,a badguy,who makes his living by betting on horses and pronounces 'Sa' as 'Fa';while the other is Guddu,a good guy who stutters,falls in love with Sweety(Priyanka Chopra) who is the sister of a political leader(Amol Gupte),with a 'Mumbai-for Marathis only' agenda.

One fine day,Charlie runs into the drug mafia and ends up getting a stuff worth crores. Now,comes the question of mistaken identity,when the Drug Mafia guys catch hold of Guddu to know where the drug stuff is hidden,while the gang of Sweety's brother run into Charlie's house hunting for Guddu and Sweety!

What happens next is confusion,changing of sides/ideology,betrayal and violence(A li'l bit though mainly in climax),all for the sake of the costly drugs!

Who wins?

Vishal Bharadwaj:It's his show all the way,as a director,music director and screenwriter.He's made a great entertainer without adding any vulgarity,even the violence/action scenes are not gory/unbearable.He deserves full praise for the care he has taken handle 2 strange characters of Guddu and Charlie flawlessly.While he never explores deeply into the lives of the drug mafia men,the Bengalis in Horse-racing or the Marathi movement leaders;he's ensured that they don't end up being mere caricatures.Right from the first scene,every moment is handled differently and quite original!

Coming to music,the energetic 'Dhan te Naan'(lol) is the best and the background score too gels well with the 'action-thriller' mood of the film.

Shahid Kapoor:The guy has arrived finally as an actor!Finally,he gets out of the 'lover-boy image' and comes out with a rock solid performance in both roles of different shades,while the role of an 'ambitious,ruthless,money-minded' Charlie was the best,even the relatively softer role of Guddu is done differently compared to his previous films.Way to go Shahid!

The others in the starcast like Priyanka Chopra,Amol Gupte,the smugglers and the African gang too play their part well.

On the flip side,

There were some boring moments(Before interval and during the reunion in the train);but they're quickly overshadowed by much more excitement in the proceedings that followed!

Finally,

Watch Kaminey for its racy narration and to know how an old theme can be dealt differently with funny characterisation,original screenpla and crispy dialogues(Shortcut aur Chota Shortcut!:D).Vishal Bharadwaj proves that he'll be different anywhere,be it a pure commercial flick(Like Kaminey),or a parallel film or a Shakespearean adaptation.He's proved that an action film can indeed be different and even entertaining,despite the absence of the crude 'Bolly-masala'!:P

Rating:8.5/10(MuFt Fee/Cult claFFic):p

Magadheera-Monstrous Disappointment

Note:I'm aware that the film has emerged to be the Biggest Grosser in Tollywood and hence,I do not want any comments from fans boasting about its records and asking me change my opinion etc.:P

So,what's the film all about:

Harsha(Ram Charan) and Indu(Kajal Agarwal) were born 400 years ago as Kala Bhairava and the Princess of Udaygadh respectively.They both get killed by the King's nephew Randhir Billa(Dev Gill),while being engaged in a battle with Sherkhan(Srihari),an invader.

Now in their rebirth,it's all about whether Harsha and Indu get reunited as lovers,or will Indu's cousin Raghuveer(Dev Gill again) succeed in his schemes!

Ok,now what went wrong and what was fine!

1.Lack of a Passionate effort:The film is basically just a patch-up of films like-Prem,Om Shanti OM(The rebirth saga),Arundhati(The revenge in rebirth,Aghora,a great/brave past etc.) and 300(The fight-scenes in the 'previous birth')!And also,no effort has been made to look the film historically authentic,considering they call it 'Semi-periodic film'!

Who the hell is Sherkhan to invade Hindustan's hindu kingdoms in 1609,when most of North India was under the Islamic reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir?(No matter how accurate they portrayed,atleast 300 was based on a real war between Greece and Persia,coming to Jodha Akbar,there indeed existed an emperor Akbar,who was married to many Rapjput princesses.)

There hasn't been even any sort of care taken to make some scenes/change look convincing.For example,Indu hates Harsha only because he allegedly killed her father;but the moment she gets aware of the 'past',she starts loving him again.Just because you 2 were lovers in the past,makes you forget that he 'killed' your father?Lol!

And I never knew that a Fisherman(Srihari) is rich enough to donate a bike to some unknown person(Ramcharan) to travel to Rajasthan and even has a Maruti Gypsy to ride a journey till Udaigadh from Srikakulam to save the hero and heroine!(Oh!Maybe he too got some current shock of the past!:D:P)

The 'much hyped' grandeur is just for the flash-back episodes lasting for 40 minutes and even those episodes looked quite amateurish on all fronts,first character-wise,Srihari hardly looked like Sherkhan,the foreign invader,rather his dialogue delivery was more like that of some Old-City resident,The artwork was poor too,with the so-called Udaigadh fort looking more like a miniature piece(Compare this with the royal look for the Gadwal palace in Arundathi!) and while in the Horse race,after a few miles of riding in sandy planes,suddenly we come across icy planes(Which looked more like a white sheet of thermocol thrown on the ground.) And the CGI/Graphics too turn out to be of poor quality,when it comes to the quicksand scenes!(There were even some blurred moments,showing the improper execution of those scenes.)

And coming to the fight scenes,they've been copied as it is from 300,like the Bhairavakona(Thermopylae),the showering of arrows by huge army on a 'discovered small troop'(For trademark sake,why can't you atleast replace the arrows with say bullets/spears,if you were 'so inspired'?),even the Sherkhan's 100 'dreadful men's getup was similar to that of the 'Immortals' in Xerxes' army in 300!

The 'killing of 100 soldiers' episode was good in patches though.(When Ramcharan falls almost dead,but rises up again to fight the enemies who tried to attack the Princess.)

I wouldn't have minded if the film has traces of previous blockbusters,but when you just pluck those scenes as it is from them and fill up the remaining time-space with another lift(The Bangaru Koipetta episode from Gharana Mogudu.) and some cheap comedy,it just explains the lack of creativity of the makers.

2.Director S.S.Rajamouli:His trademark is missing badly in the film.What I like generally about his film is,he makes the villain character look so cruel and hatable,that he makes the audience feel like demanding the hero to 'Beat him,smash him,kill him' etc. and thus involve the watchers into watching the film.Here,the villain character hardly looks menacing/fear-evoking kinda guy,there are hardly any punch dialogues given for him which would build a proper image,nor any scenes which made us hate him so badly!

3.Stunts:They make this film look extremely laughable!First,the idiotic Bike-stunt(When my brother banged his head,I consoled him saying,hope this is only one,rest maybe Ok!) in the intro,but that was only a trailer to the far more stupid stunts to be followed,which would exceed the range of Classics like Vijayendra Verma,PBN and Okka Magadu!The helicopter stunt was completely unbelievable(Charan just stamps on the fuel pump and it catches fire and he jumps from the terrace to the Helicopter's rods;my God,you just can't hold it for a long time,but he holds it till he gets a current shock by touching heroine's hand,and falls in Srikakulam!) and in the climax,you just need to kick any Brain remaining,to the Dustbin to believe it;first to prevent the villains from reaching the Rocky path,he burns his bike in the middle and in its impact,part of the rocky path gets destroyed,but a much heavier Helicopter crashes into the rocky path,but the path won't break!(Or maybe,Helicopters are lighter than Bikes!)

I can bear with one illogical stunt,but 5?No way!

4.Performances:Looks like Ram Charan got a better oppurtunity to act in his Debut Chiruta ( A bad film,but a really good debut by Charan),first of all it appears to be a too big a role for someone who's just one film old when it comes to the historical role of the Warrior Kalabhairava,

while his body language was good in the 'battle-scene' and while horse-riding,the dialogue delivery was pretty inconsistent;and his dance steps too were nothing unique to speak of except in the 'Panchadhaara' song.

Kajal Agarwal looks decent yet glamorous as Indu,but lacks the royal look inm her role as the Princess.but Dev Gill,as I've said it already,turns out to be unlucky,being given 'the least menacing villain role' by Rajamouli,compared to his last 6 hits.(Remember Pradeep Rawat in Sye,Chatrapathi?)

And I wonder what made Srihari claim that 'Magadheera will run for 365 days etc.',when his screen presence does not last for even 365 seconds?

5.Music is ok,with the songs looking pleasant while watching on-screen(Panchadaara and Dheera Dheera).

6.Editing/Screenplay:Another disappointment,God only knows what's the importance of Brahmanandam's role in the film and why he disappears after 5 minutes and what happened to Sunil in the Second half?The film lacks a tight screenplay,first 20 minutes get wasted in that bike scene,and by the time,romance blossoms,1 hour passes away and the film gets wound up immediately after the flashback ends,with the climax,giving you a similar mixed feeling you might've experienced in Chiruta!

On the Positive Side

1.I found it sensible,when the King gave the reason why he refused to give his daughter in marriage to Kalabhairava.(Although,the reason was obvious to me.)

2.I liked The scene where Kalabhairava pulls Randhir Bhilla down the ground and drags him along the soil,while riding the horse.(Reminding me of Trojan War legends of Achilles dragging Hector's dead-body .)

On the Whole

Magadheera is an amateurish attempt,which pretends to be a Historical and Grand Film,but isn't exactly one,as it's just made in a typical 'Masala' format,where a villain's sidekick praises the Hero,Hero kills 100s with ease and finally gets back the heroine,along with some item numbers thrown in between;(All is same,except the SETS and Geography.)rather than telling any tale of genuine Historical relevance.

My Rating:3.5/10(Pooooor)

The Emperor gets back his Crowns!

Just a month after winning the Major Title(French Open),which eluded him for such a long time,Roger Federer wins another Grand Slam Title of the Year and thus get back the Two Crowns which held for a very long time till he lost it both to Rafael Nadal last year-The Wimbledon and the ATP No.1 ranking!

With a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam title win,The Swiss Superstar just crushed innumerable records,showed various forms of his Genius,ending with a Great Mtach at the Final!

Thanks to the Holidays,for the first time,I got a chance to watch almost all the Wimbledon matches(Singles,Doubles,Mixed Doubles all of them.) telecasted by the Star Sports!It was fun watching many talented players fighting it out and watching Federer at his best again after one and a half years.

Just a look at Federer's play till his run-up to the Finals!

1.1st Round:He looked a bit rusty initially in the first Set,but came back well to win the set and the remaining 2 sets,almost with his eyes closed !

2.2nd Round:Here,Federer just crushed his opponent merilessly.There were a lot of magical Forehand shots hit by him.

3.3rd Round:Another one sided match,where Federer just wins it easily in 2 sets,got a bit careless in 3rd set,but smashed his opponent again winning the 4th Set 6-1.

4.4th Round:Faces the 1st Real Challenge from an improved Soderling,Soderling fights well;but not well enough to prevent a Straight Sets win fro Federer.
5.Quarterfinals:Now,he showed why he's the Greatest player.Facing Ivo Karlovic;the 'Ace Machine' whose long serves couldn't be resisted by most of the players;but Federer broke his serve Twice;hit some 'Miraculous' Shots which just couldn't be read well by Karlovic,the Swiss Ace just burned the 'Ace Machine' to Ashes!
6.Semifinals:Meeting another 'improved' player Tommy Haas,Federer showed his class not only in his Serve and Forehand returns,but also in Awesome 'Backhand Sliceshots' and many volleys;it was another 'Complete' Match for Federer who showed his Class in all forms of the Game(Forehand,Backhand,Slice,Dropshot,Serve-and-Volley,athleticism.) and just Outclassed his opponent winning in Straight Sets!

7.Final:After disposing 3 'Potential Threats',so easily and looking at the way,Andy Roddick somewhat struggled quite a lot to win against Hewitt and Murray(Offcourse,I observed he indeed improved amazingly.),I thought it'll be a straight win for Federer and the match will end up within 80-90 minutes,despite his 'new revelation'.But,I and almost every Tennis-viewer was shocked when it appeared that Andy Roddick was equally determined to win it!He broke Federer's serve twice in 1st set and 4th Set;while Federer though brought many of Roddick's service Games to a Tie-break,he just couldn't convert it into a Break Point!While Roddick was at his best form,hitting well at Backhand returns too and some marvellous dropshots,Federer did the best thing by hitting maximum points on his Serve,firing nearly 50 ACES!

Though not at his prefect form in the Finals,Federer indeed showed flashes of his Brilliance and Grit,when he came back down from 1-5 to 7-5 in the Second Set Tie-breaker,which was a turning point of the match!And then came the 5th Set,with Federer holding the Serve of the Opening Game.At that time,both were equally poised in all manners(Winning 2 sets each,hitting many aces and winners.)

Both looked extremely determined,if Federer dominated in his Serve,so was Roddick in his!If Federer was up then 9-8 Roddick came back to 9-9,like this it went on till 14-14.

My father too was irritated,wondering whether this match will go on till late Midnight!I thought one of the 2 who gets exhausted playing for 4 hours continously,may give up;but none seemed to give up on their serve,they didn't show any signs of Tiredness or Fatigue.That was absolutely amazing,a kinda Superhuman stuff from both the players!But,in the 30th game,Roddick committed 2 errors in the same manner(Wrongly judging the return by hitting on ground and thus the ball leaping over the Court!),with Federer finally breaking Roddick's serve for the First time in the Match and thus winning the Championships for the 6th time!The match lasted for 4 hours and 16 minutes,never looking one-sided at any moment!

It might not be the Greatest of the matches for a Purist,who expects more of rallies,playing closer to the net,serve and volley(It was more of an Ace Marathon dominated by Service points win.);but indeed a Great match of it own League to show how a Duel would be,when one Man wants to show that he's made a REAL Comeback and another wants to get Past the Ultimate record!

Well done Andy Roddick!I don't know how much you're praised when you won your lone Grand Slam title at US(2003);but you surely deserve a great;thunderous applause despite your dignified defeat this time!(The fact that the Britons forgot that Murray's hopes were dashed by this very Roddick and yet cheered a lot for Roddick during the Final Presentattions,showed how great he played on that day!)I believe Roddick may win 2-3 more Grand Slam titles later on,if he's patient enough and has gained confidence from that Amazing run to the Wimbledon Finals.

And for Federer,reaching Greater Heights will not be easy.That's why he had to struggle early in the French Open(2 Five-setters in 4th Round and Semifinals.) and then gain an easy Victory at the French Open,while he started it great winning all the 6 matches easily;but had to struggle for 4 hours in the Finals to finally get Back the Wimbledon and also the No.1 Ranking!

The Great Man had started his lonely journey in a path reached by none in the Past,reaching his first Landmark on the way;let's see How many more will he cross in this Path of Greatness!He started with an Alpine Conquest in 2003.And now,he's Reached even the Everest!(Is there anything Bigger than that?:D)

And it was great to see Sporting legends like Pete Sampras(Who got his Biggest record broken finally),Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver watching the match(Reminding us of 'Gods coming down to witness the Great Trojan War or Mahabharata:D) to see another Legend surpassing their Achievements.

And I was glad to see Sachin Tendulkar too in the Stadium.

That's just Awesome!

Winning 15 of his last 25 Majors is just Awesome,showing the Monopoly which Federer holds over the Tennis ,despite the presence of many Talented players! Offcourse,Luck favors him at times,but that's only because he has the determination and burning desire to Win constantly at the Major Championships!

Federer's 15th Grand Slam-A statistical assessment.

Apart from the well-known records beaten/extended to by Roger Federer on his way to win his 15th Grand Slam Title and 6th Wimbledon Men's Title(Like reaching 21 consecutive Major Semifinals,20 Major Finals,7 Consecutive Finals@Wimbledon .);there were some other interesting records/trivia associated with that win.

Just my Findings:

1.Fun with no.2 and 4:This is the Fourth Time Federer has won a Major title as a Second seeded player.(04 AO,08 US,09 FO,09 Wimb).

This is the Fourth time Federer had defeated Roddick in Wimbledon(03 SF,04 Finals,05 Finals,09 Finals).

This is the Fourth time Federer had defeated Roddick in a Major Final.(04 WIMB,05 WIMB,06 US,09 WIMB)

This is the Second time Federer jumped from Number 2 ranking to Number one in ATP Rankings after win a Major title.(04 AO,09 Wimb.)

Federer is only the Fourth male player of the Open Era to win both The French Open and Wimbledon in the same year(Bjorn Borg,Laver,Nadal being the others to achieve this feat.

The Final match was lapped within Four Hours and Sixteen minutes!(Both 4,16 are multiples of FOUR.)

This is the FOURTH Five Set Final match Federer(07 WIMB,08 WIMB,09 AO,09 WIMB) had to face in a Grand Slam event,with Federer winning TWO of them!

No More!

No more Thrilling moments,
No more Dangerous dances,
Michael Jackson has become History,
The Invincible has become invisible!

The one and only pop Megastar has passed away!It can't get so BAD,when every fan of you was eagerly awaiing your last concert at London!
But,your music and dances will be remembered Forever,Michael!!!!

T-20 World Cup 2009.

The T20 World Cup continues to be quite unpredictable again with Pakistan,not getting a chance to play so many International matches in last years,winning the Championship this year,with the favorites Southa Africa and Srilanka being comprehensively defeated by the Pakistanis in Semi finals and Finals respectively,thanks to their excellent bowling attack(Especially Umar Gul.) and with Afridi making a surprisingly match winning comebacks in the Semi-final and Final.
And the Indian cricket team which won the previous World Cup were out of the Tournament in The Super Eights itself,not able to defeat even England,nor able to score a meagre 130 against South Africa.
Not that Surprising!
While the Indian team in the First Edition was not an extremely powerful sureshot winning team,there was a better team-effort and every talented player contributed when it mattered at different stages(Yuvaraj against England and Australia,Rohit Sharma scoring against South Africa,Gambhir scoring well in the Finals.),with the batting being aided by a good bowling attack(Esp. R.P.Singh) to defend the Indian scores.And add to it,luck favored in a couple of occasions(Like using the trump card Joginder Sharma.)to the brave team.
While I felt the hype given to the Returning team then wasn't that deserving,but it was good that it India atleast one a World Cup in T-20 format,having lost badly in the ODI format in 2007.And it seemed to have given the team,a sort of confidence to be on top resulting in Victories against all the best Teams like Australia,Sri Lanka,New Zealand in Tests and ODIs too.
But,what went wrong with the 2009 Team was that,many of the players appeared to be out of form;with Gambhir not playing well in IPL,Zaheer Khan too not in good shape,Virender Sehwag injured.Add to it,the remaining players who had some talent were not placed in the order where they can play well.Rohit Sharma,who played really well in IPL for Deccan Chargers in the Middle Order,couldn't bat well at the Opening slot,and suffered against short-pitched deliveries.Gambhir just seemed to have lost in touch with T20,having scored some match-saving 'slooooooooow' innings in the New Zealand Tests.Yuvaraj,the only in-form batsman wasn't sent at the right time while batting against England.Dhoni,who hasn't played a good innings in last 2 years,managed to be a celebrity though as he led a good team,which won many matches in India and Overseas;but this time he seemed to have declined sharply as a batsman and also as a Captain too,he just appeared to be lacking the Competetive Spirit this time,it was surprising that this very person who scored too many Sixes in innings 148 and 183 in ODIs 3-4 years ago,is just struggling to even hit a single properly,making one wonder whether everyone managed to find his faults.
While,I don't think T-20 results must be taken so seriously(As T-20 matches are yet to be played regularly.);still I believe Dhoni must improve his batting,some might quote he has the best ODI avge. at 49.92,but do you know why?He has been not out for 25% of his ODI Innings(30 out of 120),just rotating the strike when the batsman on the other end plays well(Gen. Sachin or Yuvaraj) and finally notch up some 30-40 playing for a long time.And his strike-rate has declined drastically from 125+ 2-3 years ago to just 90,which means that in last 2 years he's just been playing at a strike rate of around 70,even as other team-mates having been firing at a rate of 90+(Sachin,Sehwag and Yuvaraj).
This is surely because of Dhoni's decline in batting and not due to change in his batting style from aggressive to responsible.(Scoring 11 out of 24 is a responsible innings???)Even in the IPL,he played well on just one or 2 occasions out of 15 innings,while it was Hayden who consistently top-scored followed by Raina.
I heard a commentator telling that Dhoni is a wristy player,but in my opinion;he's become a pure RUSTY player!
Just look at the way,he struggled to hit a Boundary and at times even a single;it appeared to be laughable and pitiable!
Seriously,more than finding faults in other players of the team,Dhoni must think about improving his own form,as an improved Captain will surely inspire the other Players to excel.Can Dhoni improve??

Federer equals and exceeds finally!

More than 2 years ago,when my friend posted a blog article claiming whether Federer is the greatest Tennis player ever,he received a comment from someone who said that he's yet to win a French Open Title to be called as the greatest ever,then I made a statement that Roger will win that soon,really soon.
But,after losing in his Bastion(Wimbledon) in 2008 and also Australia Open in 2009 to his arch-rival Nadal and even losing his long held-No.1 ATP ranking,I wondered whether he would ever win the French Open and more defeats in recent times to even Djokovic and Andy Murray made me wonder what really went wrong with him.
But,after such a steep and drastic decline,hopes came alive for his fans when he finally won a Title in Madrid defeating Nadal too in that Final.(Well,Nadal was reportedly feeling tired while playing the final immediately after a long Semifinal the other day.)
And when Nadal made a shock exit in the Fourth Round to Soderling,I was shocked and then waited to see how Federer will make use of this Golden Opportunity.Next day,when Federer was 2 sets down to Tommy Haas in 4th round,I wondered whether he'll not win this time too,but he came back winning the last 2 sets comprehensively.
Then,I understood,this year's Winner will be Federer merely for his iron will and perseverence.We saw that again in the Semifinls,when he appeared surprisingly nervous against del Petro in first 3 sets,and once again rallied back to win the last 2 sets.
But,in the Finals,Roger played like as if he meant nothing but business,wanting to finish off the match soon and Touch the Cup which eluded him for a long time,though he desrved it.He just thrashed Soderling away in the First Set,then in Second Set,Soderling seemed to give some fight(Offcourse,Federer was partly distracted by an unruly fan's action),but he almost seemed like he gave up in the Third Set,with Federer finally winning his 14th Grand Slam Title and First French Open Title.Truly,it was Federer's best victory in last 2 years!
With this,Federer equalled Sampras' record of winning 14 Grand slam titles and also exceeded him by winning the French Title,which Sampras couldn't.(Sampras just reached the Semifinals once.)Thus,all debates regarding who's the greatest Tennis Playere ever have been put to rest.(As acknowledged by the great Sampras too.)The ATP ratings rate you currently at Number 2,but History will always regard you as the Ultimate Number One!
WHAT A COMEBACK!
There might be arguments that Nadal's early exit made it easy for Federer to win it,but then only a great player,possessed with grit and grace,can make the best use of luck and destiny.
20 Consecutive Semifinal appearances(In Grand Slams) is not because of lack of better competitors to Federer than those of Sampras era/Bjorn Borg-Connors era;
but only because of a man's obsession to stay on top and play at his best consistently,having reached the top in 2004 for the first time.
And I hope Federer finshes with 16 titles this year and even cross 20+ by the end of his career.
And I believe,he need not be tensed anymore and can play more peacefully,because he has nothing more to prove after winning in Rolland Garros too;we would just like to see you overtaking your own records again from now onwards.
Records Beware!
Everytime Federer won a Grandslam title,one record or the other just broke and many more were created by the artist called Federer.Then,the artist's strokes got partly blunted for a year,but with this 14th title,he's here to stay tormenting the Record Book for more years to come!All the best Federer!Everyone loves you playing at your best!
P.S:1.Wonder what made Nadal comment that Federer is more likely to win this year's French Open than him(That too in February,when in his peak.).Probably,a sort of instincts or gut-feeling.

2.For the 4th time in a row,it's a No.2 Ranked Male player who won the French Open.Quite funny.

3.While Federer joined pretty late to the club of 'Career Grand Slam winner',he crossed thair total Grand Slam wins long ago!

4.By the way,Soderling defeated Four-time French Open Champion Rafael Nadal in Fourth Round in Four sets!

Ghilly,I'm your new fan!

Right from the age of five, I regarded only one cricketer with the highest esteem, and he is Sachin Tendulkar(McGrath,Dravid were a distant 2nd/3rd in my limited list of favorite cricketers.)
But, then there was another guy too for whom I had high regards when he was playing for the Aussies,he is Adam Gilchrist.I liked the way he turned around the game for the Aussies with his terrific opening stance and wicketkeeping; but the admiration wasn’t that high till he retired and then started playing in IPL.

More than Tests and ODIs,he appeared to be more ferocious in the IPL,and I started admiring more and more since last year,even though Deccan Chargers lost badly then,and I hoped Gilchrist gets the right combination this time and give his best.And yes,he did and I too added Glichrist in my list of 5 all-time favorite players.
What I liked the most is ‘the obsession’ he has for hitting a Six every match,unless he gets out in 1st ball(Like against the CSK once.);there's no question of him leaving the ground without hitting a Six,and they almost soar over a distance of more than 100 metres most of the times,and add to it the way he treats his bat like a blade to hit boundaries,that's sheer delight;he just entertains us like anything with his Batting talent.And as a wicket-keeper,he has no peer in my opinion;his reflexes are so quick,remember the match against the Rajasthan Royals,when a catch appeal was denied by the Umpire,Gilchrist quickly removed the bales off the stumps,when the batsman ran out of the crease.
And finally,a collection of some of my favorite shots of Ghilly in this IPL:
1.Gilchrist scorecd a masterpiece of 64 in 32 balls in the 2nd encounter with Delhi and almost managed to help the Deccan win.So,superb were those shots played against one of the best bowling team(Nannes,Nehra,Amit Mishra)

2.This is probably one of the longest sixes of the IPL,hit against the KKR in the 2nd encounter.

3.The 25th six:I had decided to write this article after Ghilly scores his 25th six(of IPL-2009) and waited for him to fire it against Royal Challengers,which he didn't,but luckily he scored it against the Delhi Daredevils and thus dedicate it to a noble cause.

5.The other sixes of the Semifinal:After a long time,I watched a match where one blockbuster knock just made a reasonably big target look so small and the opposition, despite trying their best vareities of bowling,couldn't prevent The Thunderbolt called Gilchrist.When Ghilly was blasting in off-side,Sehwag placed more fielders there,next ball he scored a Boundary in the Leg-side;but then where can you place the fielders when Ghilly was dispatching the ball outside the stadium through his huge sixes?That was sheer massacre,showing little regards for the bowlers' reputations!I bet that Gilchrist would smash the very Sangwan,against whom he got out in the 2nd league match against Delhi and yes,he made my words come true on the Semi-finals,when it mattered most.He showed how a six can be hit in 5 ways and how a boundary be scored in 10 different ways!

To Gilchrist:

I would remain to be you die-hard fan regardless of today's fate in the Finals.

UPDATE:

Thank you for not disappointing your fans as a captain,though you let us down by getting out for a duck,you made a determined effort on the field to make the Deccan Charger win the IPL-2009 FINAL.Congrats for the great victory and a peerless performance overall in the tournamaent.

Some of the best sixes of the IPL-2009

Two West Indian Batsmen Dwayne Smith(Deccan Chargers) and Dwayne Bravo(Mumbai indians) seemed to be at ease while hitting sixes which surprisingly cross the Boundary fences by a big distance,even though they seemed to have hit the ball so lightly.
These are some of my favorite hits from them:

1.They say it's a typical 'Carribean shot'(Flick shot,where the batsman just flicks the ball the on-side.).Quite awesome!

2.Finally Dwayne Bravo played well in this Year's IPL yesterday,with sixes being a feast for the audience.

Pictures from my mother's Brthday party.

On March 11,we celebrated the 44th Birthday of my mother at home.Here are some of the pictures taken on the occasion:

1.The glittering cake:

2. Another pic of the glittering cake:

3.My mother cutting the cake:

4.My brother-Quite luckyto be fed by a mother even at the age of 16.:D

Recording a boundary

This is my first attempt at uploading a video to the net through the
video and I found it fit to record today's first misfield by
Punjab,which resulted in Gibbs getting a four in today's IPL Match.

Will improve the quality of recording in my future attempts.Here's the youtube link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blXcFLPLjNU

Mobile blogging.

This is my first attempt at blogging through the mobile,having bought
a new mobile cdma handset (samsung sch-f309) which has better features
than my previous mobile handset. I hope to make the best use of the
features for my blogging,in future.

The day when I met the Prince

I asked my friend Kanak(A good friend of Director Trivikram and also a Mahesh fan) once, if he could help me meet Mahesh Babu,he said we'll meet him after the shoot commences.
Then on Saturday(25th April),I got a call from Kanak and my another friend Ravi Nemana(Who too enjoys a good rapport with many of the technicians and also Mahesh)asking me to come soon to Somajiguda from where we'll head to the Shooting spot at 11:35 am.Then,I immediately headed to the spot from where we went straight to RFC,which was a 2 hour journey.And then,thanks to my dear friend's influence,I along with 3 others were allowed to visit the shooting spot,first we had our lunch there,then I observed the spot where both Mahesh and Anushka's caravans were located.(Quite pampered the stars are!)
I've seen all of the major technicians involved with the film like Trivikram(Direcor),Raju Sundaram(Choreographer),Make-up man,Anushka(Heroine) but not yet Mahesh,finally he came out of the caravan at 2:40 pm.Was just surprised to see him stand in front of me,he was stunning wearing a Creamy white shirt with the words 'MAVERICKS' and a blue jeans.He headed straight to the sets and then his wife Namratha came few minutes later and asked the Security people to allow us into the sets for few minutes.
Finally, when I indeed met him, I was surprised that he looked so friendly while meeting us and felt he wasn't that taller than me(Must check my height.).Next,I just didn’t know what to say. It was obvious that he would feel bored if I say you look handsome (As everyone knows it and accepts that he is one of the most handsome stars.) and I thought he might not be much impressed with the redundant chats regarding records and collections.So, I preferred to ask the questions which were in my mind since a long time.
1.First I asked him to give another Silver Jubilee at Sudarshan 35mm.He said “We’re trying our best in our efforts. We’ll not disappoint you.”
2.Then I asked “Will you come to CBIT if we invite you?”
I was surprised that he wasn’t aware of CBIT, and then one of my 2 friends reminded him that it’s near the place where the ‘ARJUN’ set was erected. He just laughed at it.
3.And then, I asked whether he’ll try for a National Award winning role/or a film which will truly make TOLLYWOOD proud,
He shaked his face with a mischievous smile (Indicating that ‘You’re expecting too much from me.’)
4.Lastly, I asked if he was ready for a multi-starrer with my another fav. Star Venkatesh, he just laughed out loud! (Off course to say, that I was dreaming too much!)
5.And finally, I shaked hands with him(Just to confirm that it was truly Mahesh and not a dream.) and told him ‘All the best anna!’
6.Then,I even hugged his lovely son Gowtham.
Atlast,it was like meeting a dear friend after a long time.
P.S:I've not complained of the delay,as I felt a better finished product might justify them.Mahesh even told us about the upcoming schedule of the film.Quite a good romantic song was being picturised when we came there,wish that song becomes a Chartbuster.),I hope Mahesh,Trivikram and the team will indeed deliver a good entertainer.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

It’s an autobiography of a man who worked with the evil much against his conscience and finally found it fit to reveal the truth and unmask the so-called Compassionate and Saviour of the World.
It’s an insider’s account of how the US Govt., in its quest for finding Oil and finding jobs for its Construction Companies, manipulates the political situations in many countries,
By bribing the Officials and the few-rich families of those Third World countries in their favor and then exploit the lands for Oil and not minding destroying the natural resources and driving most of the citizens to poverty and the final option being by wars(In the name of Anti-Communism in the past and now the anti-Terror) if the nation does not bend to its whim and then award contracts to its favored ‘Construction Companies’ for reconstructing the war-ravaged countries with World Bank offering loans on behalf of the nation; thus making the nation eternally indebted and placing of puppets in the Head of State’s position who would bow to the wishes of all the Big Corporates and MNCs.
And in Third World countries where Oil is not what is highly available, they would find it as a good resource for Money minting for its Companies by offering them to build Hydro-electric projects; town-planning etc. but inflate the costs involved to finish the project so as to make more money and make the country be more indebted to US and International Banks like World Bank, ADB etc. and if the country has good man-power; then make use of them for doing jobs for the American companies which Americans find it too dirty to do and also manipulate the economic policies of those countries so as to make the MNCs find a good market in the public there to sell its products.
He portrays the American Administration as just an agent for the MNCs who would make use of all its influence and military power to serve their interests and how these corporates in order to serve their interest destroy the entire World robbing the Third World countries of its natural wealth and impoverishing the larger majority.
As old as Empire?
The author says that the Economic Hitmen (John Perkins himself was one) are professionals employed by the Companies, who have the help of many in the US Administration too, who do the groundwork for all the exploitative works(Mentioned in the above paragraphs) in the Third World Countries by showing fake forecasts of Development, and bringing the Officials into their fold through means of money,sex etc. to get the work done.
He claims the EHMs play a game ‘As Old as Empire’; but the one which closely resembles this American Imperialism is rather the British Strategy of conquering India in 18th and 19th centuries. Just for comparsion:
The Subsidiary Alliance
As per this alliance,the British East India Company provided its Indian king(Who signed the alliance),security and protection against other kingdoms,on a condition that they must place a British Resident in the Court and allow them to collect taxes to maintain its Army.
Here, the US gives special status to its ‘Ally’,who would get many weapons too, in return allow their country for USA’s military use and in many cases, however, it’s the Head of the nation(Many cases,a dictator) and his family who makes most of the money which they get in the form of Aid/rewards, while the rest of the nation suffers under extreme poverty.
Creating many princely states:
The British for their convenience created 563 princely states out of 5-6 big kingdoms of the past by changing 10-12 villages as a kingdom and converting its Jagirdar/Zamindar as a King of the state(There’s one case of a princely state which had just 10 citizens!)
And here,there was one instance of USA attacking Colombia and carving a country called Panama and thus help its Panam Canal constructed with the help of a puppet govt. installed in the newly created nation.
Education for Clerks:
The British set up an Education system in India so as to groom in educated Indians as clerks for the British Offices in India. And now, we’ve many graduates from South-Asian countries working as ‘Software Coolies’/cheap Consultancy jobs for Big American Companies, which are perceived as ‘Highly-paid’ lucrative jobs in a Third World Country.
Hero out of Zero:
Many people belonging to the traditional ‘robbery’ caste suddenly got relegated to princely status as they supported the English in the wars against Indian kingdoms.
Here, we’ve the American media giving titles like ‘Dynamic leader’,’Bright Head’ etc.
To those leaders who support the US policies and their MNCs.
A major difference:
The English Governor Generals were never apologetic , here atleast there’s one EHM (The modern version of Governor Generals of the past.) who seemed to be repentant and has revealed all the truth behind this so-called Human face of a Terrible Imperialist.

I've changed.

1.3 years ago,I wrote a letter to my English teacher(Of Inter 1st year) claiming that I'm not really a good person which she and many others imagine me as.
Now I said to my English Madam(Engineering.) that I want to emerge as a good human being finaly.
2.2 years ago,a person commented that you're blog has no good stuff;I responded saying "Yes,my blog is not well-written,I've not posted anything interesting because I get few visitors."
Now "I atleast try my best to improve the quality of my blog,regardless of how many visitors I attract."
3.More than a year ago,when I was asked what was one of my negative qualities(In the NDA SSB Interview),I said I'm quite lethargic,that I take a long time to start anything fresh.
Now,I atleast seemed to have reduced the gap between the time when I thought of starting a new work and then the time by which I've executed my plans.
4.A few months ago,I wondered whether I can try anything new,think different from others.
Now,I atleast try to make an attempt to think different and aim to bring in some truly innovative stuff soon.
I've changed.My approach has changed,I'm improving.

Arundhati-Awesome Blockbuster.

Looking at the rush in the initial weeks,I thought it'll be better to watch it 50 days later on a Weekday in my favorite theatre Sudarshan 35mm.But then,it ran full yesterday too,and I just managed to watch it buying a Rs.10 ticket,siiting in the Front bench!Anyway,it was an awesome experience watching in a wonderful theatre.After Pokiri and Bommarillu,it's for this film that I had witnessed so much of rush for the tickets even after 50 days.
PLOT:
I remember reading a story in Amar Chitra Katha,where Indra got a Vajrayudham,made from Dadichi's Backbone to kill Vritra,the Asura.Now this film's plot too is built round it,with Arundhati in Indra's place,the 'Kama pisaachi' Pasupathi(Sonu sood) in Vritra's place and the weapon here is made from Arundhati's body itself,err,an Arundhati who died 80 years ago.And woven around it is a tale of scarifice by 2 sisters to kill Pasupathi and Save the Kingdom of Gadwal.Will Arundhati who is reborn much later,kill the Evil spirit of Pasupathi or not,and how does she manages to do it?That forms the rest of the plot.
What I liked:
1.Style of Narration:More than the story,I liked the way the plot was handled without any unnecessary comedy track or anything,i.e,lack of a stale formula called 'MASALA'.And,it was a film where we had the Heroine in the key role after a long time
2.The characterisation of the Queen Arundhati was awesome resembling those of our great queens of the past,portrayed as powerful,beautiful, and royally majestic.I was very much impressed with Anushka's look in those Grand saris resembling that of Ravi Varma paintings.
3.The role of Manoramma and Shayaji Shinde as the Fakir too were good,though Shayaji Shinde dealing with the 'Spirits' looked more like the way he beats the Criminals and shouts at them as a Police Officer in POKIRI!
4.Though I was prepared not to get scared ,despite that I got scared looking at Sonu Sood's ugly get-up as an old lady(Horrible look,obviuosly to make us fear) and also in the climax scene where Arundhati searches for Pasupathi to be beaten but couldn't find him and suddenly he springs from behind.
A small flaw:
1.In the first scenes,I do wonder what made the new Arundhati to assume that her lover Rahul might have called to her to come to such a dilapidated palace at night time,when he could have arrived at her home instead in Gadwal.
Finally:
I don't believe in the existence of Ghosts and spirits in the way,the film has portrayed,but preferring to watch it just as a movie rather than some realistic happenings,I indeed found it enjoyable,gripping,without any tacky scenes(Despite being a Graphics film for most of the time.).Altough,I wasn't so horrified while watching,unlike my friends,I indeed felt like admiring the grandeur being displayed in each and every scene rather and I enjoyed those clash moments and the end though predictable looked awesome for me.
Rating:7.5/10(Extremely enjoyable.)