12 Great movies, I wish I had seen it in the big screen...

"Laksh, that’s the word"! Farhan Akthar's simple account of a boy turn into a man, left me in splits yesterday. I fed my eyes to this amazing movie Lakshya, and I wanted to watch the movie all over again and again and again!!! The moment I was done with the movie, I retorted "Wish I had seen this in the big screen"!! Well, then I thought why not come-up with a list of movies which I gave it a miss in the big screen ( theatre) … Bingo!I ended-up with this list( in chronological order) which deliberately took into account, movies releases post-1990 only(to make my job simple :-)) . Without much ado, here we go!!!

Movie	Release	Director	Why Theatre?
The Godfather: Part III	1990	Francis Ford Coppola	Anything for the Godfather! The final installment of the epic, The Godfather Trilogy, punctuates the effort of Michael Corleone to legitimize the crime business. The final scene (Al Pacino crumbling from the chair to bite the dust) embodies the very spirit of Pacino's nonchalant acting!
Michael Madhana Kamarajan	1991	Singeetam Srinivasa Rao	A rib-tickling comedy. Kamal dons four avatars and pulls them off with consummate ease. Climax scene, atop the hill in the ruined house involving all the pivotal characters in the movie is just one reason why I feel this movie ought to be watched in a theatre.
Roja	1992	Mani Ratnam	Movie that catapulted Mani to national fame and ear-marked the arrival of the musical prodigy A.R.Rahman. Movie broke all box-office records and the music went on to become TIME magazine's Top 10 greatest musical albums ever.
Schindler's List	1993	Steven Spielberg	A biographical film about Oscar Schindler a German businessman who single-handedly saved the lives of 1000 polish lives. Ben Kingsley ( of 'Gandhi' fame) as Schindler's accountant Itzhak Stern blew my mind away . A black & white classic of the 90's!!!
The Shawshank Redemption	1994	Frank Darabont	Morgan Freeman's Narration! What else.
Braveheart	1995	Mel Gibson	Mel Gibson's directorial debut couldn't have turned more fairy! The movie received as many as 5 academy awards, and got nominated for an additional five. Arresting dialogues, scenic cinematography and Guerrilla wars against English forces makes this movie a wonderful cinematic experience.
Kurudhi Punal	1996	P.C. Sreeram	Slick. Laconic. Lighting. Three words that describes the very essence of the movie. Based on Govind Nihalini's plot on infiltration, movie unfolds brilliantly with an out-of-the-world screenplay sans regular doze of songs. Kamal and P.C Sreeram dished out a movie which gave Hollywood production a run for their money!
Titanic	1997	James Cameron	Cameron's genius to interlace a love story amidst the infamous ill-fated 1912 maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic ship, proved to be a wise bet and made him an overnight hero! The film garnered as many as 11 Oscars. I still cant digest the fact I had let go the opportunity, when my friends saw the movie in Devi theatre when we were in our twelfth standard.
Lagaan	2001	Ashutosh Gowariker	India's most recent entry to the Oscars. The movie rekindled the national spirits of many people. It’s a victory of a nation and it must be savored only in a theatre!
Shrek	2001	Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson	A pioneer of sorts in the animation industry. This movie defied standards! Gave the audience something else to see! People from all walks of life were enchanted about the foul-smelling Ogre and the donkey and the rescue tale. This movie is a like a painting and paintings look good only in a canvas!
A Beautiful Mind	2001	Ron Howard	One of the few movies which disturbed my mind! Two days, I was completely occupied with this movie, I couldn't come out of it!!! Who could forget Prof.John Nash?? I felt like kicking myself for not watching this movie in Sathyam.
Lakshya	2004	Farhan Akhtar	Farhan Akhtar. Lt. Karen Shergill . Romila Dutta. Christopher Popp!

Pudhucherriel oru Kutchery!!!!

March 29, 2008, a bunch of travel enthusiasts hit the EC Road for a 300-Km journey to Pondy, leaving the coastal road with a trail of blaze! And this blog is a brief account of what went right and not-so-right at the sea-coast!!!

Wee-hour Start:

Trip to Pondy had lot of moot points like the non-elaborative itinerary, exact dates of the trip, confirmed list of enthusiast et al. But one thing that held sway right from the day one was that we would commute only in bullet/bike. A strict no-no for buses and trains!!!

We kick-started as early as 4AM and reached the ECR in 30 Min. After drooling over the Royal Enfield Bullet from the pillion seat for more than half-hour, I got the opportunity to be in the driver's seat. It was really a ride of my life! The odometer was hovering around the 120Km mark and it was sending currents across my body. To sum-up the exhilarating drive in two lines, I’d better resort to say ‘Fuckin awesome'!

Pit-stop - 1 (Kalpakkam):

The clock was ticking and sun was about to show-up, and we were aimlessly searching for a perfect locale to capture the sunrise. As luck would have it, we bumped into Kalpakkam township and all the while sun was patiently waiting for our presence.

Finally, she came out and enthralled us with her wide gamut of colors and incredible contours. After half-hour of satiable photo-shots, we bid our good bye to Kalpakkam.

Pit-stop - 2 (Alamparai Fort):

Intrigued by time-immemorial history of Alamparai Fort, we ensured that this place featured in our itinerary.But I must admit the fact that it was quite a let down, not because it had bad architecture or any other similar attributes, but because of its poor maintenance.

We knew it would be in a dilapidated state, but there were hardly any remnants of the fort. It was in a state beyond dilapidation, in complete ruins!!! Our tryst with history was indeed a bitter disappointment!

There will be blood…

Since we already drove down 100Kms, I said 'Folks, we will exchange ends, let the rider assume the position of pillion'. One fellow-bud did not pay heed to my words, and bore the brunt of a freakish accident along with the pillion rider.

Things weren't serious though, as they sustained only minor injuries, but it did dampen the spirits for a while.The fact that the accident took place only from a striking distance of Pondy, only rubbed more salt into the wounds. They swiftly took medication from a local doctor and after moments of brief pause we screamed in unison 'the show must go on’ and hit the roads again!!!

Welcome to Pondy!

We criss-crossed Pondy for 2-hours relentlessly found an economy-meets-elite kind of hotel which was lying in close proximity to the Pondy beach.

Without an iota of hesitation, we booked the hotel.
After dozing-off for a couple of hours, we visited the Aurobindo ashram in the afternoon, and went to Tic-Tac for shopping DVD's, amassing more than 50 films and bills were running to the tune of thousands.

A fine evening, rocking night and wonderful morning…

Around 4PM, we headed to Chunnambar, a boathouse near the Cuddalore bypass road, by the time we reached the exact venue it was around 5:30 PM, and the boathouse closed down at 4:30PM. Momentary disappoint faded in a jiffy as we witnessed a brilliant sunset near a dam just opposite to the boathouse. 'Perhaps a blessing in disguise' I quipped to myself. Snap after snap, roll after roll we were hunting the sunset crazily!

Partying all-night-out we quickly regrouped in the wee-hours next day, to capture the sunrise again. Completely mobbed by the clouds, we had now only a fat-chance to capture a vivacious sunrise. But our long wait bore fruits, as we had the opportunity to snap an ultimate shot (the pic in the right side). In my opinion, this was the best pic (k) of the whole trip!

On the road again!

After a brief stay at the Manakula Vinayagar temple we decided it was time to pack our bags and check-out of the hotel. We headed-off to Auroville!!!! Serenity, tranquility or placidity… I am running short of adjectives to describe this place! This should be an obvious-must-visit in anybody's travel plan to Pondy.

We had a delectable lunch at Auroville and we hit the highways again! Reluctantly we bid adieu to one of the finest places known to humankind, Pondy… And this is not an over statement!!!! Be it the eclectic French culture, staggering architecture, plethora of travel spots, strange street/ avenue names, and of course dime-a-dozen liquor, everything about Pondy leaves us spell-bound! This place would surely draw you again and again and again…

Choa!