Re-Live Re-Vive

Things around are bright and beautiful yet keeping me busy. And I attribute that for not posting for a year! There have been many changes going around, good and some not-so-good, which keeps away from blogging! Well, my other hobbies i.e., doodling, sketching and gardening have taken a hit too, but I’m not complaining (But let me complain a bit 😀 )

On this random Saturday afternoon sitting at my workplace (uff, weekend working for urgent completion of tasks, and of-course completed!) suddenly I realise that I haven’t blogged for a long while. Hilarious!

And that prompted me to put up this short post.

Blogging was also a great thing for me. It gave me peace, brought me good friends, helped me keep busy at dire situations, and several more, being a lucky charm too (Believe me, blogging worked as a lucky thing for me. There were days which turned from bad to good, on posting some content!)

Often I’ve gone on exile and come back, as can be seen through my posts! While this can be considered another hiatus from the present exile, I wish to strive to blog regularly (fingers crossed!)

Cheers
God Bless

Savour of September Challenge – Sept 3

It’s a wonderful Saturday and I’m happy to post on the third consecutive day! (Given my recent records, it’s definitely an ‘achievement’ to boast!)

Pondering about food, there’s an important aspect involved in it, which is abstinence from partaking food, or simply put as fasting.

Fasting from food is a very dominant practice/ritual found in most cultures, societies around in the world, in the guise of prayer, self control, protest, gratification, health consciousness or anything that one would love to term it!

Mahatma Gandhi’s satyagraha included massive fasting protests, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that these protests had a great impact on the British regime in India and paved way for our Independence!

On a personal note, I fast on a single day in the whole year; on the day of Vaikunda Ekadasi. I have quite adorance and reverence for this day, which makes me undertake this form of prayer.

Well, more to come and more to write. Will get back with more on food!

Cheers
God Bless

Savour of September Challenge – Sept 1

It’s a new month, a new coach added to the rollercoaster of 2022! With my A to Z April Challenge still struggling to go ahead, I thought of undertaking a simpler challenge for September, and decided to carry out the Savour of September Challenge!

Well, I’m going to just post some colourful pics, some memoirs, some info, some thoughts on Food, throughout the 30 September days, and that’s going to be my Savour of September Challenge!

Potato curry, jointly cooked and aligned with friend!..few years back..

Food, has always been quite an intriguing topic of conversation, throughout the history of mankind. Being a basic necessity for survival, food is quite an important part in every living being’s life on earth (and beyond too, probably!)

Food, being a necessity to everyone, is a luxury to many, a commodity, fun, topic of debate, thrill, and lot more..

Quoting my own quote, I wish people be conscious of what one self eats, and not be conscious (well, not bothered) of what others eat! (that’s a huge topic of debate, for another day!)

Thus saying, let me start the SS Challenge and conclude the post for the day!

Cheers
God Bless

AAZC 2022 D – (the) Devil wears Prada

The Devil wears Prada – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_Wears_Prada_(film)

Ah! One my favourite movies in the list which I prepared to post! And had been waiting to post about!

I hadn’t and still haven’t read the novel based on which the movie had been made, though watched the movie several times. I’d say this is my comfort movie. When bored or something, I’d search for some scenes of this movie in YouTube and spend the time watching it. Well, my favourite colour has been ‘cerulean’ since watching this movie! Oh, for the uninitiated, Miranda Priestley gives a monologue on cerulean.

Miranda Priestley, a tough task master (assumingly, the ‘devil’ in the devil wears prada) is the chief editor of Runway, a popular fashion magazine. Andrea Sachs gets recruited as the second personal assistant of the devil and movie revolves around them, with a marvellous cast abounding around!

What makes the movie seem great, in my opinion, is the way the character arc is portrayed. There are multiple shades of every character, in here, and they get into our mind, with ease. (Probably the effect of me watching it several times!) In spite of these, the story doesn’t get deep into the lives of the people in it, showing just the outer, glamourous facade, albeit a beautiful one.

Thus saying, I’d always suggest this movie, to anyone who haven’t watched it. And also to someone who wishes to re-watch any movie!

More to come! Tight schedules and work demands have pushed the April Challenge right into August! Yet, would strive to complete the A to Z Challenge!

Cheers
God Bless

AAZC 2022 C – Chandramukhi

Chandramukhi – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandramukhi

Chandramukhi is a perfect example of a ‘masala’ movie, which has elements of stardom, fandom, drama, comedy, fun, music, thrill, myth, suspense, and some out-of-world-sense! A perfect get away, where one could lose from the ramblings of the world and immerse into a fantasy!

Often I’ve read and heard movie ‘reviwers’ that logic isn’t included in movies. Aren’t movies supposed to not be so?! Not every movie is meant to be a documentary film portraying true events with scientific accuracy. There are movies which take us away from reality, for a while, with some not very exaggerated logic/suspense, yet keeps us engaged in a simple manner. Chandramukhi was intended to be one such movie and it indeed succeeded in being so!

The plot of the movie is quite simple – a ghost occupies the mind of a woman and creates havoc. And comes our savior who saves the day! All this said with drama, music, and colours! And of course a good dose of suspense too!

The movie is the remake of a Malayalam movie, which was also remade in Kannada too earlier, with suitable modifications to the respective tastes of the states.

This has been one of my favourite movie, which can be occasionally watched. I can still remember watching the movie in Satyam with family. It’s no exaggeration to say, this movie attained an iconic status, with it being the favourite movie of many!

Cheers
God Bless

AAZC 2022 B – Bala

Bala – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bala_(2019_film)

Bala is a feel good, light hearted movie, revolving around the life of Balmukund, who is being addressed as Bala. Well, ironically Bal means hair, and our hero is facing the issue of premature balding.

The movie starts with how Bala is proud of his hairstyle in his teenage, how devastated he feels while he discovers the premature balding issue, the methods he uses to overcome the same, the problems (internal and external) he faces, and so on.

Ayushmann Khurrana plays the role of Bala vety well. Playing such comically serious characters, of course isn’t new for him! He is ably supported by Bhumi Pednekar, Yami Gautam and others in Bala.

The movie doesn’t get preachy, or some sort of one, which tries to send some ‘message to the society’ It just goes around the life of Bala, who faces a very common and relatable issue, in a light hearted manner. That is quite a positive aspect of the movie.

I remember the experience, watching this movie, very well, coz it was on a particular day, during an outing, there was no idea of watching movie, yet as an ad-hoc plan this movie was watched (Well, I did sleep through a small portion of the movie! 😀 This story is for another day!)

The experience and company while watching a movie plays a major a part in the movie being one of our favourite one! I feel so 🙂

Cheers
God Bless

AAZC 2022 A – Aboorva Ragangal

Aboorva Raagangal https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoorva_Raagangal

Well, what a good movie to start with! (Symbolic; for me to start with the AAZC 2022, and this movie being the first of Superstar Rajinikanth, for those who haven’t known the fact)

Aboorva Raagangal (Rare Ragams; It’s quite difficult to translate Ragam into English. Here’s the Wikipedia description of Ragam) (This particular fact is also used in the 100th movie of Rajinikanth – Sri Raghavendrar, which by itself deserves a seperate post, and that’s for another day!)

Aboorva Raagangal, directed by the legendary K Balachander, is one of my all time favourite movie. The script, screenplay, actors, music, and all the other factors amalgamate well, to form this masterpiece.

The synopsis of the movie goes as : A single mother (MKB, played by Srividya), who is a musician, has strained relationship with her daughter (Ranjani, played by Jayasudha). On the other hand, there’s a single father (Mahendran, played by Major Sundarajan) having conflicts with his only son (Prasanna, played by Kamal Hassan). A tale of errors happen, with destiny playing its game. Meanwhile MKB’s lover, Pandiyan (played by Rajinikanth) enters into the dock, distorting the sail!

I had already blogged (in my former blogging site) about my views on this movie early. The link to which is http://blogofkaushik.blogspot.com/2013/02/apoorva-raagangal.html?m=1

Movie making, when done with absolute passion, begets gems such as Aboorva Raagangal. K Balachander infuses societal complexities with ease into his movies, which makes the movie watching experience, an absolute pleasure. The same can be said about the other movies directed by him.

This movie meant to be a ‘landmark’ for the artistes in it and a great stepping stone for Rajinikanth, who never had to look back starting from here. The movie is also a great landmark in the history of Tamil cinema!

Thus, let me conclude this short post on one of my favourite movie and get back with an another for tomorrow’s post.

Cheers
God Bless

April A to Z Challenge 2022

As I had said in my previous post, the theme I’ve chosen for this year to blog over the April A to Z Challenge is “My Favourite Movies”

I’m not that big a movie buff. I used to hardly watch movies in my childhood. Though, I got interest into watching movies owing to few of my friends in college days. I can safely say, that the majority of the movies that I watched were during my college days.

Occasionally, I used to watch movies telecasted in TV channels too. I came across some gems, this way!

As I advanced professionally, time got quite scarce due to the hectic schedule that I had to follow. Still, I didn’t and still haven’t given up watching movies, altogether.

Netflix, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, YouTube (too!) have been quite useful in keep up with the features, especially during the Covid induced lockdown times.

And hence, I start with the AAZC for 2022, posting for a month, on some of my favourite movies.

Once I decided to work on this theme, I made a list of movies from A to Z (well, list of movies that I’ve watched and personally liked). I couldn’t actually come up with the names for certain alphabets and some alphabets were overlapping too. Hence I’ve taken the liberty to repeat an alphabet and fit it in where I couldn’t come up with a post.

Thus saying, let me start posting for the April A to Z Challenge 2022!

Cheers
God Bless

April A to Z Challenge 2022

It’s that ‘hot’ month of the year, when not just the mercury rises, but also the blog posts all around, given the April A to Z Challenge.

I had participated in this challenge a few years back and was able to complete it successfully too. As I advanced in my personal and professional life, time became quite a luxury and I couldn’t concentrate much on blogging.

At the beginning of this year, I was pondering over certain things, where revival of my blogging habit was a top priority. As a result I posted few Wordless Wednesday posts. Yet they were just photographs as the subject goes and there wasn’t any written (typed) posts.

Hence, I decided to take up the April A to Z Challenge (AAZC, henceforth), yet again, for 2022, and try to complete it!

The topic I chose to post for this year’s AAZC was on some of my favourite movies.

So, let’s meet in the AAZC posts!

Cheers
God Bless