Robbery Inspired by Movies

Looks like some people learn lessons from movies. This set of criminals did at least and made away with a cool $3.1 million heist from a jewelry store. On the flip side these guys are bringing a bad name to bikers and motorcyclists who ride for fun and enjoyment. I wonder what kind of backlash there will be in Britain against motorcyclists.

Tooth Fairy..... somewhat entertaining...

For lack of nothing else to do on Friday evening we decided to go to a movie at the dollar theater in Plano. The intent was to watch a Jackie Chan movie, but there was none playing at a night show. So we decided to watch The Tooth Fairy instead. This is a fairly entertaining kids movie... apart from a few minutes of fantastic ice skating and a some comedy frames there is nothing much worth watching in this movie.

The story traces the life of an aging ice hockey star who is named the tooth fairy because he knocks out teeth of his opponents. His girlfriend has two kids, the daughter just loses one of her teeth and the mother tells the story of tooth fairy. The protagonist tries to tell her the truth in a rude manner to the chagrin of the mother. The son doesn't like this guy because he is rude, and sarcastic.

The story moves on to fairyland when the player gets called to do some community service and then after some seriously boring drama and some funny scenes the movie ends with a soulful transformation of the protagonist. I definitely wouldn't pay the regular theater ticket to watch this movie....

Movie Review: Venkata in Sankata

Laughter all the way
Cast: Ramesh Arvind, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Umashree and others;
Director: Ramesh Arvind

All through my college days I would hear about the loss of quality in the Kannada cinema. I was never a big time movie watcher and hence it didn't do much to change my opinion. Now after coming to the US I actually started watching movies of all types, primarily out of boredom. Being a poor student I can't afford to do many of the cool things such as bowling, going to the movies, eating out, etc. So what is the best form of entertainment. Yes watching movies on youtube. As I watched English, and Hindi movies I decided to look for recent Kannada movies and watch them.

Yesterday I watched this notoriously hilarious Kannada movie Venkata in Sankata. Out of the 2 hr 21 minutes, if I said I laughed for 2 hrs it would not be false. The movie is completely funny and every scene has a bit of humor. Ramesh is a great actor and he has proved that he is a great director too.

The movie traces the professional life and adventures of police sub inspector Venkata whose fate always seems to be against him. His colleague somehow always seems to take credit for his actions and a frustrated Venkata is yearning to do something about it.

There is a terrorist attack in the city and Venkata is assigned the case. The way he goes about doing it and win forms the gist of the story. In between there is the heroine and few songs which add the necessary "oomph" factor to the movie. Even without these added gimmicks the movie is a good entertainer.

If you have lost hope about Kannada Cinema, watch this and I am sure you will change your opinion.

Re-discovering Kannada Movies

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" is a common saying that people use while talking about their loved ones, especially when they are away. It is true we miss our loved ones when they are not with us. Having moved from Bangalore to Dallas, I miss my parents and my home town. But after moving here one thing I find myself missing is Kannada films. That is surprising because back in Bangalore I rarely watched movies and Kannada movies were only on TV and probably one in a few years.

But having moved here I began to miss Kannada films and that is when I started searching online to watch movies in my mother tongue. I agree the films are not as well made as Hollywood flics or even Bollywood movies. But nevertheless there is some strange joy when I watch these Kannada movies. Even though the, barring a few, heroes look like ogres and heroines are almost always garishly made up, making them look more like vamps than heroines.

Anyway the purpose of posting this was to drive home the point that when one is away from an object of affection, be it an individual, vehicle, language or place, it is highly possible that the love for that something will increase multifold. This will make us do things which we would normally not do. In my case watching Kannada movies.