May 18, 2008

My Favorite Movies : for 2007

After some reflection I was able to finalize the rankings my favourite 10 movies in 2007. I have listed them and provided reasons for why I liked them:





Chennai – 600028 (Tamil) : What can I say the combination was awesome, Chennai + Street Cricket + Amazing Script. Venkat Prabhu you win hands down as the director of the year. SPB Charan and J. K Saravanaa.. you made one the finest films tamil cinema has seen in recent times. The only movie that stood up to Sivaji and did not falter. I am waiting with bated breath for Saroja.

Johnny Gaddar (Hindi): What can I say one of the best Bollywood movies in a long time. Sriram Raghavan you rock. Neil Nitin Mukesh you are the next big thing in Bollywood after Hrithik. And music one of the best I have heard in a long time.

Paruthi Veeran(Tamil) : Realism, Realism and Realism. Should have been India's entry to the Oscars, Karthi and Priyamani's performances were superlative. Kudos to Ameer. The climax was disturbing but realistic.

300 (English): Brilliant new wave of making movies. Could have been # 1 but alas history was distorted to show Persians in a bad light.

Stardust (English): A fun movie was a good roller coaster ride.

Taare Zameen Par (Hindi): One word Darsheel Zafary. Kudos to Aamir on taking on such a commercially risky but realistic storyline, way to go Aamir.

Polladhavan (Tamil) : Raw and realistic portrayal. Brilliant performances especially and a superb song Engeyum Eppodum. And of course Divya Spandana!

Live Free or Die Hard (English): Brilliant, pure action movie from Hollywood in a long time.

Kalloori (Tamil) : Realistic, had me reflecting on my college days deeply. I liked the movie very much and this movie could have been at the top 5 in the list, but I hate tragic endings.

Oram Po (Tamil) : Brilliant depiction of the auto rickshaw culture in Chennai. The film was hilarious, and the movie shut out the concept of taking life seriously. Sun of Gun and Arya are brilliant.

'India' a sleeping tiger

India's national animal is the 'Tiger'. But modern 'India' as a country seldom acts like one. Attacks on the country (ref. most recent incidents in Jaipur) are taken lying down as if it is our Karma. India must put its act together and the government must toughen its stance around national security. Only 'security' can bring unhindered peace and progress to the nation and that will in turn enable us to achieve our vision of being a super power and rightfully so.


India must take the following multi-pronged initiatives to be taken seriously by the world community:
  1. India must give an ultimatum to the UN to make it a permanent member of the security council. It rightfully belongs to us as the world's largest democracy and a peace loving country (India has never been an aggressor in its longstanding history) and its economic growth and its contribution to the world. If the UN or other security council members do not take us seriously then India must quit the UN. UN will be at a loss rather than India, because I do not know about the monetary support that India provides to the UN but India is the one of the largest contributor of its forces for the UN's peace keeping mission around the world and it has the reputation of being best.


  2. Indian political parties must rise above partisan politics and support the central government in the anti-terrorism issue instead of blaming each other without any basis. BTW just a sidebar; the regional and caste based parties present one of the biggest threat to the national security (example: MNS).


  3. Creation of a central agency for countering the monster of terrorism that must have a central command.The government must create a specialized force to deal with these issues. The agency must also have an hi-tech arm that can assist in investigation and also be pro-active in intercepting communications.


  4. A separate anti-terrorism law is the need of the hour and all the pending cases must be disposed off with stringent punishment to the offenders. An union minister must be made accountable to track the progress of these cases.


  5. At the diplomatic front India must make it clear to it's neighbours that it reserves the right to take any action to protect its security including raiding their territories suspected of terrorists training camps and must deploy sophisticated technology at the borders including drone air crafts that will have the ability to pound any precise location where infiltration is suspected.

  6. Have a Bangladesh policy; in order to strengthen the security of the bordering areas with them and must start a process to deport illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

  7. Ministry of Defence, Home and External affairs must work closely with each other and provide policy direction and diplomatic action.

  8. I recently saw a piece of article in IBN live about community level policing in Trichy, these initiatives must be implemented throughout the country and this will help in bridging the gap between the police and the common man and information will be forthcoming.
  9. India must strengthen its security on the porous borders with Nepal and keep an eye on people crossing the border.

A strong and a courageous leader is the need of the hour to face these issues. To blame the government in this case is just not an option. How many of us actually do vote? (Think about it only 60 % of us actually vote in the best case scenario; what happens to the other 40% always?We have to make an informed choice and must force our politicians to think in these lines instead of whipping up frenzy on the 'son of the soil' issues or 'water sharing issues'.I think the change has to come from within each of us.

May 1, 2008