Double Weekend - Vaanam & Ko

Yes, its been long before my movie review since Endhiran. In between these days, we watched many movies - Yuddham Sei, Siruthai, Mynaa to name a few. Those movies have done fairly well at the Box office, and were not bad, but nevertheless it did not provide me the trigger to blog about it. Not to mention, I had a forgetful experience watching the horrible Gautam Menon Movie.

Came the end of Week17'11, and already there was talks about Simbu, rechristened STR, his decision not to act in Ko and his prophecies on Vaanam. Well, we decided to see what is so special about Vaanam. First day night show - Destination: Innovative Multiplex - Not because its so good, but just because it strains a little less on your card, and fuel for my car.

VAANAM
The title music of Vaanam was quite good, and the beginning of the movie - Bharath's Rock song, gave an indication that Simbu's character is little downplayed. After the first song, came Simbu's intro, a little elaborate comic action trick sequence with Santhanam. You must be pretty familar with the story (courtesy: numerous reviews on the net). So, I am not diving into it. However, here's a brief sketch of the various sub-plots -

Plot1: Bharath, aiming to become a rockstar,
Plot2: STR, looking for Rs. 40000 to get a ticket for an elite party.
Plot3: Saranya, looking for Rs. 50000 to get her son freed from a greedy money lender.
Plot4: Prakashraj, searching for his brother who had run away after a rub with a rough police
Plot5: Anushka, looking to come out of her captive

The moments I liked
1. Title song (not when titles are displayed, but sung by Bharath) - Deivam Vazhvathu Engae, Deivam Vazhvathu Engae.. Thavarugalai Unnarum Manithan Nenjil..
2. Simbu returning money to Saranya and the old man, and the show of emotions by the actors there on. Simply awesome.
3. Prakash raj saving the life of the terrifying POlice inspector.

My Take on Vaanam
Vaanam is a different story, with commercial ingredients nevertheless, revolving on 5 different plots, and how all turns up for everyone, in a rivetting climax spread over 30 mins. The movie lacks logic at some places, but is an emotional drama about what prompts changes to one's attitude and behaviour. You must watch this to experience this.

The night's sleep was filled with reflections on Vaanam. At the same time, wanted to try out Ko, as there were good public reactions and critics citing it as better than Ayan.

We decided to book a ticket from Innovative, rather than booking online. So, grabbed the tickets, went to More megamart (for some quick shopping) and then back to Innovative by 4:15PM, in time for the 4:30PM show.

KO
Well the movie began sans the rousing noise for Vaanam. The titles were pretty slick, with clips of important journos over the last decade. Yes, it a journalist's journal sort of:-)

The initial scene of bank robbery and the subsequent chase by Jeeva are well pictured, to give an indication as to how the movie would be. The movie is based on the plot of a journalist, investigating a mystery over a state assembly polls. What keeps you engrossed is the numerous twists and turns and the 2 songs - Ennamo Yedho & Venpaniye.

The climax is a bit predictable though, but is interesting with a soft mature twist towards the end. Overall I liked it because of the presentation and racy nature of the screenplay. Its the New age Commercial Cinema, the likes specialised by very few - Maniratnam, Rajeev Menon & Gautam Menon.

Ko vs Vaanam

I've ventured to compare some aspects of both the movies, and provide my rating for these 2 movies.

Freshness
Vaanam bring in a new genre of multistarrer to tamil cinema
Ko is a commercial entertainer, but the story & screenplay make it novel.

Acting Skills
Vaanam requires the characters to display the right emotions at the right times, and all except Bharath have done well. Simbu doesn't dissapoint his fans, yes he overacts at many places, but the one place where he returns the money to Saranya, is for the purists.
Ajmal has stolen the show and so is Jeeva. Jeeva has more footage, and be it romance, action, stunts or dialogue delivery, he has done a fab job. Kartika has disappointed, esp. her 6'2" and vertical eyebrows, it really is the only damp fit.

Camera
Wo wonder its Ko here all the way. Breathtaking action sequences and teh venpaniye song picturization standout.

Music
Ko leads the way. Vaanam's overhyped songs do little to keep the viewers engrossed. The lyrics in the Vaanam title song is very good indeed.

Entertainment Quotient
Its Ko.

Emotional Quotient
Its Vaanam.

Intelligence Quotient
Its Ko

Engrossment Quotient
Ko keeps you on your seat. Only the last 30 mins of Vaanam is good. YOu must be a patient guy, if you had the guts to wait for the Climax.

Masala Factor
Well in Vaanam, there's masala throughout, expected as its a Telugu movie remake. Some make you feel irritated.
I tend to not use the word Masala for Ko, nevertheless its a commercial entertainer. Lot of the scenes blend with the screenplay (if not for the story), and keeps you guessing and entertained.

The Simbu vs Jeeva Factor
Can't understand why this STR rates himself so high. One can feel the thimuru in him thoroughout the movie. I could not see a joint interview by Bharath & Simbu on screen, but Jeeva & Ajmal seemed to have gelled well in the making of the movie.
Its STR who dropped Ko, and I must say, Jeeva made ample use of the opportunity.

My Marks
Ko - 80
Vaanam - 50

Kumbakonam Temples Visit - Feb 2011

Our Family undertook a trip to Few temples near Kumbakonam & Thanjavur on 12 & 13 Feb 2011. In this blog, I list down the brief details of the trip, the temples that we visited and places we dined.

Stay - Kodeeswara Lodge
Dine - Hotels near Bus stand. Not so good, but enough to whet your appetite, esp. if you are a fan of Pongal, Vada with Sambar and Chutney.


Places Visited on Day #1

We had breakfast at Vasanta Bhavan, near the Busstand, and started around 8:45 AM. Then we proceeded to Tirukkarugavur, via Papanasam Railway Crossing. The roads were good, and the smell of harvest was a blessing.

Thirukkarugavoor
http://www.sri-karparakshambigai-temple.com/
We reached here around 10:00, got the garlands from nearby shop. We offered archanas to Mullaivananathar and Garbarakshambika. We walked 3 rounds, around the temple, cherishing the gardens at the temple.

We started from here around 11:30 AM.

Thittai Guru Temple
http://www.dharsanam.com/2007/09/thenkudi-thittai-guru-bhagavan.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thengudi_Thittai
On the way from Thirukkarugavoor to Thanjavur, via Melattur, on the advice of the driver, we took a stop.
Unlike many other temples, here the complete temple is built using the stone. Not only for the main dieties, but also all other Sannidhi's are constructed using stones, right from floors, pillars, walls and roof.
An unique feature of this temple is a drop of water falls on the Lingam (Main Diety) exactly every twenty four minutes (1 Naazhigai) from the roof. But for a small hole, there is no source of water or anything, on the Vimana of the main diety.
The archakas were very friendly ad explained about the history of the temple. More details can be had from the reference link mentioned.
We started from here around 12:15 and proceeded to Tanjore.

Thanjavoor Brihadeeswarar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brihadeeswarar_Temple
Upon reaching here around 1:00, what strike upon me was a marvel. No words can explain the sheer magnificence of the temple. If you haven't been here, you must visit once.
The temple has a very big Nandi, at the entrace, and Lord Brihadeeswara (Shiva Linga) and Goddess Parvati. We clicked numerous snaps here, and you would still be spellbound for sure.

It was lunchtime, and the driver informed that all temples would be closed now and can be seen only after 4:00 PM. It would not be possible to go back to Kumbakonam, and then visit the other temples. So, we decided to spend some time at the Maratha Museum.

One of the hoardings provided a glimpse of the various temples around Tanjavor, thought this would be useful -


Tanjore Maratha Palace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanjavur_Maratha_palace
There was nothing to be overawed, but nevertheless we could spend some time at the bat filled palace. The darbar hall still has the throne and some rich paintings, but they are not well maintained over the years.

The palace compound also has -
1. The Saraswati Mahal Library, housing some of the ancient literature.
2. The Art Gallery
3. Museum

We then started from here around 3:30 PM and proceeded towards Papanasam.

Papanasam 108 Sivan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papanasam#108_Shivalayam
Papanasam is 18 KM away from Kumbakonam on Kumbakonam – Tanjore highway. The Papanasam 108 Sivalaya was under renovation and painting when we went. The temple has 108 Lingas in one roof. The main deity is Ramalingeswarar, installed by Sri Ramar Himself. Since the Brahma harthi dosham was following Sri Ramar because of killing the two demons Haran and Dhooshan, Ramar installed this lingam here and got His dhosham cleared off. There are 106 individual (big) lingams in a separate mandapam. There is also a separate lingam (Hanumantha lingam) brought by Sri Hanuman from Kasi. So,along with the moolavar, there are totally 108 lingams here. As the name of the place suggests, this is a place where one can get their sins washed off. Papa, meaning sins and Nasam meaning, loosing out.
This is also the birth place of great people like Poet Papanasam Sivan and Sri Sri Ravishankar of Art Of Living.

Some Pics, that we took -

There's also a video on Youtube, that I am embedding here -



Nallur - Kalyana Sundareswarar
http://kumbakonamtemples.in/nallur-temple.html
http://kumbakonam-temples.blogspot.com/2009/05/nallur-temple.html

Nallur is about 4 km from Papanasam, which is on Papanasam-Kumbakonam Road via Vazhapazhakadai.
Sri Kalyanasundareswarar temple is an ancient Shiva shrine. The Lingam is made of a shining metal which changes colour five times a day. The images of Shiva and Parvati on Rishaba with Vishnu and Brahma are worshipped in the sanctum. Masi Magham (Feb-March) is a major festival.

The archagar explained about the history and significance of the temple. Even of the devottes remarked that this was the first time the archagar has explained so deeply about the temple, and it was a blessing to hear those.

Around 6:00, we started from here and proceeded towards Patteswaram.

Patteswaram
http://www.patteeswaramdurga.org/
We were very fortunate to see less crowd, and we had a chance to have an aarthi darshan. The temple is huge and the "vruksham" (tree) behind Durga is very famous. The archagar explained the procedure to pray in this temple, and at the end of the day, we were pretty satisfied lot.

After having dinner at a hotel nearby, we went to our hotel around 8:30 PM.

Route Map for Places visited on Day #1

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Places Visited on Day #2
On Sunday, we had plans to visit Thirumanancheri, Swamimalai & Thiruvalanchuzhi, and were planning to return by 2:00 PM or so, as we had to catch our train back around 6:00 PM.

Thirumanancheri
http://www.thiruvidaimarudur.com/thirumanancheri.php
We reached here around 8:00 AM, and we were surprised to see the heavy rush. The temple is for people who wants to get married, and there is a belief that marriage would get settled soon after visiting the temple.
You need to get a archana ticket, and garland set. There are specific instructions to light the lamp and offer worship at the temple. Any vendor should be able to assist you.

After offering poojas here, we then decided to proceed towards Swamimalai, however, if time permits we thought we could see few temples on the way. We had elaneeru (Tender Coconut) on the way, and believe me the taste you get over those areas cannot be matched. After relishing it, the driver halted at Suriyar Koil, as it was a Sunday and very auspicious day to worship Sun God.

Kanjanur - Sukran

http://indiantemplesonline.blogspot.com/2011/02/navagriha-sukran-kanjanur.html http://www.hindudevotionalblog.com/2009/03/agneeswarar-temple-kanjanoor-navagraha.html Agneeswarar Temple at Kanjanoor or Agniswara Swami Temple at Kanjanur is one of the nine Navagraha Temples in Tamil Nadu and is associated with Lord Sukran (Planet Venus), the sixth of Navagraha planets. Also known as Sukran Navagraha Sthalam, Agniswarar temple is located around 18 km from Kumbakonam and 2 km to the east from Sooriyanayanar Kovil, on the Kallanai - Poompuhar road, in Tamilnadu.

Suriyanar Koil

http://www.suriyanarkoil.com/ Sooriyanar Temple is in East of Kumbakonam, Kumbakonam - Mayiladuthurai road. It is exactly 2Km to the north of Aduthurai and the temple is well connected from lower Anicut and Thiruppanandal. We had a brief stop at Suriyanar Koil, but as it was a Sunday, there was heavy rush. As we had to visit other temples, we had a darshan from outside the temple, and proceeded towards Swamimalai.

Swamimalai
http://murugan.org/temples/swamimalai.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamimalai_Murugan_Temple
http://www.lordmurugan.com/swamimalai.htm
Swamimalai is well known in the area as one of the Arupadai Veedus of Lord Muruga. We took the stairs to reach the top of the hillock and took a Rs. 25 ticket to have darshan of the lord. One of the incidents I couldn't forget was that a child (with a tonsured head) had inserted his head between two steel rods on the railings. People were trying with all force to get the child off, and one clever old man, realised that there was huge gap at the bottom, and made the child to bend down, and then took his head off the rods via the bottom.

Hmmm... Then we proceeded to Thiruvalanchuzhi as it was on our list of Must visit temples. On the way we had a brief stop at the Cauvery Bridge, and took some snaps of the river bed.


Thiruvalanchuzhi, Swamimalai
http://www.dharsanam.com/2007/11/thiruvalanchuzhi-sri-swetha-vinayakar.html
This place is about 4 kms from Swamimalai, after crossing the Cauvery Bridge. The name can, in fact, be taken to represent the letter "Om". The idol here is known as "Vellai vinayakar" or "white vinayakar" as it is believed to have originated from the foam of the sea. There is a beautiful legend associated with the shrine: The Asuras and Devas embarked on the task of churning the ocean to get "Amritham" or ambrosia. They wanted this nectar which confers immortality. There are many stories associated with this episode, but this little known one tells us that before they began the churning, they forgot to pray to Lord Vigneswara, the Remover of Obstacles. This resulted in the ocean spilling out poison. The Devas and Asuras, realising their error, made a small vigraha of Vinayaka using foam. They prayed to him and started the churning again. The rest of the legend is well known.

Since many people do not know the name "Thiruvalanchuzhi", it is best to ask for the "Vellai Vinayakar kovil". The temple is immensely peaceful and lovely, and prayers to Lord Ganapathy can never go without reward.


We had lunch and then did some shopping at Lakshmi Mills, and returned to our hotel around 2:30 PM.

Route Map for Places visited on Day #2

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Photo Album
Here are the pics that we've taken on this trip. Though am not a pro photographer, I hope my shots would impress K.V.Anand or P.C.Sriram :-)

Drive from Bangalore to Chennai

Since we bought the i10, we had been to Chennai around 7 times. And 7 being my lucky number, I wanted to share some tips and learning for those deciding to travel to Chennai and back by car.

Well, the first decision to take as ever is the route. As you would know, Chittor route is the shortest, but then many parts are still under construction / conversion from 2 lane to 4 lane. So, its advisable to use the Hosur road.

The Route
Well, this is the route that I take mostly.

View Larger Map

Breakfast / Tiffin Options
Hosur - Meenakshi Bhavan (just beneath the Hosur Overpass)
Hosur - Vasanta Vihar (Gauri Shankar) behind Hosur old bus stand.
A2B (about 22 kms from Hosur towards Krishnagiri, near Chinnar)
Vellore (I don't know, but I avoid it as you need to go beneath the over passes at Vellore).

Where to Speed up ?
The section from Hosur to Krishnagiri is quite good, with lots of slopes (both up & down). The hassle in this stretch could be the lorries, that find it difficult to climb the slopes, and you might have to wait and zip past a couple of over friendly lorries.

From Krishnagiri, the road to Vellore is a run-way. One can easily do average speeds of over 90 kmph, with top speed of 130 kmph. You can find Ambur bit irritating, as there is no flyover here. There are atleast couple of traffic signals that takes about 2 mins each to cross. Once you cross Ambur, you can zip to Vellore at about 100 kmph average speed.

You will be greeted with as many as 7 over passes at Vellore - yes. All the intersections at Vellore have over passes, so if you wanna take a diversion to Katpadi or Arani or other places, then watch out for sign boards.

The road from Vellore to Kanchipuram intersection is quite good, but there would be slightly increased traffic, that requires all your skills to wade through the maze. The stretch from kanchipuram crossing to Sriperumbudur is a bit patchy I would say as the tar has melted and you can see the yellow & white lines curves on the road. As a result of this, you need to tighten your grip on the steering wheel a bit, to have more control.

As I say near Tambaram, I mostly take the road from Sriperumbudur to Tambaram. This stretch is approx. 22 kms, but takes atleast 45 mins to negotiate.

Attractions
The section from Hosur to Krishnagiri is very scenic with lots of lows and highs, that offers a breathtaking view from your driver seat.

There are lots of temples around Krishnagiri - Aravamudha Perumal temple, Kaatu Veera Anjaneya Temple, etc.

Once you reach Jolarpet, you can see the Yelagiri hills on the right (if you are travelling from Bangalore to Chennai). Take a moment to capture it if you want.

Near to Vellore, you have Sripuram & Ratnagiri. Sripuram is about 14 kms from the highway, whereas you can see the Ratnagiri temple from the highway itself.

Toll Gates
Electronic City - Rs. 35 (I avoid it when travelling towards Chennai, but take it on the return. You can zip past 12 kms in about 6 mins.)
Attibele - Rs. 20
Krishnagiri - Rs. 25
Vaniyambadi - Rs. 35
Pallikonda - Rs. 45
Walajapet - Rs. 25
Sriperumbudur - Rs. 25 (I can avoid it, as I take a detour before this toll towards Tambaram)

Time Chart
Silk board to Hosur ~30 mins
Hosur to Krishnagiri ~45 mins
Krishnagiri to Vellore ~75 mins
Vellore to Sriperumbudur ~60 mins

Photos
View the various Pics that I've taken on the highway.

View all

Get your own

Other Tips
1. Fill up the tank before embarking on a long journey, and check the tyre pressures.
2. The best time to drive is early mornings. Better start early by around 5:00 to 5:30, and you could have a smooth exit passage from the starting city.
3. If you are stopping on a highway, be sure that your car is completely off the tar (yellow line). Most of the Truck drivers drive on the extreme left, so beware.
4. Do not get too bothered about the attractions, pay attention to the road and the moving vehicles.

1st Drive to Nandi Hills

I've been to Nandi hills a couple of times before on bike, but this has been our first trip on Car. We started around 12:00 Noon, and zipped past Hebbal, Yelahanka Junction & then as we neared BIAL, my wife urged me to detour to the BIAL. The approach to the BIAL is just fantastic, with flyovers to all directions. Its a 5 km drive from the Hyderabad road, and you will enjoy every minute of it. We just drove past the drop point, and then took a U-turn back.

Then, took a left after Devanahalli towards Nandi Hills, and got some fresh grapes on the way.


The roads were sprinked with water, the clouds decorated the hills and it was a fantastic sight indeed. We didn't miss a moment.

As we approached the ghat section, the adrenaline level raised within myself. After all it was my second drive on a ghat section (first one being on Chamundi hills). The climb was pretty smooth on our i10, I managed to climb the best part on 3rd gear, without too much gear shifts. We stopped at about 1200 metres above sea level, and took some pics.

The next part of the climb was rather steep, and I had to use 1st gear at times. There were about 10 hair-pin bends, but the roads are well laid and pretty broad, so you will find it pretty easy.

Reached the top around 2:00 PM, took the Rs. 80 ticket, and the drove to the top. It was hard to find a parking place, and we got one finally.

We then did some mini treks to capture some breathtaking visuals.

I didn't miss the water droplets on the lush grass, it offered me immense joy as would do to a nature lover.


The clouds closed in and mist began to settle. Suddenly the climate changed, and the backdrop became breathtaking from amazing.

Within few minutes, there was a slight drizzle that turned into a downpour. Then, we began to scurry back to our car and started from there around 3:00 PM.

The retreat was less fun and I remembered one tip from my Guru - Do not drive down a slope in neutral, do not keep pressing brakes all the time to decelerate, use lower gears. Just at the foot of the hill, we found a tea shop, and wow, very hot tea - fitting for the weather indeed.

From then it was a cruise, as we reached our home in Old Madras Road by about 4:45 PM.

More photos can be found from -

2010_01_01@Nandi Hills