Indian Army launches official website

The Indian Army took another leap in technology empowerment with the launch of Indian Army web portal on internet on Thursday. The web portal is hosted on NIC server at domain www.indianarmy.nic.in. The newly launched web portal has been developed on the state of the art technology available. It is built on a strong platform to thwart any hacking/defacing attempts, a government release said. The Indian Army Website has a number of options like latest events, announcements, results and tenders. It also provides information regarding arms services, Dte/Branches, Training establishments, regimental associations etc.

Google launches music search service

Search giant Google has entered the online music market with a new service for finding and buying music online.

Google announced Wednesday that it was indeed adding music streams to its search results thanks to a partnership with Lala, MySpace (with streaming from iLike), Rhapsody, and imeem. The search giant has struck licensing deals with EMI, Universal, Warner Music, and Sony Music to bring streams of popular music to the search page via the streaming partners, while the likes of iLike and Lala will be bringing their collection of independent artists as well.

Now, whenever you search for a musical artist, a song, or even a lyric (thanks to Gracenote), Google will include streams right there in your search results along with links to the other services. We decided to give this new feature a run-through to see just what it could handle, and came away (mostly) liking what we saw.

For now, Google’s musical search results are limited to the United States. This will be a disappointment for the millions of Google users who live elsewhere, but as we have learned from many years of music coverage, this has to be a licensing issue with the music labels. Google says that the feature is slowly rolling out across the US, but if you want to test it out right this minute, you can go to a special page to run your search queries.

Many times, though, you don’t know the name of the song or the artist who sings it. Maybe you remember only the chorus — or maybe you remember who sang it, but you forgot the exact name of the song. If you’ve ever heard a catchy song in a car or cafe, but just can’t figure out the name of the song, . This search feature also helps you find many of those songs by entering a search containing a line or two of lyrics.

Finally, a search engine should also be able to help you discover music you’ll like, even if you can’t tell it what exactly you want to hear. Google partnered with Pandora, imeem and Rhapsody to include links to their sites where you can discover music related to your queries as well.

This feature doesn’t just make search better. It also helps people discover new sources of licensed music online while helping artists to discover new generations of fans and reconnect with longtime listeners.

Try it Google Music search Link – http://www.google.com/landing/music/

 

Former Test umpire David Shepherd dies

David Shepherd, the former England umpire, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 68.

David Shepherd at The Oval on the eve of his final international match in 2005

Shepherd was a renowned international umpire and officiated in 172 ODIs, including three consecutive World Cup finals, and 92 Tests between 1983 and 2005.

 

He was appointed as a first-class umpire in 1981 and the speed of his elevation to the international stage was evidence of his ability and the regard in which he was held His last Test was match between West Indies and Pakistan in Kingston in June 2005 and his final appearance in an ODI was at The Oval in 2005. Shepherd also had a 14-year career at Gloucestershire for whom he played 282 first-class matches.

VETTAIKAARAN MUSIC REVIEW

Music Director : Vijay Antony
Vocals : Ananthu, Mahesh Vinayakram, Krish, Suchitra, Bone Killer, Dinesh Kanagarathinam, Shankar Mahadevan, Surchith, Sangeetha Rajeswaran, Krishna Iyer, Shoba Sekar, Charulatha Mani, Shakthi Sree.
Lyrics : Kabilan, Viveka, Annamalai.

Produced by M. Balasubramanian and B. Gurunath Meyyappan and directed by B. Babu Sivan, this much-hyped film of Vijay could be released for Diwali. Vijay appears to play the role of an autorikshaw driver who wishes to ‘bring peace’ to the country. Anushka Shetty, Salim Ghouse, Vivek, Srihari and Srinath star along with him. Many racy action sequences in this movie appear to have been done boldly by Vijay himself, which could be a treat for his fans. The music for this film has been composed by Vijay Antony (whose ‘Ninaithale Inikkum’ has been doing pretty decently).

Puli Urumuthu—
Vocals: Ananthu, Mahesh Vinayakram.
Lyrics: Kabilan

A song full of hyperbolic expressions, obviously an action-packed number! Heavy use of Indian percussive instruments characterize this song which takes off in the madhyama shruti with shades of Mayamalavagowla raga .

The relentless pace of the song could add to the dramatic effect on screen.

Chinna Thamarai—
Vocals: Krish, Suchitra, English Rap: Bone Killer, Tamil Rap: Dinesh Kanagarathinam.
Lyrics: Viveka

Plenty of keyboard sounds, we have here. The rather strident rhythms somehow seem to rob the song of any melody. The Tamil rap bit sounds cool. The lyrics are crisp.

Naan Adiccha—
Vocals: Shankar Mahadevan.
Lyrics: Kabilan

Poor Shankar Mahadevan tries his very best to infuse a spark into this song (probably the title number) but to no avail. The beats, the lyrics and the sentiments expressed (akin to MGR songs) are pretty jaded. A wee bit of gibberish in between, in trademark Vijay Anthony style! Strictly for Vijay fans. The start, though, is pretty stylish, with the Karaharapriya notes going ‘sa ni sa,sa ni sa, sa ni dha ma pa—pa ma ga—sa’. And there is a cute bit by Vijay’s son Sanjay at the end!

Karikalan—
Vocals: Surchith, Sangeetha Rajeswaran.
Lyrics: Kabilan

A very cheerful, smile-worthy duet based on the Tilang raga, which may hit the charts soon. Lovely inputs from the strings and percussive instruments. Well sung too, especially Sangeetha. The impish background vocals hold up the folksy mood of the song well.

En Ucchi Mandai—
Vocals: Krishna Iyer, Shoba Sekar, Charulatha Mani, Shakthi Sree.
Lyrics: Annamalai

Another very typical Vijay number, with predictably fast rhythms and blasé lyrics. How many such songs must Vijay endure before he moves on?

Verdict:

Vijay Anthony appears to have been trapped by the image of actor Vijay (as a dancer) which seems to have narrowed his musical options. The songs, coming one after another, sound similar rhythm-wise. One sincerely hopes the film has been crafted well and does not sink like ‘Kuruvi’ or ‘Villu’, in which case, the songs could be forgotten in a trice.

Pazhassi Raja Movie Review

Director : Hariharan
Main Cast : Mammootty,Sarath Kumar,Kanika,Padmapriya
Music : Ilaiyaraja
Cinematography: Venu
Producer : Gokulam Gopalan
Story/Writer: M. T. Vasudevan Nair

Doing full justice to all the hype, ‘Pazhassi Raja’ turns out to be a well-made film, one that satisfies all those who had been waiting to get something from the team that had earlier come together twenty years ago to deliver ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha’. A film of real epic proportions, ‘Pazhassi Raja’ is a real brilliant work, one that would appeal to average film-goers as well as to critics.

‘Pazhassi Raja’, which presents on screen the war that Pazhassi Raja of Thalassery in Kerala fought with the British about half a century before the Sepoy Mutiny, begins from where the British government decides to levy heavy taxes on local rulers and begins seizure and annexation related procedures. Pazhassi Raja, his queen Kaitheri Manickam, his commander Edachena Kunkan and his lieutenant Kaitheri Ambu are forced to flee and take refuge elsewhere. And then, with the help of the tribal warriors, led by Thalackal Chanthu and Neeli, the begin a war against the British, who of course has the support of some traitors too, including Pazhayamveedan Chanthu, who had in fact got trained in martial arts under Pazhassi Raja. It’s this and the consequent happenings that the film endeavours to trace, in a very spectacular manner.

Hariharan, MT Vasudevan Nair and Mammootty coming together after twenty long years has of course been big news for Malayalam Cinema. Those who had liked ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha’, one of the best movies ever made in Malayalam, were awaiting the film with all eagerness, of course doubting at the same time whether the film viewers of today, who were not so particular or fascinated about the MT factor (MT no doubt is the best scenarist that Malayalam Cinema has ever had and attracted youngsters too to the box office at one time. But times and preferences have changed and hence the doubt). But it’s heartening to see large crowds thronging to see ‘Pazhassi Raja’ and all shows going house-full, everywhere. Of course you may tend to say that it’s more due to the hype surrounding the movie and the fact that it’s also a multi-starrer of sorts. Maybe yes, but it’s indeed heartening to see that the film has got a real great opening. Hope it does get to revive the costs incurred in the making of the movie, a budget never heard before in Malayalam Cinema. And hope the film does well in other parts of India too, because it’s going to be released in other languages too.

Performances

A young chap was heard saying, outside a theatre showing ‘Pazhassi Raja’, “No one else can do this role”. A very precise observation indeed, though not coming from an ‘erudite’ critic. The character of Pazhassi Raja seems to have been made for Mammootty and Mammootty alone. He fits into the role with all ease and looks handsome and majestic as the Raja. He does full justice to the role. Anyway, on the down side, it has to be mentioned that the character of Pazhassi Raja has been done in such a manner that in the first half Mammootty seems to be playing it down to a great extent. In fact it could even be said that the scenarist has not cared to make the characters, including that of Pazhassi Raja, multidimensional and hence there are scenes where Mammootty gets to do or perform nothing. He even seems to be a rather mute spectator to the proceedings and then takes over in the latter half of the film only. Thus Mammootty doesn’t get to perform or emote much in the first half, but does that brilliantly towards the end of the movie. Sharath Kumar as Edachena Kunkan is simply mesmerizing. You may even tend to see this as his career best. He has done a great job of the role and has proved that he is much more than a star, a real good actor indeed. Padmapriya has done a great work of the character of Neeli and she needs to be appreciated for the pains she had taken for the role. Manoj.K.Jayan as Thalackal Chanthu is equally good. Suresh Krishna impresses as Kaitheri Ambu while Suman is good as Pazhayamveedan Chanthu. Kaniha as Kaitheri Manickam looks good and fits into the character perfectly, though she doesn’t have much to do, performance-wise. Thilakan, who appears in a couple of scenes, is his very usual, impressive self. Jagathy Sreekumar’s performance is in his usual style and doesn’t stand out as did his character and performance in the Hariharan- M.T film ‘Parinayam’. The others are all OK.

Technical aspects

Cinematography for ‘Pazhassi Raja’ is excellent, simply splendid. The frames are all composed brilliantly. Editing and art-direction are among the other highlights. Of course sound recording by Resul Pookutty is good and syncs well with the whole of the movie. But we often tend to wonder if we would have taken note of his work or for that matter sound-recording in any movie, hadn’t Resul bagged the Oscar!

Music

The music scored by Illayaraja may not seem outstanding, but is good nevertheless. But it could have been bettered, a lot. Of the songs, the patriotic song rendered by Yesudas, beginning “Aadhiyushassandhya…” has come out really well and has a patriotic fervour to it. The other song, sung by Chithra, beginning ‘Kunnaththe…” is equally good and has been filmed well.

Script

Jnanpith recipient writer M.T.Vasudevan Nair, who has given us so many brilliant scripts as well as first rate films, has no doubt done an enormous amount of research for the film and has done a good work of the script. He has taken special care of the characterization aspect too. It’s to be noted that he had taken care not to make it all romantic and had made the treatment thoroughly realistic, as the subject of course demands. At the same time, it seems he had forgotten that people are often many personalities rolled into one and that characters should be multi-dimensional or multi-faceted, something which is lacking as far as the characters in ‘Pazhassi Raja’ are concerned. Let’s not forget the scene where we come to adore Aromal Chekavar, in ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha’, for criticizing those who had stood up as a mark of respect on seeing him and at the same time hadn’t cared to respect his father. That makes the character stand out. It’s that streak that’s not to be seen in ‘Pazhassi Raja’. There isn’t the kind of dialogues in ‘Pazhassi Raja’ that you still like to remember about ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha’ or most MT films. Anyway for die-hard admirers of MT scripts, there may be a word of caution to put across. This of course may not be his best; and hence don’t try to compare ‘Pazhassi Raja’ with any of MT’s earlier ventures. See it for what it is; it is a good work from MT indeed.

Direction

Director Hariharan, who has always taken special care to make the best out of MT’s scripts, has done a good job here too. And he needs to be appreciated for having been in total control and taking good care of the characters. Hats off to the director for having done a really brilliant movie.

As a postscript, let me add this. Well, if you stop and wonder, after seeing the movie as to whose movie it was, you will perhaps be surprised. It’s definitely not MT’s, in the usual sense, because every film scripted by MT has some trademark qualities that make it stand out as an MT film on the whole. The script scores the most and the film remains etched on our memory as an MT film. But here, with ‘Pazhassi Raja’, this is not the case. MT has done a brilliant job, but let us better not call it an MT film. It’s definitely not a Hariharan movie too. And neither is it Mammootty’s. It’s everyone’s movie. It belongs to all those who have come together to make it and becomes much more than an MT film or a Hariharan film or a Mammootty film.

Overall verdict- Excellent. Worth the wait.

Rating: 4/5

Bollywood movie Blue preview

Blue Movie Preview

Characters:

Akshay Kumar: Aarav

Owner of Blue Shipping & Fisheries – a shipping company.

Aarav is easily one of the richest and the most eligible bachelors in the Bahamas.
Always ready for a dare, he hates the thought of losing. Because, for him, the best and most intoxicating high in the world is RISK!

He constantly badgers Sagar to search for the lost treasure. But is it out of insatiable greed, or some ulterior motive.

Sanjay Dutt: Sagar

Aarav’s closest friend and employee. Sagar is a straight-forward, simple man with a troubled past and a modest future. He’s not ambitious – either for money or fame – and content to lead a simple life. But he has a haunted past and his redemption lies in facing his demons, that lie hundreds of feet underwater.

Zayed Khan: Sam

With great confidence, comes a bit of arrogance. Self- assured Sam, Sagar’s estranged brother, is an urban named with a singular driving passion – bikes. His accidental involvement with a mafia drug lord, forces him to flee Bangkok and find asylum in his ancestral home, in the Bahamas.

Lara Dutta: Mona

Mona is a marine enthusiast. She is Sagar’s confidante and love. Her effervescence and compassion, compliment Sagar’s stoicism, perfectly.

Synopsis

Blue is set in the breath taking sun soaked white sand beaches of Bahamas. Sagar (Sanjay Dutt) is an excellent deep sea diver who dreams of getting his own new boat someday while his friend Aarav (Akshay Kumar) is a rich arrogant businessman, whose ego is much larger than the big boats that he owns. The conflict between these two sparring friends is the conflict between the rich and the poor, between the moral and the immoral, between greed and honour…

Caught in between these two is Sagar’s brother Sam (Zayed Khan) who has inadvertently managed to rankle a whole gang of mafia men. Now, these dangerous men are after him and Sagar is the only one who can help him. But to save his brother, Sagar has to wrestle with the ghost of his dead father… The only other person who is privy to Sagar’s dilemma is Mona (Lara Dutta), his girlfriend. She is afraid that the secret that lies within the restless waters could destroy all their lives.

The adrenaline rush that comes with Blue accelerates as each new chapter unfolds. It begins with a bare handed skirmish with sharks, moves into deep sea diving, reveals the secret of a forbidden treasure and a buried past, flirts with death at the hands of the mafia and goes straight into the treacherous waters again.

A team of the best underwater technicians from around the world – divers, cameramen, and stunt directors are working on the making of Blue to make it as real and as palpable as the medium of cinema can allow, so that the viewer feels engulfed in the entire experience.

Blue -

the color of the sky and the color of the seas…Underneath the shimmering beautiful inviting waters of the sea, lurks a secret which threatens to destroy one friend and save the other friend.

Publicize: Yahoo! Updates

You can now send your WordPress.com posts to your Yahoo! Profile via the Yahoo! Updates service.

Check out that cute WordPress icon!

The feature can be enabled from your Dashboard → My Blogs admin page. Once you enable it, you’ll be directed through an authorization procedure to confirm that you want to connect your WordPress.com blog and your Yahoo! account.

These connections are per blog and per user, so those of you with several blogs can choose which ones to connect, and those of you with multiple authors on one blog can each hook up your Yahoo! accounts separately.

More details can be found on the Publicize support page.

Yahoo! Updates is the prestigious first of a series of Publicize features we’ll be launching or highlighting over the coming months.