AKS Reviewwwwws and blog recos

In my quest for concordant absurdity in the blogosphere, I came across a couple of amazing blogs, both of which feature reviews of AKS. I strongly recommend that you read the rest of their posts as well: both people have so much more to offer.

Doing jalsa and showing jilpa: For most Tamilians with a working knowledge of Chennai slang, the mere title of this blog is enough argument. However, if you wish to be convinced further, consider this: a blog post titled Neocarnatic gajabuja gilma, which contains references to Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, and another on Sivaji titled When I speak, simply vibrating no? Needless to say, Maraththamizhars will enjoy this much more than the others, but there is much of interest here for a non-Tamilian with a taste for the absurd.

Random thoughts of a demented mind: The blog title sounds like something dingchak's blog title generator might come up with, but the content is top notch. Look for reviews of movies such as Red Swastika and assorted Mithun classics.

Another site with good content for lovers of celluloid gilma is Timepass. The opening page has a poster of the Govinda-Kimi Katkar starrer Dariya Dil, with him dressed as Superman and her as Spiderwoman.

Ardh Satya

There's an utterly captivating poem that gets recited in Ardh Satya. I think the poem has the same title as the movie, and is by this guy named Deepak Chitre. I watched the movie once a long time ago and loved it, but it was that poem that became my shortcut to reliving the experience.

I'd been searching for it for a long time, and found it recently here. The rendition by the blogger Neha Viswanathan is decent. Not Om Puri, as she says, but worth a listen. Using Blogger's new transliteration tool, I've keyed it in here:

चक्रव्युह में घुसने से पहले
कौन था मैं और कैसा था
यह मुझे याद ही ना रहेगा ।

चक्रव्यूह में घुसने के बाद
मेरे और चक्रव्यूह के बीच
सिर्फ एक जानलेवा निकटथा थी
इसका मुझे पता ही ना चलेगा ।

चक्रव्यूह से निकलने के बाद
मैं मुक्त हो जाऊं भले ही
फिर भी चक्रव्यूह कि रचना में
फर्क ही ना पड़ेगा ।

मरूं या मारूं
मारा जाऊं या जान से मार दूं
इसका फैसला कभी ना हो पायेगा ।

सोया हुआ आदमी जब
नींद से उठकर चलना शुरू कर्ता है
तब सपनों का संसार उसे
दोबारा दिख ही ना पायेगा ।

उस रौशनी में जो निर्णय कि रौशनी है
सब कुछ समान हो जाएगा क्या ?

एक पल्दे में नपुंसकता
एक पल्दे में पौरुष
और ठीक तराजू के कांटे पर
अर्ध सत्य ।

Neha, whoever and wherever you are, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The best movie review I have ever read

Roger Ebert's essay on Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru - it's so well written, so passionate in its description of the movie, that it ranks among my favourite pieces of writing in general. A lot of what Ebert has written about the movies is brilliant, but his essay on Ikiru is, I think, his best work to date.

The best movie posters of 2006

Sam's Myth: TOP FIVE: 2006 Movie Posters

Not my pick, since this isn't a category I follow. But this is a good list, from what I can see.