Born Into Brothels

(Image Couresy: Rikks Revues)

Born Into Brothels is a documentary that is set in the red-light district of the Calcutta city, West Bengal, India. The movie is an account on the efforts by a couple of people in bringing a change in the life of the kids who were born in the district.

The movie serves as a measure to show what the kids born in such districts are capable of given the right chances. A group of kids under the supervision of Zana Briski try their hands on photography. I should admit that some of the photos took me by surprise. These are kids who are under continuous sorrow and pressure. Please do read the article about this movie on Kids with Camera and here on the Smithsonian Magazine.

(Image Courtesy: Kids With Camera)

No wonder this movie won the AcademyAward, IMO, it deserves every bit of it. Please do not be surprised by the other awards(and the number of awards) that this movie has won. A set of pictures taken by the children can be found in VKPR.

A must watch for all.

Kamalhaasan's Best - IMO

No questions about Kamal's talent in almost all fields of the Film Industry. These are some of the best scenes/techniques IMO that Kamal has performed/employed.

Salangai Oli
The scene where kamal, after being criticised for a bad review he had made on a fame-conscious dancer, goes through with her showing her how to dance for that sequence in various dance forms. This scene goes about showing his talents in Dancing. This sence is IMO one of the best in this movie.

Moondram Pirai
I read in one of the blogs about this one. The blogger view in my words.In this movie Sridevi steals the show(thanks to her acting capabilities as a crazy girl) throughout the movie. Kamal all through the movie has to underplay his part. But during the finishing 10 minutes you get to watch some mind-blowing performance from Kamal that he easily walks away with the National Award. I totally concur with this view. Every time I watch it I have a lump in my throat when he runs over the post in the station. Excellent.

Kurudhi Punal
There are a num of things that I liked about this movie. Technically superior than any other films then released. If I am not wrong the first tamil movie to use Dolby. The sound effects were amazing. The characters were down to earth and so was their acting. Kamal-Nasser interogation scene is simply one of the best. "Aaadhi DC, romba neermaiyana komban !" had a bit of command to it and were not merely dialogs.

Nayagan
The scene where he cries after finding out that his son is dead. Though there were many spoofs made out of it one has to accept the fact that it is one of the best scenes.

Saathi Leelavathi
The introduction of Kamal is sure to raise laughs. The manner in which Ramesh Aravind tries to escape from Kamal, Kamal's repeated efforts to get a glimpse of Heera not knowing that she is in fact with Ramesh Aravind, not to mention the Coimbatore Tamil Slang(BTW,I am from Coimbatore) - just hilarious.

Aboorva Sahodhargal
Apart from the dwarf role in the movie there are a few other aspects that impressed me very much. I watched this movie again recently. After the beginning credits the scene opens showing a hut - I went like "what's this ?" - then all of a sudden you have a car running through the roof of the hut being chased by "appa" kamal - this was very new. One other aspect that impressed me was the lighting during the earlier scenes. If I am not wrong it was by PC sir. No wonder. Another notable aspect was the background music - the mosic is very hard and fast paced diuring the fighting scenes by "appa" kamal and all of a sudden the great Raja switches over melody when showing Srividya on the boat. The melody is very smooth and very refreshing. Does any one know if these background/theme music by raja is online ?

MMKR
The scene where the cook kaameeshwaran in an accident gets a fish in his pocket and the scenes following that. He will drop it into the sambhar and will say "modhakaradhu...neenjaradhu" - he will also ask for "meen pidikara karandi irruka" - for a minute everyone will seem to speak about the fish. "I mean what I mean by all means, enna ellarum mean mean gra". Fine comedy.

Punnagai Mannan
The musical interlude and the dance sequence for that is one of the best scenes in the movie. The way he accepts Revathi's love and tears away his egoistic mask all throughout the dance and the sequence that follows. Hallmark of dancing and acting. If Salangai Oli showcased his bharathanatiyam talents this one showcased his more western dance talents.

This list can go on for another page or two but I have decided to stop it here.
Some of his other best movies include Arengetram, Avargal, Varumai in Niram Sivapu, Dhevar Magan, Hey Ram, Mahanadhi.

Happy Birthday to Kamal and good luck for VV and Dhasaavatharam.