Aadhavan - A Review

I am probably the pall-bearer for what are called "masala" movies. These are movies that contain the word superlative in each frame. Every scene is dramatic and as far as possible from reality. I like a return on my investments, especially from the movies I watch. ROI here means a hero who can defy death, a heroine who is a synonym for a damsel in distress, 5 songs ( I do not mind Himesh Reshammiya at all), an over the top comedian, a nasty looking villain and a happy ending. I do not like movies that are supposed to make you think (no offence to those who make them and those who vouch by them). They are just not me. If I wanted to think, I would never go to a movie theatre. If you see movie reviews on this blog, they are always going to be of those films that get half a star out of five in the papers and of the sort defined in this paragraph.

Aadhavan is most definitely a pot boiler with all necessary ingredients along with Vadivelu. I mention Vadivelu here because, with this movie, I actually started liking the guy. He is probably the saving grace in an otherwise boring film. Aadhavan (Suriya) is a man who kills for money. He works for his father (Sayaji Shinde) whose sole ambition in life is to settle overseas. Aadhavan is known to be a killer who never misses his target. But miss he does. Stunned by his first failure, he takes it upon himself to complete the task of killing a magistrate (Murali). The magistrate has a truckload of family members who travel with him wherever he is posted. Aadhavan enters the family as Vadivelu's to be brother-in-law and thus starts the whole game of will he or will he not kill the magistrate. Does he succeed? If he does not, why? See the film to find out.

Highs - Vadivelu and only Vadivelu

Lows - Superimposing Suriya's face on a kid, the songs, the climax and the villain

Should you watch it? See it for Vadivelu if not anything else. He is wonderful to watch before the interval. You would have atleast laughed your eyes out!

Go-karting at Patel's Inn

So, this was going on since months - the planning to have a team outing. The problem was that there were too many constraints - only half-a-day allowed, only Rs.350 per head (yeah yeah, you read it right), twenty-three people's conflicting meetings and releases, twenty-three different opinions and a totally frustrated organising group (which includes me!).

A friend had suggested this place, for the food and the go-karting. And after immense planning and postponing, we finally went there this afternoon. We opted for the lunch + go-karting package - Rs.350 + tax per head, 6 laps each. One look at the go-karting area, which is smaller than the playground at my school and has rows of tyres arranged to mark the 'tracks', and I thought that this would be the most embarrassing event in my life! I had suggested that we visit this place! And I was already getting sarcastic comments and questions!

We right away proceeded to have lunch and that depressed me more. A below average seating and serving arrangement awaited us. The menu of dishes that we were promised (while reserving) were all present, and luckily the food turned out to be decent.

During lunch itself we girls were eyeing the 'park' near the lunch area, and as soon as we were done, we were all over the swings and see-saw and slide and the other 'things' that one usually finds in a children's park. I guess nothing, not even an ordinary looking park, can deter a bunch of crazy girls from having fun! :) The guys just preferred to watch us and wonder what happened to their otherwise passable-as-sane colleagues!

By now we were all enthused like little kids and off we went to the go-karting area. I inaugurated :) by starting first along with another guy. My!! Was I mistaken! It was real fun! Getting to control the little kart - the accelerator, brake and steering - was tough at first. The engine got switched off thrice because I wasn't accelerating properly. And as the others joined in, around four at a time, there was enough cheering, booing, hitting into the trees or tyres, zooming like Schumi, crawling like turtles.....

A few of us thirsted for more and paid extra (Rs.120) and drove another 6 laps! You don't find a person like ME do that often, but yeah, today I was all out in the open!

Apart from go-karting, there was a swimming pool and supposedly some other games, which we couldn't use because it wasn't included in our package. Patel's Inn is in R.T. Nagar, next to White House flats. I was told that there are other better go-karting places. But as a first-timer, I enjoyed myself very well!

Just returned a few minutes back. And wanted to post this experience, before my procrastination gets the better of me! Snaps will follow soon.

Lepakshi - The Saturday that finally happened!

Rehashing a one day weekend trip to Lepakshi was meant to be our first post. So, here goes...

What
A quaint little village, Lepakshi is important historically and archaeologically for shrines dedicated to Vishnu, Veerabhadra and Shiva in the same sanctuary. The temple boasts of architecture unique to the artisans of Vijayanagara.

Where
120kms from Bengaluru and 15kms from Hindupur, one can get to Lepakshi using the Hyderabad highway NH7.

How
Buses ply frequently between Bengaluru and Hindupur. Reaching your destination from there is not arduous as the locations are well connected by local buses. This is the most economic mode of travel for those who do not own a four wheeler or have the tenacity to ride a two wheeler. Renting a cab (without splitting costs) is for those who do not know what to do with their money.

Why
To exalt in architectural brilliance, to see a wide repository of sublime mural paintings, to wonder at the biggest monolithic Nandi and, mainly because, you can!

One can also cover Vidhurashwatha, while travelling back home. The below picture talks about what you can expect to see.