English -
1. The Boy Who Knew Too Much – Mika
2. Where The Wild Things Are OST by Karen O and kids
3. Best Of Dave Mathew Band
4. Best Of Enya

Hindi -

(Not listing the popular ones here)
1. Sampooran, Saptak by Mekal Hasan Band – Gives me goosebumps each time I hear.
2. Gunkali by kaavish
3. Striker
4. Aman Ki Aasha

Kannada-

1. Just Maath Maathalli – Raghu Dixit
2. Eddelu Manjunatha – Anoop Seelin
3. Dildara – Praveen D Rao

Malayalam –

1. Thaalam – Mind blowing. Dn’t miss to listen.
2. Avial

Tamil –

1. Mundhinam Paartheney – Thaman
2. Vinnathandi Varuvaya – A R Rahamn
3. Goa – Yuvan Shankar Raja
4. Ilamai Idho Idho – Vidyasagar

Telugu -

1.Leader – Mickey J mayor
2. Village Lo Vinayakudu – Manikanth Kadri

The approach towards the story is very realistic. He almost breaks all the set rules of formalistic film making and surprises throughout. There is never a forced comedy scene or action scene. The whole film has been treated accordingly to the story and I assume that absolutely no compromises have been done just for pleasing the audience. I don’t think it’s possible without the support of the producer I guess. Sudeep must be really lucky to get a producer (Shankar) who would give such freedom. And moreover, the production value of the movie is top notch. It could have been easily the best crafted movie but I found many scenes were not focused correctly/blurry/dull. In many scenes, background was blurred intentionally in post production which I didn’t like. Talking about other negative points, 2nd half drags a little and some portions are predictable. But hell, the honesty and dedication with which Sudeep has made the film makes you forget all those things. (Notice the graphics of moving clouds in the scenes involving aeroplane). It takes guts to make movies with such sensibilities with hardly any mainstream elements prevailing in Kannada movies.
This movie has to work in the box office, as it will at least make some producers to put their money on story based cinema rather than star centric khichdi’s that we continue to churn out in Kannada film industry. (BTW, if I am not wrong, Sudeep has already signed a remake of Telugu film Kick ) Still, hats off to him for making this film like the way he has made it.

Sudeep, I am floored

PS: I am wondering if I have blabbered too much without knowing anything. But I am posting this anyway

Best Albums of 2009 -

09. Bisile (Gagan-Hari) –

Almost all songs are very catchy in this one. But the major problem I found in this album is that all interesting tunes remains the same after first one minute. It’s like first minute of the song in loop for the remaining 4 minutes. But if you can excuse that, you will love the soundtrack.

08. Kaaranji (Veer Samarth) –

In a rock band based movie, you can expect a lot from music. This album fails in doing complete justice to that mainly because of the choice of singers in my opinion. Otherwise, this is an unconventional album with songs from varied genre’s and makes a good listen.

07. Manasare (Mano Murthy) –

When I heard it for the first time, it didn’t work for me at all. But with time, I started liking it and now it’s here at 5th position. May be this liking is more due to the movie itself.

06. Dildara (Praveen D Rao) -

This is an excellent album which I don’t think is being given any publicity. Main thing that attracts in the songs of this album is it’s orchestration. It’s imaginative and brilliantly done. Arrangement of songs are rare to hear in Kannada movie songs.

05. Birugali (Arjun) -

Hoovina Bandante and Madhura Pisumatige composed by Arjun for this album topped the charts for weeks and brought him well deserved recognition. Out of all fast tracks that have come out this year, Helbide Helbide from this album is what I love the most.

04. 35/100 (Pranava N Iyengar) -

Even though some engineering students might have heard “Noorake Moovattaide Saaku” song, this soundtrack, I believe is largely unheard. Delayed release of movie might be the reason for this (Movie looks promising in the promo). Pranava N Iyengar has given some breezy songs with very classy arrangements.It’s a must hear album.

03. Neene Bari Neene (Mano Murthy) -

This Sonu Nigam’s non-filmy album is a delight to listen to. Mano Murthy’s melodies combined with excellent lyrics by Jayanth Kaikini makes this one memorable. With six songs out of nine being pure gems, this was easily one of the best album of the year.

02. Eddelu Manjunatha (Anoop Seelin)-

Guruprasad’s lyrics is the highlight of this album. They are intelligent, innovative and catchy. Music here is light and simple. Great job by composer Anoop Seelin.

01. Just Math Mathalli (Raghu Dixit) -

Raghu dixit weaves his magic here again after the successful Psycho. I don’t know if there are any other album in Kannada which has the depth of BGM that this one has. With each song being highly entertaining and energetic, this completely deserves the title of best album of the year.

Best songs of 2009 –

I have taken liberty of chosen only one song from each album even when there are songs from the same album that could be added in the list.

18. Neenendare – Junglee (V. Harikrishna)
17. Maleyali Jotheyali(Male Version) – Maleyali Jotheyali (V. Harikrishna)
16. Thanthane Thanamthane -Josh (Vardhan)
15. Paro – Raj-The Showman (V. Harikrishna)
14. Nenape – Nam Areal Ond Dina (Arjun)
13. Ee Dina Hosatagide – Kaaranji (Veer Samarth)
12. Ninna Naanu Nodovaregu – Jugari (Arjun A P)
11. Naa Naguva Modalene – Manasare (Mano Murthy)
10. Doora Swalpa Doora(Male Version) – Devru (Sadhu Kokila)
09. Bhoomi Ee Baanu (Female Version)- Dildara (Praveen D. Rao)
08. Doni – 35/100 (Pranava N Iyengar)
07. Kshamisu – Eddelu Manjunatha (Anup Seelin)
06. Mussanje Manjalli – Just Math Mathalli (Raghu Dixit)
05. Aakasha Neene – Ambari (V. Harikrishna)
04. Hoovina Banadante – Birugali (Arjun)
03. Aaramagi – Gokula (Mano Murthy)
02. Baa Nodu Gelathi – Neene Bari Neene (Mano Murthy)
01. Ale Ale – Savari (Manikanth Kadri)

When I heard Bisiyada Suddiyonda song from Police Quarters, I fell in love with it immediately. But it was disappointed to know that songs of Kaavalar Kudiyiruppu have been used again in this album too.

Similarly the song Ninnanda Kanadagi song from the movie Bisile is an excellent track which should have made it to the list of top songs. But it seems like some song that I have heard before. So, I have kept it off the list.

You can listen to all the songs mentioned above at kannadaaudio.com

I might have missed some better songs since I have not heard all the albums that have been released this year. so, please feel free to tell your favorite albums/songs in the comments section.

I have been waiting for watching this creation of James Cameron ever since I heard about its making and this “game changer technology” he was creating exclusively for this movie. Expectations sky rocketed once I saw the first trailer. Finally when it arrived in 3D at Bangalore, I couldn’t wait to watch it.
But on Thursday itself, saw some tweeters complaining about the visuals being dull and colorless at some theaters. So, I wanted to make sure to get the theater right, where we will get to feel all the visuals properly. After inquiring with few people who have had seen the movie in Fame Lido and Urvashi ( didn’t ask about Inox, PVR-Gold Class, Fun Cinema) it was confirmed that movie is looking nice there.
Then I booked the 3 ticket in Urvashi for 2 o’clock on 24th December in balcony from www.urvashicinema.com since seats were already booked at Fame . It was 120Rs for a ticket and non-refundable 100Rs for 3D glasses plus 16Rs tax (It’s 150+100 if you get the ticket’s from the theater itself!!). Popcorn and coke was free for this price which you will forget to eat while watching the movie.

* My first 3D experience started with a nice trailer of an animated 3D film How to Train Your Dragon by DreamWorks SKG set to release in 2010. By the time I was relishing the first ever 3D experience by removing the 3D glass and putting it back, the Fox Searchlight went over my face and I was Entering The World AVATAR.

The movie kicked off with two tiny blurry water drops combining to form a clear one about 2 feet above Jack Sully’s face. Some army men, some unheard dialogues and the glorious Pandora unveils itself in front of you with high tech, headless, man controlled robots and gigantic war machines. Then the greenery, the Pandora monkeys, viperwolves (wild dogs), dinosaur alikes, distinct yet splendid flora… what not??!! There is everything you can imagine in your wildest dream and much more with uttermost detail till the last pixel of every frame.
The movie felt little blurry in the beginning in few chasing and fast moving frames, but once you get accustomed there is no looking back. We didn’t even have a spare second to discuss about the past part of the movie. Although the 3D isn’t in your face, you still feel like the first person watching the ongoings sitting in Pandora helplessly as you can’t take part in the visual riot.
The movie starts with the peak pace of any good Hollywood adventurous thriller and accelerates from there beyond our beliefs never slowing down till they start showing the end credits. It’s hard to believe our eyes while watching Pandora at night, while our hero tames the Banshee (dragons), when he jumps off a waterfall, his training session with Neytiri, the Armageddon and many more scenes. If the first one and half hours or so is breathtaking, in the last forty minutes or so you even forget to breathe. That is the surreal magic created by Cameron.
You wonder how they could create a whole new Real-looking spectacular planet on a computer. Since it is not an animated feature the makers don’t have it easy as everything should look real. But to our astonishment it scores 20 out of 10 in this perspective. Albeit the fact that acting, background score, story, some heard dialogues are good, the visuals overshadow everything 10 times on a scale of 1. In the end you will just be begging for superlatives.*

It easily is the greatest cinematic achievement since the invention of camera and it goes beyond your imaginations. The movie is definitely THE best cinema watching experience I have ever had in my life till now. But I would like to caution about Urvashi theater. Visuals were not bad at all. But sound was largely unclear. We could feel the energy in background score but alas, dialogues were inaudible at many portions of the movie which in turn left us with few doubts regarding the story. Since there are minimal dialogues, we had to console ourselves with that. The biggest problem was the seating arrangement, which is extremely congested and very uncomfortable. I would suggest you to stay off Urvashi if you want better movie watching experience and try Fame Lido. By what I have gathered, visuals are good there and audio definitely should be better than Urvashi, so should be the seating arrangement. And more over, they refund the money that you are paying for the glasses.
Another suggestion for good 3D experience would be to take seat in front most row if you don’t want the people’s head to act as obstruction.

P.S: Watch it only in 3D. If possible, at IMAX

2. Break while in the middle – If you feel tired when you are on a call for long time, Aircel has the solution. The calls will be getting disconnected at regular intervals by default. You just have to move around a bit.

3. “Missed call” informer – They are very prompt in giving this information. You will get plenty of “You have a missed call from me” messages. And they never complained about having it sent many times a day.

4. Patience – If you are a very impatient person, by using Aircel continuously for 3 months can make you a different person. Aircel makes you keep sending the same messages again and again till it finally gets delivered. And also, waiting for reply also helps a great deal in improving patience.

5. Companion – To have Aircel is better than having a girlfriend. You will get calls and numerous messages each day without a miss and they don’t expect you to call back. They also send messages in the nature, similar to Facebook applications like ” Are you alone ?”, “Get to know your partner’s name” etc. Who else will be so generous like this? So, if you are a lonely person, you can’t get better companion other than Aircel.

6. Special symbols – This is a really special feature that Aircel has. It replaces the final character of the message with a weird symbol which helps in increasing the beauty of the message. This applies to the message both sent and received. If you have sent a phone number, last digit is replaced by a symbol. And sometimes, if someone has sent you the message which is very long, bits of the previous messages sent by the same person gets mixed with it. That infuses fun into the message and makes you think at the same time! This turned out to be my mobile set’s fault !!

So, even if 4 more new network providers are entering the state by the end of this year, I am sure that Aircel will still be able to do better because of the above mentioned, amazing qualities.

ALL THE BEST AIRCEL

Here, I am taking a survey on how many of you are going to vote this time. Vote below and comment on what do you feel about the elections/how to chose the right candidate/the difference we can make . This may help me get to a conclusion / decision.View This Poll

The idea here is to evoke a discussion on the present political scenario and elections.. So, do comment.

Your crazy about ?
Ans :: Movies..

Your first thought when you hear ‘Pink’
Ans :: Girls, rose and valentines day..

You are impressed by ?
Ans :: People who manage to enjoy so much while getting amazing marks too..

You are turned off by ?
ANS :: People who fake..

You are glad you aren’t ??
ANS :: A hothead

You know you’re sad when ?
Ans :: I don’t feel like talking to anyone..

Music is
Ans :: Passion.

Sex?
ANS :: Just indicates physical aspect. I would prefer the word “making love”.

Do you want to find your better half now?
ANS :: No. I would wait.

Commitment, right now?
Ans :: Same as above.

Best part about School?
Ans :: Dirtied clothes, Broken teeth, lost pencil etc,etc,etc..

Best part about college?
Ans :: Friends.

How will you handle this recession?
Ans :: Yet to feel the heat properly.

Career over love?
Ans :: Yet to have both of them

You hate it when
Ans :: People spit everywhere / who think that this whole world is their dustbin..

Your sibling is
Ans :: What I would want to be like.

You know you’re in trouble when
Ans :: When the bell starts ringing when I am in exam hall scratching my head.

You know you’re in love when
Ans :: Will update this as soon as I get to know..

You wish you had
Ans :: Not lost any of the cellphones

Death?
Ans :: I think I am not afraid of it at all..( After sitting in bike with Sagar for so many times)

Old age?
Ans :: Is fine as long as one doesn’t fall ill..

Your favorite stress buster
Ans :: Sleep.

Thrifty or splurgey?
Ans :: Thrifty

Favorite game?
Ans :: GTA vice city

You’d lay down your ego for?
Ans :: Not at least during a fight.

You don’t understand
ANS :: The ultimate goal of life.

Common perception about you, which is untrue.
Ans :: Well.. I look strong from the outset which I am not. ( This was told by sagar. If I have fight with him and win , first thing I would do is to edit this )

Something that is actually true.
Ans :: I ask a lot of questions which irritates people.

God?
Ans :: I haven’t got a clue what is he doing at this turbulent times. It’s high time for him. Oh God, where the hell are you !!! We are waiting..

Parents?
Ans :: I must be very lucky to have them. It’s as if I myself chose them to be my parents

Now, it’s time to tag someone else. It will be – Chiranth and Sagar

Its, 2nd month into final semester of my engineering course and everything was going well till last two weeks. Lots of free time, total freedom in class, movies in theater on first day, cultural programs for free, roaming throughout the city ,deciding to do project ourselves, hitting the gym to name a few..

The trouble started when one day, my cell wont switch on all of a sudden. It was dead. That weekend, I went to s.p road and had taken the cell along thinking that I will take it for servicing from there. But, I didn’t. The cell was in bag. But when when I checked my bag the next day, it had performed Houdini trick to escape from there
Fortunately, I had taken the SIM out, thereby not resulting in loss of contacts.
I borrowed my aunt’s cellphone since she hardly uses it and started using it, thinking to return it as soon as I get the new one. Each time I returned home with cell inside my pocket, I used be so relieved. (I can’t imagine how people live in Mumbai/Kashmir where losing life itself is such a common thing).
But then, TRAGEDY stroke again yesterday
I was going to my sister’s house along with my aunt and cousin using daily pass facility of BMTC buses. I boarded a bus at east end circle,jayanagar. The bus was not crowded at all.. No one was standing in the bus except for near door.. There were some 6-7 guys standing there. As soon as I boarded the bus, I was not given the space to enter into it. I was being pushed around by them and was also asked to go inside by the same “gentlemen”. I was totally pissed at that time. Then, I somehow managed to get inside . As soon as I got inside, I checked my pockets and POOF, my cell was GONE
No one had left the bus yet . But fortunately for those “gentlemen”, next stop had come in a moment just after I cried for help. Me and my cousin got down and tried to call but cell was already switched off. I saw some suspicious men out of who got down but I was totally helpless. Even with the thief’s being present in front of me, I couldn’t do a thing.

Now, losing the two cellphones in the period of two weeks, who can I blame it on ? I have no answer for that. I can only wish that same thing doesn’t occur to me again. ( I am going for minimum priced second hand B/W set this time. Help me find it if possible )

I am going to give some advice on how you could prevent this. I am not using them anyway

1. You should keep the cell in your shirt pocket.
2. Use a belt to hang it.

Share your experiences of similar incidents if you have time and give some tips on it..