Some books deserve to be held with warmth and love close to the reader's chest once done. Bleachers is one such book. In a small town called Messina, celebrated soccer players gather after many years to pay homage to their veteran coach Rake as he is about to breathe his last. This unfortunate moment also turns out to be a time for reflection for these players who are now the shadows of their former selves. As they wait to bid farewell to their beloved coach, the chaps dwell on the bittersweet moments they had shared with Rake. Only Grisham can produce an animated football show through carefully chosen words to his readers. The commentary part of the novel transports the readers to a stadium filled with frenzied crowd. I have not been a football fanatic but those few pages made me want to know and understand the terms and jargons used in such an exciting game. Grisham has beautifully blended human sentiments, sportsmanship, team spirit and vigo...

Reading a book without taking long breaks and finishing it in one night without thinking about anything else, even sleep for that matter is a wonderful feeling. It's very rare and not all books offer this impression to the readers. And that's how I would start describing this book.    We were taught not to judge a book by its cover but that's exactly what I did when I picked this one up. I judged it but in a good way. The cover design impressed me along with its synopsis. During a book exhibition in my school, one of my estranged friends told me to choose a book from the shelf which would also be a gift for my upcoming birthday. It was a sweet gesture. So I did. After a couple of years, it was yesterday late in the evening when I started reading it. Yes, I have this ridiculous habit of buying a truckload of books and reading them incredibly late. Anyway, coming back to the review, this book though written by a young talented fellow in his twenties (making the age factor...

I took a really long time to finish this great book. After having enjoyed the story in print, I moved on to doing what many readers would not highly approve of. I watched the movie version of the same. I should say, the movie did capture the essence of the book and the author's intention. As women, we have all had our Jane moments in life. The way we have been brought up, the way we are conditioned by society and the goals we have to meet to attain our life's purpose is depicted beautifully through Jane's characterisation. The woman's feelings and emotions getting constantly tormented by the true love she had towards her master Rochester and the inability to move on with her life even after having a broken heart stay relevant to the relationship crisis we face today. There are many instances that show how women were perceived by men and their community. In an era when women were not allowed to exercise their basic r...

Adrift (2018) Director:  Baltasar Kormákur Starring:  Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin A young couple, Tami and Richard who share common interests like sailing travelling and exploring the world fall in love and get engaged. Unfortunately during one of their seafaring adventure, their yacht meets a storm in the middle of the sea and gets irreparable damage. Tami manages to survive with little wounds only to find Richard's leg broken and rib cage severely damaged. The yacht keeps drifting while Tami with the help of bedridden Richard figures out how to reach the land before they run out of food and drinking water. However, the end of the movie shows what she sees is mostly not reality.    உண்மை சம்பவங்களை மய்யமாக வைத்து எடுக்கப்பட்ட திரைப்படம் இது. கடற்பயணத்தில்  அதிகம் ஆர்வமுள்ள ரிச்சர்ட்- டேமி என்ற   காதல் ஜோடி ஒரு படகில் தங்கள் பயணத்தை தொடங்குகிறார்கள். எதிர்பாராத விதமாக கடலுக்கு நடுவே சென்றுகொண்டிருக்கும்போது புயல் எச்சரி...

  Perfect Sense (2011)  Director: David Mckenzie Starring: Eva Green, Evan McGregor A love story in the middle of a virus outbreak. A Chef and a scientist fall in love with each other after a casual fling. Meanwhile, the world is affected by a virus that targets the senses in humans. It is called S.O.S. (Sensory Olfactory Syndrome). During this phase, people go through all sorts of emotional experiences like extreme anger, happiness, hunger, thirst, loss of smell, taste, hearing and sight. The film beautifully captures the necessity for humans to look at the important things in life during uncertain times. உலகத்தை உலுக்கும் ஒரு கொடிய வைரஸ் மின்னல் வேகத்தில் பரவிக்கொண்டிருக்கிறது. மனித உடலில் உள்ள ஐம்புலன்களையும் பாதிக்கும் அந்த வைரஸ் ஒரு காதல் ஜோடியையும் தாக்குகிறது. இந்த வைரஸின் வீரியம் அதிகரிக்க அதிகரிக்க முதலில் மக்கள் வாசனை நுகர்தல் திறனை இழக்கிறார்கள். பின்னர் சுவைக்கும் திறனும் சென்றுவிடுகிறது. இவ்விரண்டும் சென்றுவிடுவதால் நினைவுத்திறன் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு, பழைய...

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (2020) I started watching this after coming across a few memes online on how people got hooked on the show after being quarantined. It has 7 episodes each running for 50 minutes. It captures interesting incidents that took place during the crazy war between private zoo owners and animal rescuers in Oklahoma. The main guy is Joe Exotic who is now in jail convicted on 17 federal charges. Every single episode is insane due to its unpredictability. In the overall series, 60% of the footage is real as Joe Exotic had a habit of capturing everything on his camera. Don't miss this mad ride! இந்த ஆவணப்படத்தை நான் பார்க்க ஆரம்பித்தது கீழே உள்ள மீமை பார்த்த பிறகு தான். இது போல பல மீம்கள் ட்விட்டர் மற்றும் முகநூலில் தென்பட்டன. நியூ யார்க் டைம்சில் இந்த படத்தை பற்றி ஒருவர் விமர்சனம் எழுதியிருந்தார் - "பிளே பட்டனை அமுக்கியது மட்டும்தான் தெரியும் , 7 மணிநேரம் எப்படி சென்றது சென்றே தெரியவில்லை" என்று தலைப்பிட்டு. அமெரிக்காவில் இருக்கும் தனி...

Loving Vincent (2017) Directors:    Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman Starring:  Douglas Booth,  Saoirse Ronan, Eleanor Tomlinson,  Chris O'Dowd,  Robert Gulaczyk Artists, Art lovers and enthusiasts will get goosebumps at the end of this movie. I literally felt the chills. The frames of the scenes are animated versions of paintings done by a team of artists. The movie paints a beautiful picture of the story behind Van Gogh's suicide and the events that followed his death. Van Gogh had a habit of writing a lot of letters to his beloved brother all his life, who happened to be the only one who supported his work. It talks about the emotional struggles this genius artist went through during his life, his struggles to fit into society and his desire to stay remembered. The screenplay and picturization transports you to a world created through his painting style. A must-watch masterpiece. வின்சென்ட் வான் கோ என்றாலே நமக்கு அவரின் புகழ்பெற...

Dangerous Minds (1995) Director:  John N. Smith Starring:  Michelle Pfeiffer,  Wade Domingue,  Renoly Santiago A discharged US Marine takes up the role of a High School teacher to teach poetry. The class is filled with students coming in from diverse backgrounds. As most of them are  underprivileged and have gone through the worst in their lives, their focus on their studies is very little. They rebel against the system and rely on drugs. In this circumstance, the protagonist Louanne joins their class and takes up this challenging assignment to get them graduated. Michelle Pfeiffer delivers a brilliant performance in the film. The famous song "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio is one of the soundtracks for this movie The Hindi movie "Hichki" very much resembles this one.  படிப்பில் நாட்டம் இல்லாமல் சுற்றித்திரியும் ஒரு மாணவர் கூட்டத்திற்கு , கல்வியின் முக்கியத்துவத்தை உணர்த்த படாதபாடுபடு...

Radio Silence (2019) Director: Philippe Gagnon Starring: Stars: Georgina Haig, John Ralston, Carrie-Lynn Neales Dr Jill is a relationship therapist who runs a show on a local radio channel in Minneapolis. She speaks to her callers listening to their relationship issues and gives advice accordingly. However, her show has been successful and different because of the tone she uses while talking to her callers. Though Jill sympathizes with them, she gives brutal feedback with no filters whatsoever. Some callers do take it lightly and have made positive changes in their lives whereas others found it hurtful and rude. One night, when Jill gives such a suggestion to one of her callers named Alexis, she unknowingly drives Alexis to commit suicide. Alexis pulls the trigger while on call ending her life. Jill is shocked to the core. As the radio station discontinued the broadcast abruptly and due to the delay in transmission, the sound of the gunshot did not come out. Jill, thus es...

Asha Jaoar Majhe (2014) Directed by Aditya Vikram Sengupta Starring: Ritwick Chakraborty, Basabdatta Chatterjee I have never been a fan of movies with no dialogue. I have seen people liking them for artistic reasons but mostly I feel impatient to sit through movies with no conversations. However, this movie changed it all for me. This is an award-winning masterpiece with 2 main characters playing husband and wife having no interaction with each other. The movie's story is set in the backdrop of Bengal where the economic downfall is being witnessed and an imminent revolution is on its way. This middle-class couple are in a position to work day and night to make ends meet. It shows how a beautiful screenplay and cinematography and tell a story so clearly even in the absence of dialogue. The film did face criticisms for having plagiarism relating it to an Iranian short film but surely a must-watch film. பெரும்பாலும் நான் உரையாடல் இல்லாத திரைப்படங்களை விருப்பப்பட்டு பார்ப்ப...