The Flowers Supremacy

People might think that this post is about The War of the Roses, but the story about that Civil War is not the Flowers that we have here, for this one is a television channel, which Keralites have loved to watch since its inception. While learning about The War of the Roses was more or less part of the academics if not a requirement for raising the level of knowledge, Flowers channel has been all about entertainment. It was initially known for one particular programme, Uppum Mulakum, a series which competed with Mazhavil Manorama’s Thatteem Mutteem, and has not lost its charm due to repetitions and being outdated as a number of years have passed now, and Flowers itself has other shows which gained supremacy.

Among the shows of Flowers, the one programme which stands apart is Star Magic, an event which includes a number of performers who are skilled in more than one field, and it is like a celebration, which has been going on in Flowers channel for a long time, but doesn’t have a feeling of repetition at all. It has a limited number of participants, and they keep changing every day, even though more than half of them remain the same every day. There are talks, games and performances, and everything has a fine touch of humour to go with it. The programme is the kind of thing that we need to watch at night after a bust schedule or during a depressing Corona season to be happy.

A random screenshot from Star Magic (for blogging purpose only)

Some of the commonly repeated names in Star Magic other than the anchor Lakshmi Nakshathra are Binu Adimaly, Nelson Shooranadu, Kollam Sudhi, Sreevidya Mullassery, Jaseela Parveen, Anna Chacko, Dayyana Hameed, Anumol RS, Thankachan Vithura, Azeez Nedumangad, Shashankan Mayyanad, Shiyas Kareem, Bineesh Bastian, Kollam Shafi, Aiswarya Rajeev etc among others. Along with the same, there have been other names which made regular presence in the programme including Noby Marcose, Anu Joseph, Anna Prasad, Abhirami Murali, Mridula Vijay, Yuva Krishna, Naveen Arakkal, Stephy Leon, Saadhika Venugopal, Rini Raj, Krittika Pradeep, Manvi Surendran, Reneesha Rehman, Tanvi S Ravindran, Lakshmi Priya, Chilanka S Deedu etc and also a number of guests from films and other fields. The programme manages to be more or less like a festival, and has a wonderful spirit associated with it.

Along with Star Magic, another programme has risen to fame in the last few months, and it is a show on the lines of Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran, originally known as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and best known in India as Kaun Banega Crorepati with Amitabh Bachchan’s early addition. This programme known as Flowers Oru Kodi is special because of having Sreekandan Nair as the host, and there is a certain amount of variety being added to it, with the help of its robotic sponsors, Lana Technologies, as it has two robots providing aid when required. It also has more or less a fun feeling rather than the emotional setting which was maintained by other programmes which provided cash to the contestants in exchange for answering questions – a case of positive energy here.

We have watched News 24 a lot, and basically it is the channel which provided a neutral viewpoint in almost every case, while all other channels were mostly having their anchors prejudiced towards one side. As both comes from the same source, we know that Flowers and News 24 are not to be separated when watching television. The use of technology and augmented reality has set the channels ahead of others, and the floor used for each programme is indeed splendid. This is the same reason why almost all the time, we are looking forward to watch News 24, despite having so many channels around. Flowers and News 24 are channels which know what to do when they have to do it, correctly, and without pretensions or prejudices.

Flowers also has Chakkappazham, a series about which I had already written earlier. Even though it had started become a little bit repetitive, it still remains fun, and you know how well a series with simple things of home depicted on the screen can work for the family audience. Thatteem Mutteem, the only programme which was giving competition to Uppum Mulakum has also paled in front of this one, as Mazhavil Manorama has once again lost the advantage here despite having Marimaayam much earlier, except for getting those new movies to have their television premiere in there, like Zee Keralam has been doing for some time – Asianet which earlier had Vellanakalude Naadu also has managed some similar television premieres rather than getting some quality shows in there. The competition is there, and it is good.

A random screenshot from Chakkappazham (for blogging purpose only)

Yet, in between all the competition, both Flowers and News 24 has brought an identity of their own, and it is the style which other channels have been trying to copy, but not with that much of an effect. After all, imitations can only be imitations, and won’t have that quality which is displayed by the original. We know about the same here too. During the time of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Flowers has been the one channel which we watched regularly, and News 24, the one news channel which we watched the most, and that is something which might not change for a long time, as other television channels surely seem to lack in that diversity as well as innovation.

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<— Click here to go to the last film review.

TeNy

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The Great Jackfruit Family

As most of you might already know, I am not a fan of the television series in Malayalam which have been part of different channels. But there was Thatteem Mutteem which became a show which I regularly watched, and that had changed. With the children in the series growing up to have children, things were never going to be the same again. Then, with the beginning of COVID-19, the episodes stopped, and we were no longer interested in this particular programme. I was never a fan of the much hyped Uppum Mulakum, even though in the beginning, I had found the same to be okay. As of now, one can be pretty sure that it can only live on its past hype and can come up with nothing new.

Then in August, we had another television show focusing on a family and its members at home, and that changed the situation by a long way. After watching television continuously for a long time during the pandemic, we had lost interest in watching anything anymore, and that was evident in the time spent in front of the television in the later stages. Chakkapazham which started its journey on August 10 was quick to catch our attention, and we have been watching the show without fail, every day from Monday to Friday. Even the presence of the WWE-like entertainment like IPL didn’t change that as we were stuck to this show like never before. It is after a long time that a programme has created such an effect.

This show feels that good because of its funny side which works so well, without adding any emotional side in between. Uppum Mulakum and Thatteem Mutteem have the tendency to turn emotional at times, but Chakkapazham manages to be a complete comedy with feel-good elements. The funny moments are all effective, thanks to a group of talented actors and actresses doing a great job. Lead by SP Sreekumar who plays Uthaman, a veterinary compounder who take care of the house which has more members than one would expect. The members of the family include Uthaman, his wife Asha, their three children, his jobless young brother Sumesh, his sister Painkili and her son, his brother-in-law who visits at times, his parents and also his grandmother.

SP Sreekumar is no stranger to us, as we have known him from Marimaayam, and as that villain in Memories. He does a natural job in the series as he has been doing for a long time. Aswathy Sreekanth who plays his wife makes the entry into acting from anchoring here with a touch of comedy, really well. Shruthi Rajnikanth who plays the sister Painkili is a joy to watch, and it is her along with Mohammed Raffi who plays the brother Sumesh that elevates the comedy to the highest level. Both are united by the interest in doing nothing, and if the former’s main interest is in sleeping, the latter spends his time trying to find some way of making the family members fight with each other or find any way of making some quick money without hardwork.

Arjun Somasekhar who plays Painkili’s husband Shivan makes some nice appearances, even though he is not there in all episodes. In his acting debut, he brings some memorable, funny moments. Amal Rajdev plays Kunjunni, the father figure who pretends that he was a pilot in the airforce until retirement, while Sabeeta George plays the mother figure of Lalitha. Both are also interesting characters, and blend in really well. Indira Devi plays the grandmother who is also an integral part of the fun. The children are also really good, and they contribute to the tale so well. Such natural acting from child actors are rarely seen, but they just manage to make the whole thing better.

The fight scenes in the television series are funny, and it is to be noted that there is something very interesting coming up every time. The characters are people whom we fall in love with – they are all simple people, and their life and tales are also really simple, even though strange in a really funny manner as we look at it. I would say that the best thing which started in television during these days is this programme, and telecasted at the same time as Thatteem Mutteem in Mazhavil Manorama, this one is sure to have won the battle. Flowers channel seems to have programmes for all categories of people – even Star Magic and Koodathayi seems to be much loved, while in the case of Mazhavil Manorama, we only have the new and updated Udan Panam, which thrives on its anchors.

At the same time when Koodathayi and Star Magic are running in Flowers, we have Udan Panam in Mazhavil Manorama, a show which has been lifted to the next level, thanks to its new anchors, Meenakshi and Dain. One has to say that other than these, there is not much that can be watched on television these days. There are the movies for sure, like Kilometres and Kilometers being released on Asianet, and we also have those songs which can be watched here and there. Then we only have the sports. Well, with the COVID-19 cases showing no signs of coming down in number, and the number of deaths increasing, we need to stay more at home, but there is not enough entertainment within, and the need to work is also not the same for everyone.

***The images used in this blog post are promotions used by Flowers TV.

<— Click here to go to the previous post.

<— Click here to go to the last film review.

TeNy

Speed and Superheroes

I haven’t been much aware of a good number of superheroes during my childhood, most of these people being popular ones these days – it was mostly the game of four at that time, with the four people with names ending with “man”; Spider-Man, He-Man, Batman and Superman along with some regular dose from The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician. Due to Defenders of the Earth cartoon, the one Flash whom I came to know later was Flash Gordon and I never really liked him.

The Flash became known to me more with those animated movies having Justice League of America as the centre of attraction. But the first version of him which was not animated, came to me with the television series called Arrow about which I have mentioned before on this blog. The episode featuring him as the superhero was not that interesting, but he surely caught some attention with that one. Then there was this television series with him as the central character, more like a spin-off from Arrow.

The television series has been a pretty interesting one; The Flash is without doubt another nice superhero stuff for us to watch. I have felt that a movie would do just fine with this superhero and the stories of lightning speed. As you would guess, I had my doubts about this superhero, but they were erased in a flash. Grant Gustin rightly makes the character enjoyable here. My favourite one here would be Danielle Panabaker as Dr. Caitlin Snow whom I surely remember from a number of horror movies – Friday the 13th, The Crazies, The Ward and Piranha 3DD; that is a nice list even though not exactly the ones to be rated very highly as individual movies.

Tom Cavanagh as Dr. Harrison Wells and Jesse L. Martin as Joe West are two others whom I have felt to be deserving the mention – I have felt something special about these characters too. Carlos Valdes provides the humour here as Cisco Ramon. Well, the characters work really well with this television series, and there are some episodes which really make us want to watch the next – I have only watched the first season, and all my thoughts about the series came from there. With how that season ended and from what I have heard about the next season, I am surely looking forward to watching season two soon.

Even though I like both Arrow and The Flash, I have been more attached to Arrow than the latter as it is darker, and has the super-powers kept to minimum – there is just the presence of some vaccines rather than the meta-human, super-villain, superhero collection in The Flash. I have also felt that all the characters in Arrow have something more – the love angle of The Flash remains a let-down too, with the two main characters. Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak is the best possible factor in both the series combined, and the hardworking hero also makes Arrow closer to the heart.

You know that the action sequences are better with Arrow too; but The Flash uses the special effects to its advantage, and this difference between the two has been more like the same between Batman and Superman – I used to like that latter more when I was a kid, and now I prefer the former. There is one is the grand hero with those special powers and the other, a millionaire who has changed to become the vigilante who fights in the darkness. The world itself has changed, and so the change of preference was to come at some point.

The suspense factor also has Arrow edging ahead, and the tension in both series remains pretty much high, even though The Flash has the terrible romance between the two main characters making things go wrong. The love triangle of The Flash is the one thing that stretches the series and brings it down. Romantic melodrama should be the least of one’s concern in a superhero flick or series, if you ask me. But in the end, you will love this television series too. Well, The Flash has some very nice villains, and that is a strong point there – the series also remains steady, unlike Arrow which has its ups and downs.

***The images used in this blog post are from the Official Facebook Page of the television series, The Flash.

TeNy

Saving the Idiot Box

Even though television has managed to become the big star of entertainment overtaking its predecessors like radio, the internet hasn’t really become the substitute of television – not completely, and not yet. Even though some channels come up with the most pathetic programmes, television continues to survive, as it has become part of life. But this television, which is more of an idiot box, will need better programmes to survive, and I am coming up with such an idea here to save it.

During this season of terrible serials showing pathetic humans who hate each other, what people need is a regular dose of goodness and kindness. In each and every popular television serial, there is too much foolishness in store, and so much of hate is in store, and the same thing repeats for so many episodes. To remove this abomination, there has to be light, as it is the only thing that can get rid of this highest level of darkness. So removing the pitch-black will require new and a lot better programmes.

We need a new sunrise to make television better, by a long way!

The complete annihilation of the fake reality shows have to happen first, because on the ruins of the same, should the new programme be built. The ruins of such pathetic shows will make us remember how terrible these were, and it will serve as inspiration for new and better things. Reality shows and serials remain the big curse for the idiot box, and make sure that they remain the great idiot box. So, the new television programme which will replace these should just have good men and women; those who have made a difference.

There is no shortage of such people in India, and so running the show for an hour every day from Monday to Saturday won’t be a problem at all – we will only have more and more of such amazing people because there is such potential, as long as the whole new generation is not consumed by the evil of modernity in such a way that they are not lost forever. But in any situation, there will be one person or the other, making some difference, and we will be looking for such people to base our television shows on.

There are people who work for the poor without asking anything in return. The friends of the rich might not like them that much, and will brand them as having some other hidden agenda – they will abuse these people for their religion, caste or community, but it is the kind of people whom we should be focusing on. We should give absolutely no importance to the celebrities who feed on the blind affection and love of the common man – they are not heroes at all; the one who does his or her duty to fellow beings is the true hero.

We take any person who has worked for the upliftment of the poor – his or her religion and other details won’t matter, and the mistakes are of less significance, because that person is doing something which most of us won’t do. We are going through with our own lives and these people are doing something for the lives of others – it is a beautiful thing, which is why we will need an episode for one such person each and every day, except for maybe Sunday which can be left for the special programmes – ours is not special, but real and of daily life.

We should go on a new path with television; take a big turn!

An hour a day for six days at a time between eight and nine will be appropriate tribute to these people who spend their time and energy for the others, as they are the real heroes. They should be seen at the representation of India in the right way, and not the selfish ones – no actor, actress, model, politician, businessman, cricketer or anyone else who keeps earning so much money and appreciation from the nation, but provides nothing in return deserve a chance. We need television shows on the real great people!

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

***The images used in this blog post were taken by me on my Sony Cybershot DSC-W310.

TeNy

Angels, Demons and Humans

There was a certain supernatural action-thriller released in 2005 which became my instant favourite at that time. With Keanu Reeves playing the protagonist, I ended up knowing more as John Constantine rather than being part of Speed and The Matrix. Constantine was a movie which created such a huge impact on my mind. It redefined my ideas about this world and the other. There was even a game based on the movie, and it also helped; that one was an interesting third person shooter.

Along with being the shooting game, Constantine reflected the movie and had those spells too. The weapons were interesting and there were some captivating cutscenes. The darkness was something even more interesting, and it was my second favourite action game featuring the slaying of demons after Undying. Coming back to the movie, it even had Rachel Weisz in a double role. I loved the depiction of hell in that movie, the shot of a particular cat, the special mixed qualities of the movie, and how the story developed.

The movie and the game are exactly the big reasons why I wanted to watch the television series following the same story and one of the most interesting protagonists in a movie featuring the supernatural. I did have my doubts about this one in the absence of Keanu Reeves who has been the true Constantine for long. But that one never had the sequel it deserved, and here we get used to Matt Ryan as the titular character, and by the half of first season, we are over the film and take him as Constantine.

I had loved Lucy Griffiths as Liv Aberdine, but that character disappeared after the first episode. She seemed to be the one who was going to assist the protagonist, but that was not to be. But there was Angélica Celaya as Zed Martin, the psychic who assisted Constantine for the rest of his missions. I have felt that she did an amazing job there; this character is mysterious, and becomes the best thing about this television series. I would still love to see a few appearances from Lucy Griffiths at some point.

So, Constantine as the television series brings the adventures of the demon hunter, exorcist and master of the dark arts back to the scene. Here, he starts at a mental institution after a failed exorcism from where he immediately gets out, and starts saving the souls and sending the demons to their own worlds. As the worlds get closer, more paranormal activities occur, and investigations become necessary. After leaving Liv Aberdine and meeting Zed Martin, things get a lot better from the fifth episode, if you ask me. I have actually found the seventh one, “Blessed Are the Damned” to be the best of them all.

So, even if you are not going to be impressed by the first episode which losses its main lady character by the end after wasting too much of its ideas on her, you can keep going, because things are only going to get more interesting. You get the demons, angels, strange humans, fallen angels, and so many kinds of creatures from the other world that you will wish to keep the whole thing going. Even though it started in a rather funny way, things do get more serious later, and also more complex.

The types of evil has rather increased here and the creatures catch our interest in an easier way, but compared to the movie, I have found the television series lighter. There are some moments and dialogues which are rather memorable, and will keep us wishing to return to the series. What this television series has left me more though, is a desire to watch a sequel to the Constantine movie, but that is not going to come anytime soon, I guess. But as I have nothing to do, and have been keeping my patience level high, I shall still wait. I have read that this series will see no more light, and so what other choice do we really have?

***The images used in this blog post are from the Official Facebook of the television series, Constantine.

TeNy

Celebrities and their Fans

I was watching an episode of Vellanakalude Naadu (The Land of White Elephants) on Asianet channel on last Sunday, and I found the idea talked about to be a very interesting one and more valid than anything else for the present time. The satirical tv series has been doing a good job every weekend, but this one can be considered the one episode more close to life than any other. They have come up with an idenity separate from the big satire program Marimayam on Mazhavil Manorama and it feels good.

The episode dealt with the blind fans and their great role-model celebrities. It showed us how ridiculous the celebrity worship and the fan clubs happen to be. There is absolutely no point in these as the fans are never really the admirers as they should be. There are only two kinds of fans who are usually seen during a movie release; one is the type which got no ability to think for themselves and blindly worship a person for some strange reason, and another is the kind of fan who stick to this for material benefits.

Yes, there are fans who are not part of these two groups, but they are rare and as they don’t hate and abuse others, their voices are less heard. The other groups of fans whose lives are based on hate will make them heard because they are intolerant. What they do in the name of their favourite celebrities happen to be the curse of the movie industry. I have always believed that a movie should be watched and appreciated without caring about who acted in the flick.

We know the most significant work which these fans do. They go around telling everyone and posting on the Facebook media that a terrible, average or above average movie of their favourite actor or actress is awesome. They abuse people who say that the movie is not that good. They also degrade the movies of other celebrities telling everyone that they are pathetic. Some do it because they are blind followers and others for some material benefits. But both types of fans are such pain on the social media.

What they do in the theatres happen to be even more ridiculous. They make sounds in the darkness and clap and scream so much for their favourite actors that listening to the dialogues is impossible. The howling which they do for the movies of other actors make sure that listening to dialogues is hard otherwise too. They try their best to make the theatre experience hell of the common man and make it even worse for the family audience. According to them, the world belongs to them only.

The fans also do pour milk over the giant flex hoarding of their favourite actors. Well, wastage of food when children are in need of nutrition comes easy, doesn’t it? Earlier, there was an incident in which a fan climbed over a flex hoarding of their favourite actor at Thiruvananthapuram and fell down while trying to give the huge thing a shower in milk. What did he earn other than the loss of his own life? It is a strange thing about life, that you make the people who love cry for you in the name of a person who doesn’t know or care.

The celebrities need their fans to make them popular and the fans need money while some fans are just dumb. The celebrities will surely make advantage of this, creating fake campaigns about their greatness, simplicity, skills, social work and everything else. If you see a lot of such posts from fans about “simplicity”, “social work” and the rest of the qualities, there is a big chance that these situations are created and paid for. It is not the media and fans that need the celebrities, but it is the other way around; otherwise, we would have seen the celebrities talking against the fan clubs – do we see such a thing? Not at all. Vellanakalude Naadu on Sunday showed how disgusting this hero worship is, in a clear manner.

***The image used in this blog post is a screenshot of the first screen of a video of the television series shared by Asianet.

TeNy

Satire of White Elephants

Even though Marimayam of Mazhavil Manorama is the better known satire on Malayalam television channels, there is another program which is aired at 10:30 PM every Saturday and Sunday, keeping a high standard for itself too. Vellanakalude Nadu, the satire shown on Asianet has its name inspired from the 1988 drama satire directed by Priyadarshan, scripted by Sreenivasan and produced by Maniyanpilla Raju. It had Mohanlal and Shobhana in the leading roles supported by a fine group of popular names of that time.

With its memorable comic scenes and its work as a political satire on the system as well as the people who were around it, the movie is often considered as a classic even though its Hindi remake Khatta Meeta with Akshay Kumar and Trisha Krishnan in the lead roles didn’t do that much. Translated as “The Land of White Elephants” with its title, this television series deals with the random situations that a common household come against, and it usually has someone from outside trying to interfere with their lives.

The last week’s episode had the protagonists, Sivadasan and Kunjumol being fooled in the name of providing visa to work in the Middle East. It is a commonly used idea, and the episode actually added an addition layer to it along with creating some more funny situations with the neighbours and the relatives. Cheating related to visa has been quite common with agents making fools of the people who are in need of an urgent job. Such characters are also common, making an appearance also in the recently released realistic flick, Pathemari.

All the stories revolve around the two protagonists, and the rest of the cast actually changes their personalities. Susu is the neighbour and friend of Kunjumol, but both friends are jealous of each other. Susu’s husband is played by two actors, one playing the character called Vinod and another Jimmy. Both characters are part of the television series in one role or the other, with one who doesn’t play the husband role plays another person in the locality. Another character is Manjulan who comes up with something new every episode.

The rest of the characters include the sister and brother-in-law of Sivadasan along with two other characters from the locality. The need for them arises according to the story of the episode. There are times when the story is almost fully shot inside one house only. Sometimes there will be more focus on the different offices. The episode usually starts with Sivadasan and Kunjumol, ending it also with them, with other characters dropping in between. There have been a few exceptions about it though.

There have been a good number of interesting episodes in Vellanakalude Nadu, and almost all of them have left some nice and valuable messages on the society. There was one episode which dealt with the mobile tower related issue and another one with the phenomenon of fake certificates. The issue of companies making false promises towards its customers, was one of the best taken episodes. They could even take the common problem of alcoholism and bring the message in a very interesting way.

The advantage of this program is that the cast is not just very good, but they are also a lot suitable for the characters which they play here. The earlier episodes were different though, set more in the offices than anywhere else in the Marimayam style, and the characters were also somewhat different, even with the core remaining the same. The change of the focus to houses instead of the offices has helped the program to bring an identity of its own, different from Marimayam, and it has been a good positive thing which will make sure that the program does better!

***The image used in this blog post is a screenshot of the first screen of a video shared by Asianet.

TeNy

The Weekend Satire

There is a certain amount of difficulty in finding the interesting satires these days. As far as the movies are concerned, the last big one goes a long way back to Pranchiyettan and the Saint as a full satire, even though there were others with some qualities of the genre. Bringing effective full satire to the audience needs a lot of skill and understanding the viewers as well as the society in a critical way. It is clear that most of the television programs never really understands what the viewers want. But there are surely exception in the same field.

There are two programs which successfully brings the satire to the next level though. One of them is Marimayam which deals with the corruption in government offices and other institutions, and makes fun of the situations. Broadcasted on Mazhavil Manorama on Saturdays and Sundays at 9:00 PM, it is one of the longest running satires ever in a Malayalam channel. Meanwhile, the second one is Vellanakalude Nadu which is broadcasted on Asianet at 10:30 PM every Sunday, bringing the satire related mainly to two families and their surroundings.

Existing since the time we remember Mazhavil Manorama has come to the viewers, Marimayam still continues its awesome journey. Even with its major actors S. P. Sreekumar and Rachana Narayanankutty not being part of the program, the rest does manage to hold things together. This Saturday had the funny version of how KSEB had decided to charge extra money if people are not at home when the employees come home to take the electricity meter reading. It was another fun episode to watch, and proves to be very interesting to the audience.

The Sunday version was even funnier with the episode dealing with dogs, dog lovers, common people and the government authorities, taking the satire in the right direction concerning the recent events. Another program in Mazhavil Manorama, the family comedy serial, Thatteem Mutteem also had the same theme this weekend, and Marimayam successfully takes it to the next level. We are given some idea about how it is going to be on Saturday itself. This is more of an episode which understands the pulse of the audience.

It is difficult to watch anything else when Badai Bunglaw is running on Asianet, but Marimayam has the worthy episodes which make us do the channel change in its direction. The last week’s flex episode was one of them; the same can be said about the episode on how people fall victim to money lending firms, and now this one is there for the week. This episode has one of the characters being bitten by a dog and in retaliation, the person beats the dog, and all of a sudden, the dog lovers appear.

What follows this incident is a series of funny situations which lead to an even funnier finish with the message that we can take to heart. There is the talk about how co-existence is something which is not forced, but has to come from mutual understanding and respect, and with respect for the life of the other – it is not hate that brings co-existence to life, for situations are not always the same. It is also the two hundredth episode of the same program.

Lets get to the other program. Vellanakalude Nadu had a nice weekend earlier with a simple story. But this weekend’s show had a higher level of comedy. Beginning the episode at a police station, this one starts and ends with full fun, even though a message is less conveyed. The two programs made sure that this weekend was more fun than it was expected to be, at least the nights. Add the episodes of Badai Bunglaw and Onnum Onnum Moonu and that finishes the interesting weekend!

***The images used in this blog post are from the official Facebook Page of Marimayam.

TeNy

Root Canal and Commercials

“Vampire Alert! Vampire Alert!” the special alarms came up with the scary words which were not usual for the vampire team. It was meant to declare the highest level of emergency, like a werewolf attack, zombie raid, elf happiness, goblin cricket matches or it could be about something missing from the blood collection. There was also the special immortal music that accompanied the same. The team of vampires rushed to the main hall to find Dracula lying on the floor with his arms covering his mouth.

“What happened to him?” asked the Vampire Panda.

“Is Uncle Dracula dead? Can I mourn his death right now? I have this new selfie stick and may be I can start using this with his dead body – what do you think?” asked the Vampire Hamster.

“I think that his fangs are gone. Then, I can take over as the new vampire chief because I have strong battle claws. Let him retire” said the Vampire Owl.

“How can you take over? I am the one true symbol of vampirism. I even have crowned teeth, and so I should be crowned as the Lord Protector of all Vampires and some Zombies of the Realm” said the Vampire Bat.

“What are you talking about here? I am not dead, and I got my fangs, you idiots” screamed Dracula with his arms over his mouth.

“Oh! We are very much relieved about this disappointment, dear uncle” said the Vampire Owl.

“I was just watching this movie and there were more commercials than movie. It was a festival special movie for the humans stretched to five hours, and watching all these pathetic commercials made me bite my own teeth and one of them on the left side has just fallen down. I called our official vampire dentist and he has recommended a root canal because the teeth are very old. This is actually depressing because I am now the first elder vampire in the history to have a root canal. All these because of the advertisements” Dracula added.

“Don’t worry, uncle. I am a vampire with root canal. But tell us more about the advertisements” said the Vampire Bat.

“There was this advertisement in which humans were trying to look pale, and they were using a magic cream for the purpose. It says that having white skin is very important for having confidence and progressing in life. Only white people get good alliances in marriage and also high level jobs according to them”.

“What? Didn’t we ban that advertisement here? We are sorry, Uncle Dracula. We had banned those racist commercials, but it seems that these people managed to sneak in a few by bribing our zombie guards” informed the Vampire Owl.

“Then there were those jewellery commercials. There were so many of them and I was shocked to know how much these silly mortals value the yellow metal. It was another depressing thing, and I wondered why we are not so interested in that thing. I felt that they will keep killing each other for the same – shocking, isn’t it?” asked Dracula.

“Just like the Lich Queen, I guess” remarked the Vampire Panda.

“I also watched a few commercials in which people were doing strange things, like trying to die, but they don’t, and then they drink something which looks like chemical and still they don’t die. What is wrong with these people? May be some humans are immortal too” said Dracula.

“I know that one. I had asked Lady Death why they never died” said the Vampire Hamster.

“And then people studying at some place called IIN where they start hotels when they can’t study hotel management. Do they start a crisis if they can’t study crisis management? There is the teacher who wants to use internet instead of books and there is a village where women don’t go to college, but proudly stays at home with mobile phones. Thank God that we use telepathy and not telephones here”.

“These are old commercials. These humans bring these things late here, and still they are the ones outdated” said the Vampire Bat.

“But now you will go to the dentist. You have to get the root canal done” said the Vampire Owl.

“We should just let a druid prepare a magic potion and the remaining tooth will just come out and pain will disappear” suggested Dracula.

“You mean android?” asked the Vampire Hamster.

“Never mind. Damned be those television commercials” replied Dracula.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

***The images used in this blog post are from the Official Facebook Page of the movie, Hotel Transylvania.

TeNy

Battle of Ten Vampires

The Great Vampire Library used to record almost all battles which the vampire kind had fought with the werewolves, zombies, dark elves, goblins, orcs, wood elves, satyrs, centaurs and high elves, but there was one battle which they fought among themselves. This particular battle was never recorded in any of the books, and so the gargoyles who guarded them never spread those stories among the masses of vampires. There was no word spoken about it inside or outside the vampire realm, but the vampires knew; at least all who fought or were witness to the battles.

It was the battle for the remote control of the television. It goes back to those years when television was first introduced in the vampire world which used dark magic to sneak into the cable television and bring the channels before that. This battle, which is often referred to as “Battle of Ten Vampires” in secret, had no blood involved, but there surely was the use of vampire powers for the possession of that one special weapon, the remote control. But the vampires were too ashamed to speak about such a meaningless battle.

The battle has actually turned more meaningless, with Tata Sky providing the option to record, transfer and carry the favourite movies and TV shows with the users. The Vampire Owl who created more problems than anybody else, really wanted to watch that match between Manchester United and Liverpool, but the Vampire Bat prevented the same by taking control of the remote control to watch US Open. It was the beginning of that battle which could have been prevented by Tata Sky+ Transfer, and it is still possible with the use of a time machine.

The battle had wide spread destruction inside the room because the vampire apprentices had decided to join. Vampire Hamster wasn’t sure what he wanted to watch and so kept changing the channel. Vampire Crocodile went on biting everyone around hoping to get control of the remote control and Vampire Alligator joined from another side. Vampire Crow used its connection with the dead to summon a few undead and Vampire Raven contacted the other world directly through the portal. With Vampire Cat joining in, Vampire Panda and Vampire Penguin contributed heavily to the chaos.

With Kung Fu Panda on Star Movies, Vampire Panda had no option but to go berserk, and was stopped by Vampire Penguin who wanted to watch Happy Feet. With Vampire Cat’s desire to watch Puss in Boots gone awry Vampire Crow decided to sneak in and put on The Crow on HBO, but that was thwarted by Vampire Crocodile who managed to put the National Geographic Channel. Vampire Alligator tried to defend the Discovery Channel, but the Vampire Raven sneaked in. With the undead minions joining, and the sofas, tables and chairs thrown around, the television barely survived.

Nowadays, things have calmed down and are getting more peaceful with #TATASkyTransfer being available, providing the customers with the option to watch the shows whenever we want to, with the programs stored in the devices in pockets. The shows can not only be watched in one of the rooms on one’s phone, laptop or tablet, but also while on a journey which might be too long. This surely seems like a better option than the internet download because things are rather more direct.

Now, there are wars to be fought outside, and it will be very good for the vampire community to have the internal problems solved. It is something that #TATASkyTransfer can bring everywhere and make sure that the fight for the remote is not there. The battle to watch a cricket, football or tennis match during the time of the television serials is something of epic proportions and there is the need for bring Tata Sky+ Transfer to save the day in most of the cases. So, this becomes a choice for peace and non-violence. Check here for more details about the same here: http://www.tatasky.com/transfer/

***The images used in this blog post are from the Official Facebook Page of Tata Sky, and are used to support this post.

TeNy

And then the TV Series

I have developed a love for TV series only recently. The case of Game of Thrones has been of eternal recommendation. Everybody loves that one, and Sherlock has its long list of admirers, and after this writing is complete, I hope to create more for Hannibal too. The next to watch on my list are Vikings, Spartacus and Breaking Bad. I made the choice to skip True Blood and The Vampire Diaries as a Twilight reminder came up and that was shocking.

SHERLOCK [Seasons: 3. Watched: 3]
Rating: 8.9/10 @TV.com

For a long time, I had believed that Robert Downey Jr. is the only one who could be Sherlock Holmes, and I have even considered the man the one true Holmes and less identified him with being Iron Man. Benedict Cumberbatch is not the only person who changed my views on the true Sherlock, because there was Martin Freeman as Doctor Watson and Lara Pulver as Irene Adler. Jude Law was very good, but Martin was so perfect in the role. Rachel McAdams was the cutest Irene with that hair style, but Lara Pulver became more of that character. Now I have two favourite people each for all three of these characters.

I might still prefer to watch Holmes with that older setting because it is the one true investigator from my childhood, but with this cast, Sherlock TV series is always a joy to watch. It was only the third season which was a let down for me, and the credit for the same goes the very last episode, as “His Last Vow” left me less interested. The secret of identity of Watson’s wife and the villain with Appledore Mind Palace felt ridiculous; it was only the possible return of Jim Moriarty that gave me the desire to wait for the next season. Season Two was my big favourite and Season One also felt awesome.

GAME OF THRONES [Seasons: 5. Watched: 5]
Rating: 9/10 @TV.com

I came quite late to the Game of Thrones fan club which meant that I had to watch four seasons in a week and also got to watch the fifth episode soon enough. The result is that now I am left waiting with so much desire to know what happens next; the fifth season’s end had me desiring to know what is next, more than ever. There is no other program which has kept me with such desire to know what happens next, and never in my life has so many of my favourite characters been dead. Well, the Vampire Team has hoped that some of these dead people join the group (only those with heads on the necks).

As I expect for a lot of more people to die, I keep my trust on Tyrion Lannister. I was sure that the character played by Sean Bean had ninety nine percent chance of dying, but I should have kept it at a higher level. I have loved how the characters change and twists happen throughout the movie, and how those unexpected things come out of nowhere. I have special love for the undead, and I will also support a few minor characters whose names shall revealed after their deaths. Until now, I am sure not to love only one character, Sansa Stark, and everybody knows it. In the end, Game of Thrones is just the truth about humanity.

HANNIBAL [Seasons: 3. Watched: 2]
Rating: 9/10 @TV.com

Based on the characters in the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, Hannibal arrives to take the gore and psychological horror to another level – rather too violent for the normal viewer; a lot more than Game of Thrones, and much more disturbing. Most of us might know Hannibal Lecter as Anthony Hopkins who received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal in Silence of the Lambs. Here Mads Mikkelsen comes up with another brilliant performance as the psychiatrist and serial killer who plays mind games with the FBI. Hugh Dancy plays Will Graham, the FBI special agent who discusses his problems as well as the cases with the devil himself as he descends into an abyss of terrifying minds. The murderers are many, and cops are less here! And there are amazing quotes flying everywhere.

I have watched only two seasons of the series, and found them too interesting to stop. Caroline Dhavernas is another complicated addition, as her intelligent character remains clueless for most of the time in the two episodes. Laurence Fishburne of The Matrix, Othello and Event Horizon makes a powerful impact here. Lara Jean Chorostecki as Freddie Lounds is fun, and Kacey Rohl as Abigail Hobbs is one cute addition in a world of chaos. You also get to see the Scream Queen and the Grand Lady of Horror Movies, Katharine Isabelle who plays another character with her own special weirdness. Almost everyone is strange and a possible serial killer, and that makes this series really special 😀

***The images used in this blog post are from the Official Facebook Pages of these three television series.

TeNy

We Have Our Favourites

It is always easy to find your least favourite advertisements, because there are more terrible or at least bad ones on the television than the good ones. It is like we don’t really have the right to watch a good advertisement and be happy enough to buy the product. No, the advertisement satisfaction is rarely there for the audience, but I am still going to share five of them which I now remember as the interesting advertisements which had caught my attention in the past.

There is no claim that these are the best ever in the long history of television, but there is the certainty that these are interesting, funny and making us more inclined towards the product which we would check on a day. When given a choice along with the competitors, I am sure to think about choosing one of these. I would leave the emotional ones out of this list, and do leave your love for controversies out of this post, as you are expected to be seeing these for the funny ones which they are.

5. Naukri.com – The Name Ad:

This one has our attention in the right way and also makes the point without pretensions. This was actually the first time I heard about Naukri.com, and this surely had me interested. There was a certain controversy that the name shouldn’t be used, but then, can we find a name which has no such problems? Well, as it is us who always have such problems, I am going to suggest two names which will be safe: Quetzalcoatl and Teotihuacan. I am sure that the people having problems over names can use these in their own advertisements after pronouncing them with ease. Some people will always find problems with good advertisements, and they deserve only those terrible ones.

4. Micromax – Superfone Ninja Ad:

I liked this one because it had a twist and it strikes us with just those few seconds of awesome turn which makes the advertisement something else. In the beginnings few seconds, I was wondering where this advertisement is heading to and was hoping to hate another ridiculous one which leads to some perfume or condom nonsense, but then there was the twist. At 0:37, the lady says that she is programmed for that, and then we know. I have never been interested in a Micromax mobile, but this one still had my attention. This proved that Indian mobile set companies do have better ideas than the foreign ones and could understand how to get the attention of the viewers. Then there is Gabriella Demetriades as Aisha.

3. Fevikwik – Todo Nahi Jodo Ad:

Fevikwik has had some nice advertisement campaigns and this one is sure to have a prominent place in the list. Just don’t go into the minor details, but lets understand the point, as they have used the symbol of Indo-Pak relationship which is broken and hopes that it gets mended just like it deals with the Fevikwik mends the broken things. There should be no broken things as well as broken relationships between neighbours. Spread love and not hatred, and this advertisement is right there in speaking to its viewers about the same. Well done, Fevikwik. Once again this product has our attention, and I am sure to ask for Fevikwik and not anything else when at a supermarket.

2. Motorola – MotoRokr Ad:

I remember this as a really funny advertisement at its time and this was like the first advertisement with a Youtube video downloaded by me. Forget the Idea advertisements which had the same man and had all the attention for the wrong reasons, because this is Abhishek Bachan’s best ever – at least that is how I feel. The advertisement transformed the name of this Motorola phone into something which was not to be forgotten, and I even bought a Motorola phone at that time just because of this one. The best parts of it are the Mughals and police station portions. It also ends very nicely with another Motorokr moment to go on with the fine beginning.

1. Alpenliebe Pop – Babur Ad:

When you are frustrated with learning too much history, and then Babur from the book is standing in front of you! His son Humayun and grandson Akbar are also there and they gives the girl Alpenliebe Pop to get rid of her boredom while studying as history cannot be changed, but we can make it anti-boring. In the end she even asks them if they are in Facebook, and they replies that they are only in the text book. Then you have to love Shweta Tripathi in this one, she is so good with her expressions, and this is the advertisement which has actually caught my attention for being creative. I would be interested in having this Alpenliebe while reading History!

I am joining in on all the Pepsi IPL action in my own style with the #CrashThePepsiIPL activity at BlogAdda.

This Pepsi IPL, it’s not just about cricket. It’s time to crash with your own created ad! Make your own Pepsi ad & if it’s chosen, it could play on TV during Pepsi IPL! And hey, it doesn’t end here… Even if you’re chosen as a finalist, you stand a chance of winning a prize amount of Rs.1 lakh! So what are you waiting for guys?

TeNy

Knowledge: Where it Stands

How often do we hear the phrase “knowledge is power”? It has been known to us for such a long time that it comes to mind for no reason, again and again. It was with us during our childhood and stays now too. Based on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, the Malayalam TV show Ningalkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran also makes multiple references to the importance of knowing and learning through its anchor Suresh Gopi, who has been among my favourite actors.

The show has been a good knowledge booster, and becoming what is to Malayalam like Kaun Banega Crorepati was to Hindi speakers, this show has been something worth the watch due to the knowledge content as well as the way in which Suresh Gopi was presenting the whole thing. It was all about the value of gaining knowledge, and how important it was to read and learn things, something which was reiterated. It was a great relief at a time when depressing serials and stupid reality shows were ruling the channels.

But as much as the show has money associated with it, people would surely choose money instead of knowledge on any day. It has been the thing guiding people, and in the outside world, people would choose money if it was placed with knowledge on a table. Yes, there is the need for money, but this is a greedy world – just money might not be enough in this case. There is the need for more and more.

The more saddening thing is when teachers say so. Is this what they are taught with BEd? If it is so, what is the value of education. There have been people who wanted to live forever. But if someone wants to learn at least for some more years, it becomes a hideous crime. Yes, after finishing the necessary course, go and do some job because there is the need for so much money – it should keep coming in bigger quantities.

More tha anyone else, the teachers should know the value of knowledge, and if those from the school level can’t realize it, there is no point in education. Yes, we have a flawed system. Just getting the BEd degree doesn’t make one a good teacher. Just learning things by-heart and vomitting them at the UGC NET exams can’t make a good professor. We need better things – we need good men and women, and not those who memorize or can score marks.

A flawed system of selection is what has lead to the new generation having even less hope. Already the relatives try to stop students from learning more and force them to earn money against their wishes. Then there are the teachers who think the same. When there are relatives who are teachers, it is even more horror. Why would they stop someone who wants to learn more, when lots of people hates that process? Shouldn’t those who want to learn be allowed to do so?

We have got lots of quotes about learning and power of knowledge and some people keep saying them. But does anybody care about that? Why are they often used, but why not when a real life situation comes? Why is the same applicable to only some people and not the others? Society makes us do things, but does it really know that we can do better even without crossing the limits? Is there the right to learn and acquire knowledge? Am I supposed to be money making machine or the knowledge seeker? Truth can only get further bitter.

*The television show says that one question can change one’s life, but I am left with all questions and no real change 😀 **All images used in this blog post are from the Official Facebook Page of the television show, Ningalkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran (https://www.facebook.com/Kodeeshwaran). For further reference, the Facebook page of the 1997 National Award winner, Suresh Gopi – https://www.facebook.com/ActorSureshGopi.

TeNy