Booscuthalaa - Untying the Knots

 “Hi! It’s been sooo long. I’m so happy you’ll finally made it to dinner” “I know! This year once things slowly started to open up, it’s been a crazy set of dinner hopping! Esplly with navarathri and Deepavali!” “Of course! Can I get you some water first?” “Sure!” “Have you seen the view from outside our window” “Wow! That’s beautiful! I can’t believe it’s the same city we live in” “Right? It was the biggest selling point of this place for us. The hill looks so lovely from here and especially on days when it’s raining, it’s so misty and incredibly beautiful!” Trrrringgg....  “Let me see who this is...” “Hey Raghu!!! Ehh... great to see you.. how are you? Hi Malini! Pl come in...” “Oh hi.. nice to see you... no wonder it’s been raining today. What a surprise” After some quiet talk among the women, “Ram - just realized - I had invited then home next week but they thought it’s this week. Eh... I’m so sorry” “ No problem .. the more, the merrier”  Do we have plates?  Don’t worry we have en

 I was surely wondering how Sudha Kongara can make an engaging film out of Captain Gopinath's aviation entrepreneurship journey. When seen at face value, it just seems like an underdog story which can be inspiring but hardly 'massy' to work across all centres in a state like TamilNadu. However, time invested in writing can never be overestimated. Over 2 years and several drafts (over 50 is what I heard) have clearly given the film an earthiness and relatability that is not at all easy to achieve for such a core plot.  All controversies about the caste angle kept aside, I really liked the setup of a protagonist from Sholavandan which is very close to Madurai where I hail from. The story of making trains stop in this small non-descript town struck an in instant chord. During several trips from Chennai to Madurai or the other way around, I have been extremely annoyed at why the train needs to halt at this small station just a few minutes away from the Madurai Central Station.

 "I don't want to learn to cycle. It's so exhausting to learn" "You just have to keep practising. You're gonna get it one day" "But when will that one day come? I"ve been struggling for ages" "Don't give up. Come on, let's practise now for some time" "It's extremely hot. It's 4pm. I don't want to go out now"  "You can do it. I'll be around with you. I won't scold you" "That's unbelievable. You will start shouting the moment I start cycling" (Unspoken thoughts) "Ok let's go.... "  After 10 mins that seem like it's 10 years,  "I told you - don't leave me alone. And you did exactly that. Look at this!" (pointing to a bleeding gash) "These things happen if you want to learn. You know what - you almost did it, just before you went down, you were by yourself for quite a few minutes"  "Aaaaaaaaa......"

 It's hard to believe that 2020 is drawing to a close. It's been quite a saga, hasn't it? I'm still happy that we managed to make most festivals in the 2nd half of the year quite fun with Phase 2 here in Singapore. Come to think of it, I've never had such a social Deepavali in years. Decades? Maybe.  So here, fireworks are allowed as far as they are not noisy. We did face some disappointments with that constraint, however - I realized just getting together with friends over lots of home-made food and chatting can make for a satisfying Deepavali too. We even had a formulaic Deepavali release in the form of the much delectable Soorarai Pottru that surely added to the festive movie-watching spirit.  We do have our favorite brands when it comes to fattening snacks but nothing like when it's home-made I guess. Am not judging but still I really can see (& taste) the difference when it's made at home. There is so much that the process of making bakshanam adds t

 “What are we making for Deepavali this time?” “Paati is with us this time. She’s so good at making bakshanam. It’s going to be a great Deepavali food-wise” “Thengaai barfi, Mixture, Ribbon Pakoda” “I’m also going to try Mysore Paagu this time. There’s a nice recipe I spotted on Kalki last week” “There’s this recipe for coconut balls we can make with Milkmaid it seems. So fast and so yummy”  “Also some Paal Boli. We will make it in advance and put it in the chiller. It will stay good for quite a few days” “As usual, some gulob jamun” “Are we getting crackers?” “Yes there’s a box I’m getting at work. That should be good enough” 

 "Let's prepare for an Open Day in our colony" "What's that?" "So, you could have a lot of performances lined up one after the other. A little bit of drama, music and dance. An english skit and a tamil skit. There could be a finale which is a Punjabi Daler Mehendi number" "Sounds exciting. Where are we going to do it?" "Of course at R uncle's place. They have such a large frontyard - it looks like it was almost meant for such shows no?" "When are we going to do it? How long will the entire show go on for?" "Maybe on a saturday evening. Let's start planning first. The plots for the skits, the cast, the songs for the dances" "We should practise meticulously everyday. Morning 10 to 12 and then again in the evening 4 to 6. It's going to be the best show ever performed in a colony"