Actor with right moves

Its been in my head for quite sometime to write about this particular actor. I still remember watching Pranam on the first day and hoping against hope that this movie would work. It was definitely a risk for Allari Naresh to choose Pranam after all the urban roles he played till then. He always seemed to me a different actor with bold moves. When his brother was being introduced in direction of his dad a well established director under Suresh Production, he chose his debut movie to be directed by a debutant director. Not just that he lived upto the role so well that the movie became his first name.

When I look at heroes like Nitin, Tarun etc and then look at Allari Naresh it is very satisfying to see at least one in the lot to be in right direction without losing focus and dedication. I once read in an interview on why he chose to be a comedy hero. I was not sure if it was right thinking until it worked real well for him. He settled down well in telugu cinema and once in a while he has some brilliant roles like Gamyam and Shambo Siva Shambo. Even when he is acting with the likes of veteran Rajendra Prasad and hyper Ravi teja he made sure his presence is felt and that too in a big way.

In the beginning I liked his attitude towards movies but was not sure about his acting skills. After watching all his comedy movies and his serious roles I am thrilled to say that he evolved as one of the best actors in Telugu cinema today. One small diversion for him is his movies with his dad which most of the times fail miserably and affect his brand name as super comedian. I truly feel happy for genuine talent when it had shaped real well. I wish all the very best for Naresh in his future ventures and also wish that he does not lose focus.

Exploring a lyric - Oopiri : Eppudu okkala undadhu

Movie: Oopiri

Song: Eppudu okkala

Lyricist: Guruvugaaru Seetarama Sastry

Let me start by saying that a poets work more often than not contains some abstractness attached to it. And when it comes to Guruvugaaru Sirivennela Seetarama sastry gaaru, he has mastered that art. Jagamanta kutumbam is one of such great examples. Now the reason I picked Eppudu song from Oopiri is because a friend requested it and I hope I do justice in explaining what Guruvugaaru actually meant. One of the signatures of Guruvugaaru is his lyrics start with some word play before revealing us the context, which he usually does in the last line of the charanam. No one has that style till now but these days Ananth Sreeram is coming pretty close. Now let's move onto the song in focus now. This follows same style.

Eppudu okala vundadhu

Ekkada aagiponivvadhu

Yedharemunnadho cheppadhu

Kadhile samayam

The first three lines sound very beautiful if you listen to them by themselves but they make complete sense when you get the context in last line. The context here is abt time. 

It isn't same. It's like time lost is never coming back. This moment is lost forever. 

It won't let you stop. It stops for none. We all run with it. 

It does not reveal what's in store for you. Now if you mix these three lines it adds up to saying you just don't know what time has in store for you but you just run with it and keep changing ur life or adapt ur life to changing times.

Needala gnapakam vadhaladhu

Thoduga ye nijam nadavadhu

Ontiga sagatam thappadhu

Jarige payanam

Context here is abt journey of life. If you sum up the first three lines it translates as your journey is yours alone and no truth you have learnt in your life will stay with you forever as ur perception of a truth keeps changing(this is a vast subject talking about truth to u at one point of life might not make sense at different point) but the memories you keep making are the only things that keep you company. So make good memories. Pretty deep huh!!!!

Neethone modhalaindha

Neethone mugisindha

This line is basically Nag telling Karthi that my beautiful life started with u and might end with u.

Idhe kadha korindhani

Vere inkem kavalani

Annamante eenatiki

Repantu vumtumdha

Ivvalentho baagumdhani

Ayina yedho lotumdhani

Inka yedho kavalani

Anukoni rojundha

Kalake mana ee gamanam

Now brace ur selves for some deepest thoughts. The first eight lines are beautiful in themselves but when you sum them up together and read last line, it's just awesome feeling. Blew my minds. Let me just summarize it and then please read the lines and do the math. Your tomorrow is meaningless if u get content with what you have today. But we usually think that even though today was perfect I wish my tomorrow will be better and that's why this "Gamanam". Gamanam means a lot of things but I would say movement fits perfect here. Any slightest movements we take physically or mentally are because of that restlessness we feel in expecting something better than what we already have. So the poet urges to maintain that restlessness here. Don't think of today or yesterday and be content with those. Always look forward for tomorrow.

Nee oopiri nee thoduga

Nee oohale nee dhariga

Ninne nuvvu ventadaka

Ye theeram cheravuga

Kastalane kavvinchaga

Kannelane navvinchaga

Ibbandhule istaluga

Anukunte chalu kada

Kanake mana ee payanam

Mathew mcconahay once said I am never my hero. My hero is always 10 years older myself. So this stanza reiterates something similar. With your breath as your company every moment, your dreams laying your way, you take up this journey chasing your future and hopefully your better self. On your journey you will face difficulties, bribe them with ur strong will and great aim and let them go. Convert your cries to smiles and get comfortable with slight discomforts on this journey but never stop. 

Phew that's it. Hope it was good. My fav is second stanza 🙏🙏🙏

Banjaara

My lonely life,
Surrounded by friends.
Stranded by feelings.
Filled up with unending fun.
Bogged down by unsharable emotion.
Met cheerful people, all that I could find.
Stupid heart was still yearning for a different kind.
The only kind that could hug my soul.
The kind responsible for my heart to be so cold.

The longing,
It never ended.
Every day so much I did dread.
So much of pain I always hid.
How long would it take, sometimes, I feared,
For them to get the news if, now I dropped dead.
My soul so silly, hadn’t stopped crying to be hugged.

A journey,
One shelter to the other, I bumped between,
Warmth showered on me, wherever I have been,
Learned to love each house I was in,
But none touched my soul like my own home and kin.
Whelmed down by my own emotions, so painful
Won over by life’s amazing miracles, so hopeful
Slowly I drifted away from feelings of who I am,
To the bliss of living the moment wherever I am.

Ik aas mili phir mujhko
Jo qubool kisi ne kiya hai
Kisi shaayar ki ghazal
Jo de rooh ko sukoon ke pal
Koi mujhko yun mila hai
Jaise banjaare ko ghar

Then she came,
Made me realize what I had been deprived of.
Brought my trust into relationships I was sick and tired of.
Healed the wounds I had that just needed the Love.
Colored my life happy, crossing limits, beyond and above.
Pulled me towards the real myself, I had orphaned long ago.
Loved me so much that all the pain, I forever did let go.
Drenched my heart, filling the cracks it bore.
Touched my soul with a hug it longed for.
Our heartstrings closely knitted for eternity, I then embraced her
To be mine forever and ever.

World at WAR - I

              

              I had to quit. I was actively taking part in their activities. Doing morchas in their name, beating up the people in pubs, driving away lovers in parks etc were my regular activities. All this was done to preserve our culture and identity. I was young, jobless and frustrated with many of my own internal conflicts. I was very vulnerable and easily provoked just like many in that situation. I had to vent it out on someone and if I could give it a name called preservation of culture, what more could I have asked for.

              We once picked up around 10 couples from a park on Valentine’s day and got them married. I later came to know that none of those marriages are in good standing. Yes we used to do charity but discriminative charity. Our very own existence was needed in first place because of the unity of our opposing groups from different communities. So each group helped only their own kind. Each detested the other.  Time passed by. One day my IPS results came and I was selected. Yes I was a well-read jobless youth then but not some ignorant uneducated brat.

               I still continued my loyalty towards our group by helping new kids in the group escape law or the leaders to tweak law for our advantage. My justification was that we have to help our own kind. Then finally the eventful day came. We had a tip off that a rave party was going on in the city outskirts that involved prostitutes and narcotics. My interest in the raid was that the rave party was organized by our opposition group leader. I was in high spirits thinking of the praises I shall get from my brethren after I grab the opposition group leader and put him behind the bars. When we reached the place, I found how betrayed I was and more importantly many people like me. It was a party organized by and for the leaders of all the groups. They were celebrating the fact that they made fools out of all of us. All of us were used to create unrest in the city when needed so that some political parties could prove their identity. That instance, I had decided to quit.

               The very thought that I was fooled by provocations from a person who actually did not believe in what he was saying was very frustrating. I arrested all the leaders in the party without any discrimination. But some unknown forces way above me jumped in and got them released without even the news making to media. That was 20 years back. All these years I made it a habit to question everyone until it appeals to my reasoning. I made sure no one would manipulate me anymore.  I have made it to RAW as a senior officer on my merit since then.

               Today I am sitting in a furnished office room in my house. This room holds memories of so many sleepless nights dealing with highly confidential  national security issues. I still remember the day when 26/11 attacks were going on. I was sitting in the same couch as I am sitting now watching a news feed on my laptop of latest proceedings from my sources and also the national media. It was the most painful memory. Everyone was so angry, including our top level ministers who usually do not lose their level headedness. By 28/11 we had our borders tightened and some heavy weaponry was ordered for the guards. I have not seen the papers move so fast in India prior to that but that incident indeed showed me that if needed Indian government can work faster.

               Tonight I am sitting here waiting for a call from my chief regarding one more “highly confidential national security issue” or as we say Hicon Nasi. I already got the news from my sources that there was a shooting in the India Pakistan border where some Indian soldiers were killed. And I am pretty sure this call is regarding that.

The phone rang.

“Hello Mr.Gopi. Your Superior Chief here. Code 94763992. Confirm your code.” Said the voice on the phone.

I replied “Yes sir. Gopi here and my code 97551008.”

               These are the codes we use to confirm each other’s identity. They keep changing every hour. This is one way of securing this confirmation. Also the phone lines we use are highly secure lines that cannot be tapped. There are many algorithms written around the encryption of this channel. Any sign of a tapping hit on this channel, the call gets dropped.

Voice on the phone continued. “We are secure now. 5 soldiers killed in Kashmir. Get me a report ASAP. “

               He hung up the phone. Yes these conversations are always abrupt so to escape any type of tapping.  Talking about tapping every phone in India is tapped but the good news is no one is listening to each and every conversation of yours. But the programs running against the communication channels are constantly searching for a database of words that hint at anything harmful to the nation. Once they find a match that is when someone opens the call log and listens to in whole while trying to decrypt any cryptography in the messages.

                Usually in such situations the report contains a timeline of events that happened that day. The ways we could have avoided it and who are at fault. Frankly from any stand point Pakistan is always on the fault. But we cannot say that. The wording should be somewhat like the counterpart on the other side of the border is responsible.  And the only way we can stop it from happening again is get some new equipment to track their movements and act before they start shooting. We have done that in the past and they have always bounced back beating the sophisticated weaponry we used.

                   

                 War is an expensive affair with so much collateral damage but this cold war is equally expensive with some

collateral damage.

.......................

                                 

                 A few thousand kilometers away across the border in Pakistan, a man is being chased by Jeep on an open highway in a hilly desert area. The man being chased is in an army uniform, the one which is worn by jawans of Pakistan. The jeep that is chasing him in the dark night resembled a dark demonic dragon thirsting for its prey. It had pitch black vehicle color accompanied by bright blue lights and some heavy fiery stickering which is quite common in this part of the world. Eventually the machine overtook the man and had him crushed under its tires that were now his claws of death that dragged his life out of him. The man driving the jeep called someone and said “Operation done. Arms can be dispatched now to India safely.”  He then drove away leaving the dead man behind for the vultures of the desert.

Happy Birthday to the Personification of Success

20 years ago I watched a movie of a lesser known actor then. I watched it only because it had the supernatural element of ghost helping a human. As a kid I loved that movie and watched it over and over again not because of the leading actor but because of the story. I even watched the Telugu version of that done by legend Jaggayya ages back called "Sabash Papanna". All this while I did not even realize the impact the actor would have on me in future. An year later I watched another movie of that actor. In the end when he is about to die, he laughs at the villain just before taking him down along with him. Boy I had goosebumps then and even now while writing. I for years repeated the legendary dialogue on winning by losing after that.

Meanwhile came two movies where he played an obsessed lover. I enjoyed both and second one more than the first because he was ruthlessly psychotic spoilt brat in that. In all these roles what I noticed was his  energy, spark and passion to make it big, which celluloid has never experienced before. I would certainly believe when his friends quote him saying "I would own this city(Bombay) one day". And one can surely quote Julius Caesar's "Vendi vidi vici" in his case.

I still remember going crazy over the beach song about catching a kiss and title song from a movie constantly shown over in channel "ETC" back then. I loved his style of wearing the suit with no shirt in side and tying the tie to his head with his smooth hair flowing down over the tie. I loved that movie too and it did not matter to me if it was a flop or a hit. Me being from a small town called Nellore in Andhra Pradesh where, back then, watching Hindi movies was only through the VHS and the movies we see depend on the selection available. Remember, those were the days of no pre-release publicity. And I was completely unaware of some of his  movies. But when VHS of some such movies finally arrived in my home town, I saw a different side of this actor. A soft role with boy next door charm, though plotting(one for girl and other for career) yet very innocent and lovable cute(I could not resist this word) boy. For me by then he was my favorite hero and I thought his role in a movie where he marries a widow and her husband comes back alive was too small for him. What I did not realize then was it was one of his first movies.

Few years passed and then came a multi-starrer action entertainer. I was his fan and my younger brother the other star's fan. We would watch that movie zillion times and play those roles where we shout each other names, run towards each other to attack and pretend a lightening stopped us both before attacking or we lie down as if dying and try to reach out for each others arms.

Then came a movie which is still running. I still remember the day when I watched that movie in theater and came home. I found they were just starting the Telugu version of the same movie on cable tv. Trust me when I say I sat before TV, completed that and then went to sleep. After that movie every one became his fan. Because he was an outsider who could make it big in the industry. And also because he was a common man before coming to movies, one of us.

Happy birthday to that Actor and my all time favorite. I liked all his movies except the one that deals with extramarital relations. I even loved his movies where he tries to donate his eyes for heroine or where a psychotic brother and sister are after him and kill his father or where he plays mute for 75% of the movie or movies where he played two roles or where he is the youngest of the three brothers in an action movie etc.

By
A fan to the King, "Till there is life"

My random thoughts-I

There is a reason why we use words like belief or faith when talking about religion. It's because you can't question a belief.
There is a reason to use words like devotion when referring to god. It's because there is no sound reason to abide by god.
And same way the word "Love" is used extensively when referring to fellow beings. But don't we question the people we love and don't we doubt our love sometimes? Instead of religion and god, believe in your loved ones and be devoted to your most loved ones. God and religion are secondary or even optional.

PS: too much gyaan...did i sit under bodhi vruksham or what?
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May 31, 2012 at 12:12 pm
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It's easier to convince a person, who knows what he/she wants, to not want it than the person, who does not know what he/she wants, to make him/her want something.
"Samba idhi raasko"
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May 21, 2012 at 1:24 pm
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If all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players, you like some players for truly what they are and you should respect the God's decision of casting the rest in your play, whom you don't like, because a hero arises only from the need to face the anti-hero and so an anti-hero is more significant than the ones on the hero's side.
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May 7, 2012 at 3:47 pm
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Where you are today is because of parents. What&who you are today is because of friends. How much you are today is because of the wife :D
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April 23, 2012 at 9:08 pm
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Meet people outside family, know the world and then take a look at your siblings vth new perspective. Sometimes blind love on your siblings can be spoiling. Being critical is for their own good. Remember that's the difference between Vibheeshana and Kumbhakarna.
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April 15, 2012 at 11:42 pm
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Happiness,
it is inversely proportional to number of ppl you give unnecessary importance to in ur life.
And directly proportional to number of important ppl u can share it with.
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April 11, 2012 at 11:21 am
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One side love is harmful both sides.
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March 20, 2012 at 7:49 pm
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Love is nothing but how you make yourself worthy of your wonderful partner, be it parents, siblings, friends or spouse. It's strictly one way. Expecting it back can be termed as self-pity.
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February 17, 2012 at 3:22 pm
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Don't accept loss easily. Presentation is the key. Anything, how much ever ugly it is, can be presented presentably if you can put some effort. Ugliest thing in the world is the one that had no effort involved in it be it Taj Mahal or Angelina Jolie.
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February 8, 2012 at 6:13 pm
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The best trick of a smart one is acting dumb while the irritating trait of a dumb one is the failure to realize the dumbness.
I KNOW when wud I stop giving all this gyaan and realize how dumb I am :)
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February 6, 2012 at 5:21 pm
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Guilt cannot be erased by getting forgiveness. Only shamelessness can overshadow it.
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January 28, 2012 at 7:02 pm
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Feel ashamed when you are cheated but not sad that the person you trusted turned out immoral. Revenge may also be immoral but Pardon is very precious to be wasted on an immoral.
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January 21, 2012 at 11:46 pm
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I know wise men learn from others' mistakes but what if people around you never make mistakes ! Sometimes it's ok to err to improve.
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August 17, 2011 at 7:46 pm
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You will know how many ppl you have thrown off the road to happiness on your way to happiness, ONLY YOU WILL KNOW. Think abt it and next time you see them in the eye, u will feel the guilt.
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July 19, 2011 at 8:17 am
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Unless u r at least a lil bit selfless u can't claim that u understand others or tat u can think for others. Also the moment u claim it u have moved away from selflessness.
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May 30, 2011 at 3:04 pm
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It's not how sure you are about anything. It's how deftly you hide your unsurety.
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April 5, 2011 at 12:25 pm
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AHAM BRAHMASMI - అహం బ్రహ్మాస్మి

కలం నాది, నిజం నాది
ప్రవాహమైన ఈ కవనం నాది.

గమనం నాది, గమ్యం నాది,
సాధించిన గెలుపు నాది.

సమయం నాది, శిఖరం నాది,
సమ్యమనం లేని గర్వం నాది.

కష్టం నాది, కథనం నాది,
కష్టాల కెరటాల పై కేతనం నాది. 

కీర్తి నాది, అపకీర్తీ నాది, 
ఎప్పటికైన కాలం చెల్లిపోయె సామాన్య కావ్యం నాది.   

అల్పతృప్తి నాది, స్వల్పభుక్తి నాది,   
మినుగురులా కనుమరుగై పోయె తాత్కాలిక విజయం నాది. 

శిరోధార్యం కాలేని సాధకం నాది,
నెను మాత్రమే జపిస్తున్న నామ మంత్రం నాది,
మరణం చెరిపివెయ్యగల గతించె చరితం నాది, 
అహం బ్రహ్మాస్మి అగ్ని తొ దహనమవ్వనున్న భస్మాసుర పతనం నాది.

kalam naadhi, nijam naadhi
pravaahamaina ee kavanam naadhi.

gamanam naadhi, gamyam naadhi,
saadhinchina gelupu naadhi.

Samayam naadhi, sikharam naadhi,
samyamanam leni garvam naadhi.

kashtam naadhi, kathanam naadhi,
kashtaala kerataala pai kethanam naadhi.

Keerthi naadhi, apakeerthi naadhi,
eppatikaina kaalam chellipoye saamanya kaavyam naadhi.

alpathrupthi naadhi, swalpabhukthi naadhi,
minugurula kanumarugai poye thaatkaalika vijayam naadhi.

sirodhaaryam kaaleni saadhakam naadhi,
nenu maatrame japisthunna naama mantram naadhi,
maranam cheripiveyyagala gathinche charitham naadhi,
Aham brahmasmi agni to dahanamavvanunna Bhasmaasura patanam naadhi.