* Only in India Stories – If your subordinate asks for leave, better grant it pronto unless you want him to behave like this policeman in Andhra Pradesh.
(Times of India)
* TCS on Ferocious Hiring Spree – U.S. Job Killer Tata Consultancy Services to hire 37,000 Coolies in fiscal year 2012 (April 1, 2011-March 31, 2012). The software company had 1,86,914 employees at the end of December and plans to add another 12,000-15,000 this year. High time we tightened our H1B and L1 Visa rules.
(ET)
* UID Project Over-ambitious – The Nandan Nilekani headed Unique Identification Authority of India project has technical glitches and violates privacy, say some experts. Well, Nandan has always been over-ambitious. Right, Nandan? 😉
(Hindustan Times)
* Ph.D Factories in India – Mumbai University has turned into a Ph.D factory churning out a doctorate a day in the last 10 years (after excluding for holidays) for a total of 2,904.
(Times of India)
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SI old man, I believe I have found just the right thing for you.
Since you are always complaining about the unavailability of many regional Indian movies in Netflix, I did a random google, and look at the treasure that’s turned up.
http://www.desicompany.com/Articles.asp?ID=122
It is US-based, you get the movies in 2-3 days (since you live around the NJ area), it costs only $2-3 per movie AND BIGGEST GAIN OF THEM ALL: It has Pudhupettai, Angadi theru and even Kaadhal, all excellent films.
Heck, it had most movies I did a cursory search on with the exception of Katradhu Tamil(which I could have missed because of alternate title/spellings).
Please do check it out.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: SI old man, I believe I have found just the right thing for you.
Yes, you and 4,000 others.
2. Thanks, will check these fellas out soon.
BTW, they mention Madurai Ponnu Chennai Paiyan as a must see, most popular film.
Must be an art-house avant garde classic because they are bucking the trend of Madurai Paiyan Chennai Ponnu. 😉
@SI: I thought India Digest is going to replace Incredible India.. but I see that II is also alive and well.
@racer: Those guys have Sruthilayam/VGP DVDs (checked their catalog) – they are of very crappy quality. The same ones that are available in Indian stores. Ayngaran DVDs/BDs are the best for Tamil movies.. but are not available easily.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
India Digest is still work in progress. We’ll refine it as we
movepost along.@muniyandi:
“Those guys have Sruthilayam/VGP DVDs (checked their catalog) – they are of very crappy quality.”
1.Since I am fairly hazy in this matter, I will take your word for it. My own collection of tamil film DVDs is very meager, those of Ayngaran’s even more so. Of those which I have, almost all are of good quality. These includes Ayngaran, Pyramid, Sruthilayam et al. One or two have a few glitches like momentarily stuttering for an instant at a particular spot or something like that, but that would be just about the only lapse. Apart from that, the only major problems I’ve noticed, like poor audio/video quality have been in VCDs, [b]not[/b] DVDs. Of course, with a larger collection, you may have noticed more rotten eggs, so I won’t contest you here.
2. While they have Sruthilayam DVDs, isn’t it also not equally true that they also stock Ayngaran DVDs for some films, such as:
Pudhupettai:
http://www.desicompany.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DCCT325
Kaadhal:
http://www.desicompany.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DCCT212
Anniyan:
http://www.desicompany.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DCCT226
Manmadhan:
http://www.desicompany.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DCCT202
7G rainbow colony:
http://www.desicompany.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DCCT206
A more thorough search revealed two things:
1.These fellas have got every tamil movie that ever had a wide release( and to my surprise, even a few that I doubt were ever released)
2.From around 2007, all their movies are Sruthilayam-distributed. That does not seem to affect the availability of films, as they still somehow stock all the tamil movies released since then.
@SI
The only way to verify muniyandi’s claim (if you wish to, that is) is to put it to test. Rent movies under both labels and differences in quality, if any, can be discerned.
Here, by the way, is another interesting link if you are interested only in Ayngaran DVDs.
http://eshop.ayngaran.com/ww/index.php?cPath=21&sort=2a&filter_id=10
Of course, the catch here is you gotta buy them.
I just gave this link because I remember you wanting to buy Aayirathil Oruvan DVD when it hit the stores and looks like it has some time back.
BTW, why do you restrict your tamil film music reviews only to the occasional big films, like VIjay/Kamal Haasan’s?
While covering most tamil films is neither feasible nor worthwhile, a little more time devoted to better albums from well-known MDs like Yuvan Shankar Raja, would be time well-spent.
In fact, there are several new talents, if only you care to dig deep. Like Thaman, who scored for Eeram and Mundhinam Paartheney.
Check this album, this guy is a great find of 2010. Most songs are excellent.
http://newtamilhits.com/tamil_movie_songs_free_download.asp?MovieId=131
Check out albums of Engeyum Kaadhal, Aadukalam, Vaanam or KO(whose link I have given below). They have some really pleasant songs.
http://newtamilhits.com/tamil_movie_songs_free_download.asp?MovieId=134
Listen to Ennamo Yaedho and Venpaniyae in particular. They are becoming quite popular here.
Other than that, I would also recommend:
Nenjil nenjil and Dhimu dhimu(Engeyum Kaadhal)
Yaathae(Aadukalam)
Evandi unna pethan(The single from Vaanam that’s ruling the airwaves here)
Cheers!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: BTW, why do you restrict your tamil film music reviews only to the occasional big films, like VIjay/Kamal Haasan’s?
As you might have noticed, we watch a lot of Hindi movies (far more than Tamil), English and Foreign movies as well.
Add to that the restaurant reviews, the occasional book reviews, other sundry posts and responses to comments. Since there are only 24-hours in a day ………….you know the rest.
Apologies…
I should have said “seem to have”…. Pudupettai is a Sruthilayam release.
I read somewhere that Ayngaran releases low quality Sruthilayam DVDs before the good quality ones are released to deter camera-print piracy.
@SI
Well, look at it this way, when you sit down to decide whether or not to watch a tamil film in a theater, the presence of big stars is invariably the most (at times, only) significant criterion. Now I am not saying that this is your desire, it may well be that these films are more widely screened in America, and you don’t wish to travel for long distances to watch some film with no known faces.
In most such cases, you’ll get to hear(and see) songs from those films anyway, though you won’t always be able to devote separate posts on them. BUT, much of these will be lousy anyway, in the mania to cater to people’s(perhaps imagined) craving for “peppy, beat numbers”(which in kollywood lingo translates to cacophony)
Case in points are: Endhiran, Manmadan Ambu, Unnaipol oruvan, almost all Vijay films after Pokkiri and all recent Ajith movies like Billa, Aegan and Asal.
But the films that you (sometimes even me) don’t get to see will often have some good composers at the helm and great songs, but the film may not make it big at the box-office for other reasons.
For example, films like Mundhinam Paarthey, Baana Kaathaadi or Kaadhal solla vandhen that sunk without a trace at the B.O. had some beautiful songs which, being in TN, I was well aware of and enjoyed, but you would never even know they exist.
Which reminds me, did you check out any of the links I have given? You can still review Ko, you know. The music released only yesterday. As for the other films, they all have great songs, and would make fine additions to your iPhone collection.
@muniyandi:
“Pudupettai is a Sruthilayam release. ”
You sure?
It says, released by Ayngaran and Studio Sruthilayam. You have a pudhupettai DVD yourself?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Since our tastes are more catholic compared to the average Indian, it’s hard for us to focus so much on one segment.
2. SI is to some extent an atypical business. But still at the end of the day the posts cost money and we have to recover it.
Reviews of older movies do not usually attract reader attention. Nevertheless, we do try and accommodate a lot of readers requests (including yours) to the extent possible. It’s a balancing act that we try our best to perform everyday in as honest a manner as possible. We’ve lost track of the older and recent movie reviews we’ve done based purely on reader suggestion.
3. That balancing act is done with regard to Tamil movies as well – We went out and reviewed movies like Mynaa, AO, VA Quarter Cutting et al. None of these movies featured top-notch stars or bosom-heaving item numbers from pretty belles in skimpy costumes.
4. A few days back, we looked for Ko in Apple iTunes (where we buy most of our songs) and could not find it. We looked several times and couldn’t find it as an application or as a track in the main iTunes.
Perhaps, if other readers are aware if Ko has made it to the main iTunes or the Apple AppStore, they could let us know what ‘keywords’ will pull it up.
5. We haven’t listened to the songs in your list yet. To a large degree, we’re wary of clicking on unfamiliar links that could potentially download all kinds of malware. Even some prominent Tamil film sites have on occasion tried to download crap to our PC (if any member of that Tamil film site is reading this, it most likely happened via the third-party banner network you are using to display your ads). Hence, we usually stick to familiar sites like YouTube.
But we might take a chance later today with your links.
@racer:
1)
You can identify the DVD by its cover.
Pudupettai as the “S” logo on the top right.
http://www.desicompany.com/v/vspfiles/photos/DCCT325-2T.jpg
Kaadhal as the Ayngaran logon on the top left.
http://www.desicompany.com/v/vspfiles/photos/DCCT212-2T.jpg
As I said, Sruthilayam is (said to be) released by Ayngaran.. to deter piracy.
I don’t own Pudupettai.. but I watched a Sruthilayam version.
2) Where do get your music reviews. I sometimes check itwofs reviews, but they don’t match my taste. Behindwoods seems to have multiple reviews.. It lacks consistency.
@muniyandi
“I don’t own Pudupettai.. but I watched a Sruthilayam version.”
And I got a three-part version from…ahem..well, you know… 😉
The video quality was average. Some scenes in the film are shot in low light meaning I had to strain a bit to make out what was going on in certain scenes. But, sound quality was very decent which helped a lot. And the fact that the film was brilliant also did no harm in making me forgive any minor grievances.
Btw, I hear that Pudhupettai is one of the most difficult-to-lay-hands-on movies in the market(both the white and grey). Of course, I am referring to original 5.1 DVD here.
“Where do get your music reviews. I sometimes check itwofs reviews, but they don’t match my taste. ”
Music reviewlaam useless boss. Santhanam SMSla sonnaa maari “Ovvaru manushanukkum ovvaru feelingu”. Milliblog/itwofs nadatharavanum oru saadharana manushandhaan boss.
You may have your own preferences. As for me, I usually like any song(melody/kuthu/rock) as long as I like the underlying tune. Though I’ll confess what I like the most are pure melodies without too much beats and other stuff cluttering it up.
@SI
A valid point that you raised reg. secure links.
So here are some youtube links. Do take some time to at least listen to these.They are all great songs.
Pesum Poove from Mundhinam Paartheney.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpVhhCbqIuc
Yeno Kuviamilla(from Ko)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocUw-FAvQ6Y
Venpaniye(from Ko)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4MG9okdrQo
There are more, if you like these you can search yourself or feel free to ask me.
BTW, you don’t have avenues for purchase other than iTunes that can work in your iPhone?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Will listen to the YouTube links (above).
2. You write: BTW, you don’t have avenues for purchase other than iTunes that can work in your iPhone?
For the iPhone or iPod touch (worth considering if you’re planning to buy an iPhone), you can get music in three ways – Via Apple iTunes, CDs (must be imported into iTunes) or Apple Appstore applications (Paiya, Naan Mahaan Alla, Enthiran et al were released first as apps by ThinkMusic). The music apps play only on the iPhone (as best as we can tell).
@racer: Ovvaru manushanukkum ovvaru feelingu
True.. but I am too lazy to listen to all songs and pick my favorites.. You probably use radio to decide.. I don’t have that luxury when driving.. I’ll try the internet radio…
http://www.shoutcast.com/radio/Tamil .. It has listed plenty of radio stations. F*cking Sooriyan is playing some shitty S.A.Rajkumar song. He gets on my nerves.
Checked out Racer’s link.
They have even decent malayalam movies like Thanmathra (Mohanlal, Meera Vasudev. It’s about a man suddenly getting affected by Alzheimer’s disease and how his family helps and support him.I think I’ve mentioned this movie earlier to you) and even Manichitrathazhu.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
OK.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/indians-abroad/Hundreds-of-Indian-students-may-be-deported-from-US/articleshow/7360390.cms
Because of these idiots, genuine people are affected.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Saw it this morning.
Let’s hope they are kicked out soon.
Didn’t you guys plan on writing about these H1 / L1 frauds, Desi consultancies etc?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
If we did that, we wouldn’t have time for anything else in the world.;)
Far too much fraud! Not just in IT but also in Gujju liquor stores, motels, convenience stores et al.