Thoughts Unlimited

Produced in 1957, this movie has a lot to say for the modern day movie makers. This movie is directed by Sidney Lumet, with Henry Fonda (Davis) playing the lead role.

The movie begins with the last part of a courtroom trial, which convicts a boy of 18 years with the murder of his own father. It was argued that he had a fight with his father that night, stabbed him with a newly bought knife and ran away. Sometime later, he came back, just to be caught by the cops. Probably, the defense argument was not very strong and it was considered an open-and-shut case.

A jury comprising of 12 men were given the responsibility of analyzing the case and to give the final verdict. 11 out of 12 men feel that the case is straight forward and consider the boy guilty. Henry Fonda decides to be different, not by premeditation but by an inner feeling that the other 11 might be wrong. “May be he is guilty. May be he is not. That’s what we are here to discuss and find out”, is what he says when asked for justification. Further, he feels that the trial missed out many trivial stuff and has strong doubts on the boy being convicted guilty.

Then it is all war of words. By common-sense thinking and detailed analysis, he starts convincing the others, one by one, that the boy ‘might not be’ guilty. Some very nice facts, which were missed in the trial, like the eye-sight problem of the eye-witness etc., slowly convinces others. Thus starting with a 11-1 vote in favor of the boy ‘Guilty’, finally turns out to be 12-0 vote in favor the boy ‘Not Guilty’.

A point clearly made in the whole of the film - no member of the jury must be prejudiced and must analyze the case only by facts, not by their own experience. This is excellently portrayed by the man, who considers the boy guilty, just because his own son had attacked him in a similar situation. Another point excellently made - the jury must not take any case lightly, especially when involving the life of a convict. Their duty is to discuss the facts, without prejudice and come to a unanimous conclusion.

Shot inside a Jury room for about 90 minutes, this movie provides you with enough suspense and excitement. (Present day movie directors who spend crores on the sets and locations, NOTE!). A must watch movie for all those who loves court trials and suspense.

Star Rating - 9 on 10

IMDB Link - 12 Angry Men

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Phqel0NkXQ]
Wonderful fusion… OOps, not Oracle’s
I especially love the final swara varisai…

CHENNAI June 28 - Our chief reporter Rangasamy was very fortunate to get an appointment with ‘Sivaji fame’ director Shankar (pun intended). Shankar, who is very busy in the story for his next film, could spare only 15 minutes for the interview. Some excerpts from the interview.

Reporter Rangasamy: Hello Mr. Shankar. It is a great privilege that you have agreed to spare 15 minutes for us. Thanks for that. I would like to start with a question that is prevalent with the tamil fans. How was the Sivaji story born?

Shankar: I could not understand your question. Where is the story in Sivaji?

RR: But Sir, a movie is supposed to have a story…

Shankar: I know that. I always look forward to innovations. This is a first in the tamil industry, that a film is without a story. Isn’t it? The movie is all about Rajni Sir’s style, charm and humor. Nothing else.

RR: Great Sir. How did you choose Shreya for the role?

Shankar: I always feel heroines have no role to play in a film. They come, they dance, they smile and they cry. Their role ends there.

RR: Ok. How did the idea of ‘Fair’ Rajni strike you?

Shankar: I initially had a budget in mind. After everything was shot, still we had a huge amount left. We did not know how to spend that money. This gave rise to the idea of ‘Fair’ Rajni

RR: We had some good plots in your earlier movies like Gentleman or Indian. For instance, tracking down the suspect in Gentleman using the ‘mangalsutra’. Such plots are conspicuous by their absence in Sivaji

Shankar: Sivaji is a Rajni Sir film. Rajni sir compensates for everything else. Nobody goes to the movie for plots or story. They go only for Rajni sir. I understand the mind of a average movie goer, especially in Tamil Nadu. (Smiles)

RR: That is wonderful to hear. How did it struck you to paint Rajni’s face in the bellies of those dancing in the opening song?

Shankar: I always love painting. I have a tendency to paint in all places. If you look at my home there are paintings on the wall, on the floor, in the kitchen and also in the bathroom. In the opening song, there was a sequence where Nayanthara’s belly was painted like a pot. It was later removed by the censor (Grunts, don’t know for what reason)

RR: Sorry to hear that sir. After the movie, I had a feeling that I watched Gentleman and Indian movies together. Your comments on this…

Shankar: Ya, it has been a long time since Gentleman and Indian were released. So I thought I can remind people once again of that stories. That’s all.

RR: There is a talk in the town that Shankar’s films are grandiose but the story is wayward. Your comment on this…

Shankar: I am already late for my flight. Meet you later (runs away)

ThalaiVaangumPatti 27 June - Right to this moment, I have believed in the saying that ‘Smile a lot.  It costs nothing’.  But it does not always turn out to be true.

Pakkirisami is a resident of ThalaiVaangumPatti in Madurai district.  Right at the early age of 8, he had resolved to smile all the time.  Many a times it has turned out that his smile has ired persons around him, resulting in a brawl.  He was once beaten up for smiling continuously, when his neighbor’s house was robbed.  Right now, Pakkirisami is admitted to the GH in Madurai with a peculiar problem.  Due to excessive smiling and laughing, the muscles inside his chin are highly damaged.  Senior doctors say that an operation is required, which might cost around 2 Lakh Rupees.

So, I would like to rephrase the saying as follows.  “Smile a lot.  It is good, but sometimes it costs you something”.

Welcome on board - ‘Reporter Rangasamy’.  Fondly called as RR, Rangasamy has joined this blog as the chief editor and reporter.  He has previously held the position of Chief reporter in a national daily.  He will have a panoramic coverage and report on all topics - ranging from President elections to Mylapore mamis.  In his interview, RR has termed this position as challenging and promised to keep up to the expectations.

Yet another time, I read a news about a school boy who committed suicide following his failure in SSLC examinations. News of this sort, really pains my heart; as all the children are very close to my heart. I can empathize the mental agony that the parents experience, when their dear one is lost in a grueling manner. But I cannot help say that the parents are, in a way, responsible for this.

In our society, parents are so open-minded while bringing up their children. They let their children be more social and also involve in extra-curricular activities. But when it comes to studies, they turn highly religious. Children grow in an environment, where studying the school lessons well is a norm and topping the class is the goal. Class/school toppers are so much idolized in our society, that the average performers are emotionally demotivated. It is very common to hear statements like ‘Look at Hari. He gets first rank at school. Why are you so dull in studies? Take his help, study well and try to get good ranks’. This seeds an idea in the young mind, that the top rank holders are the leaders and those who are not, are the inferiors. This is highly detrimental to the young mind which is just developing.

Education is a means to sharpen and improve your mind. Right from our entry into the world, our learning process starts. We learn how to walk, how to speak, how to run and so on. So education is a means to enhance our knowledge and sharpen our minds. But examinations at almost all levels in the Indian educational system, test only for the bookish knowledge. The more you can remember the correct answer and reproduce, the more marks you get. How in the universe does this help in identifying the best from the good?

Change in the Indian education system is mandatory. But I think it will be ages before it happen. But at least what can happen now, is a change in the mindset of parents and the teachers. They must stop idolizing students in terms of their academic performance. I do not wish to take away any credit from the toppers. But I just want to reinstate that, this should in no way disappoint or hinder the development of average academic performer. I firmly believe that every child has a talent; sometimes hidden. So the role of parents or teachers must be to identify this hidden talent and showcase it to the world. It is their responsibility to make their children understand that the academic performance is important but in no way it affects their success in the future. Encourage them to get better marks in school exams, but do not judge or rank them based on the results. A conscious initiative from every parent and teacher will go a long way in minimizing the suicides of this kind.

So the mantra is, “Every child is equal. Stop ranking the children based on their academic performance. “. Tell them consistently, “Put in your best effort to learn the stuff and get good marks in the exams. In case you are unable to get the top ranks, do not worry. Examinations are not always the means to judge how well you have learned the stuff. After all, there is always a next time”.

Why software is more prone to bugs than hardware? Is it because, it is ’soft’ while the latter is ‘hard’?

In the recent times, West Indies cricket is surrounded by controversies. To the team which is under performing, these controversies would do no good.

Chris Gayle’s accusations on the West Indies Cricket board on not having the players in time for the ODI Series, have sparked protests from the board. (Chris Blog Entry) (Board’s Reaction)

After reading the blog, I found nothing wrong with Chris’s ideas. The only fact is that these allegations must have been made private to the Board and not be posted on the public blog. But on analyzing the points, one can clearly make out that there is a huge chasm between the board and the captain. If his allegations on not being involved in team selection are found true, then the West Indies Cricket Board has a lot to change. How can the board expect a Captain to deliver, when he does not have the team he wants?

I feel the board must take the gist out of the allegations and make sure that the four entities are in unison - Board, Selectors, Captain and Team. Once this is done, appropriate steps must be taken to make Chris realize the impact of such allegations made public. By reprimanding Chris right away without any thought process, the Board would just add on to the mistakes already committed.

We say that everyone is different. If everyone is different, then it means that everyone is similar.
So which is right - Everyone is similar or Everyone is different

Just when I was talking to Sai this morning, he was typing a mail that is supposed to have an attachment. Right before he pressed the Send button, I reminded him to attach the file.

So, this must have happened to you many times… How many times you would have sent a follow up mail with the message “Sorry missed the attachment”.

Just a little thought on how to handle this scenario - to mail client developers: (Sai, I already told you this. So please skip :))

• When ‘Send’ button is pressed scan the message body
• Look for words related to attachment - like ‘I have attached’, ‘attachment’, ‘Please refer to attachment’, etc.
• If found, have a confirmation popup, that asks the user whether he wishes to attach any document with the mail
• This will help the user attach the stuff and then post the mail

If this feature is available as a plugin in Thunderbird please let me know. Otherwise, inform the Thunderbird developers.