Can India win the second test at Durban?

Laxman's pain-stakingly crafted 96, is it enough?

A target of 303 and the Proteas are 70 for 1 when I type this.

Can India win this match???

Down Under Trott's marvellous knock and an Aussie batting collapse ensure that the Poms will retain the Ashes tomorrow.

X-mas cake

Inspired by kavitha's marvellous images and cooking my humble attempt at baking a cake.

A combination of refined flour, drinking chocolate powder, milk, a bit of orange pulp and peels, cashew nuts and cherries topped with strawberry wafers.

Came out brilliantly. 12 minutes in the microwave and great fun to eat.

Merry Christmas!!!

Hitlist 2010

So folks it's that time of the year again when I make a list of the movies, which I enjoyed watching this year. So here's the list without much further ado:

The English Club

Shutter Island and Inception
Power-packed roles from Leo, one helmed by the old master Martin Scorcese and the other by the modern genius Christopher Nolan. From playing a psychologically disturbed cop to a thief who implanted dreams and stole stuff from you mind absolute mind-benders.

The Social Network
David Fincher's take on the creation of a modern phenomenon that the world's hooked on - Facebook. Pre-dominantly dialogue but still interesting. The truth behind intellectual property theft, how an idea got modified, stolen and became a billion-dollar brand.

Despicable Me
The world's greatest villain plans to steal the moon and is assisted by three little girls and an army of small yellow creatures. Excellent animation and a good story.


The Ghost Writer
A thriller of a different sort, Pierce Brosnan playing a disgraced British PM, Ewan Mc Gregor a failed novelist, war-crimes and death. Excellent stuff from Roman Polanski.

Toy-Story-3
With Woody and Buzz and Andy a lovely saga that sadly got over. An overdose of emotions but one of Pixar's most loved creations comes to an end.

The American
Slow, moody and a look into the mind and actions of a specialist gun-smith and assassin. Splendidly shot with a lovely actress in tow George Clooney shines.

Salt
Angelina Jolie kicks bad ass in a role originally written for Tom Cruise. Possibilities of a sequel in tow.

Tamil Hits

Nandalala
Mysskin's take on Takeshi Kitano's Kikujiro. A heart-warming tale of a mentally unstable man and a young boy's road-trip in search of their respective mothers. Excellent stuff and it takes lot of courage to make a movie like this.

Angadi Theru
Visiting and shopping in T. Nagar will never ever be the same again. A tale of dreams and the struggle, which the thousands of young men and woman face while working in the huge super-stores of TN's shopping capital.

Aayirathil Oruvan
Selvaraghavan remains the rebel with his mix of history, Mackenna's Gold and a metaphor on the plight of Sri Lankan tamils. Splendid acting by Parthiban, good job by Karthi and Reema. Movie could have been edited better to make it more interesting. A truly different attempt.

Irumbukottai Murattu Singam
Tamil cowboy Lawrence, funny adventure with liberal spoofing from Simbudevan. Clint Eastwood beware, Singam is here.

Nan Mahan Alla
A revenge movie shot unconventionally with four menacing villains. One being the kid who played junior Surya in "Nanda". Karthi does a great job and excellent chemistry with Kajal Agarwal.

Vamsam
Vilage-setting, revenge and a sweet love-story. Great debut by Arulnidhi.Nice comedy by ganja Karuppu and Arulnidhi too. Imposing role by Jayaprakash and Kishore.

Vinnaithandi Varuvaya
Gautam Menon resurrects Simbhu's career and image with a love-story with great songs. I enjoyed the songs not a great fan of the movie though.

Enthiran
Money, money, explosions, robots and a fantastic looking Aishwarya under layers of make-up. Rajnikanth the phenomenon under Shankar's direction makes a lot of money for distributors and theatre-owners.

Mynaa
Super-stuff, a romance, a village tale told with passion, excellent cinematography, decent inspired-music score, great acting. Amala Paul a name to watch out for in the future.

Boss engira bhaskaran and Madrasapattinam
One a light-hearted comic-caper, the other a period saga. Arya shone in both roles. Santhanam's comedy in Boss with his "Nanben da" and "Thala Thalapathi Saloon" was excellent. Nayanthara for a change looked good in her salwars and sarees instead of her idiotic skimpy outfits. Amy Jackson had a great debut with Madrasapattinam and is acting in Gautam's Hindi remake of VTV.

Hindi Hits

Peepli Live
Aamir Khan's production, a black comedy about politics and farmer suicides. Nathu's travails and a song on rising costs that became a chartbuster.

Dabanng
Salman as Robinhood Chulbul Pandey, gorgeous Sonakshi Sinha in a dream debut and of course "Munni Badnaam Hui". Sphagetti Western meets Indian cop saga. Funny stuff, great fights, foot-tapping numbers. The biggest hit of the year.


Do Dooni Char

Rishi Kappor and Neetu Singh on screen in a heart-warming comedy of Laxmanesque proportions. A Maths teacher who almost accepts a bribe from a rich student to buy a Maruti car. Disney's Bollywood venture won many hearts with its simple tale.

An update I would also like to add Udaan, Rajneeti and Ishqiya to the list.

So folks wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Praying for sensible, interesting and original movies in the coming year.

Kiwis cut a sorry figure

The demoralizing defeat, a 5-0 whitewash by an Indian team without Dhoni, Sachin, Harbhajan, Viru and Co. Daniel Vettori and his beleaguered team have a lot of soul-searching to do.

This comes at the end of a similar white-wash at the hands of Bangladesh.

Once considered to be a strong ODI team which consistently defeated higher-ranked teams, New Zealand cricket is at an all-time low.

Let's hope the Kiwis get in-shape for the World Cup 2011.