Platform7

Why should I wear the seat belt? We are in the city, and you are not going to be driving fast....


Its so uncomfortable.. there is no cops around. Why should I pull that this over?


I'll hold it over.. there is no checking. 
These are among the few common statements that I get when people are asked to buckle up - wear their seatbelts. I've seen people getting irritated when asked to buckle up. At many points, I declare blunt - buckle up, else we ain't moving.

Wearing seat belt is often seen as an offensive by the so-called modern and literate society in India. Although there exists a law mandating all passengers to wear seat belts, it is at best implemented selectively. Only front seat passengers are forced to wear seatbelt - and in many cases people wear them only when entering city limits or police hotspots, and remove the moment they leave the zone - as if they are doing a favour to the police.

Please wear the seatbelt the moment you sit in a Car - irrespective of whether y…

This year's Vishu set a battle between the two big M's of Malayalam Cinema. I had the mis-fortune of watching one of them - and have no energy left to watch the other.

How many times would have seen Suraj portraying a local goon, getting beaten by every tom-dick-and-harry in town, and finally getting thrown around? I have lost count of seeing him in such roles. Back in the 90s, Jagathy Sreekumar had specialised in such roles, and Suraj seems to take over the crown from Jagathy. (Jagathy is a classic actor, and he is beyond comparision with any other actor today in the industry).
China Town is an attempt by Rafi Mecartin, who are known for good Comedy-Suspense movies, to re-create their magic. The movie is yet another multi-starrer, featuring Mohanlal, Dileep and Jayaram. The movie falters right from scene 1, and is no where near the magic of Rafi-Mecartin Movies of the past. China Town follows an age-old thread of dad getting killed by don, and son getting out to revenge the do…

Some of you would have read about my misadventure on a Kallada bus to Madurai (for the uninitiated, read it here). After a tiring and sleepless journey to Madurai, I decided it was enough, and shot off a mail to Kallada Travels. I wasn't expecting any reply, but decided to go ahead to vent my frustration. After hitting the Send button, I went on with my work in Madurai. It had rained badly the previous night, and the city was horribly dirty.

In the evening, I headed straight to the Kallada office at Madurai, and asked if they could get me a refund. They said it was not possible, and I needed to contact their Cochin office. I had no other go, but resign to fate. I reached my room towards night, and opened my Gmail inbox - only to be surprised! The official at Kallada had replied! He apologised for the inconvenience, and offered a free ticket for my return journey!

A couple of days before my return journey, I headed to the travel agent (the sole selling agent for Kallada in Madurai)…

This was a hatrick of rare sorts for me.. watching a movie every weekend for three weeks in a row. Another specialty was watching all the three movies that released over the past 20 days, watching all movies within 3-4 days of release. The first two weeks had very average movies, while this week takes the cake with a masterpiece. Yes - Am talking of Santosh Sivan's magnum opus, the second costliest movie in Malayalam, Prithviraj's own production - Urumi.
I must admit I purchased tickets for this movie with huge expectations - and I wasn't disappointed even a bit. The past two movies of Santosh Sivan - Ananthabhadram and Raavanan (he was the cinematographer for this one), were gripping. While Ananthabhadram literally scared the wits out of me, Raavanan had jaw-dropping visuals and was an excellent piece of cinematography. I watched the movie at the recently renovated Asoka A/C DTS hall in Kodungallur. I was amazed to see that the hall was full (packed to capacity) for a noo…