Apocryphal Stories !!!

After all those talks of gaining psychological advantage and moral ground and etc, we got down to real action on the Boxing day Test at Kingsmead, Durban. Having rained in the last few days, the air was heavy and it looked certain that the team winning the toss would certainly choose to field but flowing away from the stream Smith won the toss and elected to bat on what looked a clear day Anderson, England's best bowler in conditions prevailing started off in a positive manner by getting Smith to edge one to fine-leg and beating Prince all ends up off two consecutive deliveries. The way he beat Prince was an education to every budding bowler as he got it to pitch on the middle and made the ball to swerve away across him. Onions who shared the new-ball with Anderson showed the way to bowl to Smith as he pitched it on the good length and got the ball to move away and by the end of two overs South Africa looked like they had a task on hand. Anderson having softened Prince in the firs...

Release date : Jan 1st 1983 Star Cast : Kamal Hassan, Jayaprada, Sharath Babu, SP Sailaja Director : K Viswanath There are some movies that tend to leave a permanent mark on us. As in other fields, greatness is a virtue gifted easily to people these days. Back in those days one man whom we consider a legendary actor now and a director, who already carved a niche for himself collaborated on a movie called "Sagara Sangamam". Any movie-buff would answer in affirmative if asked about this movie. The viewing experience is such that we would grudge Kamal for being such a genius and feel relieved that we are not him because of the way nature cruelly plays it's part on him Well even though my taste lies in the jhatka and matka songs which have come to define this decade, the songs of this specific movie never fail to enthrall me. It would be almost sick of me to get into the story details and analysing the acting of the protagonists. Simply said a Telugu speaking pers...

I would be putting up my choice of movies and cricket matches, complete with the best ODI and Test knocks, best spells in ODI's and Tests too. In the new year also I will try for something that I have not before- analysing the entire decade !

Haven't England perfected the art of perfect escape in Test matches? Hope this series does not follow Ashes to the 'T' !!!

This year we have been witness to some superb knocks. I remember reading a piece on Cricinfo with the same title somewhere before the 2003 WC. With 2011 WC coming up, we will have a pleothera of such characters. We have been witness to a good number of knocks this year where the strike-rate of the batsmen was above 100 and that too in Test cricket ............ cont'd

Right this has been a movie in waiting for quite some time now. Speculations were that the director and the producer were at loggerheads and producer was looking to stall the movie were unfounded. One thing that was pretty certain was that the movie would not release in the vicinity of Magadheera Arya was released in the year 2004 and was a run-away hit. People associated with the movie are not calling it a sequel. Even I buy the argument that it is not a sequel. Director has intelligently woven same kind of a script as Arya but in a different milieu. This movie has a corporate background compared to college background from it's predecessor Sukumar is like a blessing in disguise for Telugu film industry. Not only was his first movie a cult hit but the second movie, where the directors skills are put to test. Sukumar passed that test with Jagadam. He brings some techinical finesse for sure into this movie Allu Arjun's performance is worthy and adds to his growing stature and ...

Can India win ?

Maradona: "It was the hand of the god " Pele: "For 20 years they have been asking me the same question, who is the greatest? Maradona or Pele? I reply that all you have to do is look at the facts - how many goals did he score with his right foot or with his head?” Roger Federer: "I've created the monster" Muhammad Ali: “I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.” Sachin Tendulkar: "???" All the above-mentioned legends have at some point of the time or the other have mentioned themselves in the third person. Not for Tendulkar is frequent referrals to himself in the third person. India, a developing nation by large has had a shortage of genuine heroes from the days of Gandhi. Tendulkar filled that void for people born in the post-independence era. November 15th, 1989 was the day prodigy set foot on the international cricket. He was popular by the time he came to international cricket courtesy his debut centuries in Ranji Trophy agains...

Swarnakamalam literally means "Golden Lotus". This was a movie directed by K.Viswanath which released on 15th July 1988. It had Venkatesh and Bhanupriya in the major roles. Savitri, Sakshi Rangarao, Sri Lakshmi were in the supporting roles. Story and it's narration were simple and mellifluous Story as was the wont in Viswanath's movies revolved around art form i.e dancing. Bhanupriya is the daughter of a famous Kuchipudi exponent, who despite being well-known is not blessed with money. So she detests the art form and grows up admiring the good life. Her sister is an exponent in singing and is in love with the son of the house-owner, who happens to be a station-master. Venkatesh who is a painter comes as a tenant in the house adjacent to Bhanupriya's and immediately falls for her. Although he loves her, he is not too impressed with her conniving ways. One day Bhanupriya to sustain her family and in her quest for good life joins a five-star hotel. As her luck wi...

One of the most awaited movies this year has to be "Leader" and the publicity is all over us now. Perhaps this is the most marketed movie of Sekhar Kammula and it carries huge expectations. Bucking the trend has been Kammula's trend till date as his previous movies clashed with the release date of a major starter always. Anand clashed with Shankardada MBBS and Happy Days clashed with Chirutha . Anand was released with a few number of prints and went on to become a sleeper hit. Godavari got a good name for Sumanth and Neetu Chandra was good in the movie. Happy Days as we all know went to achieve a cult status amongst the youth. People are awaiting bated breath for his next movie Leader as three powerhouses come together for the movie. Even though it is a debut movie for Daggubati Rana , he has a lot of expectations to live up to only because of his pedigree. AVM productions is coming of some blockbusters in Tamil, namely, Sivaji and Ayan. Finally Sekhar Kammula can no lo...