Last week I had gone to the movie Anjaathey at Seasons in Sathyam complex. Before the movie there was a slide asking the viewers to stand up for singing the national anthem. This was something new, I didn’t see this happening last month when I went to some other movie at the same complex.

SPB came on screen and sung a beautiful version of Jana Gana Mana composed by AR Rahman, with the mannerisms of a concert vocalist. The problem was, it wasn’t the tune we are taught since our school days and used too. So the entire audience stood in silence.

A few questions. Why this sudden move by Sathyam? Does it really make you patriotic to hear the national anthem prior to a movie?

Related discussion in Chennai Metblogs last August.

Often I wonder whether it’s real or fictional. Is what is shown on the silver screen really Chennai?

Let me get to the point in a roundabout fashion. Nayagan, starring Kamal Hassan and directed by Mani Ratnam (as if you don’t know), may have been the first (or one of the first, argument anyone?) mafia film in Tamil, but it really wasn’t the trendsetter.
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The second MoMo Chennai (MobileMonday) happened at the Gandhi Nagar club on Saturday. Varun, the key organizer, joked that it was MMS - Mobile Monday on a Saturday. About 60 odd mobile enthusiast turned up for the event.

Prakash Sayini, Developers Relations, Forum Nokia spoke on “The route to global market opportunities with Nokia - for mobile application developers Going to market with Nokia”. It was a brief overview of the offerings from Forum Nokia for developers. He called the mobile phone screen as the 4th Screen, after cinema, PC and TV. There were some interesting questions from the audience about how to market an application. Location Based Services are the next big thing on the mobile and there was some discussion in this regard.
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I was more than excited to get a couple of passes for the Live Life concert that ARR was performing on, on Saturday, courtesy of the Marg Construction group. I have travelled quite far to catch a good concert and Rahman has been evading me for a bit too long. It was good to catch up with his performance, live, right here in Chennai.

This is essentially going to be a post to “seendify”, all those who didn’t make it :)
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The Hindu Makkal Katchi on Tuesday voiced their protest against actress Shreya’s dress that she wore to the Sivaji jubilee celebrations. The party said the dress was offending for Tamils and Hindus.

The actress, not wanting to get into controversy after next like her colleague Kushboo, today tendered an apology. It’s perhaps a wise move by Shreya. This may not be a time to grow a backbone and put up a protest against the HMK. A lifetime can be spend opposing moral custodians, but nothing would be gained.
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Have you heard that Hemingway and J.K. Rowling - before she became richer than the Queen - work a lot out of cafes? If you have ever heard such stories, believe them to be true, and possess some love for the world of words, then you want to ape them big authors. So last night, armed with a stack of printouts from various websites, I landed up at Resident Inn Chennai hoping to have a drink of that acrid drink they call coffee. Since I can’t write anything except blogs, I had, of course, decided to do the other thing that people with a love for words do: Read, as I sip my coffee.
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While the rest of India celebrated the Festival of Lights ” Deepavali” or “Diwali” today (09/11/2007), Chennai celebrated Deepavali one day in advance yesterday (08/11/2007).

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I’m trying to brainstorm this particular concept of using cell phones in public places. This incident of course is about our very own Satyam Theater. The reason why i picked this place is mentioned below. Read on and pour your thoughts in. Because after thinking much i don’t have much answers that make any sense. Its not like its happening anywhere else in India, it is but since we are here in chennai to reduce the complexity of the situation and the argument we shall drill down to Satyam theater chennai.
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Some things are a way of life in India and we don’t talk about them much. However, as this happens a lot in our city, we cannot stand by and watch even though it’s unpleasant to talk about. I don’t mind taking the criticism for this, but I guess someone has to start talking about this.

Nevertheless…
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Here is a simple review of my latest and greatest gadget, the MICROSOFT ZUNE…!
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