Priceless Slum Dog!

Somehow managed to watch “Slum Dog Millionaire”, since wanted to know what this talk of the town movie is all about. I should say “What a Movie!” A remarkable movie by Danny Boyle, taken in a very desi style and at the same times technically, this sunshine director shines in each and every aspect of the movie.

The movie starts in mumbai, where an eighteen year old boy orphan been tortured by the policemen and accused for cheating a game show. Jamal, who has no education and works in a call center serving tea, is close to wining twenty million rupees in show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" giving precise answers to the questions and raising suspicion of fraud.The police officer (Irfan khan), says to the constable, “how can a slum dog win a million when doctor when other geniuses are not able to make it?” Listening to this conversation, Jamal malik who is physically torn apart and still has the energy to say “I Knew…… the answers”. Movie then rolls over to the title song “O saaya” which captures picturesque of slum kids playing cricket in a rustic air ground. Anthony Dod mantle’s camera revolves around the nooks and corners of the Mumbai slums, cinematography is simply awesome, be it the title song or the “paper plane” song that comes behind while the two brothers having their journey in trains, truly deserves an applause. And thereafter the story follows how Jamal knew all the answers.

I would say screenplay is the most important factor for this movie to go places, it’s amazing and made me to sit back throughout the movie. Not even a single scene I felt the pace is going down. Though the movie is inspired by a novel “Q & A” by vikas swarup, Simon Beaufoy has given the picture a wholesome look with his inspirational screenplay.

Performances by the entire cast in ‘Slum Dog Millionaire’ are noteworthy. Especially Dev patel (Jamal malik), being a debut actor he has done a tremendous performance. This London based actor already has a feather in his hat by winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for this movie. I’m sure he will go places.

The one character which I loved the most is the youngest Jamal malik (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar).I remembered him seeing this cute boy in sunfeast cream treat ad. Such a spontaneous kid who shines at his best in his “professional” singing scene.This tiny guy is incredibly talented.



After screenplay, it’s A.R.Rahman’s music that dominates the whole film, though this music genius has to wait for all these years for a platform like Danny Boyle to reveal his astounding composition to the world, no wonder he has been nominated for Oscars. He truly deserves.

This movie is rocking the whole world, having 10 nominations for Oscars and 11 nominations for BAFTA, including best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best cinematography and best music score. Already having achieved 4 Golden Globes, movie is still waiting to the prestigious ‘Oscars’.

Cucumber Curry

This famous curry is from the kanyakumari district which is my parent’s native, is almost considered as the life saver recipe, because of its simple preparation. The taste of this curry stands out from the rest of the curry dishes. Its best served with steamed rice with an egg omlette.





Ingredients:
Cucumber (cubed) -2 Nos
Tamarind -size of a lemon (diluted in 3 cups of water)
Turmeric powder -1/4tsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil -2tbsp
Mustard seeds -1/4tsp
Broken urad dhal -1/4tsp
Curry leaves - few
Shallots (chopped) -1tbsp

Masala to grind:
Coconut -1 cup
Jeera -1tsp
Red Chillies -8-10
Pearl Onion (peeled) -8nos

Grind to a fine and smooth paste.

Method:
In a pan, cook the tamarind water with cubed cucumber, salt and turmeric for 10-15 minutes. When the cucumber is cooked, add the ground masala mix well, and slow the fire. When the sides of the curry start to rise to froth, just like rasam and curd curry, switch off the stove and remove from stove.

In a tempering pan, add oil, season with mustard, urad dhal, curry leaves and chopped pearl onions. Fry till the onions become golden brown and pour on top of the cucumber curry, mix well and serve with steamed plain rice.

Egg Burji Kurma

This particular recipe I came across from one of my friend’s mom, whom I completely lost touch. But then the taste of the food they served whenever I visited their place still lingers in my mouth. My friend’s mom cooks so well, such that even simple onion chutney taste divine. I have tried many recipes with help of her tips and guidance, and this burji kurma is one such recipe, which goes well with all tiffin like idly, dosa, and chappathi.

Ingredients:
Eggs -3nos
Onion (finely chopped) -2nos
Tomatoes (finely chopped) -2nos
Ginger and garlic paste -1tsp
Garam masala powder -1tsp
Chilli powder -1tbsp
Dhania powder -2tbsp
Turmeric Powder -1/4tsp
Oil -3tbsp
Salt -as per taste

Masala to grind:
Coconut (grated) -1cup
Cashew nut -4nos
Poppy seeds -1tsp
Fennel seeds (perunjeeragam) -1tsp

Grind these ingredients into a fine and smooth paste.

Method:
1. In heavy bottomed pan, add oil, when its hot enough sauté the onions followed by ginger and garlic paste. Fry till the raw smell goes, then add chopped tomatoes. When oil separates from tomatoes add chilli powder, dhania powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, salt.

2. Fry for 3 minutes, make sure the dry masala’s should not get burnt. Then add the coconut masala and sauté for another 5 minutes. Allow it to boil for another 10-15 minutes after adding sufficient amount of water to gravy consistency.

3. Finally before removing from the stove, break 3 eggs into the kurma, jus swirl it once with a spoon and close with lid and allow it to stand for jus 5 minutes in slow fire. After 5 minutes garnish the kurma with chopped coriander and pudhina leaves.

4. Can be served with chappathi, idly, dosa and parotta

Soul Moving Song in my Recent Days!

Being a music lover, I normally listen to all kinds of songs. But I have always loved the slow numbers which makes me to get into the groove and take me somewhere, where I really feel I’m lost. And so far only those kind of songs have become my all time favorites. ”Dreams on fire” is one such song, which moves me a lot whenever I listen. Suzanne’s voice does suit the song perfectly. The Lyrics are so simple and so deep and so close to my heart. Infact I never noticed this song when I downloaded the slum dog millionaire tracks. But I started loving it after watching the movie. The slow humming version (Latika’s theme) of the same song comes throughout the movie whenever the protagonist sees his lady love, which really gives life to the whole scene. I am somehow got hooked on to this song, and love listening to it throughout the day. A.R.Rahman has composed this song in a right combination with simple notes yet soul stirring one.

LISTEN TO Dreams on Fire!



LYRICS

You are my waking dream
You're all that's real to me
You are the magic in the world I see

You are the prayer I sing
You brought me to my knees
You are the faith that made me believe

Dreams on fire
Higher n higher
Passions burning
Right on the pyre

Once for, forever yours
In me
All your heart
Dreams on fire
Higher n higher


You are my ocean waves
You are my thought each day
You are the laughter from childhood games

You are the spark of dawn
You are where I belong
You are the ache I feel in every song

Dreams on fire
Higher n higher
Passions burning
Right on the pyre

Once for, forever yours
In me
All your heart
Dreams on fire
Higher n higher

Wish i could listen to this song on and on sitting near a seashore, reading my favourite book with my favourite cup of coffee...

Some Tickle for our Funny Bone!

Though laughter as a formula for health is not a sole idea, for centuries jokes have been served and people have had good hearty laugh over them. But somewhere down the line of this fast paced world, we seem to lost in touch with our very own funny bone. People are now recultivating the ability to laugh over things and moments in order to fight the stress. So here I would like to share some of the best jokes I have come across so far. If you find it funny laugh it out and share with your friends too, If not, blame it on your “funny bone”.


ANNOYANCE
Raja, Ravi and Suresh were drunk and at 1.30am had a heated discussion on the definition of the terms irritation, aggravation and frustration. Raja, however, said he could demonstrate.

Going to the phone, he picked a number at random and dialed. When a sleepy voice answered, he said, “Hello is raja there?”

“No, raja isn’t here and this is hell of a time to get a wrong number!” said the voice, and bang went the phone. Raja turned to his friends and said, “That was irritation.”

After a few minutes he dialed the same number and, when the same voice answered, repeated. “Hello, is raja there?” This time he was told off in no uncertain terms. At the conclusion he said to his friends, “That was aggravation. Now I’ll demonstrate frustration.”

He dialed the same number again. When the same voice answered, he said, “Hello, this is Raja. Have you had any calls for me?”


QUEUES
There was a long queue for kerosene in front of a newly opened ration shop.

A short thin man walking past everyone rushed to the head of the line. The people in the queue yelled in protest and pushed him back to the end.

The fellow grumbled and again started for the front. Again he was manhandled and sent back.

He tried a third time, but was bodily lifted and flung on the road. He got up, dusted himself and thundered, “Just push me back once more and I wont open the shop!”

QUIZZES

The Prime Minister was angry with his ministers since they did not have any general knowledge. He called three of his colleagues and told them that he would ask general knowledge questions after a week and if they didn’t give the correct answers, he would sack them from his cabinet. They agreed and went away.

All of them were afraid of the prime minister. Two of them prepared the answers for the probable questions, hid them in their trouser waistband and went to the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister asked the first minister, “Which is the biggest river in India?” The minister immediately bent down, saw the answer from his ‘bit’ and said, “The Ganges.”

The Prime Minister, happy, turned to the second minister and said, “Name the capital of France.” The second Minister also repeated the same action and replied, “Paris.”

The third minister, who had not prepared in this manner, kept observing the other two. The Prime Minister said to him, “I’m going to ask you a simple question. What is Agra famous for?” Immediately the minister looked under his waistband and said
“VIP Frenchie.”



FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Have you ever hit the inside of your elbow in just the right spot and felt a tingling or prickly kind of dull pain? That's your funny bone! It doesn't really hurt as much as it feels weird. The "funny bone" got its nickname because of that funny feeling you get after you hit it.

But your funny bone isn't actually a bone at all. Running down the inside part of your elbow is a nerve called the ulnar nerve. The ulnar nerve lets your brain know about feelings in your fourth and fifth fingers. It's also one of the nerves that controls some movement of your hand.

You get that funny feeling when the ulnar nerve is bumped against the humerus (say: hyoo-muh-rus), the long bone that starts at your elbow and goes up to your shoulder. Tapping your funny bone doesn't do any damage to your elbow, arm, or ulnar nerve. But it sure feels strange!

Scrumptious Paneer Masala

Everybody Loves paneer (cottage cheese) for its mushy and soft meaty texture. It is a high protein food; it is often substituted for meat in many vegetarian entrees of Indian cuisine. It is commonly used in curried dishes. 100 gms of paneer made from cow milk provides 18.3 gms of protein, 20.8 gms of fat, 2.6 gms of minerals, 1.2 gms of carbohydrates, 265 kcal of energy, 208 mgs of calcium, 138 mg of phosphorous. It contains reasonably good amounts of fat and cholesterol. It would be better to avoid it for those with hypertension and diabetes due to its high fat content. It can however be used in small quantities for such patients one or twice a week. It is suitable for all age groups. Being one of my all time favorite, tried out quite number of experiments, but so far I’m notified best for this simple paneer masala, which goes well with all Indian breads.

Ingredients:
Paneer -250gms





Wash the paneer and cube it. Deep fry the paneer cubes till slightly golden brown, and immediately plunge it in hot water for 5 minutes. Then drain off the water and keep aside.
Onion Paste -1cup
Tomato Puree -3/4cup
Cashew Paste -2tbsp
Gin & Gar Paste -1tbsp
Kashmiri Chilli powder -1tsp
Turmeric Powder -1/4tsp
Kasoori methi powder -1tsp
Garam Masala Powder -1/2tsp
Salt -as per taste
Coriander leaves -for garnishing
Fresh cream (optional) -2tbsp
Butter -1tbsp
Shah Jeera -1/2tsp

Method:
1.To make 1 cup of onion paste, slice 3 onions and sauté in a pan adding little oil till slightly brown and grind to a paste.
2.Likewise to make a tomato puree, blanch 2 big tomatoes in boiling water, for 4 minutes, then peel off the skin and puree it in a food processor.
3.For the cashew paste, soak 10 nos of cashews in luke warm water and grind it to a paste.
4.In a pan, add butter, season with shah jeera before the butter melts down completely. Add the onion paste, followed by ginger and garlic paste. Fry well till the raw smell of ginger and garlic goes off. Then add the dry ingredients like chilli powder, turmeric powder, Kasoori methi powder, garam masala powder and salt.
5.After 2 minutes add the tomato puree, fry well till the oil separates from the curry. Add ½ cup of water and allow the gravy to cook for 5 minutes. Then add the cashew paste and the prepared paneer cubes mix well and cook for jus 3 minutes on heat. Remove from stove and garnish with fresh cream and chopped coriander.
6.Serve with rotis.





Variation: Fresh peas can also be added.

Sensational Shreya Goshal!!!!

I dedicate this post to the most versatile Indian playback singer, Shreya Goshal who has the most talented voice, which she never fails to flaunt it in all her songs. Be in tamil, hindi or anyother language, she simply rules with the most sensational voice. Today when I try to look back, when was the first time I started to like her voice, it was her song “gundu malli” from the movie “solla marandha kadhai” which was composed by legend music director Ilayaraja.The song melodiously starts off with her cute delicate voice, and soon makes the listener to get into the groove while she dominates the song. And as far as I have noticed she is the only singer who never fails to pronounce the tamil lyrics properly.

Shreya Ghoshal, born March 12, 1984 in Rawatbhata, Rajasthan performed several songs in Bollywood, regional films and, she has also sung songs in Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

From the age of four Ghoshal accompanied her mother on the harmonium. Her parents enrolled her for formal training in Hindustani classical music in Kota with Maheshchandra Sharma. As a child she won the children's special episode of the Sa Re Ga Ma contest on Zee TV. Kalyanji, who also judged the competition, convinced her parents to move to Mumbai. She trained with him for 18 months and continued her classical music training with Mukta Bhide in Mumbai. She studied at Atomic Energy Central Schools (AECS) at Kota and Anushaktinagar (Mumbai). For Graduation she had enrolled herself at SIES College in their Arts Stream.

This National Award winner caught the attention of film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali when she participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa for a second time, this time competing against adults. In 2000, He offered her the opportunity to be the voice of Paro, the lead female character of his film Devdas, who was to be portrayed by Aishwarya Rai. Shreya sang five songs in the film Her First song record with king of playback singer Udit Narayan for ‘Bari Piya’. Moviegoers from across the world heard Ghoshal’s singing voice pictured on Aishwarya Rai, and she quickly became one of the top female playback singers in Bollywood, alongside Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sadhana Sargam and Kavita Krishnamurthy. Since Devdas, she has gone on to sing for many more actresses under the baton of various music directors, including M.M. Kreem, for whom she sang “Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai”, a sensuous number pictured on Bipasha Basu in Jism. She won many awards (8 Awards in a single year including a National Award)
She has since gone on to sing for various music directors including Ilayaraja, A.R. Rahman, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Harris Jayaraj, Anu Malik, Himesh Reshammiya, M.M. Kreem, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar and Mano Murthy. Today Ghoshal is an established industry singer and has recorded in various regional languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Meitei, Marathi, and Bhojpuri.
Some of her Rocking Tracks:
Tamil:
Unnai vida -virumaandi
Munbe va -Jillunu oru kadhal
Ninaithu ninaithu -7G rainbow colony
Maja Maja -Jillunu oru kadhal
Uruguthey -veyil
Venmegam -Guru
Ayaiyaoo -Paruthiveeran
Ilangaathu -Pithamagan

Hindi:
Mein agar kahoon -Om shanti Om
Koi tumsa nahin -krishh
Pal pal har pal -lage raho munnabhai
Dholna -hey baby
Tere naina -Chandi chowk to china
Khabar nahi -Dostana
U, me aur hum -U, me aur Hum
Bairi piya -Devdas
Ahista ahista -Bachna ae haseeno
Mere Dholna -Bhool Bulaiya
Jadoo hai nasha -Jism
Kaise mujhe -Ghajini
Yeh ishq kya hai -jab we met
Ishq hua -Aaja nachle