Anthargange - A Trek

AntharGange - Photos from the Trek

For the past few weeks, i desperately wanted to get out of the city for a weekend and that wouldn't happen with someone or the other being busy or getting lazy over the weekends. Every Friday, Sreeni and I would make plans to go to Bheemeshwari for a day trip on Saturday and i would end up waking on mid day. This Friday, while i was peddling in the gym, Puppy turned up and when i brought up the trip, he seemed interested. But instead of Bheemeshwari, he was more inclined towards 'Anthargange', a trekking spot near Kolar.

Jayanth and Venky were willing to come along and at At 9:30 in the night, we rushed to Spencers to buy the essentials for the trek. Water bottles, nutri bars, bread, jam, bananas, juice and other snacks. All for a two hour trek. Forcing ourselves to sleep before 12, we woke up in the early morning at 5:30 to the call from Puppy and were out on the road by 6:15. After picking up Jayanth and Puppy, we drove out of the city through the traffic just emanating on to the roads. With the sun behind the clouds and the slight drizzle along the way which slowly began to turn heavy, we weren't sure if we chose the right day. During breakfast at Kamat, we were even thinking of turning back but decided to try our luck with the destination being only 20 km away.

The trek started almost from the outskirts of Kolar. Parking our car at the foot of the hill, we filled our backpacks with the necessary stuff. Beginning with cemented road, we quickly veered into the thicks after seeing a path that seemed to have been walked before. Meandering through the slippery rocks and the thick vegetation, frequently doubting the destination, we walked along. After 15 minutes as we approached the temple, the path became more clear. The weather that threatened our trip has become a boon. It was pleasant and the Kolar looked like a spread out google map as we reached half way through the trek. Soon, we reached the village that's on top of the hill. There's a bus route to this village from Kolar but it was advised to trek for a better experience and so we did. From here, it's another hour of trek in search of caves among the hills.

Having known that it would be impossible to find the caves without the help of locals, we approached the local guy working on a farm. He kindly walked with us to the village and pointed us to a kid named MuniRaju who was familiar with the place. He along with another kid Ganesh agreed to guide us and so did they for the rest of our trek. Upon their advice, we bought few candles and matches to make our way through the caves. With another 200 mts of walk and little crawl down the adjacent rocks, we were at the entrance of the cave. As they said, it was pitch dark inside and carrying lights is must. With candles that gave out a feeble light, we carefully walked through it while the kids seem to just sail through it. In the middle of the cave as were fighting for the way, the two kids sat a little ahead on the rock and asked for snacks from our bags.. :) They were nice, a bit eager. Coming out of the cave, we climbed up the rocks and continued to move ahead. As it started drizzling MuniRaju started complaining about his goats and he left leaving us with Ganesh. Ganesh walked us through the rest of the trek. The wet rocks and the algae gathered on some of them made the trek a little risky one but the weather and the view compensated for everything. Instead of feeling tired, i actually felt refreshed as we went on. If i were blindly dropped into the place, i could have taken it granted for any hill station. Such was the atmosphere there with the mist and the occasional drizzles and adding to it, we were the only one there in that serene location. Only when walking down the hill, we saw people making their way up. After going through couple of caves and skipping a couple of risky ones we started down the hill. With careless walk down the hill, i slipped and fell down thrice, luckily making a safe landing every time. After lunch at Kamat, we were back in Bangalore by 4 P.M.

If it was just another sunny day, it would have been a totally different one. We wouldn't know how it would have been, but this one, we totally enjoyed the whole trip. The only complaint is with Jayanth who would either walk well ahead of us or fall far behind us whenever he feels like taking a bite of the nutri bars from his back pack :) Amazing thing about Bangalore is it's presence in the middle of all these beautiful places that can quench the thirst of anyone looking for their perfect weekend trip. This one is just 70 km from Bangalore on the outskirts of Kolar and is a good destination for a day trip when accompanied with cool weather though it is generally preferred for a moon light trek.

Jayeebhava - Movie Review

'Heroism anedhi anukunte vachedhi kaadhu.. Blood lo undaali..'

Am miffed listening to this sort of dialogues on screen and i seriously question the integrity of the actors in using the glory and the legacy of their fathers and grand fathers to glorify themselves on screen. On the other side it tells how the industry (and the viewers too) has become biased over years making survival a difficult one for the real talent.

I reluctantly walked into the theater to watch this one. The whole first half of the movie looks so stupid with the inane expressions of Kalyan Ram. He seems such a miss fit to the love track. Am at least glad that he does not approach the heroine with the dialogue 'Maa thaatha NTR'. The only saving grace here is Hansika who looked ravishing on screen.

The second half is however better.. Made in the lines of ready (not as good though), it entertains with the troupe of comedians (Ali, Raghu Babu, Brahmi..). The comedy starts well but becomes too predictable as it goes.. Ali's portrayal of the bride's role towards the end appeared little vulgar and unwanted.

If you don't walk out of the theater before the interval bang, you will have few laughs post interval. If not for that second half, this movie would have been a forgotten one by now. In fact, i struggled for a minute to recollect the name. :)

Life In The Last 20 Days

I was lazy.. I was enjoying the new luxuries. It was a chicken and an egg game between these two.. All owing to the new lcd and the awesome Bose speakers coupled with the lethargy that usually follows a vacation to home.. That was enough to let the excitement and the laziness take control of me for all these days. My life was just confined to the remote.. With newly born interest on the lcd and the hdmi, i googled for hours on these subjects and for days lived in a state of self proclaimed expertise and an enthusiast.. Nothing would interest me more than someone making a mention of these. Not anymore.. Thanks to my 'ready to fade' memory, am back to being a novice..

On Oct 17th, i turned four years old to my company. While the company conveniently ignored it, the whole world celebrated Diwali on the day. It was indeed my first celebration of the festival in Bangalore. It was Subba, Manoz and me on the top of their house with this little bag of crackers owing to their unbelievable prices.

Finally after almost 2 months of it’s release, I find the opportunity to watch Magadheera.. Having already heard too many opinions am not sure if I would voice my opinion now, even if i do.. I have enjoyed the first half more than the second one..

I was watching some song from the movie 'Chirunavvutho' and this lady Laya appeared to be very young on the screen. She never appeared so young before.. Never.. Someone's aging... Someone needs to feel young..

What's in a name?

This property belongs to Mr. Koneti Ranga. Trespassers will be prosecuted.

Everytime i see such a sign board in one of those vacant (if not for the weed that try to shout out) sites in the middle of those beautifully architecture'd buildings of Bangalore, i wish to buy one, one day. That aside, what amuses me are the names on the boards. I don't really understand what they serve? Wouldn't just 'Private Property' suffice? Why do people have to carve out their names at every opportunity?

Same with the names on the vehicles. My roommate has his name stickered on both sides of his bike in that proud font and every time i see it, i feel this mad rush to rip it off. And on one of these sleepless nights when there are no dogs on the road wagging their tongues out, i will do it!!

Ok. It's your property.... But what's with those scribblings on those trains, the back of the bus seats, the loos, the bridges, the walls, the college benches, the hills and those temples.. Is there a place where a person doesn't want to do it..

What do you really love? Yourself or your name? It seems such a thin line between the two.

Anyway, just one last thing. This blog belongs to me as emphasized in the title. Trespassers are very much welcome though.

Baanam - Movie Review

Just came back from PVR. The plan was to watch Magadheera but when i was saw this movie playing in PVR, i couldn't resist booking tickets for this one. Subba, Manoz, Venky, Jayanth and Puppy came along. This probably is one of the rare times where we reached PVR 30 minutes before show time. With time to kill, we walked into Kalmane coffee shop. The filter coffee that it serves is far better than the best of what Coffee Day offers.


After all the good talk this movie has gathered and the reviews in it's favor, i walked in with huge expectations. It's the story of a naxalite's son (Nara Rohith) who wishes to become an IPS officer. The role of naxalite is played by Shayaji Shinde. After being away for years, he returns to his son by surrendering to the police. His is just a supporting role. Vedika plays a Brahmin girl deserted by in laws the day after her marriage. In her first scene, she is seen waiting alone in a railway station and it is from this point the movie becomes engrossing. The arise of conflict with the villain is slowly established in the first half and it's interestingly built up from the thread between the lead pair. The second half is all about the conflict between hero and the villain.

Nara Rohith's main strength lies in his voice and he looks handsome. Playing a role, that aspires to become an IAS officer, he would looked even better if he worked out to reduce the flab around his waist that shows up when he runs on the screen. His walking is rigid. Otherwise he looks good in all other shots. He has very few expressions to show on screen but he looks great when he smiles. With him walking or running on the screen for most of the time, i wondered how he would look if he shakes his leg which he never does in this film. If it was his conscious decision to choose this story, he must be very much appreciated and i hope he does more such films. Vedika suits very well to the role of a Brahmin girl. She perfects her role. In a scene where she says the chatni is hot while eating her dosa, Manoz(sitting besides me) instantly reached out for the water bottle!! That was the funniest moment. Every other character performs well. No one disappoints.

The movie is set in 1989 but the period wasn't captured well on screen. When the vegetables cost 5 bucks and the tea costs 75 paise, i was shocked until i got reminded of the movie's setting. That doesn't anyway harm the movie a lot. The story and direction by Chaitanya Dantuluri are main assets for the film. Music by ManiSharma, especially the background score is perfect. Dailogues by Gandham Nagaraju are good.

The interval bang leaves the audience with a happy feeling and also builds up expectations for the second half. The second half does not totally reach these expectations and the approach the hero takes to end villain isn't very convincing. Overall, a different and a good movie for the audience.

My Rating - 8/10

All With A Call

"Hello Sir, am i speaking to Mr. Phani Kiran".

"Yes"

"Sir, I am calling from Airtel. Did you receive your land line bill?"

"Not sure but i guess i got it. I never had any problems with it"

"The amount is 1317 and the due date is 16th. Please make sure you make the payment".

"Ok"

"Sir, you can even pay the bill before the due date".

"Ok"

As soon as i said it, it just occurred to me that there's a hint of sarcasm in what the guy said and that kept coming back to me. I don't remember making a payment before due date and he probably knows my payment history. I have had numerous of these calls and i have ignored them all. But this time with his line, he got me running to Airtel office.

Am not Phani Kiran. I had to live with this name for all the airtel calls. My laziness. It's been almost 2 years since Kiran has moved out and yet the bill still keeps running on his name. Who would want a transfer when it all works fine.. Unless of course, there's another call..

Josh

It's been more than a week since i have seen this movie. It was Venky, Sreeni and me in the Urvashi theater near Lalbagh that had almost half the seats empty for the 2 P.M show on the movie's release date. It appears that most of the people are not aware that Telugu movies are at times screened in this theater.


The movie starts with Naga Chaitanya staying in Vizag wanting to move to Hyderabad in the middle of his degree studies. It becomes apparent that he is moving away for a reason but that suspense element is maintained through out the first half with a subdued character played by Chaitanya. Living along with Sunil, he frequents to a canteen near by MGM college. It has students frequenting the place and there obviously are few of the heads looking for trouble. Instead of fighting with them as in any other movie, he walks away feeling pity and sympathy for the students. The reason has to do with his college life that will come on to the screen in the second half. His role of mute spectator doesn't last longer as he tries to bring reform among the students.

If the movie didn't reach the expectations of the masses, it doesn't either shatter the expectations. If one walks into the theater expecting a row of fights, high voltage dialogues, then yes, this movie disappoints. People seem to compare this with Chirutha, the debut movie of Ram Charan that tries to showcase every ability of the hero. This movie isn't so. It doesn't try to put the hero on the top at every opportunity. It almost strictly follows the script with director working on it rather than on the hero. Saying so, this is not so different from other movies speaking in absolute terms. It's just that it ain't easy to take this path with the debut film of a star's son. It attempts to bring out a message. Producer Dil Raju and director Vasu Varma should be appreciated for this. This is also the debut for Karthika, daughter of yester year's heroine Radha. She does deliver a good performance but she isn't very appealing with her looks that matter the most for Telugu industry. The director could done better with the role of JD. Sunil and Brahmanandam are apt for their roles. The romance between the lead pair isn't carried properly into the second half making it look unfinished.

With his acting, Naga Chaitanya almost meets the expectations. There are scenes in the first half where he goes expression less. The script might have demanded it but he wasn't very convincing. He does better in the second half. It looks as if he matured a lot and has become more confident of himself as the shooting progressed. His voice is good and he looks very young on the screen. With all the support he has got and the decent skills he showcased in his first movie, it ain't very difficult for him to be seen among the league of big stars in the Telugu industry.

My Rating - 7/10