The SDAT Tennis Stadium in Chennai was built on the occasion of the SAF Games in 1995 by the Tamil Nadu Government. It has since played the host to the Chennai Open tennis event annually since 1997.
The facility comprises of one centre court and four practice / match courts. The floodlit centre court has a seating capacity of 5800 and all courts have a hard (PlayPave) surface.
I was here to watch the Finals between Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland against Marin Cilic of Croatia which was won by the later who was seeded No. 2 and was the defending Champion here.
Though the crowd was favoring Wawrinka mostly, turned up to say the Cilic Mantra several times after he came back strongly from the 2nd set onwards and won the game 7-6(2), 7-6(3).
My last blog was probably not suitable enough to review a great movie like “Avatar”. So i have decided to be fair and give away a true fit review for this creation from James Cameron, the same director who gave us True Lies and Titanic.
I have been awed by the improvements made by James Cameron in his movie making. as i have been his regular fan right from Jaws, True Lies and Titanic. He is probably one of the few directors who can give real life to his characters, irrespective of what they are – Humans, Sharks, Aliens, Ships and even Graphical imaginations. If he had made the half of the US teenagers stop surfing for a few months after his Jaws, he has made us all go ga-ga over the cool spy Arnold in True Lies and showed us what a luxurious star vehicle Titanic would have been apart from making us realize the real incident of Titanic. And this time around too, he does not fail to make us drop our jaw with amazement when we see the CG come real on screen through Hanging Mountains, Modified Helicopters and Space ship like Airplanes, Archaeopteryx like Dinosaur birds, Modified Alien Horses, Tiny Alien Dogs or Monster dogs, etc
If the dedication and vision of James Cameron isn’t enough along with the special effects and CG, the Storyline is pretty impressive and will remind us of the many major challenges like Human Greed, Deforestation, etc. It is amazing how Cameron has adapted parts of the Indian Epic Ramayana in making the main characters in Cyan skinned look with a “V” mark on their forehead with bow and arrow, the ritual style to transfer the soul from Dr. Grace to her Avatar body is copied from the native African rituals.
The story begins with our Hero Jake Sully transporting himself to a planet called Pandora (interestingly there is a tiny moon of Saturn by the same name) where he is asked to transfer his soul to his Avatar body that resembles the native Na’vi tribe who are blue skinned cat people with tails. The Humans are greedy to occupy this planet and want to take over the Na’vi tribe thinking they need civilization and education, but their aim is to take control of the enormous amount of native mineral of Pandora called the Unobtainium (the name itself states it is Un obtainable) that is capable of fueling their sky machines. But since the Na’Vi tribe has been living under a huge tree that is grown on top of the rich mineral ground, the Humans plot to infiltrate the Hero into the tribe and convince them to move away. And what happens in the process of such transformation of the Hero’s soul and the Hero’s mind in process of learning and appreciating the Na’Vi language and culture, is the remaining plot of the movie.
A great CG work, fantastic Storyline, great cast including Michelle Rodriguez of Fast & Furious fame, Giovanni Ribisi (i remember him as the feeble brother of Nicolas Cage in “Gone in Sixty Seconds”) amongst others, and lots of money has gone into making this movie probably not just the top grosser of 2009 but for the decade itself.
Those who have not bothered to see it, check it out in the nearest theaters, and those who have seen it in 2D, check it out in 3D. The avatar is also in games (see avatargame.us.ubi.com ) and also check out the related sites like avtr.com and pandorapedia.com that highlights the huge success of the movie.
And lastly i leave behind the trailer for those who have not bothered to know this movie has finally arrived in theaters.
I am trying to guess why Sage Valmiki did not leave behind his ancestral race with a Patent on the blue color of his Hero or the “V” mark on the forehead for he would have left behind someone to sue James Cameron and his 5 year old efforts on Avatar.
First of all, the word “Avatar” comes from the Sanskrit word of the same name which means “Reincarnation” and so was Lord Rama the Avatar of Vishnu who is the God of Protection as per Indian Mythology. I felt i was dreaming when i watched the Cameron movie for the 1st time in a theatre that was filled with people full of expectations. Yes, the movie is well made and is definitely a good benchmark for future movie makers in both Hollywood and elsewhere.
I am not even trying to criticize the efforts that went behind the best movie of 2009, but trying to analyze from where Mr. Cameron got these motivation. To be clear on what i mean, let me show some pictures here to make sure it is well understood.
Lord Rama was the 7th Avatar of Lord Vishnu whose Avatars in their order of apperance on earth depicts the evolution of living beings on earth starting from a water based Fish to a turtle that lives in both water and land and a boar that lives in marshy lands, to a half man-half lion in Narasimha, followed by the dwarf in Vaamana and the Sage Parasurama being the one before Prince Rama. He was born in the Sun-descendant (surya parampara) family, was depicted to be in the color blue of the rain clouded sky (greyish blue) and was wearing the Vaishnavite symbol of “V” Nama on his forehead with a white line in the center. The battle against evil king Ravana was fought with the heroics of Vanaraas (Monkey Warriors) and won with Lord Rama winning against King Ravana who had all powerful vehicle that could fly and be controlled by him and had ten heads.
The Hero of the movie Avatar is a physically challenged marine officer who is transformed into the body of the Avatar, a native of the moon called “Pandora” who call themselves “Na’avi”. The Naavi tribe has the color blue and the Hero is seen with this “V” on his forehead when he is completely qualified to be one among the tribe. Incidentally they fight their own war but have tails like monkeys, whereas the tail was used for the vanara warriors as per Valmiki. The villian of the movie is a captain who leads the operation against the Naavi tribes and uses a big flying vehicle to destroy their base just like Ravana did in the 1st battle with Lord Rama’s warriors.
Now i am wondering that either James cameron is extremely blessed by the almighty that he depicted this story with so many common elements with the great Hindu Epic, or has badly been narrated the story by someone who did not read the Ramayana completely or did not want to give away the complete story to him.
Whatever it is … it was an enjoyable moment to watch the characters come alive… and if someone can rightly picturise the great epic Ramayana in movies – it can only be James Cameron who might have been sued by Sage Valmiki’s descendents for Avatar.
To anyone who needs scientific proof of existence of Lord Rama, either go check the google earth images for “Rama Sethu” or “Adams Bridge” between Indian Subcontinent and Srilanka or simply read this http://bit.ly/4tTcP1
Some coincidences really make you wonder and wish !!
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Leave it to Psmith
An excellent book from an excellent Author who was famous for his humour and timing sense, this book takes the central character of Psmith (with a ‘p’) to a new height.
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