Madras Eye

Madras I

There are two things that are making the news these days in the city, probably three. Madras, as the city has been known historically (and I choose to spell the city's name that way most often) is also the name of a recently released movie. Featuring Karthi, btoher of veteran actor Suriya, Karthi has been quite experimental with Tamil Cinema ever since his first release 5 years ago with Paruthi Veeran. He has played a village lad, unemployed Chennai youth, and many a time a happy go lucky guy. His box office records have been topsy turvy, where he has the most returns when least expected. Back to Madras, the film is shot in North Madras, which has been largely neglected in Kollywood for a long time. Except for a one-off gana song or a kuthu song, nothing has captured the imagination of this part of the city, which was also the original settlement along the sea shore. I have had the privilege of travelling to North Madras twice or more every week to work where my previous employer Royal Enfield's factory is located (at Thiruvottiyur). Incidentally, the factory and its structure is over 50 years old now. And there are so many such old factories and godowns that dot the locality. The film "Madras" has been successful at the Box Office much to the happiness of Karthi whose previous three films bombed back to back. It has also been noticed by the critics or the so called self-proclaimed Cinema Specialists. They have given it high marks too.

The other thing in the news is the recent audio release of the film "I" directed by Ace Director Shankar. With a whopping 150 Crores budget, the film marks the return of Shankar after his 2010 mega-hit Enthiran featuring Superstar Rajnikanth. Actor Vikram joins hands with Shankar this time after almost 10 years (Anniyan was the last they worked together). The movie is a romantic scientific thriller, explains the Director. Vikram, who normally weighs around 70kgs lost upto 20 kgs and regained almost 70 kgs to weigh 120 gn and is not back to his normal. Vikram, who started in his 30s in Tamil Cinema didn't experience success in his initial days. His first film with AR Rahman was in the 1994 with a film by the name "Puthiya Mannargal" which was not only a flop but took back Vikram by a few years. in 1997, Vikram played second fiddle with Ajith in "Ullasam" which got him noticed as a romantic hero. And then there has been no looking back for Vikram. He has since won several awards and accolades over the past decade. But "I" is special since he has ventured into a genre that many top heroes do not, for fear of risking commercial success.

The third thing that has been in the news in the city is Conjuctivitis, also popularly named Madras Eye. A former superintendent of the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology in the city of Madras (the present-day Chennai) in India, Kirk Patrick, was the first to have found the adenovirus that caused conjunctivitis, leading to the name Madras eye for the disease, according to Wikipedia. It is a bacterial infection that spreads quite very quickly, so do maintain hygenie as much as possible and avoid getting close with those already affected. Stay Healthy, Take Care.