BillA 2 :Ready For Release in 1200 Theaters All Over the World

New Lovers:Asif Ali & Mamtha Mohandas

Hided Beauty:Mayyanad

Mayyanad is a village in Kollam district in the state of Kerala, India.^[1]

Mayyanad is located at the south western suburbs of Kollam city in Kollam district of Kerala and is about 10 kilometers south of Kollam city. Mayyanad can be reached by frequent buses from Kollam City and Kottiyam town and by local train from Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram. Mayyanad is situated on the banks of the Paravur lake. Mayyanad's costal line along the Arabian sea is famous for its fishing.

Several famous Temples, Churches and Mosques are situated in Mayyanad.

Mayyanad is the birth place of several social leaders like C.Kesavan, C.V. Kunjuraman, etc. The first Panchayat President was Prof. K. Ravindran who went on to become the founder principal of Mahatma Gandhi Government Arts College in Mahe and Tagore Arts College in Pondicherry.

Malayalam Daily Newspaper "Kerala Kaumudi" was started from Mayyanad in 1911

Hided Beauty:Enchanting Wayanad

Ride alone, helps you clear up a lot of things !

Enchanting Wayanad

Had been to Wayanad with the whole family...uncles, aunts, cousins, all of them. A few snapshots from there.
It rained quite a bit both the days, and we were on the road for quite a bit.

En route Wayanad, somewhere along the Mysore-Gundlupet road




Entering the Kerala border proved a big pain with the Check post having a massive traffic jam. Gave me time to explore the fields around




Viewpoint at Vythiri, this is the stretch that connects Kalpetta to Kozhikode




The hair pin bends seen from the view point, called "Churam" in the local language


Visited poookot lake too, sadly they do not open the gates until 9AM, so we waking up early and making a dash did not help us much.


Pedal-boated a bit with family, and also netted a couple of P. fasciatus with some nice earthen base color as stripes


Also seen were tons of tadpoles, have seen similar looking ones in the streams of the western ghats




There was tons of fern growth...they tend to grow nicely in moist areas.




And where there is moisture, there are leeches too. Thankfully caught one on my leg before it could latch on. Showed my cousins the way the leech "tracks" heat movement, almost like a snake.

Spotted some nice spiders too, a tiny red one which hopped onto my hand. Jumped off before I could transfer my camera from th e other hand.

Managed to click this HUGE Giant wood spider, a good 4"+


We moved on towards "Soochipara" falls amidst tea/coffee plantations. Though these are not really "natural" scapes, the green sure does soothe the eyes. It was heavily overcast and the humidity levels rose. Plus, without a particular light direction, metering enough from a moving bus to expose enough details on the landscape was getting tough!





Made use of every pothole where the bus slowed down to help compose the shot a bit






Even managed a macro, although a crappy one :P


The walk/trek to the Soochipara falls took a toll on some of the family. The walking distance is 1KM+
The falls itself is pretty tall, and the sound of the water thundering down on the rocks helped us reach faster :)
It was just filled with college folks and a few "Revellers", thankfully in about 15 minutes the crowd cleared out


Even with so much greenery around, the landscapes and sights enticed me into clicking a few B&W shots. Landscapes for some inexplicable reason just feel "Stronger"









There's so much more to explore, surely will be going back again to explore more of this captivating district of Kerala.

Super hit-Sakuni

                                      Karthi has become a familiar name among the Telugu audiences with the success of some of his dubbed movies in Telugu. In order to cash in on his popularity and fan following, the producers started making films in bilinguals. His latest movie Sakuni is one such attempt. The film has many Telugu artistes like Prakash Raj, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Radhika, Roja, Pranitha and others. When it comes to the story....

Kamal Krishna (Karthi) is a normal middle class guy and he wants to save his house in Samalkot as the government is planning to construct a railway sub-way. In a bid to save it, he meets Chief Minister Bhupati (Prakash Raj), but he is insulted by him. To teach him a lesson, Kamal supports opposition leader Perumal (Kota Srinivasa Rao). What kind of steps Kamal takes to teach a lesson to Bhupati? Will he be able to save his ancestral house? Answers to these questions are to be seen on the screen.

Karthi has become a familiar name among the Telugu audiences with the success of some of his dubbed movies in Telugu. In order to cash in on his popularity and fan following, the producers started making films in bilinguals. His latest movie Sakuni is one such attempt. The film has many Telugu artistes like Prakash Raj, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Radhika, Roja, Pranitha and others. When it comes to the story....

Kamal Krishna (Karthi) is a normal middle class guy and he wants to save his house in Samalkot as the government is planning to construct a railway sub-way. In a bid to save it, he meets Chief Minister Bhupati (Prakash Raj), but he is insulted by him. To teach him a lesson, Kamal supports opposition leader Perumal (Kota Srinivasa Rao). What kind of steps Kamal takes to teach a lesson to Bhupati? Will he be able to save his ancestral house? Answers to these questions are to be seen on the screen.

Performance: In Sakuni, Karthi steals the show with his wonderful performance. He has taken whole responsibility of running the show on his shoulder. Pranitha has no much scope except to shake legs with the hero. Santhanam tickles the funny bones of audiences. Prakash Raj, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Roja, Radhika, Anushka, Andrea, Kiran Rathod have also done justice to their respective roles.

Technical: PH Muttaiah's cinematography is bright and average, while Srikar Prasad's editing is very dull. GV Prakash Kumar's music is below the par and none of the songs are impressive and foot-tapping. Even the background score is very dull and the poor re-recording fails to elevate the scenes.

The director has chosen an excellent storyline with political backdrop, but has failed to narrate it properly. All the scenes are bits and pieces as he has chosen a novel way to narrate in the form of flashbacks. The entire film looks very dull due to unimpressive  screenplay. He has also failed to tap the energies of Prakash Raj, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Nazar, Radhika and Karthi. Roja's character is wasted.

All the dialogues in the film had the Tamil scent and lacked local touch. The production values of Bellamkonda are good. The entire first half of the film is devoted to narration of silly points in the form of flashbacks. Second half takes fast pace for some time, but the director lose grip on the subject again.

Remarks: Watch the film if you are a hardcore fan of Karthi. Otherwise, you can wait for the DVD as the film is not that exciting  and interesting to watch by going to the theatre. The commercial success of the film depends on how could Karthi pulls audiences to the theatre.

Cast: Karthi, Pranitha, Prakash Raj, Chandramohan, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Santhanam, Nazar, Radhika, Roja, Kiran Rathod and others.

Credits: Cinematography - PH Muttaiah; Editing - Srikar Prasad; Music - GV Prakash Kumar; Presenter - Bellamkonda Suresh; Producer - Gnanavel Raja; Story, screenplay and direction - Shankar Dayal.

Banner: Studio Green

Released on: June 22, 2012

Top Five Fuel efficient bikes in India.

Bajaj Discover 125

125cc bikes offer the best of everything. They are powerful enough to keep you ahead in city traffic, while being low on maintenance. This segment is also no longer about fulfilling mere commuting needs with manufacturers putting a lot of importance to their bikes’ styling. But what probably works the most in their favour is the high mileage 125cc bikes offer. Here’s a lowdown on the top five fuel-efficient 125cc bikes in India at the moment. We have done a backward count – from least fuel efficient to most.

No. 5) Yamaha Gladiator: Mileage – 65kmpl
The Yamaha Gladiator is powered by a 123cc single cylinder air cooled engine, producing 11PS of power. The bike will do 0-60km/h in 7.02sec and touch a top speed of 106.61km/h. Even though the Gladiator is at the bottom of the heap when it comes to efficiency, it dishes out 65kmpl on average. The fuel tank can hold 13.6 litres and will travel 890km to a full tank. The Yamaha Gladiator is priced at Rs 50,000 ex-showroom, Delhi.

No. 4) Suzuki Slingshot: Mileage – 66kmpl
The Slingshot from Suzuki produces 8.5PS of power from its 124cc single cylinder, air-cooled engine. It will do 0-60km/h in 7sec and touches a top speed of 104km/h. Delivers an overall average of 66kmpl and has a tank capacity of 12 litres which gives it a range of 792km to a full tank and retails at Rs 48,887 ex-showroom, Delhi.

Suzuki Slingshot

No. 3) Bajaj Discover: Mileage – 68kmpl
The single-cylinder Bajaj Discover produces 11PS of power from its 124.6cc air-cooled engine. The 0-60km/h dash on the Discover takes 6.9sec and bike maxes out at 102.2km/h. The fuel tank can hold 8 litres of fuel and delivers an overall average of 68kmpl, giving it a range of 544km/l to a full tank. At Rs 48,540, ex-showroom, Delhi, the Bajaj Discover is the cheapest among the bikes featured here.

No. 2) Honda Stunner: Mileage – 68.3kmpl
The stylish single cylinder Stunner from the Honda stable produces 11.15PS of power from its 124.7cc engine – the highest in this segment. It is also the fastest bike from the lot with 0-60km/h time of 6.1sec and a top speed of 100.3km/h. It has a tank capacity of 11 litres and will dish out 68.3 kmpl to a litre. The bike will run 819.6km on a full tank of petrol and retails at Rs 51,425 ex-showroom, Delhi.

No. 1) Hero Glamour: Mileage – 69kmpl
The Hero Glamour from Hero Motor Corp. produces 9PS of power from its single cylinder 124.7cc air-cooled engine. The bike can do 0-60km/h in 7.1sec and achieve a top speed of 98.3km/h. The Glamour’s 13.6 litre fuel tank ensures the bike runs 938km without needing to refuel. While the Hero Glamour wins the fuel efficiency battle with a mileage of 69kmpl, at Rs 52,500 ex-showroom, Delhi, it is also the most expensive bike in this pack.

SLIDESHOW: