Y M J

[Y M J @YJustTweet]

😂😂😂 Ah they’ll never understand… until they have children

[🦢 @ZainabSana2622]

"Childfree people don't understand how much free time they have."

I'm going to hold your hand when I say this: there are other things besides children that are time-consuming. Taking care of children is not the only way a person can be busy.

And you did not have to have children.

[𝓩 @s1lvrsky]

that argentina v egypt game killed something in me, this isn’t fun anymore

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

Incredible Egyptian goal is disallowed because of a foul far away, then same situation a few minutes later and goal for Argentina not disallowed! No VAR, nothing? FIFA again looks like a corrupt joke, playing favorites for stars.

[Y M J @YJustTweet]

@TheKoopaGuy San Francisco

[Chinmayi Sripaada @Chinmayi]

There is a reason I am telling women here especially the younger girls to find a man like Rahul or not marry at all.
Please dont waste your life, time and energy.

There are a few men like him, find them, the rest are not worth your time, energy and reproductive rights.

Couldnt care less if I get abused. I am happily married I wish the happiness and such a man for other girls.

Of course I guess now the incels will start haemorrhaging on my replies.

[Rahul Ravindran @23_rahulr]

I don’t claim to know everything bro… so educate me if I am wrong. But I don’t see atrocities of ‘women’ on ‘men’ at all. I see some horrible incidents of sociopathic human beings who happen to be women, committing horrible crimes. On the other hand… I see a self sustaining system that has lasted centuries that suffocates women… that through invisible, everyday micro aggressions, forces them to shrink their identities. That doesn’t offer them an equal world. This is from my perspective. I’ve seen so many women around me suffer silently because of it. And I chose to convey that through this story. I felt responsible for it as a man… because I benefit from the power equation.

I haven’t read the details of this particular case yet… I will do so. And if there’s a story that I find interesting to tell… I will do that too. But it would be about one particular woman committing a crime. Not crimes of women on men. There’s a difference, the way I see it. Mind you, such incidents of crime are ghastly and terrible. But what I was trying to do is completely different. Had nothing to do with such crimes.

Vikram in The Girlfriend isn’t a murderer or a *^%ist. There is no physical abuse. He is in fact faithful. And yet… there’s one section like the original tweet that gets triggered by the film. Ask yourself why that is. But sure… if you or anyone else has a problem… call it out. It’s a healthy habit. I promise to take the feedback and introspect. It’s wonderful for all of us to talk to each other and try to understand each other.

[Spotify India @spotifyindia]

A voice we remember and cherish - andrum, indrum, endrum. Engal SPB 🤍
#SPB80

[Ilaiyaraaja @ilaiyaraaja]

No one understood a composer's vision faster, and no one poured more focus into a song than SPB. Celebrating the life, friendship, and the unmatched achievement of 50,000 songs. Happy Birthday, SPB.

[Puru-Ai @Puru_Ai]

Actually this is also why we're stuck in remake/reboot hell, young people with new ideas aren't allowed into the industry anymore.

Japan constantly scouts new talent while in the US it's just nepotism now.

[Sudhir Srinivasan @sudhirsrinivasn]

Many thoughts on #Karuppu
(spoilers alert):
____

Whenever god takes on anyone, the battle is usually, almost unfairly skewed. That's why the coolest idea in Karuppu is when god is challenged not to exercise his super-powers in enforcing justice. The question Baby Kannan (RJ Balaji) seems to pose is this: if Karuppu (Suriya) can use his superpowers, an unfair advantage over humans, why should Baby himself prioritise fairness in seeking justice? But I suspect I got way more excited by this idea than the film itself. You see, taking this idea seriously would mean showing genuine interest in humanising Karuppu, and the film doesn't seem to see him as anything more than a symbol for the divine stardom we bestow upon our actors.

Think about it: Don't our star vehicles too begin with people begging to be saved, only for it to culminate in the mass introduction of a hero? Our stars are gods in such stories. So, briefly, I did get fascinated when Karuppu accepts the challenge to exist as a human. Now, you'll see the hardship and the suffering. Now, you'll know the complications of following protocol and procedure in the pursuit of justice. But for all of this to happen, characters ought to feel more like people and less like devices serving momentary highs. Yes, characters are devices to an extent, but the challenge, not unlike the one Baby Kannan throws to Karuppu, is to ensure they don't feel functional, that they feel truly alive.

For a while, Binu and her father (Indrans) feel like that, as we see them being exploited by an unforgiving system where, as someone cleverly remarks, the punishment is not what you receive in court, but the fact that you are in court in the first place (the court's structural damage is a nice metaphor for the corruption). And yet, why does Binu’s ‘liver problem’ register only as screenplay information? She faints whenever the plot needs to be moved forward, vomits when the screenplay needs to remind you... The father’s big emotional breakdown, upon learning about his daughter, ought to shatter you (and I cry so easily in films). He screams, ‘Sethu poyi’, but the grief never turns visceral. Karuppu's own attempts to live as a human seem performative, like his heart isn't truly in understanding these beings that pray to him for favours.

As for RJ Balaji’s Baby Kannan, there are moments where he threatens to turn charmingly complex. At one point, he seems to argue that he too is a victim of the system, that nothing moves in the court without palms being greased (like that Indian Manorama scene). In fact, I thought of Indian again when Baby taunts Karuppu for not saving a life on account of his integrity. But the difference, of course, is that Shankar’s legendary 'commercial film' forced you to sit with devastating emotional consequences. Karuppu has the premise for something as complicated, as heroic and human, but this film, about corruption in the justice system, is itself corrupted by its desperation to engineer ‘theatre moments’. That's its form of bribe.

That, of course, means nostalgia references. Sivaji. Ghajini. Aaytha Ezhuthu. Leo. Singam. The list grows. A flaming red portal evokes Doctor Strange. Baby’s visiting card, Better Call Saul. That divine flourish towards the end (a terrific look for Suriya, by the way) brings Kantara to mind. A two-wheeler and a flaming man swinging chains around people... Ghost Rider? A stunt shot where bodies freeze mid-fall to evoke divine imagery... Salaar? And that time-freeze idea that appears once and is never used again?

Look, the homages, by themselves, are not the issue. But in a film with a solid premise, they keep coming in the way of storytelling. Hence, all my questions. What good is a deity under whose watch an innocent woman dies? Preethi (Trisha), briefly channelling my own frustrations with the screenplay, even asks Karuppu why he allows so much suffering under his watch, only for the film to respond with the usual rebuttal: ‘Humans must help themselves.’ If so, why are you here now? Why does the screenplay completely forget about Binu and her father after establishing them as the emotional spine? Why does Baby himself oscillate wildly between victim of the system, frightened comic relief, manipulative conman, and loud, violent villain? And where exactly does he even get the courage to repeatedly challenge… God? I mean...?

One moment I genuinely liked has two thieves confessing out of sympathy for Binu, an act of decency denied to her by both the police and the judiciary. But even this tiny patch of moral grey sits awkwardly in Karuppu that's all about black-and-white morality. Karuppu, you take your pick, could mean Suriya’s character, the black robes of lawyers, or the dark state of justice. But the film’s ultimate solution, god overpowering everyone, once again resorts to the argument of authority, which was the problem in the first place, no? Even a line like ‘doing good is an addiction’ lands only like a punch dialogue searching for applause.

While Sai Abhyankkar will deservedly receive praise for the elevation tracks (of which there are several), I particularly enjoyed that moody track that accompanies the exploitation of Binu and her father. Visually too, the film has some signatures: the reds, the silhouettes, the textures of flame and shadow. And Suriya, unsurprisingly, looks impossibly cool throughout. I only wish all his charisma, all those flying bad guys, had been built on stronger emotional foundations and more concerted thematic writing.

If this were another mindless elevation film without any ambition, I might not have cared. But Karuppu reaches for heavy ideas: the justice system, divinity, corruption, survival inside exploitative institutions... Alas, all of this is just smoke through which arrives a star dressed as a deity. Not just any deity, but a deity with a rage tantrum, it seems. Karuppu loses a challenge and almost immediately, happily, goes back on his promise not to use his powers. At some point, Baby really should have pointed out that Karuppu is no better at keeping his word than the rest of humanity. And perhaps more importantly, even asked: if Karuppu requires chillies, rituals, and prayers before arriving to help, much like lawyers and judges require biriyani and bribes, then how different is the system above from the one below?

[Y M J @YJustTweet]

My whole house just shook in San Francisco earthquake

[Chinmayi Sripaada @Chinmayi]

For God’s sake 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

P.S.: Men in such power in cinema transitioning to politics completely turning a deaf ear to women who come on record to say they were molested by “his uncle-mentor” must remind women who vote - that men will never be on our side.

The weirdest thing - one of the women in his own party publicly named the Poet.

End of the day, men WILL stand by their bros, uncles, dads, friends, mentors. Who cares if multiple women were traumatised?

[jezz @JezziiB]

Ask men to repeat what they said when they say something rude/sexist/terrible. Make them hear their words twice, maybe even a third to clarify a detail.
Mirrors teach the patriarchy better than women ever will.

[Lakshita Shankar @lakshitpostss]

When I saw Pavazhamalli’s video, all I could think was perhaps Yogalakshmi would have been a stunning casting choice for it

[Alyssa 🌻 @alyssaleann]

it must be so very lovely to grow up with a mom who sees you like this

[M ☆ @duskgumi]

i love being a poc. we’re all related through rice, plastic chairs and that royal dansk cookie tin our families use as a sewing kit 🫶🏽

[keji baby peperempe♥️ @madamkeji]

They arrested a woman in India because she documented and posted evidence of her sexual assault. THEY ARRESTED A VICTIM OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IN INDIA BECAUSE SHE EXPOSED HER ASSAULTER!!!