Salt 'N' Pepper Review : Must Taste This..!!!

Attention please : keep this in mind while going for director Aashiq Abu’s Salt n’ Pepper. .. ‘Don’t watch this film with an empty stomach’.There is every chance that you will feel hungry even as you are inside the theatre, as this story is being narrated with food as the backdrop.

Kalidasan (Lal) is an archaeologist who is equally obsessed with food, and the smell and feel of the past. Maya (Swetha Menon) lives in another corner of the town, and has to put up with a job as a dubbing artiste that she enjoys, but which is often contrary to her beliefs. The two strike up a conversation that doesn't go too well, after one of Maya's calls to the local Dosa guy ends up on Kalidasan's mobile. Hate slowly gives way to affection, but when they decide to finally meet however, Kalidasan on the spur of the moment sends over his nephew Manu (Asif Ali) instead. And, Meenakshi (Mythili), Maya's roommate, volunteers to make an appearance on her behalf.

With brilliant visuals by Shyju Khaled and fantastic music by Biji Bal, Salt n’ Pepper is a brave experiment made stylishly and with lots of honesty.

Watch out for the superb scene where Kalidasan meets Babu, which is amazingly hilarious. The film has its moments, but certain scenes are far from convincing. Like the mooppan who is there in the story without much of relevance.

This is perhaps the first film that I have seen, where an entire audience smacks their lips in anticipation, barely two minutes into it. This is a dream-come-true film for any foodie out there, but even for the others there is no escape from the drool and dribble. Get ready for some real flooding in your mouths, as almost everyone in the film digs into food, and more food.

Salt n’ Pepper may have its own share of shortcomings, but the sincerity with which it has been made is there to be seen in the film.

It’s a young film which oozes lots of freshness and it is enjoyable for people of all ages, especially if you love your food.

Aashiq Abu and his team (that includes the fantastic writers Syam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair) adhere to the golden rules of good cooking, and see to it that the griddle is all hot, before they gently spread out a light hearted Dosa story on it. The batter is rich and consistently textured with much mirth and laughter and it settles down on the tava, with a sizzling hum. They grease it a bit further with a dollop of emotional butter that melts all over it in no time. Just as the crust turns firm, they flip it over, and let it turn a golden brown on both sides. And once done, roll it over to a swank platter, and serve it piping hot.

Engineering Colleges in Kerala 2011

Government and Aided colleges under the Director of Technical Education (DTE) College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram 695016. Government Engineering College, Barton Hill, Thiruvananthapuram 695035. Government Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Vellore P.O, Pampady Kottayam 686501. Government Engineering College Thrissur, R V Puram 680009. Government Engineering College Palakkad, Sreekrishnapuram 679513. Government College of Engineering Mangattuparamba, Parassinikadavu P.O, Kannur 670563. Government Engineering College Kozhikode, West Hill P.O Kozhikode 673005. Government Engineering College Painavu, Idukki 685603. Government Engineering College Wayanad, Nalloornad P.O, Mananthavady 670645. TKM College of Engineering, TKM College Post, Kollam 691005. N.S.S College of Engineering, Engineering College P.O, Akathethara, Palakkad 678008. Mar Athanasius College of Engineering , College P.O, Kothamangalam, Ernakulam 686666. Engineering Colleges under the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) College of Dairy Science and Technology, Mannuthy P.O Thrissur 680651. Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur P.O, Malappuram 679573. Self-financing Engineering Colleges under the Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD) College of Engineering, Manakkala P.O, Adoor 691551. College of Engineering, Chengannur P.O, Alappuzha 689121. Model Engineering College, B.M.C Post, Thrikkaara, Kochi 682021. College of Engineering, Karunagapally, Pada.North P.O, Karunagapally 690518. College of Engineering, Thekkekara P.O, Poonjar 686582. College of Engineering, Attingal, Thiruvananthapuram 695101. College of Engineering, Thrikkannamangal ETC P.O, Kottarakara 691531. College of Engineering, Pallippuram P.O, Cherthala 688541. College of Engineering, Kallooppara, Kadamankulam P.O, Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta 689603. Self-financing Engineering College under the Bahadur Shastri Centre for Science and Technology L.B.S College of Engineering, Kasaragod, Povval, Muliyar P.O, Kasaragod - 671542. L.B.S Institute of Technology for Women, Poojapura P.O, Thiruvananthapuram 695012. Self-financing Engineering College under the KSRTC Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering, Pappanamcode P.O, Thiruvananthapuram 695018. Self -financing Colleges under the Co-operative Academy of Professional Education (CAPE) College of Engineering Kidangoor, Kidangoor South P.O, Kottayam 686583. College of Engineering Trikaripur, Cheemeni P.O, Cheruvathur, Kasaragod 671313. College of Engineering Eranjoli P.O, Thalassery, Kannur 670107. College of Engineering Perumon, Perinad P.O, Kollam 691601. Co-operative Institute of Technology, Mandarathur P.O, Kurunthodi, Vadakara, Kozhikode 673105. Self - financing Engineering College under the Mahatma Gandhi University Mahatma Gandhi University College of Engineering, Muttom P.O, Thodupuzha, Idukki 685587. Self-financing Engineering College under the University of Kerala University College of Engineering, Golden Jubilee Building, Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram 695581. Self-financing Engineering College under the University of Calicut Calicut University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kohinoor, Thenhipalam P.O, Malappuram 673636. Self-financing Engineering College under the Centre for Continuing Education College of Engineering, County Hills Munnar P.O, Idukki 685612.

Self-financing Engineering Colleges under Private Management Al-Ameen College of Engineering, Pattambi, Palakkad 679122. Amal Jyothi Engineering College, Kanjirapally, Kottayam 686518. Adi Sankara Institute of Engg. & Tech., Kalady, Eranakulam 683574. AWH Engineering College, Kuttikatoor, Kozhikkode- 673008. Baselios Mathew II College of Engg., Sasthamcotta, Kollam 690520. Carmel Engineering College, Koonamkara, Ranni, Pathanamthitta Federal Institute of Science & Tech., Mookkannoor, Ernakulam Ilahia College of Engineering & Tech., Mulavoor, Muvattupuzha I E S College of Engineering, Thrissur Jyothi Engineering College, Cheruthuruthy, Thrissur K M C T College of Engineering, Manassery, Kozhikkode K M E A Engineering College, Alwaye Lourdes Matha College of Science & Tech., Kuttichal, Trivandrum Mar Baselios Christian College of Engg. & Tech., Peermede, Idukki Mar Baselios College of Engineering & Tech., Nalanchira, Trivandrum Marian Engineering College, Kazhakuttom, Trivandrum Musaliar College of Engineering & Tech., Kumpazha, Pathanamthitta Mohandas College of Engg. & Tech., Nedumangad, Trivandrum M E A Engineering College, Chemmaniyod, Malappuram M E S College of Engineering, Kuttippuram Met's School of Engineering, Mala, Thrissur M G College of Engineering, Thiruvallom, Thiruvananthapuram. Saintgits College of Engineering, Pathamuttom, Kottayam Mangalam College of Engineering, Ettumanoor, Kottayam Mary Matha College of Engineering, Olathanni, Thiruvananthapuram Matha College of Technology, Manakappadi, North Pravur, Ernakulam Muslim Association College of Engineering, Venjaramoodu Mount Zion College of Engg., Pathanamthitta Nehru College of Engg. & Research Centre, Thiruvillwamala, Thrissur P A Aziz College of Engineering & Technology, Karakulam, Thiruvananthapuram Royal College of Engineering & Technology, Akkikkavu P O, Thrissur Rajagiri Schooll of Engg. & Tech., Kakkanad, Ernakulam Sree Buddha College of Engineering, Pattoor P O, Padanilam, Alappuzha. SCMS School of Engg. & Tech., Ernakulam Shahul Hameed Memorial Engineering College, Kadakkal, Kollam Sahrdaya College of Science & Tech., Kodakara, Thrissur Sarabhai Institute of Science & Technology, Kattakada, Vellanad, Nedumangad. St. Joseph's College of Engg. & Tech., Palai Sree Narayana Guru College of Engineering & Technology, Payyannur, Kannur Sree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering, Kadayiruppu P O, Ernakulam Sree Narayana Mangalam Inst. of Mgmt. & Tech., Maliankara Travancore Engineering College, Aayoor, Kollam T. K. M Institute of Technology, Ezhukone, Kollam Toc H Institute of Science & Technology, Mulamthurutthy, Ernakulam Vidya Academy of Science & Technology, Thrissur Veda Vyasa Institute of Technology, Ponnempadam P O, Karadparamba, Malappuram. Viswa Jyothi College of Engineering & Technology, Vazhakkulam, Ernakulam Vimal Jyothi Engineering College, Chemperi, Kannur Younus College of Engineering & Technology, Vadakkevila, Kollam.

Chappa Kurish Review–Experiment gone bad

Chappa Kurish Review–--Experiment gone bad

Chappa Kurish is produced by Listin Stephen who had earlier produced the highly acclaimed movie Traffic.

Screenplay is written by Sameer Thahir and Unni R.

Cinematography is by debutante Jomon T John .

Rex Vijayan has scored the music.

A skilled cameraman. A nice plot. Innovative music. Uninteresting screenplay. Experimenting actors. Exceptional publicity.
This is what chaappa kurish, the malayalam movie is. Chaappa got my attention through its amazing posters and visuals. Ajay and Papaya Media deserves kudos for this, because I haven’t seen any publicity in malayalam cinema to such perfection and quality. Both web, social, stills and print were unique and streamlined. Probably that is the reason why this movie had high hopes on.

My personal favorite was the Phantom flex, super slow motion action sequences(like the one used in 180 rules kidayaathu song) that were shown in the promos. To my disappointment, none of those sequences were shown in the movie at any time.
That apart, the movie is dragging. Accept it. From the start, there was a huge burden on viewers shoulders to remain patient. Its not the story but how it was treated that got flawed. In movies like Salt n Pepper where the story is simple (much like Chaapa Kurish), the situations were interesting with no overdose of slapstick comedy like in typical malayalam movies. But there was no comedy (probably the script “demanded” it) at all in the movie. To top it up the screenplay was so boring it failed to impress the audience in the first half. BGM by Rex Vijayan came in as a misfit to the audience’s mood but clearly they were innovative and awesome otherwise.
With comparisons to “fresh genre” in Malayalam movies like Salt n Pepper and Traffic, this movie is a big disappointment in the “impressing” audience area, however technically sound it might be.
Like someone commented, it was like an Amal Neerad movie with an Adoor Gopalakrishnan script taken when both were in a hurry.
However, nice work Papaya and nice acting attempts by Vineeth and Fahad. That dude however is getting type casted now. Isn’t it the second or third movie where he’s playing this new age – aggressive – flirty – young builder shithole – who’s forced to utter the f word every 30 mins? Wait, is that the new cool? Come on! Hope he doesn’t repeat it in his next movie. Ramya Nambeesan definitely has improved over the years and evolved into a better actress. That means more work for her personal trainer I’m sure. Vineeth does some good acting. But that amul baby face of his cheats him in those “oh yeah come on fck with me” shots. Vineeth, thalassery slang is getting type casted too bro. Get over it.
Interesting movement in Malayalam movies anyways. Hope this genre doesn’t get replicated to the “other typical part”. Suresh Gopi as the foul mouthed / shouting commissioner, chasing terrorists in Koch, camera by Amal Neerad (or someone who can handle slow motion well and grungy, sepia tones) and music by Aviyal with that salt n pepper bearded guy (from Sagar Alias reloaded) as the S.I. No, please.
2 Out of 5 for Chaapa Kurish. I know that’s sad but, that’s for them to make a better movie next time with more homework on screenplay.

source :

www.manikarthik.com/chappa-kurish-reviewan-experiment-gone-bad/

Deal With Twitter Expires, Google Realtime Search Goes Offline

Yesterday, we reported that Google Realtime Searchhad mysteriously disappeared. Today comes the reason why: Google’s agreement with Twitter to carry its results has expired, taking with it much of the content that was in the service with it.

Google sent us this explanation:

Since October of 2009, we have had an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results through a special feed, and that agreement expired on July 2.

While we will not have access to this special feed from Twitter, information on Twitter that’s publicly available to our crawlers will still be searchable and discoverable on Google.

Google also stressed that went Google Realtime Search relaunches — something it says will happen but with no set time frame — it will include content from a variety of sources and not just be solely devoted to Google+ material. The company said:

Our vision is to have google.com/realtime include Google+ information along with other realtime data from a variety of sources.

Google Realtime Search had carried content from a variety of services beyond Twitter, including Facebook fan page updates. When we last wrote about the service in April, when it added Quora and Gowalla content, this was the full source list:

• Twitter tweets
• Google News links
• Google Blog Search links
• Newly created web pages
• Freshly updated web pages
• FriendFeed updates
• Jaiku updates
• Identi.ca updates
• TwitArmy updates
• Google Buzz posts
• MySpace updates
• Facebook fan page updates
• Quora
• Gowolla
• Plixi
• Me2day
• Twitgoo

Still, as said, Twitter was the by far the most dominant content within the service. It’s unclear why the agreement was allowed to expire. Twitter sent me this:

Since October 2009, Twitter has provided Google with the stream of public tweets for incorporation into their real-time search product and other uses. That agreement has now expired. We continue to provide this type of access to Microsoft, Yahoo!, NTT Docomo, Yahoo! Japan and dozens of other smaller developers. And, we work with Google in many other ways.

For its part, Google said:

Twitter has been a valuable partner for nearly two years, and we remain open to exploring other collaborations in the future.

I’d say we have a bit of a standoff.

One reason I’d expect Twitter would do a deal with Google sometime soon is that otherwise, people largely have no way to locate tweets that are older than a few days.

Twitter has largely outsourced the service of Twitter search longer than a few days to Google, a deliberate decision so that Twitter could focus on other search features, such as its new Top Tweets feature, as covered more below:

• Move Over Time Sorting: Twitter Gets “Top Tweets” Search Results

The end of Google Realtime Search means that tiny search engine Topsy remains in the enviable situation of having the only major Twitter archive available on the web, to my knowledge. The stories below cover more about this:

• Where Have All The Old Tweets Gone?
• All The Old Tweets Are Found: Google Launches Twitter Archive Search
• Topsy: Now Searching Tweets Back To May 2008

Bing Social Search, which is a confusing name for what’s really Bing’s realtime search service, also has a deal with Twitter. Indeed, both the Twitter deals with Google and Microsoft wereannounced on the same day.

Twitter’s deal appears to be continuing with Bing. I still see search results showing up over there that include Twitter. But Bing’s service never went as far back in time as Google’s.

While Twitter may need Google to continue offering archive search, Google also potentially needs Twitter in another way. Google may have lost some of the data it has recently been using to bring social signals into its results, as covered more below:

• Google’s Search Results Get More Social; Twitter As The New Facebook “Like”

I’ve not yet been able to check on whether Google Social Search and other parts of Google have been impacted by the deal’s end. I’ll look at that later — I’m heading off to enjoy the 4th Of July myself now.

Update: Google has sent us a statement addressing the issue above:

While we will not have access to this special feed from Twitter, information on Twitter that’s publicly available to our crawlers will still be searchable and discoverable on Google.

As for other features such as social search, they will continue to exist, though without Twitter data from the special feed.

You can certainly understand why Google+ has become even more important to the service now. While Google has gotten by largely without social signals from Facebook, having its own data from Google+ gives it insulation if it now has to get by without Twitter signals, as well.

Google’s Sending Webmaster Notifications About Bad Links Pointing At Their Sites

In January 2011, Google began sending out more webmaster tool spam notifications including notifications that your site has been penalized because of selling links. Now there are reports that Google is notifying webmasters that they have bad links pointing to their web site, as opposed to bad links on their web site pointing outwards.

Here is a sample of the email notification from Google:

Dear site owner or webmaster of http://www.domain.com/,

We’ve detected that some of your site’s pages may be using techniques that are outside Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

Specifically, look for possibly artificial or unnatural links pointing to your site that could be intended to manipulate PageRank. Examples of unnatural linking could include buying links to pass PageRank or participating in link schemes.

We encourage you to make changes to your site so that it meets our quality guidelines. Once you’ve made these changes, please submit your site for reconsideration in Google’s search results.

If you find unnatural links to your site that you are unable to control or remove, please provide the details in your reconsideration request.

If you have any questions about how to resolve this issue, please see our Webmaster Help Forum for support. Sincerely, Google Search Quality Team

As you can see, the key distinction here between the January notification and this notification are the words “unnatural links pointing to your site” versus “unnatural links on your site pointing to other sites.” As you can see, Google is telling webmasters that their site has been penalized because they have bad links, maybe paid links or other unnatural links, pointing to your site.

Google began its campaign against paid links in October 2007 and has continued the fierce campaign since then.