TDK is filled with ridiculous coincidences, but only because your holding it up to a higher bar. Would you call Batman Begins ridiculous? No because it was a silly movie with fun comic books themes in it, its not meant to taken seriously. TDK strives to employ grander themes and deeper psychological issues, with a more 'take me seriously tone', but continues with the silly coincidences. Its a little galling but in my opinion a lot of people don't notice because it encapsulates you into the movies logic sufficiently to override most people’s common sense.

Spielberg cant be compared with Hitchcock or Scorsese....Spielberg is nowhere even close to legends like that....

i understand Spielberg is many people's fays coz they watched many of his movies in high school which they loved...but only three of his movies could be considered classics....

He can't be compared with Nolan or QT coz the later two's movies have much more depth....

As far as entertainment value is considered compare Schindler's list which is Spielberg's best movie with Pulp Fiction or The Dark Knight....

I can watch the later two five times back to back...but I can't Schindler's list...my head will burst if i try it......although no doubt it's a really great movie....

as for his movies like Jurassic Park or Jaws....he uses a lot of awesome special effects but 'shark still looks fake

with all due respect to some of the above comments i think steven Spielberg was the director who invented the genre of summer blockbuster in the states and eventually all over the world.
He was the first director who made movies for the family with full entertainment package.
It would be foolhardy to compare the director with the greats like ford Francis coppola or martin Scorsese.
But to his credit, Spielberg gave away some precious gems like the schindler's list and Saving private Ryan. and who can forget The Jaws and the Jurassic Park.

even talking speil berg is someone who is supposed to be the demy god of Hollywood he can never ever be compared with any of them all the people u mentions are the people who stick to some kind of genera but speilberg is someone who did movies of every gendre he is the father of hollywood block busters .He is the man who made Jurassic park possible wht can i say and wht is this comparison of schedulers list with pf and all every movie has its own soul and can't be compared.
If u think Speilberg is not good as some single movie hunk thn u has to think again.

speilberg is equal to or better than qt.(even i am qt fan, not Spielberg fan but fact is fact)

Nolan is nowhere near him,fuss.jurassic park had ZERO character development...

summer blockbusters are for kids....

saving private ryan,munich and schindler's list are the only movies he gave that can be considered classics....
and spielberg started out wid wat??hes made jus bout one movie every year!his filmography can hardly be called consistent!nolan has been outperforming himself wid every movie that he makes!
Spielberg as director is any day better than Nolan.

Jurassic park is classic in it's genre, it doesn't need to have character development bcoz it is not required there.

i can't call any nolan movies great yet,memento,tdk,insomnia were very good though but schindler's list,spr-ahh awesome.
I like the work of QT and as well as Nolan infact speaking of things i'm dying fan of Qt

But how in the name of god u can compare someone with a legend like speil.The 3 masterpieces u mentioned as spiel bergs work are the works tht are similar to QT and Nolan tht is because thy belong to tht particular gender only but speil didn't chain himself to a particular gender he is the director of "Munich" and he is the director of "JP"
he is the one of "Indiana Jhones" he directed also the director of
"catch me if u can" and also "terminal" he brought a revolution in film industry by producing several masterpieces .How can u even not talk abt minority report he brought such a complex stories close to the people.

I wish to see such a versatility in QT and Nolan i want to see them making a comedy flilck.Thts a distant call so never go near a demi god.
fame achieved by a person shouldn’t affect ur opinion on his performance ...i m sure if srk was a flop star & had no fans then same people who criticize him would call him a gr8 actor...same goes with spielberg & other popular people,
the best is
steven speilberg without ne doubt n hesitation
because he is veteran director given great commercial hits n also proved his versatility by successfully directing movies like the schindlers list........etc


Nolan is good but not great though im a big fan of TDK n memento............
but experience counts alot

Nolan may overtake Spielberg after some 12 to 15 yrs....FOR SURE??????

and yes...any day...i would choose Pulp Fiction or TDK over schindler's list if you talk abt entertainment values.


Spielberg caters to the public who watch a movie at the end of the day for entertainment....I AM NOT FOR ONCE SAYING THAT HE ISN'T A GREAT FILM-MAKER...

BUT NOLAN OR QT???THESE GUYS MAKE MOVIES FOR THE SAKE OF THE MOVIES NOT FOR MAKING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OR BECOMING BLOCKBUSTERS....

WOULD YOU CALL JURASSIC PARK OR JAWS BETTER THAN MEMENTO OR RESERVOIR DOGS???HELL NO!!!!

SPIELBERG IS GREAT IN THE SAME WAY SHAH RUKH KHAN IS GREAT IN INDIA..EVEN THOUGH HE IS AN AVERAGE ACTOR.....

abt scorcese,hitchcock,they are better than all these three .

and Jurassic park is a classic in it's genre, nowhere it is written that special effect movies can't be classics.

he is a legend no doubt..coz he has given the most no. of blockbusters by any director...and i do not expect anyone to beat him in the near future...he makes his movies keeping his audiences in mind..its appeals to everyone...common people all of his movies are enjoyable for the 1st view!!..but none of them are in any way cult classics..because he doesnt mean his movies to be like that...and i respect him for that...his movies are meant to give entertainment ...he doesnt give u anything to scratch ur heads over!!

comparing him with any director (especially NOLAN) is not justified..its like comparing apples with oranges...both have different flavours but and are also good in their own way!
Nolan is nowhere near spielberg dude. i would like to call Nolan a critic's director just dont understand the comparison. spielberg is a veteran and a legend in his field as he is a very experienced director. Spielberg has directed variety of talent in his growing years and have made stars out of them from them being nowhere. take example of vin diesel who become a star after working in his movie saving private Ryan.
nolan has been only working with limited actors like Christian bale for all these years.
nolan is just experiencing his honeymoon period in the hollywood industry as he is yet to make a bad film.
only time will tell if he can up the tempo with his new films. and u know what pressure is certainly on nolan after directing dark knight as he will have to make merry of his talent without heath ledger, which i think was the backbone of the movie while continuing the batman series.
all these debates will be put to rest after Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln with Liam nelson of the schindler's list fame.it iz goin to be bigger than the former one.
comparing nolan with spielberg is foolish..it's like mrinal said..comparing apples with oranges...Compare Spielberg with Cameron or Zemeckis...compare Nolan with..well Nolan is incomparable simply coz of the fact that his movies with the exception of following are in a genre of their own....

Torantino is one kind of director who discusses the things with extremely brilliant words and performances where as in the Nolan's films it is done by story and screenplay.

Torantino's films have excellent screenplay but even if they don't have that screenplay he could have done that excellence only with the dialogues the depth of discussion of the characters in his movies that’s the thing with made torantino excellent .
I think every1 is good!
I mean comparison is not possible..!
Nolan has made great impact. Spielberg has a lot of real good movies..!!

So I feel comparison not possible. But it is a fact tat Spielberg has heck of an experience.. So will his movies be influenced by tat!
Where as in Nolan's film the excellence is through the extraordinary screenplay along with the great story and great performances altogether makes his movies awesome
Cheers !!!

Kamal Haasan is one of the greatest actors in the Indian Film industry, particularly in the South Indian filmdom. He is a multi-faceted actor best known for his experimental roles, innovative ideas, perfectionism and above all, his diverse talent in the areas of acting and dance. He holds the record of bagging the maximum number of Filmfare and national awards in the Indian film industry- totalling above 150. Also, it is noteworthy that seven of his films had been nominated for the Oscars.

 

Kamal Haasan was born in November,1954 in the state of Tamil Nadu. He showed a keen interest in dance and cinema from childhood. He started his filming career as a child artiste in Kalathur Kanamma, a Tamil film which won him the National Film Award for Best Child Artist. He later went on to act in almost all the South Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. He also worked as a director, producer, choreographer and script writer. Furthermore, he lent his voice as a playback singer for movies like Puddu Pettai (Tamil, 2006), Sathi Leelavathi (Tamil, 1995) and Mumbai Express (Tamil, 2005). Some of the more interesting films in which Kamal Haasan rendered a laudable performance are as follows:

 

Apporva Raagangal (Tamil, 1975): This film is Kamal Haasan’s  first major film that did well at the box-office. It was later remade into Hindi as 'Ek Naya Paheli.' The film basically deals with the relationships between people having wide age variations. It has won the Silver Lotus Award for the Best Regional Film and also won a Filmfare award for Kamal Hasan.

 

Avargal (Tamil, 1977): In this film, Kamal Haasan acts as a ventriloquist, in silent love with a divorced woman. It was later remade into Telugu as 'Idi katha Kadu'.

 

Apoorva Sagodharargal (Tamil, 1989) This picture, later dubbed into Kannada, Telugu and Hindi, was also a huge success. In this film, Kamal Haasan plays three roles, including that of the father- a police inspector- at the beginning of the film. The uniqueness of this film is that one of roles is that of a dwarf which Kamal accomplished with superb ingenuity.

 

 

Pushpaq Vimanam(Kannada, 1988): This is a total silent movie with no dialogues, yet was able to capture the interest of the audience. It got  Kamal Haasan the FilmFare Best Kannada Actor Award.

 

Michael MadanaKama Rajan (Tamil, 1991): In this movie, which was later dubbed into Telugu, Kamal Haasan  plays four different roles with ease and perfection. He distinguished the four roles by his dialect and also by appearance.

 

Guna (Kannada,1991):  This film is about a mentally retarded person, played by Kamal Haasan,  who stays in a mental asylum for treatment and later falls in love with a rich girl. Kamal Haasan bagged the Best Actor Award for his splendid performance in the film. The picture was later dubbed into Telugu.

 

Avvai Shanmughi(Tamil, 1996): This film has Kamal Haasan don a female attire to play the part of  Laxmi Godbole  in the latter half of the film. The picture was remade in Hindi as Chachi 420 and in Telugu as Bhamane Satyabhamane.  Another remarkable feature of this film is that Kamal Haasan, lent his voice to a solo sung by the ‘lady’.

 

 

Indian(Tamil,1996): This is a film where Kamal Haasan portrays a dual role, one is a politician and other a common broker. His performance in the film won him the National Best Actor award and Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award. The film was even nominated for the Best foreign Language film category in the Academy Awards. The picture was later released in Telugu as 'Bharateeyudu' and Hindi as 'Hindustani'.

 

 

Dasavatharam (Tamil, 2000): This brilliant film saw Kamal Haasan portraying ten different roles-ranging from a traditional priest to the President of United States. He, in fact, created a world record by donning as many as ten distinct roles.

 

 

 

Hey Ram (Tamil, 2000): This film, which was simultaneously released in Hindi with the same name, deals with religious factionalism and basically takes place in the pre-independence era. Kamal Haasan won the Filmfare Best Tamil Actor award for his performance in the film.

 

Noted Telugu films in which Kamal Haasan starred

 

Maro Charitram (1978, later remade into Hindi as Ek Duje Keliye )  :  This is a romantic film where Kamal Hassan plays the hero, a Brahmin boy, who falls in love with a lower-caste girl. The film ends tragically; this reminds us of some of the evergreen love-stories of the past.

 

Akali Rajyam (1981) Here,  Kamal Haasan portrays the part of an unemployed youth who comes to Delhi in search of a job, but detests the hypocrisy, corruption and deceit in the society.

 

Sagara Sangamam(1983): In this classical film, Kamal Haasan plays the role of a passionate classical dancer who aspires to become big, but ends up as a drunkard.

 

Oka Radha Iddaru Krishnulu (1985): A comical film where Kamal Haasan does a dual role; one of that of a college-boy named Murali Krishna and the other an employed youth named Hari Krishna.

 

Swathi Muthyam (1985, later remade into Hindi): In this film, Kamal Haasan plays the role of an innocent and simple village lad who always strives for the good of others.

 

Indrudu Chandrudu (1989, later remade in Tamil and Hindi): Kamal Haasan plays a double role, one as the City’s Mayor, and the other as an educated youth, who

eventually takes the place of the Mayor after the latter’s death.

 

Subha Sankalpam (1995, later dubbed into Tamil): This film sees Kamal Haasan portray the role of a fisherman, who belongs to the lot who does folk dances.

 

He even stepped into Bollywood and played a lead role in some hit films like Akhri Sangram(1984), Saagar(1985), Dekha Pyar Tumharaa(1985) etc.

 

Kamal Haasan’s only Bengali film is 'Kabita' released in 1977 which is a remake of his Tamil film Aval Oru Thodarkathai (the Telugu version is 'Anthuleni Katha' and the Kannada version is 'Bankiyalli Aralidu Hoovu').

 

As Director and Producer

 

The films which Kamal Haasan directed apart from playing the role of protagonist, are Virumandi(Tamil), Avvai Shanmughi(Tamil) and Hey Ram(Tamil, Hindi).

 

The first film which was produced by Kamal Haasan was Raja Paarvai in 1981, in which he also played the role of a violinist. This was followed by the film Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu in 1987 in which he does a guest role also.

 

There are more than a 100 films covering all the major languages that can be credited to Kamal Haasan. He is undoubtedly one of the supreme actors that the film industry has ever witnessed. His commitment and dedication to the world of cinema has also won him the Padma Shree from the Indian Government in 1990. Also, Kamal Haasan has recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2009-2010 in Chennai.

 

The National Youth Festival Convention has been a part of National Youth Festivals since its inception; i.e.1995.Selected youth belonging to the NSS from all over the country and National Awardees will take active part in the deliberations wherein they usually discuss their achievements in their respective fields, besides paper presentations. The convention will be organised on 13th and 14th January,2008 at Anna Auditorium, Madras Veterinary College, Vepery, Chennai from 2p.m to 5p.m.there will be 15 groups of 10 volunteers each and each group will deliver a presentation on the theme “youth for progress and Excellence’, through LCD,Oral and paper. After each presentation, there will be an interactive session and the gist of the discussions will be documented by a panel of experts. The documents thus developed will be published and released on the Valedictory Function of the national Youth Festival on 16th January 2008. The arrangements will remain same as in the case of suvichar.

`Pongal’, this is one of the high points of a festival celebrating the rice harvest in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu lies in the far south of India. While its eastern part is a broad, flat plain, the western part is hilly. The most important hills are Nilgiri hills. The Cauvery and Ponnaiyar rivers began in the hills on the west and flow into Bay of Bengal.

Tamil Nadu has a very warm climate. The summers are hot and the winters are moderate. The state gets rain both in winter and summer.

Rice is the most important crop. Maize, Jowar, bajra and dals are also planted. Sugar –cane, cotton and tobacco grow well on the lowlands. Near the foot of the Nilgiri Hills rubber trees are grown. Higher up on the hills are tea and coffee gardens.

The coastline of Tamil Nadu is over 1500 km long. Along the coast there are many small fishing villages. The most important fish are Pomfret, mackerel and prawns.

Tamil Nadu has the third largest number o mills and factories among the Indian states. They make cotton and silk cloth, paper, cigarettes, cement, rubbers tyre, scooters, cars and army tanks. There is an iron and steel plant at Salem.

Coastal plain: area near the coast.

Lowlands: plains.

Coastline: outline of coast; coast is an area of land next to sea.

Satellite: an object sent into space to be part of communication system.

Tinned: persevered and sealed in a tin.

Harbor: the place where ships stop.

Breakwater: barrier built out into the sea to break the force of weaves.

Many of the warm, moist fields of south India grow two crops o paddy or rice during the year. One harvest time comes in January, and it brings a festival, as harvests of all sorts in Indian usually do.

Since most of the states of Indian have their own languages, the rice harvest has many different names. In all the states of the south, through, people make a special sweet of new rice, sugar, fruits and utter oil to celebrate the harvest. This sweet called Pongal in Tamil Nadu state and the rice festival also called pongal.

It is three days celebrate festival.

On the first day of the festival, people thank the gods or sending rains to make the harvest good. They visit the nearby temple with their gifts for the gods. The gifts may be mall or as large as painted clay horses several feet tall. Lines of these horses can be seen outside many shrines.

On the second day, thanks are given to the sun. The mother of the family rises early and bathes. As soon as she has bathed, she starts the cooking some of the new rice for the holiday sweets. She may do this coking on a specially decorated hearth out in the courtyard for open-air living.

Meanwhile, men who are skilled at climbing the tall slender coconut trees bring down young coconuts. With one skilful swipe of a sharp-bladed field knife, a man slashes through the thick, fibrous shell. He makes a small hole into the milk –filled centre of the nut. This sweet drink is a favorite treat for the harvest festival –or for any day.

The third day of the holiday is planned to honor the cattle that have also helped in the growing of the crops and in the harvest. Men ad boys take the family bullock or water buffalo to some water hole and splash water over its broad back to wash it clean. Then only they paint the animal’s horns, perhaps bright blue or gold. They may add topknots decked with shimmering blue –green peacock feathers, and girls may hang garlands of flowers around the necks of the hardworking beasts.

It is hard to tell whether or not the animals know they are being honored. But people of India feel that the cattle deserve their share in celebrations. In various parts of India, the day for honoring the cattle may be part of different festivals, but everywhere the cattle have their day. Often there is a parade with music in their honor, and the faithful beasts are given tastes of the special sweets their masters enjoy so much.