The launch
Posted on November 27, 2012
Subscribe:
RSS feed
42 Responses “The launch” →
Leave a comment
Blog Stats
- 24,786,826 hits
Join 3,144 other subscribers
Other blogs
Recent Comments
 | Satya on Girish AD’s ‘Premalu’ infuses… |
 | mvky on Readers Write In #681: Smart G… |
 | abishekspeare on Election talk… for those… |
 | theeversriram on Election talk… for those… |
 | MuchMuchMurghi on Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Amar Singh Chamk… |
 | Rahul on Girish AD’s ‘Premalu’ infuses… |
 | Rocky on Election talk… for those… |
| Rocky on Election talk… for those… |
| Rocky on Election talk… for those… |
 | Madan on Election talk… for those… |
| Madan on Election talk… for those… |
| Rahul on Election talk… for those… |
 | KK on Election talk… for those… |
| Rahul on Election talk… for those… |
| KK on Election talk… for those… |
Archives
Categories
Recent Posts
- Interview: Jithu Madhavan (‘Aavesham’)
- Readers Write In #688: Imtiaz Ali’s AMAR SINGH CHAMKILA Is A Biopic-Cum-Eulogy
- Interview: Manoj Bajpayee
- Jithu Madhavan’s ‘Aavesham’ is a fantastically written combination of comedy and action and drama
- Vineeth Sreenivasan’s ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’ is a middling, unfocused bromance that also wants to be a meta-commentary on the film industry
- Election talk… for those interested!
- Sajin Shrijith’s review of Jithu Madhavn’s ‘Aavesham’: Fahadh Faasil at his most electrifying and animated in a laugh fest
- Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’ is a beautifully made biopic that showcases a man as well as morality
- Sajin Shrijith’s review of ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’: Vineeth Sreenivasan delivers his biggest, most wholesome film yet
- Amit Sharma’s ‘Maidaan’ is a sports melodrama/biopic that needed more consistent and engaging writing, but it has its moments
- Readers Write In #687: Trees that are trees, and trees that are not
- Readers Write In #686: Anand Ekarshi’s ‘AATTAM’- ‘An introspection’
- Interview: Elan (‘Star’)
- Interview: Priya Mani (‘Maidaan’)
- Interview: Sandeep Reddy Vanga (‘Spirit’, etc.)
- Book Excerpt: Bollypolitics
- Readers Write In #685: Aadujeevitham
- Readers Write In #684: The Hall of Thousand Pillars
- Interview: Aayush Sharma (‘Ruslaan’)
- Readers Write In #683: Tabassum madam ki jai ho!
- Kairam Vaashi reviews Parasuram Petla’s ‘Family Star’:
- Readers Write In #682: Retracing the past one year at a time
- Interview: Vineeth Sreenivasan (‘Varshangalkku Sesham’)
- Kairam Vaashi reviews Simple Suni’s ‘Avatara Purusha 2’:
- Interview: Choreographer Bhushan
- Interview: Mrunal Thakur (‘Family Star’)
- Sajid Ali’s ‘Woh Bhi Din The’, on ZEE5, is a sweet look at school days, filled with lovely, delicate moments
- Interview: Siddhu Jonnalagadda (‘Tillu Square’)
- Blessy’s ‘Aadujeevitham’ has its moments and gets an A for effort, but given the source, this should have been a far more moving film
- Rajesh Krishnan’s ‘Crew’ is an undemanding watch, lit up by the pleasure of watching stars having fun
- Interview: Vijay Deverakonda (‘Family Star’)
- Kairam Vaashi reviews Santhosh Ananddram’s ‘Yuva’: A ‘template debut-hero film’ that feels dated from the get-go
- Sajin Shrijith’s review of Blessy’s ‘Aadujeevitham’: A hard-hitting survival drama blessed by a towering performance from Prithviraj
- Interview: Arun Bose (‘Marivillin Gopurangal’)
- Readers Write In #681: Smart Gadgets, Dumb Humans
- Readers Write In #680: அற்புதமான நாள்
- Interview: Sara Ali Khan (‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’, ‘Murder Mubarak’)
- Interview: Anand Ekarshi (‘Aattam’, now on Prime Video)
- Kairam Vaashi reviews Sree Harsha Konuganti’s ‘Om Bheem Bush’: A silly-funny brainless buddy comedy which reveals its trump card not before testing our patience
- The TM Krishna affair… aka The controversy over Sangeetha Kalanidhi
- Interview: Girish Kasaravalli (the remastered ‘Ghatashraddha’, and other things)
- Interview: Imtiaz Ali (‘Amar Singh Chamkila’)
- Interview: Sidharth Bharathan
- Kairam Vaashi reviews Raj Guru’s ‘Kerebete’: An issue-based film with an interesting backdrop that doesn’t offer much on the subject but rather relies heavily on its twist
- Readers Write In #679: A Feast of a Song
- Interview: Shoojit Sircar
- Readers Write In #678: The Messiah Among the Sands
- Sajin Shrijith’s review of Ullas Chemban’s ‘Anchakkallakokkan’: A visually appealing film with a major attention-deficit problem
- Interview: Prithviraj (‘Aadujeevitham’)
- Readers Write In #677: Manjummel Boys – ‘Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin Todenge ,Chhodenge Dum Magar , Tera Saath Na Chhodenge’
Baradwaj Rangan 
Manreet S Someshwar (@manreetss)
November 27, 2012
Congrats Mr Rangan! I am sure the book will be super – shall pick it up when next in Des.
Cheers
LikeLike
Harish Udayakumar
November 27, 2012
All the best for the launch. Its going to be a steller launch with the book already getting awesome reviews. Please make a video of the entire launch program and upload it on YouTube for those like me who can’t make it for the launch.
LikeLike
Gayathri
November 27, 2012
All the very best for the launch.
LikeLike
shiva
November 27, 2012
is this event covered exclusively by any top media house
LikeLike
K Rajaram IRS
November 27, 2012
god bless you and congradulations
LikeLike
venkatesh
November 27, 2012
Launch ?? – is the book generally available ? – or is this something else
LikeLike
Prasanna
November 27, 2012
Bravo. I am halfway through the book. It is sweet nostalgia for me to re-live the films and the songs. I am one of the ‘generation’ identified by you who adopted Mani as their own. Along the way the magic has dissipated, as it always will. So a big thank you for rekindling my love affair with Mani’s movies.
LikeLike
dinakaranonline
November 27, 2012
Good Luck Sir ! I already bought the book and even finished it 🙂 Can i get Mani sir autograph if I bring the book ? 😉
LikeLike
Sonofgun
November 27, 2012
Please make a video of this, B. And all the best!
LikeLike
hari
November 27, 2012
Awesome read. Will probably have to revisit the book after a Manirathnam movie night.
LikeLike
athreya
November 27, 2012
Hope your discussion covers the continued preference of directors (Mani included) for dubbing and not live sound recording.
LikeLike
Sakkaravarthi
November 27, 2012
I’m done reading halfway through the book and I have to say that it is brilliant. I’m glad you kept it in this format, made the conversations more natural, more engaging. Loved the part when Mani talks about his troubles with the Censor Board. I don’t think I can watch a Mani Ratnam movie without thinking about these conversations!!
LikeLike
athreya
November 28, 2012
There has been a soft launch. This is the hard one:-)
LikeLike
meera
November 28, 2012
Yet to read the book but can’t wait I get my hands on it! Good luck for the launch!
LikeLike
KayKay
November 28, 2012
Wish I could be there. Any chance at all that this would be filmed and I can catch it on cable or YouTube? All the best, B!
LikeLike
oracle86
November 28, 2012
Hope Penguin brings you to Delhi also as part of the promotion for the book launch.
LikeLike
Ananthanarayanan Subramanian
November 29, 2012
Would I be able to buy a copy there so that you can sign it? 🙂
LikeLike
aneek
December 1, 2012
did any of you check out the latest open magazine review of this book?i was grinning ear to ear reading it.
LikeLike
Vikram
December 1, 2012
BR, are you coming to Bangalore as part of the launch event?
LikeLike
brangan
December 2, 2012
Aneek: After a whole bunch of rapturous reviews from all leading mags and newspapers, one less-than-enthused review has got to be par for the course 🙂 But was a little surprised that he found that I took a backseat. Hmmm…
Vikram: I have a reading in Bangalore on Dec 23. Will put up details once things are confirmed.
LikeLike
Praveen
December 2, 2012
In Bangalore too?! Wow! Pls do let us know. I will be in Chennai for this one though.
LikeLike
Vikram
December 2, 2012
cool, would there be a signing as well after the reading?…look fwd to the details….
LikeLike
aneek
December 2, 2012
BR , i thought that part where Mani Ratnam called you out for finding some abstract meaning where none existed not once but a few times,in his movies,absolutely hilarious.sometimes i found the same thing in your reviews,but somehow cajoled myself into believing,”heck ,i missed it”.now that Mani Ratnam mentioned the same i figure i wasnt that wrong on a few counts.i m so buying the book now.
having said that,i gotta tell you i enjoyed reading those more than anything,because that shows you bring in to your reviews the same kind of passion that a good scriptwriter or an auteur brings while conceptualising each and every touch in their movies.somehow i miss this thing in your reviews lately.why dont you review a lil bit of world cinema also?it leaves the field ripe for interpretations.just throw in a bit of world cinema into the mix once in a while.Or that section where you used to describe meticulously and interpret a particular scene in a classic foreign movie.?
LikeLike
brangan
December 3, 2012
Aneek: Do read the book. Especially the parts where he points out, himself, instances from his films of what you call “abstract meanings” 🙂
LikeLike
Dhilip
December 3, 2012
B,
Can i plz get an invite.
Wanna make it to the launch.
Plz lemme know.
LikeLike
srivi84
December 5, 2012
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chen-arts/chen-books/candid-conversations-on-cinema/article4163732.ece?homepage=true – The Hindu’s coverage of the launch
LikeLike
Vinod
December 6, 2012
BR,
Please have a reading at Mumbai too! ‘Would love to be there. ‘Am kind-of mesmerized with his moview
LikeLike
Vikram
December 17, 2012
BR, any update on the bangalore reading?
LikeLike
brangan
December 17, 2012
vikram: Here goes –
A reading/launch of “Conversations with Mani Ratnam” — 23rd December, Sunday 6:00PM. In conversation with Arul Mani.
This is a free event. Please call the bookstore at 3018 1626 / 96325 10126 to book your seats. Venue: Atta Galatta, 3002 Sobha Dahlia, Sarjapur Outer Ring Road, Bangalore, Karnataka 560103.
LikeLike
brangan
December 19, 2012
vikram: Please note the correct address for the Bangalore event this Sunday – The venue (Atta Galatta) is at -75, 2nd Main, 1st Block, Koramangala, Bangalore 95.
LikeLike
Rangeesh
December 19, 2012
Wow. A Reading huh. Who’s doing Mani Ratnam’s voice ?
LikeLike
Kiruba
December 20, 2012
BR: Is this the quizzing guy?
BTW, Atta Galatta is a nice little place to be. Hope I can make it there on Sunday
LikeLike
brangan
December 20, 2012
Kiruba: Yes, that’s him.
LikeLike
brangan
December 27, 2012
vikram: Were you the guy in the front row at the launch? He came up after the discussion to get the book signed and said his name was Vikram, and I didn’t make the connection then. If that was you, well, nice to have met you 🙂
LikeLike
brangan
December 31, 2012
A report in The Hindu about the Bangalore event around “Conversations with Mani Ratnam” — http://www.thehindu.com/arts/books/talking-about-talking/article4238160.ece
LikeLike
Vikram
January 6, 2013
yes that was me 🙂 ….thanks for making it to bangalore and for signing the
copy…. good to have met you….
LikeLike
puntonpiper
February 9, 2013
Did u receive the pics from Kol Launch with director-Q?
LikeLike
brangan
February 10, 2013
puntonpiper: I got one set that Arijit kindly sent across. Will load them soon. Just got to a computer after almost two days of non-access in Cal and Durgapur, hence the delay.
LikeLike
brangan
March 10, 2013
Found this and thought I’d post the link (The New Indian Express’s coverage of the Chennai launch):
http://newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/article1366695.ece
LikeLike
whencat
July 19, 2013
Brangan, I found this in Hindu archives:
Among directors it is Mani Ratnam.
“In fact, he participated in the 100th day function of Gopala Gopala. He said his first three films did not work out satisfactorily. At that time, a producer approached him to do a movie. He asked the producer whether he was aware that his films were flops and whether he had seen the movies. The answer was a big `no’. Why then did the producer insist on him doing the film, he asked.
The producer told him that it was Pandiarajan who asked him to book Mani Ratnam as director and seek his dates. Mani Ratnam narrated this in the presence of my guru K. Bhagyaraj, Vairamuthu and others. I was literally moved to tears. He is a world-renowned director and his words still ring in my ears.”
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/13/stories/2006071307420200.htm
I don’t remember this story being captured in the book (was it edited out for some reason?). Or am I missing something?
LikeLike
brangan
July 21, 2013
whencat: This wasn’t in the book. And yes, there was stuff edited out elsewhere because of the need to stick to the word length.
LikeLike
brangan
October 15, 2016
Kind intimation from a reader:
“When I bought the ‘Conversations with Mani Ratnam’ book, it didn’t have the chapter on ‘Kadal’. I have read comment threads on your blog where people have asked for that chapter to be made available. I was delighted to find it on Google Play.
I presume that many of your readers are still looking for it. Here’s the link to the e-book on the Google play US store: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Baradwaj_Rangan_Conversations_with_Mani_Ratnam?id=i75zCgAAQBAJ
The price ($1.68) is fair. I’m not sure if it is available in India. I couldn’t check that from the US. If you share it on your blog, I think it’ll make a lot of readers happy.”
LikeLike