Enthiran is a 2010 Tamil-language science fiction film co-written and directed by S. Shankar. The film features Rajinikanth in dual roles, as a professor and an android robot. Aishwarya Rai and Danny Denzongpa play other lead roles while Santhanam, Karunas, Kalabhavan Mani, Devadarshini, and Cochin Haneefa play supporting roles.[4] The film's story revolves around a scientist's struggle to control his creation, an android robot whose programme was upgraded to give it the ability to comprehend and generate human emotions. The plan backfires as the robot falls in love with the scientist's fiancée and is further manipulated to bring destruction to the world when it lands in the hands of a rival scientist. How the robot is stopped from further destruction forms the rest of the plot.
After nearly a decade of pre-production work, the film was shot over two years beginning in 2008. Produced by Kalanithi Maran, it became India's most expensive film.[5] Upon release, it also made the largest worldwide opening for an Indian film.[6][7] The film's background score and soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman, which released as an album on 31 July 2010. The film released worldwide on 1 October 2010, along with its dubbed versions: Robot in Hindi and Robo in Telugu.[8] Upon release, it enjoyed critical acclaim and commercial success across the globe, collecting an unprecedented 62 crore in the opening weekend, becoming the highest-grossing Tamil film and the second highest-grossing Indian film of all time.[9]
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Kandahar (2010 film)
Kandahar is a 2010 Malayalam film directed by Major Ravi and starring Mohanlal, reprising his role from the sequels as Major Mahadevan. Amitabh Bachchan and Ganesh Venkatraman also play major roles in the film. The film is dubbed and released in Tamil and Hindi. The film is said to be based on the hijacking incident of the Indian Airlines Flight 814.[2][3] The sound design of this film is done by Baylon Fonseca. This film is produced by Sunil Nair under the banner Zoe Estebe Moviez Pvt. Ltd. and Mohanlal under Pranavam Arts International. The film, made at a budget of 6.5 crores, received largely negative critical reviews and ended up as a box office disasterThe film was released on 16 December 2010 in 111 theaters in Kerala, 9 theaters in Bengaluru, 5 theaters in Chennai, and around 18 theaters in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Hyderabad. Kandahar has collected 6.25 crores revenue from its total cost 6.50 crores before releasing through selling satellite rights, audio rights, video rights, overseas distribution rights, and theater advances. But the film have to take 4.5 crores from theatres to make the distributor safe.[1]
The film received largely negative reviews upon release.[11] Though it was one of the most awaited films of the year, it failed to attain a good word-of-mouth or a favorable critical review and is declared a box-office disaster.[11][4] A review by Sify, which rated the film "below average" said, "There are moments when every Indian would feel proud about being born in this great land, but the shaky script, ordinary action sequences and a faulty climax lets the film down."[12] Rediff published a nearly positive review saying, "A better script would have perhaps made the return of Major Mahadevan more appealing." It rated the film 2.5 in a scale of five.[13] OneIndia gave the movie a 3/5 rating,[14] and Now Running a 2/5.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Kamal is 'Viswa Kala Bharathi'
Kamal Haasan was conferred with 'Viswa Kala Bharathi' award by Bharat Kalachar in Chennai Friday for his outstanding service in the field of Tamil cinema with global recognition.
Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan conferred the honour on the actor as part of the 23rd Margazhi Mahotsav of Bharat Kalachar.
Inaugurating the music festival, Jagathrakshakan said that December was a month for jubilation for music lovers of Tamil Nadu. "We should congratulate Bharat Kalachar for conducting such a wonderful event and identifying talents."
For his service in the field of Carnatic music T V Sankaranarayanan was given 'Gana Kala Bharti Award' and B Saroja Devi and K S Raghuram were conferred with 'Natya Kaladhar Awards' for their contributions in Tamil cinema.
C V Chandrasekar was honored with 'Acharya Kala Bharathi Award' for his outstanding service in the field of Bharathanatyam for decades as a Guru. For bringing out excellent documentray films and T V serials S V Ramanan was given with 'Kala Seva Bharti Award'. While ' Nadaga Kala Bharati Award ' was given to V S Raghavan ' Hasya Kala Bharati', an award instituted in memory of C K Nagesh, was conferred to Chitralaya Gopu.
'Yuva Kala Bharati' awards were also distributed to young artists by the Minister. He also released Annual Souvenir of 22nd Bharat Kalachar Festival and inaugurated 'Cornea Project' of Rajan Eye Care Hospital.
Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan conferred the honour on the actor as part of the 23rd Margazhi Mahotsav of Bharat Kalachar.
Inaugurating the music festival, Jagathrakshakan said that December was a month for jubilation for music lovers of Tamil Nadu. "We should congratulate Bharat Kalachar for conducting such a wonderful event and identifying talents."
For his service in the field of Carnatic music T V Sankaranarayanan was given 'Gana Kala Bharti Award' and B Saroja Devi and K S Raghuram were conferred with 'Natya Kaladhar Awards' for their contributions in Tamil cinema.
C V Chandrasekar was honored with 'Acharya Kala Bharathi Award' for his outstanding service in the field of Bharathanatyam for decades as a Guru. For bringing out excellent documentray films and T V serials S V Ramanan was given with 'Kala Seva Bharti Award'. While ' Nadaga Kala Bharati Award ' was given to V S Raghavan ' Hasya Kala Bharati', an award instituted in memory of C K Nagesh, was conferred to Chitralaya Gopu.
'Yuva Kala Bharati' awards were also distributed to young artists by the Minister. He also released Annual Souvenir of 22nd Bharat Kalachar Festival and inaugurated 'Cornea Project' of Rajan Eye Care Hospital.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Online dating service
Online dating or Internet dating is a dating system which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal romantic or sexual relationship. Online dating services usually provide unmoderated matchmaking over the Internet, through the use of personal computers or cell phones.
Online dating services generally require a prospective member to provide personal information, before they can search the service provider's database for other individuals using criteria they set, such as age range, gender and location. Most sites allow members to upload photos of themselves and browse the photos of others. Sites may offer additional services, such as webcasts, online chat, telephone chat (VOIP), and message boards. Some sites provide free registration, but may offer services which require a monthly fee. Other sites depend on advertising for their revenue.
Many sites are broad-based, with members coming from a variety of backgrounds looking for different types of relationships. Other sites are more specific, based on the type of members, interests, location, or relationship desired.
United States residents spent $469.5 million[citation needed] on online dating and personals in 2004, and over $500 million in 2005, the largest segment of “paid content” on the web other than pornography, according to a study conducted by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and comScore Networks. The U.S. online dating market is expected to increase spending to $932 million in 2011.[1]
At the end of November 2004, there were 844 lifestyle and dating sites, a 38 percent increase since the start of the year, according to Hitwise Inc. However, market share was increasingly being dominated by several large commercial services, including AOL Personals, Yahoo! Personals, Match.com, and eHarmony. By 2007, many prominent studies show that Baby Boomer interest in online dating had soared. [2]
In 2002, a Wired magazine article forecast that, "Twenty years from now, the idea that someone looking for love without looking for it online will be silly, akin to skipping the card catalog to instead wander the stacks because 'the right books are found only by accident.' Serendipity is the hallmark of inefficient markets, and the marketplace of love, like it or not, is becoming more efficient."[3]
Most recently, it has become common for online dating websites to provide webcam chats between members. In addition, as the online dating population becomes larger, sites with specific demographics are becoming more popular as a way to narrow the pool of potential matches.[4] According to online personals expert Mark Brooks from onlinepersonalswatch.com, online dating sites are adding features including handwriting analysis to match like-minded mates.[5]
The most successful niche sites pair people by race, sexual orientation or religion.[6] The 20 most popular dating sites this year as ranked by Hitwise include JDate (for Jewish singles), Christian Mingle, Christian Cafe and JCMATCH, Manhunt (for gay men), Love From India, Black Christian People Meet, Amigos (for Latino singles), Asian People Meet, and Shaadi (for Indian singles).[6] In March 2008, the top 5 overall sites held 7% less market share than they did one year ago while the top sites from the top five major niche dating categories made considerable gains.[7]
One of the "hottest trends in online dating" is the babyboomers on the top dating sites. Around 30% of America's 80 million babyboomers are single.[8]
Since 2003, several free dating sites, operating on ad based-revenue rather than monthly subscriptions, have appeared and become increasingly popular.[9]
Especially popular in Eastern Europe, some sites offer full access to messaging and profiles, but provide additional services for pay, such as bumping profiles up to the top of the list, removing advertisements, making paying users' profiles appear several times in different places in the search results, and giving paying users a more advanced search engine to work with (in one real example, free users may only search for persons of specified age, gender, orientation, and city, while subscribers may search for any and all parameters listed in profiles, such as height, weight, interests, etc.). Also, this model generally allows users to switch between free and paying status at will and without having to do anything, simply providing advanced features for a set period of time whenever the according payment is received. Ease of payment is also generally higher, with such sites accepting a variety of online currencies, letting users charge the payment to their cellular phones, etc. Such sites earn revenue from a mix of advertising and sale of additional options.
Virtual dating combines online dating with online gaming. It is distinguished from online dating by the absence of an intention of the people to personally meet. Virtual dating involves the use of avatars for people to interact in a virtual venue that resembles a real life dating environment. For example, individuals can meet and chat in a romantic virtual cafe in Paris or on a Caribbean resort.
According to Scientific American, virtual dating is "the next step in online dating" (Feb/March 2007, p.35).[10]
A Time Magazine article entitled "Internet Dating 2.0" was published on January 19, 2007 citing current and upcoming technologies and explains how people can now connect in a virtual dating environment. Time describes how websites are allowing people to meet for an avatar based, graphically enabled virtual date without leaving their homes.[11]
Researchers at MIT and Harvard have found that "people who had had a chance to interact with each other (by computer only) on a virtual tour of a museum subsequently had more successful face-to-face meetings than people who had viewed only profiles."
The role of social networking services in online dating has been explored in a book dedicated to the subject.[12] The findings of the study reveal that the online dating services driven by subscriptions offer the least amount of social networking opportunities, as they often only utilize the personal homepage genre of online community, which only makes them effective for the bonding and encoding stage of the relationship. The dating services modeled on the free-at-the-point-of-use model scored much higher as many of them utilized the Circle of Friends social networking method and a wider number of online community genres. The highest scoring dating service was Facebook, which uses the personal homepage genre, the message board genre, the weblog and directory genre, as well as utilizing the Circle of Friends. The second highest scoring, Second Life utilizes virtual worlds, message boards, chat groups and profile pages to allow people to contact in a three-dimensional environment.
As of 2008 a new variant of the online dating model has emerged in the form of introduction sites, attracting a large number of users and significant investor interest.[20] As opposed to the traditional online dating model where members have to search and contact other members, introduction sites introduce members to other members whom they deem compatible, thus claiming to eliminate much of the mayhem of traditional online dating. Although the two introduction services operate vastly different from each other and offer different features, both claim to be more effective than traditional online personals.
Most free dating websites are dependent on advertising revenue, using tools such as Google Adsense, affiliate marketing. Since advertising revenues are modest compared to membership fees, free dating sites require a large number of page views to achieve profitability.
From a marketing standpoint, free dating sites have a lower advertising budget, and therefore rely almost entirely on word of mouth. This is something not easily attained since members of dating sites in general consider it their private matter, thus hindering free dating sites from becoming viral as compared to social networking sites.
There are some online dating services that claim to offer free registrations and search, but which are not truly free online dating service if they charge users to communicate. True free online dating services also offer free communication and generate revenue solely from advertising.
Online dating services generally require a prospective member to provide personal information, before they can search the service provider's database for other individuals using criteria they set, such as age range, gender and location. Most sites allow members to upload photos of themselves and browse the photos of others. Sites may offer additional services, such as webcasts, online chat, telephone chat (VOIP), and message boards. Some sites provide free registration, but may offer services which require a monthly fee. Other sites depend on advertising for their revenue.
Many sites are broad-based, with members coming from a variety of backgrounds looking for different types of relationships. Other sites are more specific, based on the type of members, interests, location, or relationship desired.
United States residents spent $469.5 million[citation needed] on online dating and personals in 2004, and over $500 million in 2005, the largest segment of “paid content” on the web other than pornography, according to a study conducted by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and comScore Networks. The U.S. online dating market is expected to increase spending to $932 million in 2011.[1]
At the end of November 2004, there were 844 lifestyle and dating sites, a 38 percent increase since the start of the year, according to Hitwise Inc. However, market share was increasingly being dominated by several large commercial services, including AOL Personals, Yahoo! Personals, Match.com, and eHarmony. By 2007, many prominent studies show that Baby Boomer interest in online dating had soared. [2]
In 2002, a Wired magazine article forecast that, "Twenty years from now, the idea that someone looking for love without looking for it online will be silly, akin to skipping the card catalog to instead wander the stacks because 'the right books are found only by accident.' Serendipity is the hallmark of inefficient markets, and the marketplace of love, like it or not, is becoming more efficient."[3]
Most recently, it has become common for online dating websites to provide webcam chats between members. In addition, as the online dating population becomes larger, sites with specific demographics are becoming more popular as a way to narrow the pool of potential matches.[4] According to online personals expert Mark Brooks from onlinepersonalswatch.com, online dating sites are adding features including handwriting analysis to match like-minded mates.[5]
The most successful niche sites pair people by race, sexual orientation or religion.[6] The 20 most popular dating sites this year as ranked by Hitwise include JDate (for Jewish singles), Christian Mingle, Christian Cafe and JCMATCH, Manhunt (for gay men), Love From India, Black Christian People Meet, Amigos (for Latino singles), Asian People Meet, and Shaadi (for Indian singles).[6] In March 2008, the top 5 overall sites held 7% less market share than they did one year ago while the top sites from the top five major niche dating categories made considerable gains.[7]
One of the "hottest trends in online dating" is the babyboomers on the top dating sites. Around 30% of America's 80 million babyboomers are single.[8]
Since 2003, several free dating sites, operating on ad based-revenue rather than monthly subscriptions, have appeared and become increasingly popular.[9]
Especially popular in Eastern Europe, some sites offer full access to messaging and profiles, but provide additional services for pay, such as bumping profiles up to the top of the list, removing advertisements, making paying users' profiles appear several times in different places in the search results, and giving paying users a more advanced search engine to work with (in one real example, free users may only search for persons of specified age, gender, orientation, and city, while subscribers may search for any and all parameters listed in profiles, such as height, weight, interests, etc.). Also, this model generally allows users to switch between free and paying status at will and without having to do anything, simply providing advanced features for a set period of time whenever the according payment is received. Ease of payment is also generally higher, with such sites accepting a variety of online currencies, letting users charge the payment to their cellular phones, etc. Such sites earn revenue from a mix of advertising and sale of additional options.
Virtual dating combines online dating with online gaming. It is distinguished from online dating by the absence of an intention of the people to personally meet. Virtual dating involves the use of avatars for people to interact in a virtual venue that resembles a real life dating environment. For example, individuals can meet and chat in a romantic virtual cafe in Paris or on a Caribbean resort.
According to Scientific American, virtual dating is "the next step in online dating" (Feb/March 2007, p.35).[10]
A Time Magazine article entitled "Internet Dating 2.0" was published on January 19, 2007 citing current and upcoming technologies and explains how people can now connect in a virtual dating environment. Time describes how websites are allowing people to meet for an avatar based, graphically enabled virtual date without leaving their homes.[11]
Researchers at MIT and Harvard have found that "people who had had a chance to interact with each other (by computer only) on a virtual tour of a museum subsequently had more successful face-to-face meetings than people who had viewed only profiles."
The role of social networking services in online dating has been explored in a book dedicated to the subject.[12] The findings of the study reveal that the online dating services driven by subscriptions offer the least amount of social networking opportunities, as they often only utilize the personal homepage genre of online community, which only makes them effective for the bonding and encoding stage of the relationship. The dating services modeled on the free-at-the-point-of-use model scored much higher as many of them utilized the Circle of Friends social networking method and a wider number of online community genres. The highest scoring dating service was Facebook, which uses the personal homepage genre, the message board genre, the weblog and directory genre, as well as utilizing the Circle of Friends. The second highest scoring, Second Life utilizes virtual worlds, message boards, chat groups and profile pages to allow people to contact in a three-dimensional environment.
As of 2008 a new variant of the online dating model has emerged in the form of introduction sites, attracting a large number of users and significant investor interest.[20] As opposed to the traditional online dating model where members have to search and contact other members, introduction sites introduce members to other members whom they deem compatible, thus claiming to eliminate much of the mayhem of traditional online dating. Although the two introduction services operate vastly different from each other and offer different features, both claim to be more effective than traditional online personals.
Most free dating websites are dependent on advertising revenue, using tools such as Google Adsense, affiliate marketing. Since advertising revenues are modest compared to membership fees, free dating sites require a large number of page views to achieve profitability.
From a marketing standpoint, free dating sites have a lower advertising budget, and therefore rely almost entirely on word of mouth. This is something not easily attained since members of dating sites in general consider it their private matter, thus hindering free dating sites from becoming viral as compared to social networking sites.
There are some online dating services that claim to offer free registrations and search, but which are not truly free online dating service if they charge users to communicate. True free online dating services also offer free communication and generate revenue solely from advertising.
Dating
Dating is a form of courtship, and may include any social activity undertaken by, typically, two people with the aim of each assessing the other's suitability as their partner in an intimate relationship or as a spouse. The word refers to the act of meeting and engaging in some mutually agreed upon social activity. Traditional dating activities include entertainment or a meal.
In many cultural traditions, a date may be arranged by a third party, who may be a family member, acquaintance, or professional matchmaker. Recently internet dating has become popular.
Although dating etiquette has become more relaxed during the twentieth century, there are considerable differences between social and personal values. For example, when an activity costs money (for example, a meal), traditionally the man was expected to pay; but in recent times the practice of "going Dutch" (splitting the expenses) has become more common and more acceptable.
The average duration of courtship before proceeding to engagement or marriage varies considerably throughout the world.
Online dating: Instead of using a traditional matchmaker, online dating uses specifically targeted websites to meet new people.
Speed dating: Where a group of people get together for several hours in public; one is given a set amount of time to sit and talk to a particular person before moving on to the next.
Mobile dating/cell phone dating: Where text messages to and from a mobile/cell phone carrier are used to show interest in others on the system. Can be web-based or online dating as well depending on the company.
Virtual dating: A combination of video game playing and dating, where users create avatars and spend time in virtual worlds in an attempt to meet other avatars with the purpose of meeting for potential dates.
Singles events: Where a group of singles are brought together to take part in various events for the purposes of meeting new people. Events can include such things as parties, workshops and games.
Blind date: Where the people involved have not met each other previously. The match could have been arranged by mutual friends, relatives or by a dating system.
In many cultural traditions, a date may be arranged by a third party, who may be a family member, acquaintance, or professional matchmaker. Recently internet dating has become popular.
Although dating etiquette has become more relaxed during the twentieth century, there are considerable differences between social and personal values. For example, when an activity costs money (for example, a meal), traditionally the man was expected to pay; but in recent times the practice of "going Dutch" (splitting the expenses) has become more common and more acceptable.
The average duration of courtship before proceeding to engagement or marriage varies considerably throughout the world.
Online dating: Instead of using a traditional matchmaker, online dating uses specifically targeted websites to meet new people.
Speed dating: Where a group of people get together for several hours in public; one is given a set amount of time to sit and talk to a particular person before moving on to the next.
Mobile dating/cell phone dating: Where text messages to and from a mobile/cell phone carrier are used to show interest in others on the system. Can be web-based or online dating as well depending on the company.
Virtual dating: A combination of video game playing and dating, where users create avatars and spend time in virtual worlds in an attempt to meet other avatars with the purpose of meeting for potential dates.
Singles events: Where a group of singles are brought together to take part in various events for the purposes of meeting new people. Events can include such things as parties, workshops and games.
Blind date: Where the people involved have not met each other previously. The match could have been arranged by mutual friends, relatives or by a dating system.
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