Day 2 of India-WI test match at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium at Gros Islet, St. Lucia, was a mixed bag for India.
“Ravichandran Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha rescued India from what could’ve been an early collapse on day 1 itself. The collapse still did come through, albeit after a marathon 6th wicket partnership of 213 runs between the two batsmen”, observes Vaikundarajan.
The Rio Olympics 2016 opening ceremony was a hit despite continuous protests in Rio. “The highlight of the ceremony was Brazilian pop star, Anitta, who performed with Brazilian music icons Caetano Veloso and Roberto Gil,” says Vaikundarajan.
For the young pop star who grew up in ghettos, performing on a world stage was a dream come true. “The youngster looked confident alongside two greats in music industry. Her performance really pumped up the audience,” adds Vaikundarajan.
The act was a combination of Anitta’s pop sound crossing over with the classical Brazilian sounds of samba and bossa nova that culminated in a taste of Brazilian culture.
Veloso and Gil, who have been friends for over 50 years, have been inspiration to many like Anitta. “To see the trio perform on stage was a treat to the audience,” says Vaikundarajan.
Now that the Olympics 2016 are on the way, all eyes are set on the Indian athletes. Names such as Dipa Karmakar are already creating a lot of buzz. Vaikundarajan expresses his complete faith in our athletes and hopes we will come out stronger than last Olympics games. He sends his best wishes to all the Indian Athletes.
The maker of cult films such as Andaz Apna Apna, The Legend of Bhagat Singh and Damini returns to direction with his next biography film, Battle of Saragarhi. “Rajkumar Santoshi will direct Randeep Hooda in the lead role as Havildar Ishar Singh in a movie based on the 1897 Battle of Saragarhi between British India Contingent and Afghans. The setting is promising and the cast at the helm is talented,” says Vaikundarajan.
Hooda’s last movie, Sarbjit, did not perform well at the box office but one should not doubt the actor’s capabilities in front of camera. Hooda is a method actor and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Sarbjit for which he had undergone a massive physical transformation.
Battle of Saragarhi tells the story of the valour of Havildar Ishar Singh, the military commander of 36th Sikhs in the British Indian Contingent. “The battle was fought in the North-West Frontier which is now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The British Indian Contingent that also comprised of 21 Sikhs fought against 12,000 Afghans in an epic battle,” informs Vaikundarajan.
The makers of the movie released a teaser poster that shows Randeep sporting a turban and beard. The actor is expected to learn sword fighting and shooting with vintage guns. To fit into the skin of the character, Randeep will also have to undergo physical transformation. Unlike Sarbjit where he had to lose a lot of weight, Hooda will be expected to build his body to fit the role of a military commander.
Battle of Saragarhi produced by Raju Chadha under the banner of Wave Cinemas. The film has lot to offer in terms of emotion, drama and action. “With Rajkumar Santoshi behind the camera and Randeep Honda in front of it, the audience cannot expect anything short of an epic movie,” says Vaikundarajan.
Superstar Rajnikanth made a comeback to the big screen in a grand style with Pa Ranjith’s Kabali. The film was released across 12,000 cinemas in India. “Such is the craze of the superstar that Chennai and Bangalore declared the release date as a holiday to general public,” says Vaikundarajan.
The movie hardly needed any publicity with Superstar Rajnikanth’s name associated with it. “Unlike most actors who reinvent themselves after a certain age, Rajnikanth continues to portray Thalaiva in every movie,” adds Vaikundarajan. “The fans do not want to see the Superstar in any character roles. They have embraced the superstar as an evergreen hero.”
The film is set in Malaysia with Rajnikanth playing an aged don just released from the prison. Radhika Apte is seen playing the lead opposite Rajnikanth while Taiwanese actor Winston Chao plays the antagonist.
“While Rajnikanth delivers a commendable performance, Kabali is really a director’s film. The young director Pa Ranjith brings the best of Rajnikanth in an otherwise jaded script,” reviews Vaikundarajan.
Radhika Apte and Dhansika manage to deliver a praiseworthy performance and refuse to get overshadowed in the superstar’s presence. The movie is already shattering records at the box-office having surpassed some of the Bollywood blockbusters.
Vaikundarajan sends his congratulations to director Pa Ranjith and hopes that the film breaks all records.
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis continued their top form as they beat USA’s McHale and Ostapenko in just 46 minutes. “While Mirza-Hingis impressed us with their game, Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea bowed out as they lost to tenth seeded pair Kontinen-Peers,” informs Vaikundarajan.
Mirza-Hingis entered the quarter finals of Wimbledon tennis tournament after an impressive 6-1, 6-0 victory against their opponent. On another court, Bopanna-Mergea lost 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-8 to be knocked out of men’s double tournament. The match was played for 2 hours and 55 minutes.
Sania Mirza was particularly remarkable with her aggressive first serve points. “She won a staggering 19 out of 28 first serve points and two out of five break points to open the first set at 6-1,” says Vaikundarajan.
Smartphone company Huawei’s sub-brand Honor has announced to unveil their new device on 5th July. “The smartphone Honor 8 is a successor to last year’s runaway hit Honor 7. The device will be available for purchase from 12th July,” informs Vaikundarajan.
The company made the announcement by releasing an official teaser with a tag line - Beauty out of the ordinary. The key features of the phone were revealed on Chinese certification agency, TENAA’s website.
“Honor 8 is a 5.2 inch full HD display smartphone with 2.3 GHz Kirin 950 octa-core processor. It will be available in four different variants,” says Vaikundarajan.
The users will be able to choose between a 3GB RAM with 32GB of internal storage, 4GB with 32GB of internal storage, 4GB with 64GB internal of storage and the top model with 2K display, 4GB RAM with 128GB storage. It also comes with an option of expanding the storage up to 128 GB via microSD card and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. “An interesting addition to the features is the fingerprint scanner and an infrared port,” adds Vaikundarajan.
Honor 8 will come with a dual 12-megapixel camera module at the back and a 8-megapixel selfie snapper on the front.
In this competitive market, brands like Honor will survive if they bring unique features to their devices and are accepted by the users
India recorded a new milestone in its history of space market. “A record 20 satellites were launched in merely 26 minutes by our space agency, ISRO,” says Vaikundarajan. This move also means a lucrative commercial space market for India.
The events took place in the southern spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The rocket launched into the space carried satellites mainly for international customers such as the US, Germany and a Google-owned company.
“The record for launching the most satellites is held by Russia. They launched 37 satellites back in 2014,” informs Vaikundarajan.
