Prakashraj - He deserves it!

I just read in Rediff that Prakash Raj has won the National Award for Best Actor for his performance in Kanjeevaram. While i didn't see the movie, i don't think there is one actor in the southern states in current times who can challenge PR for his acting skills. 

Kudos, sir. I like it that you do a variety of roles - stereotype villans (Anthapuram, Okkadu, Pokiri); side actor sharing/stealing hero's thunder (Athadu); father roles (Bommarilu etc) and in a few rare cases, the role of hero. For those who haven't heard of this actor, he is a gold medalist at National Film Institute and is the Amol Palekar-Nanna Patekar-Amrish Puri mix. 

No wonder, famour Southern stars like Chiranjeevi, Rajinikanth, Kamalhassan have praised him often! Enjoy your hour of glory, some lesser talented actor will steal the thunder soon!

PS: To the Rediff Editor. Please check the dictionary for the meaning of "sweep". 

New CJI - remember he is a great judge first, a dalit next!

I was checking Rediff Website and saw an article that K G Balakrishnan has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of India.

What made this news to the top of the headlines is that he is a dalit and that's where it saddens me. We have had a dalit president, we have a minority prime minister and president, a foreign born leader of ruling alliance and still we want to make it a point to stress the caste and religion of these appointments.

Remember that these appointments came because of the merits of these people (esp. in the case of KG Balakrishnan) in their chosen profession. I am sure that respected Balakrishnan is well regarded in the legal circles and hence there is no need to stress his caste and religious credentials. Also, the country is not making an exception by making a 'dalit' the CJI - he earned his rights to become one. I, for one, believe that we should avoid taking up the caste and religion identity of these appointments and that would be the first step in ensuring that people don't attribute a lot of weightage to these factors.

I would like to see a day India is 'cool' about any of its top public servant, the same way American Football fans are used to seeing black coaches and quarterbacks.