Superstar Rajini back in action!

Rajini films have always been surrounded by pre-release hype and hoopla! "Enthiran - The Robot" is no exception at it! Though Rajini's previous venture 'Kuselan' bombed at the box office, it was no fault on his. The producers should never have marketed a film in which he makes only a guest appearance as a full length Rajini film! Past is past! Now, he's back in a totally new avatar!

The poster released recently shows a clean shaved metallic Rajini sportin' a rose. Moreover, there are added attractions in the form of the brilliant director Shankar and the most elegant music director of all times, A.R. Rahman! The last time the trio got together was "Sivaji: The Boss" which was a massive blockbuster! So, when the trio gets together again, obviously so much of hype gets into the act. Moreover, this film is said to have the costliest budget in the Indian Film Industry so far!

A full length Rajini film with a solid screenplay and excellent direction never bombs at the box office. Moreover, the female cast includes the beautiful Aishwarya Rai and the haute Deepika Padukone. So, the glamour quotient will also be on a high with the beautiful ladies around! The shooting for the slick flick has already started on September 8 in the USA and is scheduled to be released in 2012. I'm sure it will rock and haunt the Indian film Industry for years to come and put overseas film-makers rave like anything! Its the first full-length sci-fi movie to be made in India! Rajini roxxx! Hope he's fully successful with this venture!

Captain courageous

Sourav Ganguly’s tryst with Indian cricket has seen more ups and downs than a drive across the Western Ghats.

He came into the side as a lazy Prince, grew into the Maharaj who believed in treating opposition as the scum of the earth and his own boys as God’s gift to cricket.

Ganguly may have made more enemies than friends and his style of captaincy may have found more detractors than supporters amongst the cricketing fraternity, but his fans and friends couldn’t care less.

He has been the ultimate captain for Indian cricket, a man who made his team believe that the rivals were sent only to be flogged on the field and sometimes off it as well!

MS Dhoni: The inspiration behind India’s success

It is only fitting that the first Indian cricketer to be named MSN India’s Player of the Week is Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the country’s ODI and T20 captain.

Dhoni has already achieved so much in his career that sometimes it is hard to realise that he is only in his fourth season of international cricket!

Dhoni’s most recent achievement was leading India to its first-ever ODI series triumph in Sri Lanka last week. India had wrapped up the five-match series with a game to spare, and though the Men in Blue lost the dead rubber, they won the Idea Cup Series 3-2. It was a series that for a change was dominated more by ball than the bat because of the conditions in Sri Lanka at this time of the year.

Partnerships are important in any form of cricket, and this was best exemplified in the Idea Cup, where only a handful of batsmen from either side looked to be comfortable in the middle. Dhoni found an able partner in Suresh Raina for most of the matches as the duo put on stellar partnerships to take India to a winning position in these games.

One of the most striking features about Dhoni’s batting after taking over the captaincy is the maturity that he has shown in different situations. When he burst on to the scene, Dhoni was an out-and-out attacking batsman who tore opposition bowling attacks to shreds. The main difference in Dhoni’s batting over the last year or so lies in his approach, wherein he plays each ball on its merit in the early part of his innings and hits the big shots only after he has got his eye in.

This changed approach helped the team’s cause a great deal in Sri Lanka as Dhoni played a couple of match-winning knocks as he finished as the top-scorer in the Idea Cup, scoring 193 runs at an average of 38.60.

Dhoni the captain has been as important to India’s success in recent success as Dhoni the batsman. The wicketkeeper-batsman from Jharkhand has shown time and time again that he does not shy away from challenges and follows his gut instinct. In the Idea Cup Series, Dhoni reposed faith in young Virat Kohli and backed middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma despite his repeated failures in recent matches. The Indian captain also made effective use of his bowling resources as he juggled his bowlers around with the air of a seasoned campaigner, and the likes of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh ensured that they supported Dhoni to the hilt as they picked up wickets at regular intervals.

Dhoni has moulded India’s ODI and Twenty20 teams into a winning unit with help from the support staff. However, the captain himself has truly been an inspiration for the Men in Blue’s success in these two formats of cricket over the last year.

By his success in Sri Lanka as a captain and batsman, Dhoni has justified his decision to opt out the Test series in the Emerald Island. Dhoni’s decision at the time earned more brickbats than bouquets, but by winning the Man of the Series award in the Idea Cup series, the Indian captain has given the best possible answer to his critics.

A memorable week for Dhoni was capped when he was conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award – the highest sporting award in India. Dhoni is only the second cricketer after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar to be bestowed with this honour.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the best things to have happened to Indian and international cricket in recent times and this inspirational leader will be hoping to lead his team to many more memorable conquests in the years ahead.