Sunday, August 23, 2009
Polka Stripes, Zebra Dots
Been looking through some of my old posts today, and happened across what remains one of the funniest Bollywood-related things I've ever seen: this post.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI: Sumptuous, Lush, Beautiful
It's been a while since I've done a Director's Round-Up... so here's one... with loads of screencaps... mainly of Aishwarya Rai... but please don't blame me for that if you're not an Ash fan - blame Sanjay Leela Bhansali!
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Before taking on the directing mantle, Bhansali worked with prominent director Vidhu Vinod Chopra as assistant director (and screenwriter) on ‘1942: A Love Story’ (starring Anil Kapoor and Manisha Koirala), the classic gangster flick ‘Parinda’ (starring Nana Patekhar, Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor), and ‘Kareeb’ (with Bobby Deol and Neha). As an assistant director, SLB’s specialties were song picturisations, sound and dubbing – all very significant strengths that continue to be seen in the films he directs.
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Since he started directing movies in 1996, Bhansali has certainly made a name for himself. More than that, he’s created a brand – there are certain things you can always expect to find in a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. Here are what I think are 4 of his most striking trademarks:
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Visual Appeal: nothing if not an aesthete (and one of the highest order), SLB loves to create beauty onscreen. He does lots of close-ups of his (usually stunning) stars, puts lots of painstaking detail into the composition of his scenes, and just always goes for the pretty… even in a mostly sober film like ‘Black’.
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He also has a distinct fondness for colour… while ‘Devdas’ overdosed on lush reds and golds, ‘Saawariya’ is bathed in hues of blue… a fact memorably lampooned by Shahrukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan in their hilarious ‘Neela Neela’ sketch at the 2008 Filmfare Awards.
Romance & Tragedy: Bhansali loves a good, old-fashioned love story. Whether it’s a husband’s unrequited love (‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’), a student’s love for her guru (‘Black’), an unstable girl’s overwhelming yearning for her storybook hero (‘Saawariya’), or a prostitute’s love for a drunken loser (‘Devdas’), there’s always a love story at the heart of SLB’s films.
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And there’s also always elements of sadness and pain – in HDDCS Vanraj’s adoration of Nandini is pitted against Nandini’s love for Sameer; in ‘Black’ two lonely souls can only help each other to a certain extent; in ‘Saawariya’ Raj ends up broken-hearted despite his best attempts to sabotage Sakina's romance with Imaan; in ‘Devdas’ Chandramukhi’s pure and selfless love is poor proof against Devdas’s determination to self-destruct. There is rarely a happy ending for the protagonists in SLB’s tales of love, and even where there is one (as in HDDCS), it comes slowly and at a price (and it’s worth noting here that there are many who would disagree with me about HDDCS ending happily.)
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Grandeur and Luxury: Bhansali loves to do things on a soaring, sweeping, grand scale. He loves to create fantasy in his films – an epic place far away from our mundane everyday lives… a place where strange, eventful things happen everyday. It’s never boring in his world.
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Music: SLB is very adventurous when it comes to the music in his films. He clearly adores music – his first film, ‘Khamoshi – The Musical’ was, as its name implies, a musical, and all his films have a strong musical element and lots of song picturisations (something I think he’s very good at). I also think he has a fantastic ear – something he doesn’t get much credit for. He is happy to take a chance on fresh, lesser-known musical talent – like Monty Sharma, Anjan Biswas and Ismail Darbar.
The music in his films is always so distinctive, creative and well-suited to the film. I think he is a genius at weaving songs into the fabric of his films… you can’t hear ‘Nimbooda’ without picturing Ash in HDDCS, ‘Chhabeela’ without thinking about Rani’s sass, ‘Dola Re Dola’ without picturing Madhuri and Ash in mid-twirl, or ‘Jab Se Tere Naina’ without picturing Ranbir in that infamous towel.
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Bhansali is currently taking his love for music a step further by composing the songs for his 2010 project ‘Guzaarish’, a film which he calls ‘a tribute to Lata Mangeshkar’. Aishwarya and Hrithik, who made an effective jodi in ‘Dhoom II’ and ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, are set to co-star…. I think this is a pretty bold move; there aren't a lot of directors that also do good music (in mainstream Hindi cinema, I can only think of Vishal Bhardwaj at the moment (do you know of any others?) and of course Clint Eastwood in Hollywood).
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Like most directors, SLB tends to work with the same crop of actors: Salman Khan shows up in 3 of his 5 films; and Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukherjee and Zohra Sehgal show up in 2 each. He isn’t averse to new talent, though - he famously took a chance on two fresh faces when he cast Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in ‘Saawariya’. I think he gave each of them a really great showcase – the film may have flopped, but they each made very effective industry debuts. Others will disagree, but I think SLB is definitely an actor’s director. He may be a painstaking control freak, but I don’t think that he inhibits his actors – in fact, one might argue that he sometimes over-indulges them and fails to rein them in when necessary (case in point: SRK’s performance in ‘Devdas’).
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I think he actually maximizes his actors’ talents – he capitalizes on Aishwarya’s beauty and formidable dancing skills while also giving her roles that maximize her modest acting talents. He capitalizes on Salman’s youthful exuberance while also allowing him to be shallow (apologies to Sallu fans – I like the guy, but I really don’t think he has loads of depth – and while we’re on the subject, I think SLB cast Salman appropriately in ‘Saawariya’ – let’s face it, his youthful charm has worn thin. This role (tiny as it was) had a little maturity to it, something Sallu Chacha desperately needs at this point). On the flipside, Bhansali gives Rani Mukherjee demanding roles (although he should have used her more in ‘Saawariya’ – she was the best thing about that film!), allowing her to put that powerhouse talent to good effect.
I also think the ability to write a screenplay that allows characters to grow, develop and express themselves through more than just their dialogues, is one of SLB’s strengths. I do sometimes think his focus on the characters’ nuances and foibles takes something away from the development of the story – sometimes (most strikingly in ‘Saawariya’) you’re just not sure where it’s all going. But I do think he writes a good screenplay.
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Unlike Karan Johar, whose scriptwriting genius I find lies in his use of language and his ability to put together a thoroughly effective dialogue, I think Bhansali really knows how to ‘sketch’ a good scene – with SLB the body language and movements of the characters within their immediate environment is more important, more striking, than what actually comes out of their mouths. This I suppose is because he possibly thinks more in terms of visuals than words – something which can be a distinct strength (as in HDDCS – remember the chandelier scene, or the tram scene?) or a weakness (as in ‘Saawariya’ – great visuals, not a lot of substance). He seems happy to let someone else handle the dialogues while he focuses his energy on setting up his scenes and creating the ‘moment’.
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Whew… who knew I had so much to say about Sanjay Leela Bhansali? He’s not even one of my favourite directors… anyway, to round off this roundup… I’ve seen 4 of Bhansali’s 5 films (I’m hoping to watch ‘Khamoshi’ soon – it’s generally very well-liked), and here are my brief thoughts on each of them….
BLACK: Rani Mukherjee hands in an amazing, sensitive performance as a blind, deaf and mute girl, Michelle McNally, who is helped by her teacher, Debraj Sahai (played by Amitabh Bachchan) to engage with the world around her. Later in life, Michelle gets a chance to return the favour. Ayesha Kapoor, the child actor who plays the young Michelle, is also pretty remarkable – speaking of which, Aamir Khan’s comments on the film kicked up quite a storm (see The Bollywood Fan's comments on the controversy here)…. I enjoyed this film for the stellar performances, the quietness, intensity and humanity of the drama, and the lovely dream-like quality it has.
HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM: HDDCS offers gorgeous visuals, beautiful music, and great performances by all the major players (especially Ajay Devgan, but Ash and Salman are very good too). Fake Italy (aka Hungary) really annoyed me – perhaps to an irrational extent, but I still really enjoyed it, and I love how it ended (although there are many who don’t). I think I’ve grown to appreciate it more with the passage of time, which doesn’t happen with a lot of films. I really love Filmi Girl’s 2-part write-up on the film – check it out.
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DEVDAS: A very flawed film, but I think this is worth watching for the song picturisations, Madhuri Dixit’s poised, classy performance, Madhuri and Ash’s fantastic dancing, some excellent music, some very prettily staged scenes and Kirron Kher. I do so love SRK, but the less said about his highly annoying and unsympathetic portrayal of Devdas, the better. Oh dear.
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SAAWARIYA: All the reviews of this film were so DIRE that I was pleasantly surprised by it. I didn’t love it, but it’s thankfully quite short, and worth watching for Rani’s sexy earthiness (especially in ‘Chhabeela’), Sonam’s gorgeousness, and of course, Ranbir in that towel… hot stuff. When I revisit this film, I watch ‘Chhabeela’ and ‘Jab Se Tere Naina’, flick through a couple of Sonam and Ranbir’s scenes, and really find that it’s not quite that bad!
I quite like Sanjay Leela Bhansali… he is a colourful figure – from his catfights with Farah Khan to his affection for kohl, to his occasional petulance and more-than-occasional pomposity; he has PERSONALITY. He can usually be found doing or saying something interesting – even outrageous - and that’s always fun. I like the fact that he puts himself out there and isn’t afraid to be mocked (which he usually is). I also really like his passion for film (and for actors) and his almost childlike response to both praise and criticism. But this post isn’t about Bhansali’s on-set tantrums, his complex relationships with other Bollywood personalities, his thwarted attempts to cast (and arguments with) Bebo, or his legendary love for his Maa… it’s about his work as a director.
Before taking on the directing mantle, Bhansali worked with prominent director Vidhu Vinod Chopra as assistant director (and screenwriter) on ‘1942: A Love Story’ (starring Anil Kapoor and Manisha Koirala), the classic gangster flick ‘Parinda’ (starring Nana Patekhar, Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor), and ‘Kareeb’ (with Bobby Deol and Neha). As an assistant director, SLB’s specialties were song picturisations, sound and dubbing – all very significant strengths that continue to be seen in the films he directs.
Since he started directing movies in 1996, Bhansali has certainly made a name for himself. More than that, he’s created a brand – there are certain things you can always expect to find in a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. Here are what I think are 4 of his most striking trademarks:
Visual Appeal: nothing if not an aesthete (and one of the highest order), SLB loves to create beauty onscreen. He does lots of close-ups of his (usually stunning) stars, puts lots of painstaking detail into the composition of his scenes, and just always goes for the pretty… even in a mostly sober film like ‘Black’.
He also has a distinct fondness for colour… while ‘Devdas’ overdosed on lush reds and golds, ‘Saawariya’ is bathed in hues of blue… a fact memorably lampooned by Shahrukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan in their hilarious ‘Neela Neela’ sketch at the 2008 Filmfare Awards.
Romance & Tragedy: Bhansali loves a good, old-fashioned love story. Whether it’s a husband’s unrequited love (‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’), a student’s love for her guru (‘Black’), an unstable girl’s overwhelming yearning for her storybook hero (‘Saawariya’), or a prostitute’s love for a drunken loser (‘Devdas’), there’s always a love story at the heart of SLB’s films.
And there’s also always elements of sadness and pain – in HDDCS Vanraj’s adoration of Nandini is pitted against Nandini’s love for Sameer; in ‘Black’ two lonely souls can only help each other to a certain extent; in ‘Saawariya’ Raj ends up broken-hearted despite his best attempts to sabotage Sakina's romance with Imaan; in ‘Devdas’ Chandramukhi’s pure and selfless love is poor proof against Devdas’s determination to self-destruct. There is rarely a happy ending for the protagonists in SLB’s tales of love, and even where there is one (as in HDDCS), it comes slowly and at a price (and it’s worth noting here that there are many who would disagree with me about HDDCS ending happily.)
Grandeur and Luxury: Bhansali loves to do things on a soaring, sweeping, grand scale. He loves to create fantasy in his films – an epic place far away from our mundane everyday lives… a place where strange, eventful things happen everyday. It’s never boring in his world.
His sets are so opulent as well… he likes gorgeous, glamorous things. Lots of lush, expensive silks, flowers, crystals and precious stones…. Sometimes, as with HDDCS, I love it. Sometimes, as with ‘Devdas’, I think he just goes way overboard! There was just way too much bling in that film… it just hurt my eyes sometimes!!
Music: SLB is very adventurous when it comes to the music in his films. He clearly adores music – his first film, ‘Khamoshi – The Musical’ was, as its name implies, a musical, and all his films have a strong musical element and lots of song picturisations (something I think he’s very good at). I also think he has a fantastic ear – something he doesn’t get much credit for. He is happy to take a chance on fresh, lesser-known musical talent – like Monty Sharma, Anjan Biswas and Ismail Darbar.
The music in his films is always so distinctive, creative and well-suited to the film. I think he is a genius at weaving songs into the fabric of his films… you can’t hear ‘Nimbooda’ without picturing Ash in HDDCS, ‘Chhabeela’ without thinking about Rani’s sass, ‘Dola Re Dola’ without picturing Madhuri and Ash in mid-twirl, or ‘Jab Se Tere Naina’ without picturing Ranbir in that infamous towel.
Bhansali is currently taking his love for music a step further by composing the songs for his 2010 project ‘Guzaarish’, a film which he calls ‘a tribute to Lata Mangeshkar’. Aishwarya and Hrithik, who made an effective jodi in ‘Dhoom II’ and ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, are set to co-star…. I think this is a pretty bold move; there aren't a lot of directors that also do good music (in mainstream Hindi cinema, I can only think of Vishal Bhardwaj at the moment (do you know of any others?) and of course Clint Eastwood in Hollywood).
Like most directors, SLB tends to work with the same crop of actors: Salman Khan shows up in 3 of his 5 films; and Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukherjee and Zohra Sehgal show up in 2 each. He isn’t averse to new talent, though - he famously took a chance on two fresh faces when he cast Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in ‘Saawariya’. I think he gave each of them a really great showcase – the film may have flopped, but they each made very effective industry debuts. Others will disagree, but I think SLB is definitely an actor’s director. He may be a painstaking control freak, but I don’t think that he inhibits his actors – in fact, one might argue that he sometimes over-indulges them and fails to rein them in when necessary (case in point: SRK’s performance in ‘Devdas’).
I think he actually maximizes his actors’ talents – he capitalizes on Aishwarya’s beauty and formidable dancing skills while also giving her roles that maximize her modest acting talents. He capitalizes on Salman’s youthful exuberance while also allowing him to be shallow (apologies to Sallu fans – I like the guy, but I really don’t think he has loads of depth – and while we’re on the subject, I think SLB cast Salman appropriately in ‘Saawariya’ – let’s face it, his youthful charm has worn thin. This role (tiny as it was) had a little maturity to it, something Sallu Chacha desperately needs at this point). On the flipside, Bhansali gives Rani Mukherjee demanding roles (although he should have used her more in ‘Saawariya’ – she was the best thing about that film!), allowing her to put that powerhouse talent to good effect.
I also think the ability to write a screenplay that allows characters to grow, develop and express themselves through more than just their dialogues, is one of SLB’s strengths. I do sometimes think his focus on the characters’ nuances and foibles takes something away from the development of the story – sometimes (most strikingly in ‘Saawariya’) you’re just not sure where it’s all going. But I do think he writes a good screenplay.
Unlike Karan Johar, whose scriptwriting genius I find lies in his use of language and his ability to put together a thoroughly effective dialogue, I think Bhansali really knows how to ‘sketch’ a good scene – with SLB the body language and movements of the characters within their immediate environment is more important, more striking, than what actually comes out of their mouths. This I suppose is because he possibly thinks more in terms of visuals than words – something which can be a distinct strength (as in HDDCS – remember the chandelier scene, or the tram scene?) or a weakness (as in ‘Saawariya’ – great visuals, not a lot of substance). He seems happy to let someone else handle the dialogues while he focuses his energy on setting up his scenes and creating the ‘moment’.
Whew… who knew I had so much to say about Sanjay Leela Bhansali? He’s not even one of my favourite directors… anyway, to round off this roundup… I’ve seen 4 of Bhansali’s 5 films (I’m hoping to watch ‘Khamoshi’ soon – it’s generally very well-liked), and here are my brief thoughts on each of them….
BLACK: Rani Mukherjee hands in an amazing, sensitive performance as a blind, deaf and mute girl, Michelle McNally, who is helped by her teacher, Debraj Sahai (played by Amitabh Bachchan) to engage with the world around her. Later in life, Michelle gets a chance to return the favour. Ayesha Kapoor, the child actor who plays the young Michelle, is also pretty remarkable – speaking of which, Aamir Khan’s comments on the film kicked up quite a storm (see The Bollywood Fan's comments on the controversy here)…. I enjoyed this film for the stellar performances, the quietness, intensity and humanity of the drama, and the lovely dream-like quality it has.
HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM: HDDCS offers gorgeous visuals, beautiful music, and great performances by all the major players (especially Ajay Devgan, but Ash and Salman are very good too). Fake Italy (aka Hungary) really annoyed me – perhaps to an irrational extent, but I still really enjoyed it, and I love how it ended (although there are many who don’t). I think I’ve grown to appreciate it more with the passage of time, which doesn’t happen with a lot of films. I really love Filmi Girl’s 2-part write-up on the film – check it out.
DEVDAS: A very flawed film, but I think this is worth watching for the song picturisations, Madhuri Dixit’s poised, classy performance, Madhuri and Ash’s fantastic dancing, some excellent music, some very prettily staged scenes and Kirron Kher. I do so love SRK, but the less said about his highly annoying and unsympathetic portrayal of Devdas, the better. Oh dear.
SAAWARIYA: All the reviews of this film were so DIRE that I was pleasantly surprised by it. I didn’t love it, but it’s thankfully quite short, and worth watching for Rani’s sexy earthiness (especially in ‘Chhabeela’), Sonam’s gorgeousness, and of course, Ranbir in that towel… hot stuff. When I revisit this film, I watch ‘Chhabeela’ and ‘Jab Se Tere Naina’, flick through a couple of Sonam and Ranbir’s scenes, and really find that it’s not quite that bad!
Monday, June 29, 2009
AN ENCOUNTER IN A LIFT...
Ever wondered what would happen if 10 Bollywood A-listers got into the same lift and embarked on a very slow journey from the ground floor to the top floor of the Bollyworld Building? Well, this rather unlikely event happened in one of my recent fantasies… and this is what ensued...
I am leaving out the names of the protagonists… you get to guess who said what…
No. 1 (on her cellphone): Aarrrgghhh!!! I am so stressed out… my schedules have been so hectic! I’m so tense!!! I really need a break. I was thinking about a fabulous shopping spree, or maybe a spa break, but No. 3 says he’d rather go skiing! Skiing? Can you imagine? I’m like, skiing frantically up and down some booorrrrinnng resort is the last thing I need right now!
No. 2 (shaking her head with disgust): Keep it down yaar! We don’t care about your shopping trips or spa breaks or whatever! Spoilt brat! And if you’re going to yak on and on like this when we start shooting soon, I might have to consider pulling out of this film… although I would really hate to do that to my darling No. 4…
No. 3 (adjusting his bandana): And also, No. 1, would you mind not complaining about me to your friends? And right in front of me too?
No. 4 (holding out his arms in a very ‘spontaneous’ pacifying gesture): Come on guys, we are all members of the same film fraternity. We love each other! And No. 2, you know you won’t pull out of my film, darling – you and No. 1 will be dynamite together on the big screen, darling, and you know it!
No. 5 (practising her poses in front of the mirror): I don’t know why you think anyone would be interested in seeing this film, No. 4! I mean, these are actresses of the older generation. They are like aunties to me. People want to see younger, trendier people on the big screen – you know that, right? People like… me. Even my dad always hides his age and pretends to be younger than he really is for this same reason. But please, although I know you must now be regretting casting these two dinosaurs, do not even thinking of casting me in your film. I only do films I strongly believe in and work with genius directors… not commercial suck-ups like you.
No. 2 (lifting her eyebrow): If that dinosaur thing was a dig at me, No. 5, don’t be so naïve. There are very few actresses that have the longevity that I have – that can go away for a few years and then come back and have a superhit film. The world appears to be at your feet now, but very soon you’ll be forced to eat humble pie. Just look at….
No. 6 (flexing his pecs): Me. Just look at me. I can’t believe I have to work so hard for recognition these days. Once upon a time, I was the toast of the industry. Now I have to engage in fights with other guys in the industry, make up fake relationship troubles, randomly hop on auto-rickshaws after weddings, even do the whole TV-show-host thing in a bid to get more airtime….
No. 7 (fluttering her lashes): Speaking of which, No. 6, can I be on your show, please? Please?? I love you so much… I’m your biggest fan… in fact, your super-sized posters are all over my bedroom…. And you know I am now a bona fide star in this industry, everyone is comparing my performance in my Hindi film debut to No. 2’s performance in….
No. 2 (rolling her eyes): Chup! Shut up! You are only a pale imitation of me at the moment. You certainly have potential, but if you spend all your time following No. 6 around (much as I love him and have always enjoyed working with him), you’ll end up with a boring, unchallenging career… kinda like….
No. 8 (trying hard not to look at No. 6): Hey, don’t say it. Please! Don’t ‘take her name’! Please watch what you say about my friend – we really bonded during our recent film together. I mean, with all due respect to you, she’s so much more than just a pretty face.
No. 6 (taking off his shirt in a fury): Kya? Why are you defending my girlfriend? Are you saying I’m not man enough to stand up for her? Are you spoiling for a fight, you idiot? Don't you remember what happened to the last guy that took me on? His career has gone down the tubes! Come on, let’s take this outside!
No. 4 (managing just in time to restrain himself from touching No. 6’s bare chest): Come on No. 6, come on guys. We are all part of the same Hindi film fraternity. Even when we fight, we love each oth—
No. 6: Shut up No. 4, what gives you the right to talk? I’m pissed off at you as well. Ever since my fantastic performance in your debut film, you haven’t cast me in anything else. Don’t you know I am a much better hero than that loser, traitor and fraud you keep using over and over?? And this idiot No. 8? Trying to pass him off as the latest hot and shirtless young stud in your last production was the ultimate insult to me….
No. 4 (quivering with equal measures of fear and excitement): So sorry No. 6… y-y-you know how much I respect your talents and….
No. 9 (snapping his fingers ever so coolly): Yeah, No. 6, come on, take a chill pill. You’re really scaring No. 4 and No. 8. You know, we really do all love you. Even I have never had anything but love for you, despite the fact that you emotionally, mentally and even possibly physically abused my wife back when you were dating… I’ve got nothing but love for you, dude!
No 10 (closing his eyes in ecstasy and running his fingers through his wig): Speaking of love… this is amazing. I mean, I love you all. 100 per cent. I feel so excited and inspired in the presence of all you huge stars. Thank you for blessing me. I feel so inspired – 100 per cent. In fact, I have just composed a song in honour of all of you great stars… please listen as I begin to sing it in humblest of tones…. Taaahhhhhhhnnnnnrrreeeeehhhhhnnnnnn ihhhhhhnnnnnnnnn elllleeeehhhhhnnnnnvaaayyyyyyyytoooorrrrrhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnn.
No. 1 (pounding on the lift’s doors): Waaaahhhhhhhh! Darwaza kholo!!!!
I know... no need to say it... I’m ridiculous. But I actually really enjoyed doing this... see you again soon(ish)....
I am leaving out the names of the protagonists… you get to guess who said what…
No. 1 (on her cellphone): Aarrrgghhh!!! I am so stressed out… my schedules have been so hectic! I’m so tense!!! I really need a break. I was thinking about a fabulous shopping spree, or maybe a spa break, but No. 3 says he’d rather go skiing! Skiing? Can you imagine? I’m like, skiing frantically up and down some booorrrrinnng resort is the last thing I need right now!
No. 2 (shaking her head with disgust): Keep it down yaar! We don’t care about your shopping trips or spa breaks or whatever! Spoilt brat! And if you’re going to yak on and on like this when we start shooting soon, I might have to consider pulling out of this film… although I would really hate to do that to my darling No. 4…
No. 3 (adjusting his bandana): And also, No. 1, would you mind not complaining about me to your friends? And right in front of me too?
No. 4 (holding out his arms in a very ‘spontaneous’ pacifying gesture): Come on guys, we are all members of the same film fraternity. We love each other! And No. 2, you know you won’t pull out of my film, darling – you and No. 1 will be dynamite together on the big screen, darling, and you know it!
No. 5 (practising her poses in front of the mirror): I don’t know why you think anyone would be interested in seeing this film, No. 4! I mean, these are actresses of the older generation. They are like aunties to me. People want to see younger, trendier people on the big screen – you know that, right? People like… me. Even my dad always hides his age and pretends to be younger than he really is for this same reason. But please, although I know you must now be regretting casting these two dinosaurs, do not even thinking of casting me in your film. I only do films I strongly believe in and work with genius directors… not commercial suck-ups like you.
No. 2 (lifting her eyebrow): If that dinosaur thing was a dig at me, No. 5, don’t be so naïve. There are very few actresses that have the longevity that I have – that can go away for a few years and then come back and have a superhit film. The world appears to be at your feet now, but very soon you’ll be forced to eat humble pie. Just look at….
No. 6 (flexing his pecs): Me. Just look at me. I can’t believe I have to work so hard for recognition these days. Once upon a time, I was the toast of the industry. Now I have to engage in fights with other guys in the industry, make up fake relationship troubles, randomly hop on auto-rickshaws after weddings, even do the whole TV-show-host thing in a bid to get more airtime….
No. 7 (fluttering her lashes): Speaking of which, No. 6, can I be on your show, please? Please?? I love you so much… I’m your biggest fan… in fact, your super-sized posters are all over my bedroom…. And you know I am now a bona fide star in this industry, everyone is comparing my performance in my Hindi film debut to No. 2’s performance in….
No. 2 (rolling her eyes): Chup! Shut up! You are only a pale imitation of me at the moment. You certainly have potential, but if you spend all your time following No. 6 around (much as I love him and have always enjoyed working with him), you’ll end up with a boring, unchallenging career… kinda like….
No. 8 (trying hard not to look at No. 6): Hey, don’t say it. Please! Don’t ‘take her name’! Please watch what you say about my friend – we really bonded during our recent film together. I mean, with all due respect to you, she’s so much more than just a pretty face.
No. 6 (taking off his shirt in a fury): Kya? Why are you defending my girlfriend? Are you saying I’m not man enough to stand up for her? Are you spoiling for a fight, you idiot? Don't you remember what happened to the last guy that took me on? His career has gone down the tubes! Come on, let’s take this outside!
No. 4 (managing just in time to restrain himself from touching No. 6’s bare chest): Come on No. 6, come on guys. We are all part of the same Hindi film fraternity. Even when we fight, we love each oth—
No. 6: Shut up No. 4, what gives you the right to talk? I’m pissed off at you as well. Ever since my fantastic performance in your debut film, you haven’t cast me in anything else. Don’t you know I am a much better hero than that loser, traitor and fraud you keep using over and over?? And this idiot No. 8? Trying to pass him off as the latest hot and shirtless young stud in your last production was the ultimate insult to me….
No. 4 (quivering with equal measures of fear and excitement): So sorry No. 6… y-y-you know how much I respect your talents and….
No. 9 (snapping his fingers ever so coolly): Yeah, No. 6, come on, take a chill pill. You’re really scaring No. 4 and No. 8. You know, we really do all love you. Even I have never had anything but love for you, despite the fact that you emotionally, mentally and even possibly physically abused my wife back when you were dating… I’ve got nothing but love for you, dude!
No 10 (closing his eyes in ecstasy and running his fingers through his wig): Speaking of love… this is amazing. I mean, I love you all. 100 per cent. I feel so excited and inspired in the presence of all you huge stars. Thank you for blessing me. I feel so inspired – 100 per cent. In fact, I have just composed a song in honour of all of you great stars… please listen as I begin to sing it in humblest of tones…. Taaahhhhhhhnnnnnrrreeeeehhhhhnnnnnn ihhhhhhnnnnnnnnn elllleeeehhhhhnnnnnvaaayyyyyyyytoooorrrrrhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnn.
No. 1 (pounding on the lift’s doors): Waaaahhhhhhhh! Darwaza kholo!!!!
I know... no need to say it... I’m ridiculous. But I actually really enjoyed doing this... see you again soon(ish)....
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
FLASHBACKS AND GRATITUDE... and Random Screencaps
Yay, my 100th post!
Neetu Singh in 'Chorni' (recommended by Memsaab Story)... I love Neetu... she is so gorgeous - I love her eyes, and she is always so watchable. She is really great at comedy, and this is why 'Chorni' is such a great watch. It's a shame her career was so short-lived, but I'm glad she left behind gems like this one. She still looks rather fabulous these days, when, as opposed to talking about her acting talent, everyone's talking about her thinly-veiled comments on Deepika Padukone's unsuitability for her darling Ranbir....
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The beautiful Bipasha Basu in 'Aetbaar'... now this was such a horrendously bad film... everyone in it sucked (yes, even the Big B) - don't even get me started on John Abraham's awfulness in this film (bloodshot eyes, sweatiness and forced trembling do not an obsessed villain make). Bipasha was totally and hopelessly miscast (and I see she is yet to learn her lesson - why oh why did she ever think that doing 'Aa Dekhen Zara' opposite Neil Nitin Mukesh (talk about a match made in... the other place) was a good career choice??) I do love Bipasha, she's gorgeous and so charismatic, but I really wish she picked better roles - roles that suit her dusky, exotic looks and her bold, in-your-face persona (as in 'Corporate' and 'Omkara' - and to a significant extent, even 'Bachna Ae Haseeno')... but then again, perhaps the pickings are slim....
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The stunning Shabana Azmi in 'Arth'... what a great performance! She owned her role in this film and grabbed my attention from start to finish with a gutsy, visceral turn... there's only one Ms Azmi.... Filmi Geek, the ultimate Shabana fan, recommended this movie, and I love it....
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Shashi Kapoor, in his bhaiyya Raj's film 'Awaara'... how cute was he? I wonder if he ever thought back then that he would become a movie star in his own right? I love 'Awaara'... Raj and Nargis were tremendous... I need to watch it again soon.
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Abhishek Bachchan, looking too cool for school in 'Bluffmaster'... I love this film - Abhishek and Riteish are fabulous. Boman is pretty good too... and Piggy Chops, well... she doesn't ruin the movie or anything. Abhishek is so great at comedy... love him in fun films like this one and 'Bunty Aur Babli'....
Umm, who is this? in 'Chori Chori Chupke Chupke'... I honestly don't know who she is, but she looks gorgeous, doesn't she? Hence the screencap. Anyway, if I remember correctly, she played the dulhan, Rani's friend, at the wedding where Rani and Sallu Chacha meet for the first time at the start of the movie... and sparks fly! I remember the fabulous song 'No 1 Punjabi' from this wedding as well... I had to find it and listen to it again after watching the film. 'Chori Chori Chupke Chupke' is a weird film - I thought the storyline was ridiculous and disturbing, and I'm not sure I could watch it again, but I also think Rani, Preity and Salman all did a pretty good job in it... if I recall correctly, Preity even scored a couple of awards....
Madhuri Dixit proving she still had 'it' in spades in 'Dil To Pagal Hai'... I adore Madhuri - she is an absolutely divine dancer, such a professional, smart, articulate, and stunning to boot! I LOVE her. Anyway, here she is with one of her landmark roles of the 90s... while I think she did a very good job with her rather straitlaced (and actually quite boring) character in this film, for me the real star of DTPH was an energetic, fiery and determined Karisma Kapoor... Lolo heated up the screen for me... even Madhuri couldn't keep up (although that dance-off was FIERCE - both Madz and Lolo won, in my opinion)... and SRK was the weakest of the trio (I love him, but he was).
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Another of my all-time favourites, Jaya Bhaduri, in the oh-so-charming 'Guddi'... 'Guddi' is one of those films that it's impossible for a Dharam fan not to love, but it really is Jaya's film from start to finish. I love this woman's acting so much, and I could watch her all day... I loved her in this scene - the lively young girl subdued, awkward, on the cusp of something strange and new....
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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'... back when Ash and Sallu were still on speaking terms... if you haven't read Filmi Girl's fantastic two-part write-up on HDDCS (first part here), you're missing out on something wonderful... it reminded me of all the good things about this movie, and one of them is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's really lush, luxurious, gorgeous aesthetic... I want a bedroom just like this one!
It's about time... back in 2006 when I started this blog, it was so great to have a space in which to indulge my fledgling love for Dharmendra and growing love for Bollywood... I 'attacked' this blog with such gusto, pouring forth my thoughts in words that now seem slightly childish (but sweet! LOL), unenlightened and over-eager to me... and I loved it. I loved writing about these movies and people I was growing to love so much, and most of all, I loved hearing from Dharmendra-fans and Bollywood-fans from all over the world. I really treasure the lovely emails and comments I've received from people who are passionate about Hindi cinema and their (and my) favourite hero. What a joy!
Back then, my blog posts were fairly regular, and that continued for most of 2007 as well. In 2008 though, I posted much less frequently, and that trend has continued into this year. While I'm not sure I'll ever get back to the heady, exciting days of '06 and '07, when I just couldn't wait to put my thoughts down after watching a Bollywood film, I'm not quite ready to hang my Bollyblogging boots up, either.
I still love this little spot, and I still love writing about Bollywood and Dharmendra. And even when I'm not actively blogging, I'm constantly keeping up to date on my favourite Bollyblogs, and it's great to see that many of the Bollybloggers who inspired me to start writing about Bollywood are still blogging with as much gusto and enthusiasm as ever. It's also pretty great to see so many awesome new bloggers join the ranks. The best thing about Bollyblogging for me is definitely the sense of sharing and community.
So I'd like to say a special 'Dhanyavaad' to everyone who's stopped by here... thank you SO MUCH for sharing this experience with me, for your comments (always so delightful - enlightening, funny, challenging, inspiring, fun, informative), your emails, and just for taking the time...
... here's to my next 100 (and let's hope it doesn't take almost 3 years to crank 'em out!)
And now to an idea I borrowed from Veracious, whose cool and fabulous blog ...So They Dance, is one of my faves... this young Finnish blogger is smart, witty, insightful and always fun to read... she once did a really cool post with random Bollywood-related pictures from her computer... so I thought it might be fun to share some of my thousands of screencaps and say a little bit about them... so here they are, selected by the highly scientific method of eenie-meenie-manie-mo....
Neetu Singh in 'Chorni' (recommended by Memsaab Story)... I love Neetu... she is so gorgeous - I love her eyes, and she is always so watchable. She is really great at comedy, and this is why 'Chorni' is such a great watch. It's a shame her career was so short-lived, but I'm glad she left behind gems like this one. She still looks rather fabulous these days, when, as opposed to talking about her acting talent, everyone's talking about her thinly-veiled comments on Deepika Padukone's unsuitability for her darling Ranbir....The beautiful Bipasha Basu in 'Aetbaar'... now this was such a horrendously bad film... everyone in it sucked (yes, even the Big B) - don't even get me started on John Abraham's awfulness in this film (bloodshot eyes, sweatiness and forced trembling do not an obsessed villain make). Bipasha was totally and hopelessly miscast (and I see she is yet to learn her lesson - why oh why did she ever think that doing 'Aa Dekhen Zara' opposite Neil Nitin Mukesh (talk about a match made in... the other place) was a good career choice??) I do love Bipasha, she's gorgeous and so charismatic, but I really wish she picked better roles - roles that suit her dusky, exotic looks and her bold, in-your-face persona (as in 'Corporate' and 'Omkara' - and to a significant extent, even 'Bachna Ae Haseeno')... but then again, perhaps the pickings are slim....The stunning Shabana Azmi in 'Arth'... what a great performance! She owned her role in this film and grabbed my attention from start to finish with a gutsy, visceral turn... there's only one Ms Azmi.... Filmi Geek, the ultimate Shabana fan, recommended this movie, and I love it.... Shashi Kapoor, in his bhaiyya Raj's film 'Awaara'... how cute was he? I wonder if he ever thought back then that he would become a movie star in his own right? I love 'Awaara'... Raj and Nargis were tremendous... I need to watch it again soon. Abhishek Bachchan, looking too cool for school in 'Bluffmaster'... I love this film - Abhishek and Riteish are fabulous. Boman is pretty good too... and Piggy Chops, well... she doesn't ruin the movie or anything. Abhishek is so great at comedy... love him in fun films like this one and 'Bunty Aur Babli'....Umm, who is this? in 'Chori Chori Chupke Chupke'... I honestly don't know who she is, but she looks gorgeous, doesn't she? Hence the screencap. Anyway, if I remember correctly, she played the dulhan, Rani's friend, at the wedding where Rani and Sallu Chacha meet for the first time at the start of the movie... and sparks fly! I remember the fabulous song 'No 1 Punjabi' from this wedding as well... I had to find it and listen to it again after watching the film. 'Chori Chori Chupke Chupke' is a weird film - I thought the storyline was ridiculous and disturbing, and I'm not sure I could watch it again, but I also think Rani, Preity and Salman all did a pretty good job in it... if I recall correctly, Preity even scored a couple of awards....Madhuri Dixit proving she still had 'it' in spades in 'Dil To Pagal Hai'... I adore Madhuri - she is an absolutely divine dancer, such a professional, smart, articulate, and stunning to boot! I LOVE her. Anyway, here she is with one of her landmark roles of the 90s... while I think she did a very good job with her rather straitlaced (and actually quite boring) character in this film, for me the real star of DTPH was an energetic, fiery and determined Karisma Kapoor... Lolo heated up the screen for me... even Madhuri couldn't keep up (although that dance-off was FIERCE - both Madz and Lolo won, in my opinion)... and SRK was the weakest of the trio (I love him, but he was).Another of my all-time favourites, Jaya Bhaduri, in the oh-so-charming 'Guddi'... 'Guddi' is one of those films that it's impossible for a Dharam fan not to love, but it really is Jaya's film from start to finish. I love this woman's acting so much, and I could watch her all day... I loved her in this scene - the lively young girl subdued, awkward, on the cusp of something strange and new....And finally...
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'... back when Ash and Sallu were still on speaking terms... if you haven't read Filmi Girl's fantastic two-part write-up on HDDCS (first part here), you're missing out on something wonderful... it reminded me of all the good things about this movie, and one of them is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's really lush, luxurious, gorgeous aesthetic... I want a bedroom just like this one!This was fun... I might do it again sometime - I have an almost embarrassing number of screencaps and these aren't particularly the ones I love best... which one of the above was your favourite?
Sunday, May 17, 2009
BLACKMAIL: Well Worth the Wait!
I first found out about Vijay Anand's 'Blackmail' (1973) thanks to a fabulous review by Memsaab, one of my favourite Bolly-bloggers. I thought it sounded absolutely gorgeous and knew that I immediately had to find it and make it mine... it was AGES before the DVD finally made its way to me - I ordered them in summer 2008 and didn't receive it until March this year (it's a long story!) And I fell in love with it right away....
What's not to love about this movie? It has everything - drama, romance, foreign baddies in a fake golf tournament, lots of suspense, a gorgeous Rakhee, two gorgeous Rakhees, a (to borrow Memsaab's adjective) dreamy Dharmendra, windswept love letters, Kishore Kumar's voice, tears, unrequited love, men of science in a massive lab, a pretty amazing 'formoola', laughter, beautiful music, oodles of sexiness (you have to see 'Mile Do Badan'), cute children, Madan Puri in a crazy wig... need I go on? I adored it. 'Blackmail' is a lovely film, and a total delight for any Dharmendra fan... and even if you're not huge on Dharmendra, you'll love it if you love good Hindi films from the 70s.
I'm not doing a proper review of this movie, as I think Memsaab's excellent review says everything I might have said (and better than I could possibly have said it), so here are some of my favourite screencaps from 'Blackmail' (for your viewing pleasure, but also so I can come back here and stare at them the next time I need cheering up ;-))....
What's not to love about this movie? It has everything - drama, romance, foreign baddies in a fake golf tournament, lots of suspense, a gorgeous Rakhee, two gorgeous Rakhees, a (to borrow Memsaab's adjective) dreamy Dharmendra, windswept love letters, Kishore Kumar's voice, tears, unrequited love, men of science in a massive lab, a pretty amazing 'formoola', laughter, beautiful music, oodles of sexiness (you have to see 'Mile Do Badan'), cute children, Madan Puri in a crazy wig... need I go on? I adored it. 'Blackmail' is a lovely film, and a total delight for any Dharmendra fan... and even if you're not huge on Dharmendra, you'll love it if you love good Hindi films from the 70s.
I'm not doing a proper review of this movie, as I think Memsaab's excellent review says everything I might have said (and better than I could possibly have said it), so here are some of my favourite screencaps from 'Blackmail' (for your viewing pleasure, but also so I can come back here and stare at them the next time I need cheering up ;-))....
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Random A-Z List: Just Some Random Things I Love
Abhay Deol’s eccentric charm
Bipasha Basu’s exotic beauty
Crushing on someone new... ‘discovering the hotness’ as I described it in my last post...
Danny Denzongpa’s over-the-top villainry (can't believe someone other than Dharmendra came to mind)
Esha Deol’s slightly manic edge (one of very few things I like about Miss Deol)
Farah Khan's irreverent humour (her brother takes it a bit too far though)
Genelia’s flashlight eyes (yes, flashlight eyes)
Hema Malini’s strength and grace
Imran Khan’s cute grin
Juhi Chawla’s marvellous comic timing
Karisma Kapoor’s zest and energy (I actually miss her)
Lisa Ray’s straight sleekness
Manisha Koirala’s rebellious spirit (misdirected? What do you think?)
Nandita Das’s flawless brown skin
Om Puri’s cleverness and depth
Parveen Babi’s lush glamour
Quiz time – For $1 million Dharam-dollars: Have you seen ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ yet? (‘Cos I feel like I’m the only person on the planet who hasn’t – must remedy that this weekend!)
Rani Mukherjee’s husky tones (someone, anyone, please give this woman a great role she can sink her teeth into... and please do it soon!)
SRK’s quirky self-awareness
Tabu’s... poised awkwardness (makes no sense, I know, but it's the only way I can describe it)
Urmila Matondkar’s quiet individuality
Vinod Khanna’s lovely brown eyes
Waheeda Rehman’s whimsical beauty
Xcellent performances by the most surprising people... love it when this happens. Would love to hear about some performances you've found surprisingly good – please comment!
Y are Yash Raj churning out such lacklustre films these days? Get it together, Adi!
Zeenat Aman’s irrespressible sexiness - there's never been anyone quite like her, has there?
Bipasha Basu’s exotic beauty
Crushing on someone new... ‘discovering the hotness’ as I described it in my last post...
Danny Denzongpa’s over-the-top villainry (can't believe someone other than Dharmendra came to mind)
Esha Deol’s slightly manic edge (one of very few things I like about Miss Deol)
Farah Khan's irreverent humour (her brother takes it a bit too far though)
Genelia’s flashlight eyes (yes, flashlight eyes)
Hema Malini’s strength and grace
Imran Khan’s cute grin
Juhi Chawla’s marvellous comic timing
Karisma Kapoor’s zest and energy (I actually miss her)
Lisa Ray’s straight sleekness
Manisha Koirala’s rebellious spirit (misdirected? What do you think?)
Nandita Das’s flawless brown skin
Om Puri’s cleverness and depth
Parveen Babi’s lush glamour
Quiz time – For $1 million Dharam-dollars: Have you seen ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ yet? (‘Cos I feel like I’m the only person on the planet who hasn’t – must remedy that this weekend!)
Rani Mukherjee’s husky tones (someone, anyone, please give this woman a great role she can sink her teeth into... and please do it soon!)
SRK’s quirky self-awareness
Tabu’s... poised awkwardness (makes no sense, I know, but it's the only way I can describe it)
Urmila Matondkar’s quiet individuality
Vinod Khanna’s lovely brown eyes
Waheeda Rehman’s whimsical beauty
Xcellent performances by the most surprising people... love it when this happens. Would love to hear about some performances you've found surprisingly good – please comment!
Y are Yash Raj churning out such lacklustre films these days? Get it together, Adi!
Zeenat Aman’s irrespressible sexiness - there's never been anyone quite like her, has there?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
ON RECOGNISING THE HOTNESS...
I'm back even sooner than I thought I'd be, to talk about something that's been on my mind... that thing being the moment when I recognise the 'hotness'... the moment when I look at an actor and realise that he's not just good-looking, he's very, very hot! I'm laughing at myself right now... such frivolous subject matter, I know, but it feels like it's been a while since I've been utterly frivolous around here (and even if it hasn't, humour me, please).
'Hotness', I think, is such a subjective, flimsy thing - so many people in Bollywood are good-looking, sometimes exceptionally so... but I don't always find them hot - and usually right not off the bat. One notable exception to this rule was Dharmendra (of course) who totally had me at hello. But it's more usually the case with me that I see a particular actor in a few films before I see him looking a particular way (whether it has to do with wardrobe, styling, physique, or even just his demeanour - the way he stands, speaks or walks) that just strikes me as hot. Another notable exception to this rule: Ajay Devgan, whose hotness I've raved about before, in near-embarrassing detail (now if only he'd lay off the hair dye...).
But back to my point about it usually taking a minute for me to 'recognise the hotness'... let me provide a few cases to illustrate (who am I kidding, this is just an elaborate excuse to look for pictures of hot men and put them on my blog so I can smile at them later)... I've always thought John Abraham was an extremely attractive young man (those gorgeous brown eyes, that beautiful smile!), but I didn't feel even a flicker of hotness where he was concerned until 'Salaam-e-Ishq' (yup, I didn't even feel it in 'Dhoom' - felt Abhishek totally pipped him to the post in that one) - and that flicker only burst into flame with 'Dostana'.
There are two reasons why I finally find John hot (and no, the massive muscle growth isn't one of them - it's not really my thing).
One is his haircut - the man has always had great looking hair (you almost want to touch it), but he hasn't always done great-looking things with it. I was elated when he cut it short for 'Goal'... am SO loving him with short hair, I hated that floppy cut he had in his awful 'Aetbaar' days. The second thing is the confidence and comfort he seems to slowly be developing onscreen - John seems more relaxed these days (although I feel he still has a ways to go), and that's very appealing. I used to feel such a disconnect between the laidback, ultra-cool guy I saw in interviews and this stiff, contained, over-eager, overly-serious person he seemed to be on screen - now he seems to be streamlining the 'two Johns' into one, and I am loving it...
Now, I love John with short hair, but it's the other way round with Arjun Rampal. Once upon a time, I found him very pretty but also rather bland and/or boring to look at (Exhibit A: 'Dil Ka Rishta'. Exhibit B: 'Yakeen'), but then he grew out those locks for his role in 'Don' (2006) and I had to do an about-face and look again... and again, when he played the sexy bad guy in 'Om Shanti Om' (they kinda ruined his character in the second half, but he was still pretty hot); and now, even though I haven't yet seen 'Rock On' (can't wait though), the pictures of him with all that hair... well, let's just say, kabhi khushi, kabhi khushi, khushi, khushi....
Speaking of kabhi khushi, there's Shahrukh Khan... where to start? My first encounter with SRK was with his annoying Raj in 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' - and although I ended up enjoying the film, I wasn't feeling the hotness at the time at all... since then though, I've felt it, many, many, many times... at the moment, my favourite is his lean, rangy, angst-ridden, stubbliciousness in 'Chak De! India'... swoon.
Speaking of kabhi khushi, there's Shahrukh Khan... where to start? My first encounter with SRK was with his annoying Raj in 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' - and although I ended up enjoying the film, I wasn't feeling the hotness at the time at all... since then though, I've felt it, many, many, many times... at the moment, my favourite is his lean, rangy, angst-ridden, stubbliciousness in 'Chak De! India'... swoon.
Bad 90s fashion aside, I even find him hot in a lot of his older flicks. Really, I could go on and on, but yeah, suffice it to say that I now think he's seriously hot.
Well, I think I've given enough examples of recognising the hotness for one day (and have looked at enough gorgeous pictures in the process)... other names spring to mind - Vinod Khanna (he very nearly stole my heart, but Dharam beat him to it), Amitabh Bachchan (most especially as the bad boy in 'Deewaar'), Dilip Kumar (yes, Dilip Kumar), and even Shahid Kapoor (I blame 'Jab We Met'), and oh my goodness, I haven't even mentioned Abhishek or Hrithik.... but I think I feel a fever coming on - with all this talk of hotness, I'm burning up - and so I will depart now and (hopefully!) come back with something suitably grown-up next time....
Friday, January 16, 2009
‘YEH DOSTI’
At the end of 2007, I made some resolutions for the year 2008 on this blog. I took action on most of them, but came up with one glaring deficit... with regard to my resolution to do more blogging on Bollywood in 2008. That one I really fell down on, and so there will be no embarrassing resolutions of that kind for 2009! I can’t help but say, though, that I have a feeling that I’ll do a lot more ‘Bolly-blogging’ this year than I did last year. I’m not sure why, but I think I will be more inspired.
2008 was not quite as much fun as 2007 when it came to Bollywood movies. I watched quite a few Hindi films, but was underwhelmed and uninspired by a lot of them. On the bright side, I made a fabulous new Bollywood-movie-watching friend. The really cool thing is that we see each other almost daily, and get along unbelievably well, so we spend many hours together, talking about a wide range of subjects, among them Hindi films (of course).
She’s very opinionated, and she’s also amazingly knowledgeable about Hindi movies (she knows about a gazillion times what I do about Bollywood). Interestingly, there’s very little that we agree upon (she can’t stand SRK! She thinks the gorgeous Rani is quite ordinary-looking! She isn’t fond of films from the 60s and 70s! She detests the big B, and is singularly unimpressed by the immensely talented Jaya Bhaduri! In short, we are almost polar opposites).
Despite our rather pronounced differences, we:
· have incredibly stimulating – and sometimes very silly – discussions about Bollywood (I don’t think there’s anything we haven’t touched, from writing treatments of our fantasy Bollywood scripts, to creating our dream (and nightmare) jodis (real life and fictional), to endless debates on relative hotness, to coming up with elaborate conspiracy theories on every new development in the industry);
· go to see movies together (she loved 'Ghajini', was mildly amused by ‘Singh Is Kinng’, found ‘Race’ as ridiculous as I did, thought ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ was highly irritating, and, despite her strong dislike of Ash, enjoyed the epic scope of ‘Jodhaa Akbar’);
· watch DVDs together at home (and now the cry ‘Koola Laaka Vellari!’ is indelibly imprinted upon my brain); and
· make fun of people like Himesh Reshammaiya, Luv Sinha, Rahul Bose, K-Jo and Sonam Kapoor together.
It’s been such great fun! We always have a laugh, and getting to know her was definitely one of the Bollywood-related highlights of my 2008. There were others, some of which I did find time to blog about in the course of the year, and I’m definitely looking forward to many more this year. One very, very extra-special one will involve a real-life wedding, an utterly stunning bride, glowing with happiness beside her handsome groom; and a rendition of a beautiful song from a Hindi film... I can’t wait!
I will be back soon... until then, ‘hum hain rahi pyaar ke, phir milenge, chalte chalte’ (such a shame about ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’! It just didn’t hit the right notes!)
Monday, September 15, 2008
SOORAJ BARJATYA: Music and Melodrama
More involved in distribution than film-making, Sooraj Barjatya has directed only a small handful of films – but several of them were such huge hits that he’s effectively made his mark on Hindi cinema as a director – specifically as a director of a specific type of film – the sentimental, schmaltzy, melodramatic ‘family drama’. Hallmarks of his movies include family celebrations (usually with gorgeous, heart-warming songs) and inter-generational conflict (typically resolved thanks to love, understanding and forgiveness – all done the desi way, of course).
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Barjatya’s films always reflect – and even champion – so-called ‘traditional family values’ – values which are often decried as both unrealistic and anachronistic. Several of his films feature ‘arranged marriages’ between characters who, although they have no objections to spending the rest of their lives together, haven’t exactly had the opportunity to make such a life-changing decision with a person of their own choosing, after a reasonable period of discovery. The films also tend to endorse a model of marriage where the girl seems to set aside any aspirations or ambitions she may have had, in order to become the idealized ‘biwi aur bahu’.
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In addition, Barjatya often seems to adopt the simplistic view (often seen in Bollywood – and also, by the way, in Nollywood (Nigerian cinema)) that 'Western' values are completely unwholesome and undesirable and worse, are some sort of raging virus out to destroy everything that the Indian family holds dear. This theme pops up in all the Barjatya films I’ve seen – the worst characters are those that try to look and speak ‘Western’ – they are immoral, greedy and uncaring about the needs of others.
I’m not going to weigh in on the debate as to whether there’s anything harmful or misleading in the ‘family values’ model adopted by Barjatya in his films – I think that everyone has a view on that. I will only say that as a lover of Bollywood films, I’ve learned to sift through the messages in various movies and to extract what (if anything) is of value to me, discarding whatever goes against my own worldview. And I will also say that my beliefs, I like to think, are pretty embracing of diverse views, and I sometimes (but by no means always) find that there’s value to be extracted from ideas that may at first go against the grain. And that’s a lot to say from someone who had nothing to say!
Before talking about the Barjatya films I’ve seen so far, I’ll just summarise what I love and (don’t love) about them. I like a formula that works, and his formula works for me – catchy, melodious music + beautiful, charming actors + some conflict + all-conquering love healing all wounds. I like it – it’s simple and it’s fun (for the most part). Let’s break it down.
The music: Barjatya uses music (and lots and lots of it) really well to heighten emotion and tug at those heart-strings, awakening feelings of nostalgia and tenderness. The melodies (usually provided by Raam Laxman) are simple, catchy (really infectious, actually), memorable and even sometimes shamelessly plagiarized (as in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’). The song picturisations are usually really beautifully done, in my opinion. Schmaltzy and over-the-top as it sometimes is, I think the music is my favourite thing about his films.
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The actors: Like every director, Barjatya has his ‘MVPs’ – actors that understand how to effectively capture and demonstrate the family-friendly messages infused through each film. Alok Nath, who’s almost a genius at melodrama in my view, has to be the most valuable Barjatya MVP, but there’s also (among others) the charming Reema Lagoo, Anupam Kher (whom I love), Ajit Vachani, Mohnish Behl, and his favourite ‘hero’, Mr. Salman Khan.
Mr. Barjatya is a bit more adventurous when casting young females, and he sure goes for the gorgeous: Bhagyashree – she of the lamentably underachieved career (‘Maine Pyar Kiya’), Madhuri Dixit and Renuka Shahane (‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun…!’ – Renuka is another whom I wish had done more), Kareena Kapoor (‘Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon’), Amrita Rao (‘Vivah’), Karisma Kapoor, Tabu and Sonali Bendre (‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’). Barjatya picks beautiful people, and that makes for many beautiful picturisations – from Madhuri and Salman in ‘Joote Dedo’ to Shahid and Amrita in ‘Hamari Shaadi’, to Tabu, Sonali and Lolo in ‘Maiyya Yashoda’, to Bhagyashree and Salman in the Antakshari medley from ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’.
Speaking of great picturisations, India itself is, I believe, a character in Barjatya’s films – the rich culture, the family traditions, the colourful clothing, and the scenic locations spread across the country. All his films that I’ve seen include scenes shot in the beautiful, picturesque, often rural areas of India. That’s another thing I love.
Barjatya is also fond of animals, it seems – from Tuffy the dog in HAHK, who ends up playing a pivotal role in the film, to Handsome the dove in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’. And he has a distinct affection for the the name 'Prem'!
One thing I do like about Barjatya’s characters is that they all have distinct and different personalities – some are feisty and forward, others shy and reserved; some are plain-speaking, others diplomatic geniuses; some are bubbling with life, others inwardly seething. They are definitely not the most nuanced and complex characters (although I think some of them end up having a lot more substance than you’d at first think), in fact they are usually very broadly-sketched, but I guess I can forgive that within the context of what he does.
One thing I do like about Barjatya’s characters is that they all have distinct and different personalities – some are feisty and forward, others shy and reserved; some are plain-speaking, others diplomatic geniuses; some are bubbling with life, others inwardly seething. They are definitely not the most nuanced and complex characters (although I think some of them end up having a lot more substance than you’d at first think), in fact they are usually very broadly-sketched, but I guess I can forgive that within the context of what he does.
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The conflict: There is always one – whether created by human weakness (as in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’) or by bad advice from creepy friends (as in ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’) or by tragic accident (as in ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun…!’ and ‘Vivah’). As with real life, the conflict usually comes straight out of nowhere. Unfortunately, sometimes the conflict also comes off a bit contrived and/or unrealistic… but oh well.
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All-conquering love: Ah… the all-consuming power of love, be it romantic or filial, able to straighten out every difficulty, obliterate every complication, assuage every human yearning, make people become exactly who the people they love want them to be…. Except, this works only in the movies! It makes for some nice, cathartic emotional resolutions though. It would be nice, I suppose, if a nod was made to the fact that things are never so nicely tied up in real life – but then again, isn’t that why we’ve got the movies?
Now to the Barjatya films I’ve seen so far.
‘HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN…!’: I adore this film. It’s my favourite of the films Sooraj Barjatya has directed and just has a very special place in my heart. I wrote just about everything I have to say about it here.
‘HUM SAATH SAATH HAIN’: I’m one of the few people that actually really liked this film. Yes, it’s very saccharine in many places, but I think it had its heart in the right place. I love the songs from it and enjoyed the performances as well as the issues it tackled. I’ve written about it here and here.
‘MAINE PYAR KIYA’: This is a very sweet, charming film about young love. It’s very ‘typical’ of Bollywood romance – rich boy, poor girl, opposition from parents… but it’s very nicely done. A young, likeable Salman Khan and the adorable Bhagyashree play Prem and Suman, two young people who despite their differing backgrounds, find friendship, and later love, when Suman comes to live at Prem’s house (Suman’s father and Prem’s father are old friends). These two made SUCH a lovely couple, and the film-makers captured some really memorable moments with them.
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Unfortunately, as the bond between Prem and Suman develops, the bond between their parents is destroyed by Prem’s father’s pride and elitism. Suman’s father’s pride is awakened in turn, and Prem must then convince him (as the Biblical Jacob had to convince Laban) that he is deserving of his daughter. Throw in the attempts of the greedy, Westernised Ranjeet, Seema and Jeevan (played by Ajit Vachani, Pervin Dastur and Mohnish Behl) to snatch away all that Prem and his family hold dear, and our young hero faces quite a challenge. Will he succeed? Anyone who knows Bollywood knows the answer to this question, but it’s still fun to watch.
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The best thing about this film for me was the performances – especially by Bhagyashree and Salman, although they’re nicely backed by the rest of the cast. I do so wish Bhagyashree had built on the success of this film – I think she could have had a great career. The songs in this film are also really sweet (‘Dil Deewana’ is pretty, ‘Tum Ladki Ho’ is fun, and ‘Kabutar ja’ is delightful – I enjoyed the rest as well). Some aspects of the script could I could have done without, such as the strangely intense relationship between our lovers’ fathers (especially on Alok Nath’s side) – very amusing, but weird. Also could have done without the big fight at the end. But all told, this is a really, really sweet and charming love story.
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‘VIVAH’
: Sooraj Barjatya’s most recent hit, a charming courtship story starring Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao helped Barjatya regain the credibility he had lost with HSSH and ‘Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon’ (which I haven’t seen). It also sparked criticism from many who felt that its themes were obsolete and its female protagonist annoyingly submissive. While I don’t agree with all of it (I particularly disagree with the notion that Poonam’s shyness automatically makes her a mindless coward), I do have problems with some aspects of this film’s storyline.Shahid Kapoor plays the sweet, sincere Prem, a young man whose father (played by Anupam Kher) apparently gets up one day, and out of nowhere, decides it’s time for his son to get married. Prem has his doubts, but like a good, obedient son, he meekly goes with his father to meet the selected prospective wife, the lovely Poonam (played by Amrita Rao). After only one brief and one-sided conversation, during which Poonam seems to be afraid to look up at Prem's face, she agrees to marry Prem. There is no discussion about her goals, desires and aspirations until after the decision is made. And even then, the ‘discussion’ (such as it is), almost explicitly subjugates her own future accomplishments to the chief role she will soon have as supportive wife and dutiful daughter-in-law. And through it all, Poonam is quietly acquiescent - and somehow it's a little difficult to tell whether it's because she's doing what's expected of her or because she's doing what she wants.
After this beginning (which, you can probably tell, I found pretty problematic), the bulk of the film is taken up by Poonam and Prem’s sweet season of courtship. I have to say I was won over at this point by the warmth and sincerity of the characters and the way they slowly establish friendship and intimacy.
I thought Shahid and Amrita had great chemistry, and I liked their characters’ mutual respect and the fact that neither was ‘fronting’ - Prem and Poonam were keeping it real. Their relationship takes time to mature, and both of them have to make an effort - I liked that as well. And it was immensely gratifying to eventually discover that Poonam, despite initial appearances, does, wonder of wonders, actually have a pretty resilient backbone and something even more endearing – maturity and wisdom along with a sense of fun.
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I really, really enjoyed ‘Vivah’ – I loved the songs, I loved the romance, I loved the way in which it all unfolded, and I just thought that it was really lovely and sweet. But there is no doubt that unfortunately, I also found some aspects of it unacceptable.
I think that this ambivalent note is a really good one on which to end this post. While I like the fact that Barjatya’s films put family values front and centre, while I love the music and the emotion, and the beautiful people and scenery, and the whole formula; there definitely are aspects to that formula that can be difficult.
But I think that I am probably not the only movie buff that comes to this point with a number of films (whether they be products of Bollywood, Hollywood, or Nollywood) and has learnt to deal with it – extracting, as I said earlier, what works for me and pushing aside what doesn’t (of course, there are times when there’s nothing to extract because none of it goes down well).
I am of course conscious that some will use messages in films to continue to legitimate and reiterate (even if only to themselves) ceretain inequitable viewpoints – and even worse, that some more impressionable viewers may possibly find their viewpoints shaped by what they see on their screens… and of course at this point the whole ‘life imitates art imitates life’ circular argument rears its ugly but compelling head.
Phew… I went a bit deeper with this than I planned… funny how I returned to the same point I tried to avoid at the beginning of this piece. Time to summarise. I remain a fan of Barjatya’s work as a director – and even if he never directs another film, I will always be glad he made the films he did (especially HAHK – I love it so much).
Thursday, September 11, 2008
'SATYAKAM' - Dharmendra's Best Performance?
I’ve wanted to watch ‘Satyakam’ for ages… about 2 years now actually, ever since I first read a review that described Dharmendra’s performance in it as his career best. It wasn’t easy, but I finally got my hands on it. My next post was supposed to be about something light-hearted and frivolous…‘Satyakam’ is anything but. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not exactly a depressing, dark film – but it definitely made me pause and reflect, which I think was what Hrishikesh Mukherjee and his team intended.
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Speaking of the late Hrishikesh Mukherjee, I am a huge fan of his work – he’s my favourite Hindi film director and I’ve loved all the films he directed (that I’ve seen so far). But ‘Satyakam’ was totally different from the others I’ve seen, which is interesting as it’s also the earliest one (1969) that I’ve seen. It’s not fun and light-hearted (like ‘Chupke Chupke’ or ‘Gol Maal’), and it doesn’t quite have the sweetness of a ‘Guddi’ or ‘Bawarchi’ or the heart-tugging (but nicely done) melodrama of a ‘Mili’ or ‘Abhimaan’. ‘Satyakam’ is measured and restrained. It unwinds slowly (perhaps a little too slowly at the beginning, actually) and its tone is reflective. I love the fact that it raises more questions that it answers, leaving its audience to ponder on the issues for itself.
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Where is the balance (if there is one) between being ‘yourself’ and adapting to the harsh realities of your environment? How much of your true self is dictated by your genes and the circumstances of your birth, and how much is dictated by life experience and the pressures of everyday living? Are values important enough to live or die for? Does dogmatism always either devour itself or collapse into hypocrisy? Can one man really take on the system? Must there be a sacrifice of values for the sake of ‘greater good’ (however defined)? Where is the balance between personal honour and emotional truth? Is there even such a thing as truth, or is it really all about shades of grey and personal judgment?
Speaking of judgment, is it really possible to ‘temper justice with mercy’? What dictates the true value of a life? Where is the line between the protection and preservation of self and family interests on the one hand and the service of higher interests on the other? These are just some of the questions that ‘Satyakam’ raises. It doesn’t answer them all, but in raising them, it tells a compelling story of one man’s devotion to truth, the people he meets along his path, and how ‘successful’ he is at being the man he aspires to be. There is also an interesting subtext that I feel was a bit under-developed (or maybe I was just rather inadequate at unpacking it) – the relationship between Satyakam’s story and the story of a young and newly independent India, finding its feet, making its choices, navigating the constant socio-moral seesaw between concession and right, and arriving at its own destiny.
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Satyapriya (played by Dharmendra) comes from a long line of honest, upright, truth-tellers. He has been raised in the long-held family traditions of honour, truth and respectability by his beloved and noble grandfather (played by the brilliant Ashok Kumar). While at college, he meets and becomes firm friends with Naren (played by Sanjeev Kumar in one of his first film roles).
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After college, the friends separate and Satyapriya (‘Sat’) takes his first job as a project engineer. He quickly comes face-to-face with corrupt, self-serving, dishonest men. From Day 1, he firmly and boldly takes a stand against every practice that goes against his values, and of course, there are consequences. While dealing with this, he also meets the beautiful but sad Ranjana, a young woman cast out of honourable society due to the circumstances of her birth and destined (it seems) to become the plaything of wealthy men. Even her own guardian has no quibble with subjecting her to this future – as far as he’s concerned, she can hope for nothing better with her history, and life in ‘service’ to a rich, lecherous will at least fetch a handsome income.
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When Satya becomes familiar with her circumstances, he wants to help but is torn between the demands of heritage and reputation, and the need to protect a helpless woman who cares for him (and who he comes to care for). In many ways, this proves to be a watershed moment in his life. What does Sat choose to do? How does his decision affect his relationships and his future? How does he come to terms with the fact that he will always walk alone? How does his fierce, black-or-white brand of personal integrity hold up against the challenges of his future? Does he find peace and personal fulfillment in the life he has chosen? Well, you'll have to watch this film and find out for yourself.
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Although I said earlier that ‘Satyakam’ isn’t like any of the other Mukherjee films I’ve seen, it does have some of his hallmarks. As always, he is masterful at setting up moments and scenes that are so poignant and real that they stay with you long after the film is over. The film has the grace of his other films (but is less formulaic and more multi-dimensional than the others I’ve seen). I always love how Hrishikesh Mukherjee could capture something special and intimate in the most seemingly mundane, simple things. Another thing I love about ‘Satyakam’ is the fact that, with its subject matter, it could very easily have degenerated into an over-simplified preach-fest, with Satya hitting us over the head with melodramatic railings on the value of honour; but instead it’s restrained, dignified, and rich with subtext. I love that.
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The cast of ‘Satyakam’ features some of Mukherjee’s ‘favourites’: David, Asrani, Ashok Kumar. Then of course, there’s the core cast: Dharam, Sharmila and Sanjeev. The choice of Dharmendra for this role, to my mind, must have gone across the grain – the role of Satya is no simplistic, hackneyed ‘handsome hero’ part – it requires real acting to capture the complex situation and emotions of this character – but Dharam does a bang-up job of it. He really is ‘Sat’ – he reflects the inner resolve and grapplings of his character beautifully and with great restraint, while also balancing this out with Sat’s charm, humanity, simplicity and honesty. It’s a lovely performance.
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The rest of the cast is excellent as well – Ashok Kumar is fantastic as usual in his small (but pivotal) role, especially in the film’s final scenes, a young Sanjeev Kumar is simply brilliant as the sweet Naren – he perfectly embodies the ‘everyman’ that his character is – I loved how wonderfully he brought to life the love, and most importantly, the respect, that has for Sat.
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Sharmila Tagore is also excellent as Ranjana – although I felt that her character wasn’t given sufficient dimension until much later in the film, she uses her acting chops effectively to keep the character from becoming a boring caricature, and when she does gets some ‘meat’ later in the film, she goes for it and really makes her character memorable.
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Memorable... that’s the word I would use to describe ‘Satyakam’. When I had finished watching it, I felt like I had been put through the wringer. I felt like I had felt what each of the main characters had felt… I was saddened, but also uplifted. And most of all, watching this film was more than just a pleasant way to spend two evenings. That doesn’t happen very often.
And finally, you may be wondering, do I agree with the pundits who consider this to be my dear Dharam’s best performance? Well, it’s certainly the best I’ve seen so far. It doesn’t have any of the stylish, ultra-cool, Dharam-trademarks that I’ve liked so much in other films of his I’ve seen, but what it does have is deeper and more powerful, and makes me respect him more than I ever have (you gotta excuse a fangirl her schmaltz!)
Up next… a Director’s Round-up (been ages since I did one) on the undisputed king of ‘traditional family values’: Sooraj Barjatya.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
OF SARKAR, SARKAR RAJ... AND BABA IBADAN
After writing this, I realised that it's a bit of a downer... not very auspicious considering that I haven't posted anything in months... but it's what's on my mind so I guess it has to be said.... Hopefully the next post will be all nice and light and cheerful....
Interesting how one can find parallels in the strangest places... when I heard that 'Sarkar Raj' was coming to a cinema near me, I knew I wanted to see it. I've been a bit starved of good Bollywood fare lately, and the prospect of three Bachchans doing some 'serious' acting in a Ram Gopal Verma thriller sounded pretty good to me. Because I am slightly anal about doing things 'sequentially', I of course had to watch 'Sarkar' (Ram Gopal Verma's 2005 film) first... and I really enjoyed it. I have talked about the fact that I like Ram Gopal Verma's work before on this blog, and for me 'Sarkar' was a really striking and stylish (typical RGV) piece of storytelling, with really solid performances.
Seeing 'Sarkar Raj' at the cinema was a lot of fun - I went with a bunch of colleagues from work, some of whom are not Bollywood fans and therefore came a bit reluctantly... everyone enjoyed the movie (phew!), and Abhishek Bachchan even gained a new fan! We got all wrapped up in the suspense and drama and generally had a good time together. I thought that the performances were very strong and the story was compelling and moved at a good pace.
The 3 Bachchans all did extremely well, I thought (I loved Amit-ji's scenes with Abhishek, they were really poignant and beautifully-acted in my opinion, and I thought Ash held her own as well), and the rest of the cast supported them well also. I liked how the film dealt with the complexities of family relationships and the emotions that govern them, picking up pretty well from where the first film left off. I also liked how the film delved even deeper into the motivations of the characters in their seemingly endless quest for power - I thought it was really well done.
My quibble (and it was a small one) was with the cardboard-cutout-ness of the villains - I found them a bit too caricatured, and that took away something from the rawness of the film, I thought. Caricature villains are alright in an OTT masala flick, but in a dark, edgy RGV film, I think they could've done with just a little toning down. Also, as is quite typical with RGV, I think that a couple of times he went a lil' overboard with the 'stylisation' of some scenes (but then, that very adventurousness, even when it goes overboard, is really one of things I quite like about RGV). Anyway, I thought 'Sarkar Raj' was a great watch and I'm actually quite looking forward to watching it again when it's released on DVD.
I am not going to say much more about either 'Sarkar' or 'Sarkar Raj'... I think that RGV's films tend to be the love-it-or-hate-it kind - if you have a big problem with onscreen violence or you find films about political intrigues, dhokhas and divided loyalties boring, then you probably won't enjoy either film - but if you fancy grappling with the difficult issues that these gritty, dark films tackle, then you'll probably enjoy them (well, perhaps 'enjoy' is the wrong word - let's say you'll probably find them interesting).
What I actually want to talk about is the parallels between certain aspects of the Sarkar films, and the life and times of a recently deceased national figure here in Nigeria. Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu recently passed away at the age of 80. Adedibu, known as 'the strongman of Ibadan politics' was a very controversial figure in Nigerian politics.
To some people (particularly the members of his party), Adedibu was a statesman, a philanthropist and a man of the people who helped to unify the Yoruba-speaking Western part of the country. Much is made by these advocates of the fact that Adedibu fed many inhabitants of the city of Ibadan daily meals for a number of years, completely free of charge. To many others, however, he was a troublemaker who actually worked to divide the region, by using an army of weapon-wielding goons to wreak violence, terror and havoc upon any members of the community who dared to disagree with his political views. Those free daily meals at Adedibu's mansion, some say, were not an act of charity - rather they were just a part of the 'incentives' used by Adedibu to 'mobilise' his band of thugs.
One thing is for sure, though, Adedibu was a political 'godfather', and he himself admitted boldly that he used his considerable political might to place his anointed godsons in positions of power. There is no doubt that Adedibu exercised a huge amount of influence in Oyo State, where he lived and (some say) reigned. For a man with no governmental position or constitutional power, it boggles the mind that he was (in my opinion) able to basically hound a state governor out of power and then replace him with his very own puppet....
At the beginning of 'Sarkar', there's a quote that says something about a power rising when things fall apart. I think that speaks just as eloquently to the real-life Adedibu situation in Oyo State as it does to the movie-world Maharashtra of RGV's movies, where the fictional Sarkar, the gunda-leader with no respect for the rule of law, holds sway. And I think it's sad... very sad.
Interesting how one can find parallels in the strangest places... when I heard that 'Sarkar Raj' was coming to a cinema near me, I knew I wanted to see it. I've been a bit starved of good Bollywood fare lately, and the prospect of three Bachchans doing some 'serious' acting in a Ram Gopal Verma thriller sounded pretty good to me. Because I am slightly anal about doing things 'sequentially', I of course had to watch 'Sarkar' (Ram Gopal Verma's 2005 film) first... and I really enjoyed it. I have talked about the fact that I like Ram Gopal Verma's work before on this blog, and for me 'Sarkar' was a really striking and stylish (typical RGV) piece of storytelling, with really solid performances.
Seeing 'Sarkar Raj' at the cinema was a lot of fun - I went with a bunch of colleagues from work, some of whom are not Bollywood fans and therefore came a bit reluctantly... everyone enjoyed the movie (phew!), and Abhishek Bachchan even gained a new fan! We got all wrapped up in the suspense and drama and generally had a good time together. I thought that the performances were very strong and the story was compelling and moved at a good pace.
The 3 Bachchans all did extremely well, I thought (I loved Amit-ji's scenes with Abhishek, they were really poignant and beautifully-acted in my opinion, and I thought Ash held her own as well), and the rest of the cast supported them well also. I liked how the film dealt with the complexities of family relationships and the emotions that govern them, picking up pretty well from where the first film left off. I also liked how the film delved even deeper into the motivations of the characters in their seemingly endless quest for power - I thought it was really well done.
My quibble (and it was a small one) was with the cardboard-cutout-ness of the villains - I found them a bit too caricatured, and that took away something from the rawness of the film, I thought. Caricature villains are alright in an OTT masala flick, but in a dark, edgy RGV film, I think they could've done with just a little toning down. Also, as is quite typical with RGV, I think that a couple of times he went a lil' overboard with the 'stylisation' of some scenes (but then, that very adventurousness, even when it goes overboard, is really one of things I quite like about RGV). Anyway, I thought 'Sarkar Raj' was a great watch and I'm actually quite looking forward to watching it again when it's released on DVD.
I am not going to say much more about either 'Sarkar' or 'Sarkar Raj'... I think that RGV's films tend to be the love-it-or-hate-it kind - if you have a big problem with onscreen violence or you find films about political intrigues, dhokhas and divided loyalties boring, then you probably won't enjoy either film - but if you fancy grappling with the difficult issues that these gritty, dark films tackle, then you'll probably enjoy them (well, perhaps 'enjoy' is the wrong word - let's say you'll probably find them interesting).
What I actually want to talk about is the parallels between certain aspects of the Sarkar films, and the life and times of a recently deceased national figure here in Nigeria. Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu recently passed away at the age of 80. Adedibu, known as 'the strongman of Ibadan politics' was a very controversial figure in Nigerian politics.
To some people (particularly the members of his party), Adedibu was a statesman, a philanthropist and a man of the people who helped to unify the Yoruba-speaking Western part of the country. Much is made by these advocates of the fact that Adedibu fed many inhabitants of the city of Ibadan daily meals for a number of years, completely free of charge. To many others, however, he was a troublemaker who actually worked to divide the region, by using an army of weapon-wielding goons to wreak violence, terror and havoc upon any members of the community who dared to disagree with his political views. Those free daily meals at Adedibu's mansion, some say, were not an act of charity - rather they were just a part of the 'incentives' used by Adedibu to 'mobilise' his band of thugs.
One thing is for sure, though, Adedibu was a political 'godfather', and he himself admitted boldly that he used his considerable political might to place his anointed godsons in positions of power. There is no doubt that Adedibu exercised a huge amount of influence in Oyo State, where he lived and (some say) reigned. For a man with no governmental position or constitutional power, it boggles the mind that he was (in my opinion) able to basically hound a state governor out of power and then replace him with his very own puppet....
At the beginning of 'Sarkar', there's a quote that says something about a power rising when things fall apart. I think that speaks just as eloquently to the real-life Adedibu situation in Oyo State as it does to the movie-world Maharashtra of RGV's movies, where the fictional Sarkar, the gunda-leader with no respect for the rule of law, holds sway. And I think it's sad... very sad.
Friday, April 11, 2008
DHARAM & SHARMILA
Yay, I'm stoked to be doing another Dharmendra post (it's been ages)... and this one is also my first 'Faces' post, so... double-yay!
Being the die-hard Dharam fan that I am, I am always interested in his onscreen pairings. The romantic kind, I mean. So far, I've seen him opposite his beautiful wife Hema ('Sholay', 'Jugnu', 'Dillagi', 'The Burning Train', 'Seeta aur Geeta'), the lovely Mala Sinha ('Anpadh'), the sexy Zeenat Aman ('Ram Balram'), the graceful Nafisa Ali ('Life in a... Metro'), the intense Rekha ('Ghazab'), the charming Jaya Bhaduri ('Guddi'), the elegant Kirron Kher ('Apne')....
All of the above couples (bar none) I have loved (ok, so Dharam/Zeenat was unexpectedly a little bit weird, but still not bad). Dharam/Hema, in particular, is always cute, energetic and very charming, and is probably my all-round favourite. I have to say though, that for sheer hotness, my No. 1 'Dharam + 1' couple so far is probably Dharam/Sharmila. There's something about Dharmendra and Ms. Tagore together - they are both so gorgeous and stylish, they complement each other so well, you always believe in their mutual attraction, and they are both so sexy and good-looking. Really.
She has those fabulous dimples and that supreme mastery of the mischievous-sexy-and-yet-guileless look; he has those eyes, and that hair, and those... you know I could go on and on forever on what Dharmendra's got, so I won't.
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My first taste of the Dharam/Sharmila hotness was with 'Chupke Chupke' (1975), a cute comedy about a newlywed couple playing an intricate practical joke on the dulhan's 'genius jijaji'. In 'Chupke Chupke', Dharmendra is the playful Professor Parimal Tripathi, an academic with a mischievous sense of humour, and Sharmila is his fun-loving college-student biwi, Sulekha. They are a cool, smart, middle-class couple - the kind you'd expect to find in this low-key, charming Hrishikesh Mukherjee film. And I think they're utterly adorable.
What I didn't know, until recently, is that years before 'Chupke Chupke', Dharam/Sharmila made a very different type of film together. 'Mere Humdum Mere Dost' (or 'Mere Hamdam Mere Dost' or MHMD, released in 1968) is more "conventional" Bollywood. In MHMD, Dharam is Sunil, a sweet, naïve young man from a humble background, and Sharmila is Anita, a shallow, spoiled rich kid who starts out teasing Sunil, but eventually falls for him (he falls first, but when he realises he's rich, he has second thoughts - because he has a weird phobia of wealth).
Rounding out the cast of major characters are the lushly gorgeous siren Mumtaz as Anita's faithful companion Meena, and Om Prakash as Dhand, a rather annoying busybody who plays a pivotal role in the prem kahani of our two leads (interestingly, Om Prakash is also in 'Chupke Chupke', as the well-fooled genius jijaji. And interestingly, both films end with his character speaking into the camera, saying something cute to the audience).
MHMD, as I said before, is conventional Bollywood - there is the familiar jodi-separated-by-wealth device, the familiar horrible and lecherous villain device, soaring romantic songs performed while running across the hills and meadows in lovely clothes, etc etc. The plot of MHMD is a bit ridiculous and has a lot of silly, random and pointless twists. But as the viewer, I somehow found myself forgiving it these flaws and just enjoying the ride for the most part... and I'll tell you why in a minute.
The major difference between the Dharam/Sharmila of MHMD and the Dharam/Sharmila of 'Chupke Chupke' is that in MHMD, they're really not very cool, not particularly smart, and... just not very bright. I mean really, the things Sunil and Anita do in the name of love just get progressively stupider and stupider. And even when Meena tries to help, even her ideas are hare-brained (Sunil and Anita are at least fools in love,but Meena has no excuse whatsoever).
Again, watching MHMD, I found myself forgiving all this foolishness. Kyun? Because they're hot. I mean, sure they're rather daft, but they're also young, amazingly gorgeous, sexy, uber-stylish, fun and utterly harmless. What's a little daftness compared to a ton of hotness? Eye candy to the power of a hundred. Nay, a thousand. They're so hot that they can afford to act any which way they want to - and do they? At some point in the film, Mumtaz performs a very memorable qawwali in honour of the lead couple - 'Allah Yeh Ada Kaisi Hai Haseenon Mein' (from what I understood, it means something like - 'Oh wow, the ways of these beautiful people!'). Indeed.
Not only do they look tres hot, the leads in MHMD also get to wear really cute sixties fashion - check out the back of one of Sharmila's cute cholis below - I love it.
(Sharmila does repeat one outfit in the film, which is of course anathema for a real Bollywood 'young heiress', but again, she's so cute that it's easy to forgive her). And our hero Dharmendra is in gorgeous, well-cut suits (as in the picture above), and a cute kaftan or turtle-neck here and there. Ultra fab. Dharam's clothes are all so gorgeous. Except for this silly smoking-jacket-and-lazy-cat look he tries on at a very memorable dinner - one of the very, very silly things he does for love and a marvellous example of Dharmendra's wonderful aptitude for comedy.
Something else that's really great about MHMD - the songs, by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. From soaring, romantic ones to slow, passionate ones to cheeky, sassy ones... there are great songs here, performed beautifully by Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and a few others. The soaring song from which the film's title is taken ('Naa Jaa, Kahin Ab Naa Jaa') is a brilliant example of Rafi's vocal virtuosity, and is beautifully picturised. I love all the picturisations in this film, actually - 'Chhalkain Jaam' has to be one of the best sharaab sequences I've seen so far, and in 'Huyi Sham Unka Khayal Aa Gaya' the camera focuses on Dharam sitting alone in a very bare room - and somehow it's enough. So even though I can't really recommend MDMH in the true sense of the word, what I can do is recommend the songs - watching the picturisations (almost all are available on YouTube) will allow you to enjoy the beauty of the actors and the music, without having to endure the film's flaws.
I say this because, as I mentioned earlier, MHMD certainly does have its negatives... the characters are really just caricatures, and the weakness and fragility of the female characters (as with many films from this era), as well as the unquestioning manner in which their feelings are ridden roughshod over by the male characters, can be really quite grating and appalling. Also, the storyline really is quite ridiculous.
But back to Dharam/Sharmila. It's quite fitting, I think, that MHMD came quite a few years before 'Chupke Chupke'... in the latter they are still extremely gorgeous (for me Dharam is crazy handsome in 'Chupke Chupke'and I don't think I've seen him looking cuter in any film so far; whereas I adore Sharmila's stunningly (over-)styled MHMD look - but I digress) but they are also older and wiser, more mature, more sophisticated. Less pretty, less doll-like, less 'whitewashed' (in 'Chupke Chupke' you can see their real skin, thank God!), more relatable, more human. But still ultra-fab. It's a great transition. And best of all, in 'Chupke Chupke', Dharmendra and Sharmila are playing partners (Parimal clearly respects Sulekha and they are presented as equals) in a plot that, while frivolous in terms of subject matter, actually makes sense.
Here are some pictures from both films... note the change in Sharmila's look, from the big hair and dramatic eye make-up with a full, nearly nude-toned lip in the late sixties, to sleeker hair, thinned-out eyebrows and darker, more defined lips in the mid-seventies. You can see the maturing of her face - it's slimmer, more defined and less 'soft' in 'Chupke Chupke' than in MHMD; and I say she looks totally gorgeous and fab in both films...
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And here's my Dharam; at the time of MHMD he is stunningly handsome but almost 'too much' so; it's a little too 'perfect' - by 'Chupke Chupke' his face has matured really beautifully....
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To conclude, one more picture... Sharmila and Mumtaz in MHMD....
PS I'm on the lookout for any other Dharam/Sharmila pairings (apart from 'Satyakam', which I'm already looking for), so any reccies would be welcome. Thank you!
Monday, March 10, 2008
ON KAREENA KAPOOR... AND 'JAB WE MET'
Hmmm... I think I may have just jinxed myself with the very optimistic 'more regular updates' prediction at the end of my last post... which I put up two whole months ago! Hilarious. Oh well, the best laid plans... but I really do plan to post more often from now on...
There are tons of places where you can read about JWM in more detail and more compelling language, so I won't lay my thoughts on you. All I will say is that its message is pleasantly and refreshingly positive about life in general; that it's about self-discovery, freedom, forgiveness,and living an authentic life (messages I love); that there's: lovely chemistry between the leads, very cute and witty dialogues, and fun songs with fun picturisations; that Shahid is very, very cute (have to say I am loving him these days) and Bebo is very lovely, and... must leave it there or else I'll go on about it forever. Definitely worth checking out of you're a fan of good romantic comedy. Finally Bebo and Shahid got it right even if it was at the end of their real-life romance... a befitting 'au revoir', I think. And now I'm off to find another good Kareena performance to keep her glowing in my heart alittle longer - I'm thinking 'Yuva', 'Chameli' or 'Refugee'... what say ye?
So anyway, here's the subject of my post looking stunning at the recent Filmfare Awards, at which she took home the statuette for Best Actress...
My first Bebo experience was with 'Poo' in 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'(K3G) and I COULD NOT STAND her! I thought I would be scarred for life by that performance and in some ways I think I might be - sometimes, when I start to think positive things about Kareena Kapoor, a mental image of Poo (complete with sound effects - the horrible way she spoke in that film) flits into my head and I shudder and try to think of something or someone else!
Such was the repugnance of 'Poo' to my very soul that I convinced myself that not only was Bebo really, really, cringeworthily, ANNOYING, she wasn't even cute, or pretty, or attractive! But I was prejudiced, andI've long since revised my views and admitted to myself that, especially on her 'good days', Kareena is actually quite lovely in a striking, 'different' sort of way - and seeing her stunning image on billboards in Mumbai convinced me of that 110%. The eyes are set quite close together (not a sign of 'classic' beauty), the jaw is strong, the lips are remarkable (can't think of another description for them), the regal nose, the sassy chin - altogether the features make up a lovely, interesting face. And I also have to acknowledge that 'Poo' is not solely Kareena's 'fault'. Poo is simply a very annoying character, and I guess Bebo was only doing her job...
Such was the repugnance of 'Poo' to my very soul that I convinced myself that not only was Bebo really, really, cringeworthily, ANNOYING, she wasn't even cute, or pretty, or attractive! But I was prejudiced, andI've long since revised my views and admitted to myself that, especially on her 'good days', Kareena is actually quite lovely in a striking, 'different' sort of way - and seeing her stunning image on billboards in Mumbai convinced me of that 110%. The eyes are set quite close together (not a sign of 'classic' beauty), the jaw is strong, the lips are remarkable (can't think of another description for them), the regal nose, the sassy chin - altogether the features make up a lovely, interesting face. And I also have to acknowledge that 'Poo' is not solely Kareena's 'fault'. Poo is simply a very annoying character, and I guess Bebo was only doing her job...
I've seen Kareena Kapoor in quite a few films, but until recently, I've only really liked her (as opposed to thinking 'not too bad' or 'good in some parts, bad in others') in two: 'Asoka' and 'Omkara'. And I once wondered if there wasn't something a little mean-spirited and perverse on my part for liking Bebo in only those movies - Dolly and Kaurwaki are both very tragic characters who meet with very sad ends... could it be that I just like watching Bebo suffer?
Happily for my conscience, the answer is a resounding 'no' - in 'Jab We Met' (JWM'), Bebo's character, Geet, is a happy-go-lucky, fun-loving, carefree young lady, who, although she does suffer alittle, ultimately gets her very happy ending. But unlike some of Bebo's other 'less tragic' turns (think 'Bewafaa', 'Aitraaz', 'Dosti' (oh wait, that was tragic but I still hated it), 'Mujhse Dosti Karogi' and of course the Poo-tastic K3G), I found her portrayal of Geet really fresh, lovely and perfectly charming. Considering that the character is a little over-the-top (and that's putting it mildly), I thought Kareena's portrayal was pretty much perfect. She did a great job of creating a distinctive, but also very relatable and 'real' character.
Also spot-on was the lovely liplock at the end of JWM... like big sis Lolo (the star of my 'Bollywood Kisses' post, which was one of my all-time funnest posts to do), Kareena has proven that she can do areally good onscreen kiss... I love how Shahid's fingers go through her hoop earring by the way, there's that sweetness and pleasure but also the intensity and abandon of the moment... love it.
There are tons of places where you can read about JWM in more detail and more compelling language, so I won't lay my thoughts on you. All I will say is that its message is pleasantly and refreshingly positive about life in general; that it's about self-discovery, freedom, forgiveness,and living an authentic life (messages I love); that there's: lovely chemistry between the leads, very cute and witty dialogues, and fun songs with fun picturisations; that Shahid is very, very cute (have to say I am loving him these days) and Bebo is very lovely, and... must leave it there or else I'll go on about it forever. Definitely worth checking out of you're a fan of good romantic comedy. Finally Bebo and Shahid got it right even if it was at the end of their real-life romance... a befitting 'au revoir', I think. And now I'm off to find another good Kareena performance to keep her glowing in my heart alittle longer - I'm thinking 'Yuva', 'Chameli' or 'Refugee'... what say ye?(Actually, since writing this post, I've seen Kareena in '36 China Town' in which I think she did well... so (sigh), it looks like I'll be eating my words once again and starting to like someone I declared I never would!)
Up next... my first 'Faces' post...
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
2007: MY BOLLYWOOD YEAR
At the end of 2006, borrowing an idea from Maja, I did a post on what that year had been like for me as far as my enduring love for all things filmi was concerned - the highs, the lows and all that good stuff. Although it's kinda overdue (seeing as the new year has commenced), I still thought it'd be fun to do a Bollywood-related recap of 2007...
I saw a LOT of Hindi movies in '07 - I think that I manage to squeeze in more and more viewings every year, as my interest grows and I become more certain of what I like. Some of these movies allowed me to expand my Bollywood 'horizons', while others were just a continuation of the things and people I've always loved...
I'll start with the new discoveries - here are my top 5...
Shabana Azmi: It's very very strange to look back and realise that at the start of 2007, I hadn't seen any of Ms. Azmi's movies. A lot's changed in one year - I've caught 'Amar Akbar Anthony', 'Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd', 'Masoom', 'Arth' and 'Fire' (the last couple of links are to reviews at Carla's brilliant Filmi Geek blog) - and loved Shabana in every single one. I can't get enough of this woman's acting - and I totally blame Carla for making me a convert! Up next is 'Fakira' (co-starring Shashi Kapoor), which I recently acquired along with 'Jab Jab Phool Khile', which very neatly leads to the next item in my review...
... turnarounds of 2007 - Sometimes you've just gotta admit that you were wrong - either that the thing you've praised to high heavens actually kinda sucks, or that the thing you've never liked at all is actually kinda neat. I don't have many volte-face moments where Hindi cinema is concerned - I am very constant that way - I pretty much love everyone and everything I've always loved and dislike everyone and everything I've always disliked... but I did have 3 big turnaround moments in 2007...
Shashi Kapoor: Before 2007, I'd caught Shashi in 'Do Aur Do Paanch', 'Trishul' and 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram', and I was not a fan. I didn't dislike him exactly, but I just didn't get what all the fuss was about, really. One film changed all that in '07 - 'Deewaar', in which his performance is spellbinding. Now I'm definitely ready for more Shashi...
Salman Khan: Why do I feel so charitable towards this guy all of a sudden? I started 2007 really really REALLY disliking him... but watching 'Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya' and a number of other films changed all that, and while I don't really have serious affection for Sallu (the way I do for SRK, for example), I have loads of respect for him, and I actually like him (gasp).
'Koffee with Karan': I started out absolutely loving this show, but towards the end of its run I got sick of it. The formula started to wear thin and to grate on the nerves - it just wasn't as much fun - and it started to feel like the show was becoming a platform for stars to promote their films or successes, rather than just a fun 'chill', the way it used to be. Karan Johar is a smart guy - I think he put paid to things at just the right time, even though he didn't get the coveted Abhi-Ash interview at the end of the day. I still have loads of great memories of the show, though - it was a real treat in so many ways...
My top 5 KWK shows are the one with the Kapoor siblings, the one with Rishi/Neetu, the one with the Deol brothers, the one with SRK and Kajol (the premiere), and the one with Azmi/Akhtar - but there were other good ones as well - I loved Bips/John, for example, Zeenat/Hema, Gurinder/Farah, Mira/Tabu and Bips/Lara... KWK was a good show, and although it got really tired towards the end, I enjoyed it very much.
Unlike the above 3 moments, some things never ever change - my love for certain things/people in Bollywood remains truly constant and consistent - if anything it only waxes stronger and gets better - here are my top 5 I-love-you-mores...
I saw a LOT of Hindi movies in '07 - I think that I manage to squeeze in more and more viewings every year, as my interest grows and I become more certain of what I like. Some of these movies allowed me to expand my Bollywood 'horizons', while others were just a continuation of the things and people I've always loved...
I'll start with the new discoveries - here are my top 5...
Sridevi: As a child, I think saw one of her movies but my memories of it are extremely vague - so I think 'Lamhe' may safely be called my first Sridevi movie. I've seen her dance on TV, but watching her act was a revelation - I didn't love the storyline of 'Lamhe' but I loved her in the film. I'm definitely up for more... up next is 'Chandni'...
Ayesha Takia: I am currently fascinated by this young woman's face, and she will probably the first subject in my 'Faces' series (the series will really just be an attempt to share some of the many, many screencaps I've accumulated over the past couple of years). I also think she's a very good actress - this year I caught her in 'Dor' and 'Salaam-e-Ishq', and loved her in both (especially in the former).
Shreyas Talpade: Loved him in 'Dor' and 'Om Shanti Om' - he has a great flair for comedy coupled with an emotional depth as an actor that makes him a joy to watch. And he has this twinkle in his eye that I just love. I think he was perfectly cast in both of these films and look forward to seeing him in more films that play to his strengths. Up next for me is 'Iqbal'.
Irrfan Khan: In 2007, I saw him in 'The Namesake' and 'Life in a Metro'. In 'The Namesake', I could've sat and watched him for hours although he truly broke my heart by reminding me of someone special that (like Ashima in the film) I loved dearly and lost. In 'Metro', he brought such life to a character that was absolutely wonderful but could have so easily been ruined - Irrfan did him perfect justice and I love him for that.
Shabana Azmi: It's very very strange to look back and realise that at the start of 2007, I hadn't seen any of Ms. Azmi's movies. A lot's changed in one year - I've caught 'Amar Akbar Anthony', 'Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd', 'Masoom', 'Arth' and 'Fire' (the last couple of links are to reviews at Carla's brilliant Filmi Geek blog) - and loved Shabana in every single one. I can't get enough of this woman's acting - and I totally blame Carla for making me a convert! Up next is 'Fakira' (co-starring Shashi Kapoor), which I recently acquired along with 'Jab Jab Phool Khile', which very neatly leads to the next item in my review...
... turnarounds of 2007 - Sometimes you've just gotta admit that you were wrong - either that the thing you've praised to high heavens actually kinda sucks, or that the thing you've never liked at all is actually kinda neat. I don't have many volte-face moments where Hindi cinema is concerned - I am very constant that way - I pretty much love everyone and everything I've always loved and dislike everyone and everything I've always disliked... but I did have 3 big turnaround moments in 2007...
Shashi Kapoor: Before 2007, I'd caught Shashi in 'Do Aur Do Paanch', 'Trishul' and 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram', and I was not a fan. I didn't dislike him exactly, but I just didn't get what all the fuss was about, really. One film changed all that in '07 - 'Deewaar', in which his performance is spellbinding. Now I'm definitely ready for more Shashi...
Salman Khan: Why do I feel so charitable towards this guy all of a sudden? I started 2007 really really REALLY disliking him... but watching 'Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya' and a number of other films changed all that, and while I don't really have serious affection for Sallu (the way I do for SRK, for example), I have loads of respect for him, and I actually like him (gasp).
'Koffee with Karan': I started out absolutely loving this show, but towards the end of its run I got sick of it. The formula started to wear thin and to grate on the nerves - it just wasn't as much fun - and it started to feel like the show was becoming a platform for stars to promote their films or successes, rather than just a fun 'chill', the way it used to be. Karan Johar is a smart guy - I think he put paid to things at just the right time, even though he didn't get the coveted Abhi-Ash interview at the end of the day. I still have loads of great memories of the show, though - it was a real treat in so many ways...
My top 5 KWK shows are the one with the Kapoor siblings, the one with Rishi/Neetu, the one with the Deol brothers, the one with SRK and Kajol (the premiere), and the one with Azmi/Akhtar - but there were other good ones as well - I loved Bips/John, for example, Zeenat/Hema, Gurinder/Farah, Mira/Tabu and Bips/Lara... KWK was a good show, and although it got really tired towards the end, I enjoyed it very much.
Unlike the above 3 moments, some things never ever change - my love for certain things/people in Bollywood remains truly constant and consistent - if anything it only waxes stronger and gets better - here are my top 5 I-love-you-mores...
Dharmendra: Obviously! In 2007, I had many more reasons to love this man - he made his big comeback to the movies in '07, and it was lovely to see him in 'Metro' and 'Apne', and making a special appearance in 'Om Shanti Om' (I'm still looking forward to 'Johnny Gaddaar'. I also enjoyed catching a number of his oldies - and the love is stronger than ever. It's funny, but I feel kinda protective towards Dharam ji, and I wish him a wonderful 2008.
Shahrukh Khan: If there's any Bollywood actor that could possibly begin to compete with Dharam ji for my affections, it would have to be this guy. I started 2007 loving SRK and ended it loving him even more - and not just because I got to see his gorgeous house. I loved SRK to bits in his 2 big movies of the year - 'Chak De! India' and 'Om Shanti Om' - these movies are very different but I think he totally rocked in both of them.
And in addition to his new work, in '07 I caught up with some of his older stuff: 'Deewana' (his first feature - his is raw and earthy and a lovely shade of brown, with a speaking voice that's TOTALLY different from what it is now), 'Duplicate' (absolutely LOVED it), 'Baazigar' (a very disturbing but memorable performance)... and here's a prediction: this love is certain to only grow stronger in 2008.
Jaya Bhaduri: I adore this woman's acting and I just cannot get enough of her. I also can't get over how many people do not seem to recognise the sheer and utter brilliance of Jaya ji. Anyways, in 2007 I fell deeper and deeper in love with this woman's masterful yet minimalist acting. I saw and loved her in films like 'Chupke Chupke' and the recent 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag', but the real treat for a Jaya fan like myself is to watch her sink her teeth into a formidable leading role... and in 2007 I had that pleasure with films like 'Guddi' and 'Kora Kagaz'.
There is this unforgettable visceral moment in 'Kora Kagaz' (which is a poorly-edited and generally quite flawed film in terms of production value - strangely, it even borrows a frame from 'Abhimaan', but anyway) in which Jaya expresses frustration in a restrained way that just slammed me in the heart with its impact. Love this woman's acting to bits.
Abhishek Bachchan: The Baby B, Jaya's beloved son, is a guy everyone loves to love. He's cute, he can act, he's funny - what's not to love? This past year he broke a million female hearts by marrying the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai, and he also wangled his way deeper into my heart with 'Guru', a film many regard as morally ambiguous (although, as I stated here, I think they totally missed the point). One point remains crystal-clear though, Baby B is building his own identity as an actor and developing a fine set of chops. I also (yonks after the rest of world), finally saw 'Dhoom' and 'Dhoom II' this year and loved him in both... and he was yummy in 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag' and fun in 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom'.
Konkona Sen Sharma: I am most definitely a fan. In 2007, she blew me away with her performances in 'Metro', 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag' (she was totally the best thing in the movie - even better than Jaya ji), and 'Omkara'. And I can't wait to see her (and Madhuri, whom I love) in 'Aaja Nachle' (Update: Done! I've seen it).
And now, to round out the round-up, here are a few random 'awards' for '07. (There's no award for which film I liked the best in 2007, because that's just too hard!):
My most amazing filmi experience:
Nominees: Trip to India, Trip to India, Trip to India, Trip to India, Trip to India
Winner: Trip to India
My Bollywood tearjerker of the year:
Nominees: Mother India (oh Nargis!), Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (heart-wrenching), The Namesake (damn near broke my heart), Masoom (that child!), Deewaar (Shashi and Big B made me bawl!)
Winner: C'est tres difficile. I guess I have to say Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, just because I really wasn't expecting it to hurt so much. I thought it would just feel like typical formulaic romance fluff - and I knew how the film would end but it was still a surprising sucker-punch...
My favourite (Bollywood) experience of the year in an actual cinema (as opposed to watching at home - I have to say I had a lot of great cinema-seat experiences in 2007):
Nominees: Chak De! India (swoon), Just Married (made me feel all mushy inside), The Namesake (despite the best efforts of the mouthy teenage girls sitting beside me), Guru (made me want to go out and make someone else's life better), Apne (I just had so much fun!)
Winner: Chak De! India (SRK all lean and tortured and restrained and rangy! Girl power and lots of positive inspirational messages! Come on, what could really compete?)
My Bollywood 'aawww' moment of the year:
Nominees: Bobby Deol and Dharmendra at the IIFA Awards, SRK and his daughter in 'the picture' (love it so much),
the Kapoors on 'Koffee with Karan', 'Apne' (the entire thing), Nargis and Raj in 'Awaara'
Winner: There were SO many 'aawww' moments (it's Bollywood after all) in 2007, that even to pick out the above-mentioned 5 was tough, but I think I'll give it to Bobby and his father for the natural intensity of that emotional moment. Loved it!
My worst Bollywood movie of the year:
Nominees: Shakalaka Boom Boom (tripe!), Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (rubbage!), Mere Jeevan Sathi (the Akshay one - really really bad!), Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya (Govinda + Tabu in a weird story about fatal attraction = a really rubbish film), Bol Radha Bol (David Dhawan, tell me just one thing: why??)
Winner: Tough one - they were all just so so so bad! But I guess Shakalaka Boom Boom wins it, just because it was the only one I couldn't force myself to finish...
So... now that 2008 has commenced, all that remains is for me to talk about a few of my goals for the year - here are my top 5:
More diverse Indian cinema: I am hungry for some Tamil and Telugu movies; I've been very neglectful of non-Hindi films and I feel totally ignorant about work from the south - I've got some great recommendations and will dedicate time and effort to hunting them down.
More Nargis: Yes, I am greedy for more of Nargis - loads and loads more... and can you blame me? She's simply magnificent.
More great movie dates: I definitely took advantage of all the screenings of Hindi films over the past year - and I plan to continue doing so... it's a great way to relax and de-stress. Over at Silverbird, 'Welcome' is currently showing, and I'm definitely NOT at all interested in seeing that. But 'Taare Zameen Par' is showing at Nu Metro and it's gotten really great reviews plus I'm a fan of Aamir, so I definitely want to see it - and 'Aaja Nachle' just might still be on at City Mall - must find out... (Update: It is, and I've seen it).
More of the Kapoor men: Nobody ever seems to say this, but I love me some Rishi. I saw quite a bit of him in 2007, from 'Namastey London' (loved him), to 'Kabhi Kabhie', to 'Khel Khel Mein', to 'Deewana' (let's just say it was WAY past time to stop with the young-singer/loverboy roles), to 'Naseeb' (loved him in it), to many, many more. I've just acquired 'Karz' and 'Doosra Aadmi' and am looking forward to both (especially, after seeing the opening scene of 'Om Shanti Om', the former). I've only seen one Shammi Kapoor film, 'Junglee', and I really want to see more of him - so I just picked up 'Teesri Manzil' and will watch it soon. I've already mentioned that I've got a couple more Shashi movies which I'm really looking forward to. And I'm desperately hunting for more stuff by Raj...
More blogging about Bollywood!: I definitely plan to do better with keeping this spot updated this year. I'm changing jobs soon - leaving behind my current 15/16-hour-a-day one and taking on one with saner hours, so hopefully I will have more free time... I think I can make it work.
Up next I'll be doing my first 'Faces' post; and also in the works is a results post on the latest poll - please vote if you haven't done so yet!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
INDIA - Bollywood-related stuff (Part II)
So I’m back to complete my Bollywood-related tales… one of the most thrilling things we did in India was writing fan mail to our favourite actors and actresses and actually visiting the homes of a few of them. We had already agreed before leaving for India that we were going to act like true fans – a little pagal, a little OTT... we were just going to go for it and enjoy it – and I think we totally did. It was SO MUCH FUN! We bought our kagaz and lifafaa, wrote loads of fan mail and went off to Bandra and Juhu in search of our favourite Bollywood stars… we knew we probably wouldn’t spot any stars, but we decided that just seeing their homes would be fun enough for us.
First on our list (of course) was ‘our boo’, Mr. Shah Rukh Khan, who lives at the wonderfully-named ‘Mannat’, really close to the beach, in Bandra. SRK got some special attention, as we bought him some beautiful yellow roses near Flora Fountain, grabbed a cab and went off to search for Mannat, roses and letters in hand. It was so exciting… especially when we got there…
First though, on our way to Mannat, our taxi driver, the very lovely ‘Sir-ji’ (that’s what I called him and just about every other taxi or auto-rickshaw driver we met in India) pointed out to us the home of renowned singers Lata and Usha Mangeshkar – apparently they live on the second floor of this block of flats…
I loved the piano sign outside…
So anyway, we got to Mannat and were just so excited, jumping around like little ping-pong balls… here’s the sea close to SRK’s house…
…here’s the imposing villa itself…
…and this is the Mannat sign opposite the gate (and a little bit of me and my bangles)…
The guards outside SRK’s house were very amused at these black female tourists who had come all the way from Nigeria to see Mr. Khan. They didn’t speak or understand much English so we had to find a way to explain that ‘yeh phool’ were for Mr. Khan. They really were amused – they inspected our flowers (for hidden recording/explosive devices, I guess), read our fan mail and generally had a good laugh. Heck, we didn’t care, we were just so excited to be there… especially when the gate swung open and…
… we were almost faint with anticipation, I kid you not… but then out rolled a boring police van… but that moment, when we thought SRK just might come out, was just sooo incredible… one of the definite highlights of our time in Mumbai.
Anyway, so that was all really exciting... after Mannat, Sir-ji took us to Salman Khan’s house, which is only a few minutes away from SRK’s…. Here it is – he lives in a flat on… the third floor, I think.
On that day, we also tried to find Pooja Bhatt and Sanjay Dutt’s homes, I think, but there was too much traffic and so we decided to call it day as far as star-home-hunting was concerned. Sir-ji drove us back to Churchgate, where we had a nice dinner at the lovely Gaylord’s restaurant and caught up with some amazing scenes taking place at the stadium right opposite our hotel, as India defeated Australia at cricket.
I just cannot tell you how special it was to be so close to the action… and as we watched, we speculated about the likelihood of SRK being at the cricket match with his son Aryan (my friend Uzo even spotted a car outside the stadium that looked like the one she saw in a documentary on his life), and we actually thought up a couple of hare-brained schemes as to how we could meet him – like trying to sneak into the stadium without tickets, then finding the nearest cameras and telling members of the press that we’d come all the way from Nigeria to see the man and would SO love to see him (or else, we would not be leaving)… we had a good laugh about that plan.
The next morning the Times of India was slid under our door just before breakfast… and sure enough, there were pictures of SRK and Aryan on the cover… sitting close to Shah Rukh’s ‘Om Shanti Om’ co-star Deepika Padukone at the cricket match… so he probably sat in this box....
After lamenting over being so-close-yet-so-far-away-from SRK over our breakfast (and after lots of sightseeing and shopping), later that day (which also happened to be our last full day in India), we decided to take a taxi to Juhu, in search of more celebrity cribs… it turned out to be quite a ride… it was Dussehra and so the streets were extremely busy – it was great to watch all the colourful celebrations, from the hordes of worshippers walking down to the sea to the many shrines to Durga, to the decorations and lights everywhere…
Anyways, so we finally got to Juhu amidst heavy traffic, and we managed to find ‘Amitabh Bachchan ka bangla’ – it was no mean task I tell you…. We introduced ourselves to the guards and they pretty much promptly (but politely) told us to get to stepping… and so we did… but not before I snapped this photo of his gaily decorated gate (with lots of other fans hanging around)….
And I really liked this rather dated but very attractive advertising on the back of an auto…
And of course movie posters… ‘Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’ was everywhere – it was easily the most-advertised movie while we were in India… a bit sad really, cos it didn’t do too well at the box office...
Of course, TV soaps get loads of advertising as well… I really liked this one…
It's too far away for you to see it properly in this shot, but this billboard for Indian Vogue is really cool - Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra and Preity Zinta appear on it... this one is from Mumbai...
.... and Deepika looks ethereal on the cover of Vogue...
I think that just about covers it for the Bollywood-related stuff from my trip to India… I’m already working towards my next trip, and looking forward to even more fun adventures…
... and here's a bus driving in front of Flora Fountain...
First on our list (of course) was ‘our boo’, Mr. Shah Rukh Khan, who lives at the wonderfully-named ‘Mannat’, really close to the beach, in Bandra. SRK got some special attention, as we bought him some beautiful yellow roses near Flora Fountain, grabbed a cab and went off to search for Mannat, roses and letters in hand. It was so exciting… especially when we got there…
First though, on our way to Mannat, our taxi driver, the very lovely ‘Sir-ji’ (that’s what I called him and just about every other taxi or auto-rickshaw driver we met in India) pointed out to us the home of renowned singers Lata and Usha Mangeshkar – apparently they live on the second floor of this block of flats…
I loved the piano sign outside…
So anyway, we got to Mannat and were just so excited, jumping around like little ping-pong balls… here’s the sea close to SRK’s house…
...here's the gate to Mannat...
…here’s the imposing villa itself…
…and this is the Mannat sign opposite the gate (and a little bit of me and my bangles)…
The guards outside SRK’s house were very amused at these black female tourists who had come all the way from Nigeria to see Mr. Khan. They didn’t speak or understand much English so we had to find a way to explain that ‘yeh phool’ were for Mr. Khan. They really were amused – they inspected our flowers (for hidden recording/explosive devices, I guess), read our fan mail and generally had a good laugh. Heck, we didn’t care, we were just so excited to be there… especially when the gate swung open and…
… we were almost faint with anticipation, I kid you not… but then out rolled a boring police van… but that moment, when we thought SRK just might come out, was just sooo incredible… one of the definite highlights of our time in Mumbai.
Anyway, so that was all really exciting... after Mannat, Sir-ji took us to Salman Khan’s house, which is only a few minutes away from SRK’s…. Here it is – he lives in a flat on… the third floor, I think.
The guards at Sallu’s house weren’t quite as friendly as SRK’s – the security there is (understanbly) quite tight…
On that day, we also tried to find Pooja Bhatt and Sanjay Dutt’s homes, I think, but there was too much traffic and so we decided to call it day as far as star-home-hunting was concerned. Sir-ji drove us back to Churchgate, where we had a nice dinner at the lovely Gaylord’s restaurant and caught up with some amazing scenes taking place at the stadium right opposite our hotel, as India defeated Australia at cricket.
I just cannot tell you how special it was to be so close to the action… and as we watched, we speculated about the likelihood of SRK being at the cricket match with his son Aryan (my friend Uzo even spotted a car outside the stadium that looked like the one she saw in a documentary on his life), and we actually thought up a couple of hare-brained schemes as to how we could meet him – like trying to sneak into the stadium without tickets, then finding the nearest cameras and telling members of the press that we’d come all the way from Nigeria to see the man and would SO love to see him (or else, we would not be leaving)… we had a good laugh about that plan.
The next morning the Times of India was slid under our door just before breakfast… and sure enough, there were pictures of SRK and Aryan on the cover… sitting close to Shah Rukh’s ‘Om Shanti Om’ co-star Deepika Padukone at the cricket match… so he probably sat in this box....
After lamenting over being so-close-yet-so-far-away-from SRK over our breakfast (and after lots of sightseeing and shopping), later that day (which also happened to be our last full day in India), we decided to take a taxi to Juhu, in search of more celebrity cribs… it turned out to be quite a ride… it was Dussehra and so the streets were extremely busy – it was great to watch all the colourful celebrations, from the hordes of worshippers walking down to the sea to the many shrines to Durga, to the decorations and lights everywhere…
Anyways, so we finally got to Juhu amidst heavy traffic, and we managed to find ‘Amitabh Bachchan ka bangla’ – it was no mean task I tell you…. We introduced ourselves to the guards and they pretty much promptly (but politely) told us to get to stepping… and so we did… but not before I snapped this photo of his gaily decorated gate (with lots of other fans hanging around)….
And so that was the end of our starry adventures in Mumbai. We did send out all our fan mail as well… and just in case you’re wondering where the picture of the gate leading to ‘Dharmendra ka bangla’ is, we realllly wanted to get to it but it was getting realllly late and we had a lot of things to do that night, so we took it off the schedule (but of course I still have nothing but love and mad respect for Dharam-ji).
Here are some other Bollywood-related pictures from my trip... these ones were taken at this ‘resort’ where we stopped for lunch, somewhere between Agra and Delhi…
Mr. Bachchan’s visit to the resort was obviously a huge highlight for the owners of the place…
And I really liked this rather dated but very attractive advertising on the back of an auto…
And of course movie posters… ‘Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’ was everywhere – it was easily the most-advertised movie while we were in India… a bit sad really, cos it didn’t do too well at the box office...
... 'Saawariya' had some billboard presence as well...
And there were some very cool and retro-looking posters up on this lovely brick wall in Agra…
And also some really pitiful and/or slight tacky-looking ones…
Seeing the billboards for Beyonce's tour dates was interesting...
And seeing the brawny Sunny Deol advertise girly Lux soap (Correction: actually he's advertising Lux Coxy underwear - thanks Ashish for the tip!) was pretty amusing...
Of course, TV soaps get loads of advertising as well… I really liked this one…
Speaking of TV, Uzo and I speculated that this shoot we observed at Humayun's Tomb in Delhi might be for some sort of TV programme...
It's too far away for you to see it properly in this shot, but this billboard for Indian Vogue is really cool - Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra and Preity Zinta appear on it... this one is from Mumbai...
.... and Deepika looks ethereal on the cover of Vogue...
I think that just about covers it for the Bollywood-related stuff from my trip to India… I’m already working towards my next trip, and looking forward to even more fun adventures…
...And here are a few random shots from my time in Mumbai to help you look forward to seeing the city for yourself (if you haven't yet). It is so fab.
We walked past this cricket game during our long search for Flora Fountain...
... this is Victoria Terminus - I badly wanted to get some really good shots and go inside but we just short on time...
I loved the Gateway to India... and watching SRK's first film ('Deewana') recently got me all nostalgic - it forms the backdrop to one of the movie's songs...
... I forget what this building is called... something very gravitas-laden I think... I loved it...
...and I loved Marine Drive ('the Queen's Necklace')... Uzo and I took an evening walk there just before leaving India... great atmosphere...
... and here's a bus driving in front of Flora Fountain...
This is my fifth and last post about my trip to India. It's a testimony to how amazing those ten October days were, that there is SO much more I could say... reminiscing has been great fun and I must thank all of you for sharing my journey and experiences with me...
Thanks for all your votes on the latest poll – please vote if you haven’t done so yet!
See you soon…
Thanks for all your votes on the latest poll – please vote if you haven’t done so yet!
See you soon…
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