.

With all the best and worst of lists out there, I am reminded that I live too far away from a cinema and I am way behind on this year's films, so no 2009 lists from me, but it still was an interesting year in the headlines. Here's a few of the more memorable ones for me.

On Strike!
Bollywood producers and multiplex owners halt the release of oodles of movies over revenue sharing and leave poor filmi fans feeling the drought for way too long! Thank goodness for heroes like Shah Rukh and Aamir, who got together along with many others, to help along the negotiations!


Shiney Ahuja rape scandal
Did he or didn't he? Was it rape or consensual? Last I read, he'd been granted bail after being detained for 3 months. I think the trial has yet to start however, so this isn't the last we'll be hearing about this case. And I was just starting to like his movies too.


Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna arrested
Being a little kinky is okay in the bedroom, but apparently not okay on the runway! Both Akshay and his wife, Twinkle, were slapped with an obscenity case in April after Twinkle unbuttoned his jeans at a show during the Lakme India Fashion Week. An activist, Anil Nair, took offence and filed a case against the couple. Tsk tsk.


Hrithik and Barbara Mori hook up?
Well, there's been only speculation about this alleged affair, but it has certainly led to a lot of rumours surrounding the state of Hrithik and Suzanne's marriage, which has lead to even more rumours of Hrithik's new partying ways. That will teach these stars to have chemistry in their movies. Geez! Believe what you will, I just want our golden boy Hrithik back in top form!


Shah Rukh vs. America and the barbers
For someone who just wants to work, Shah Rukh had his share of newsworthy controversies this year. First, just days before it's release, the salon and beauty parlour associations were outraged over the title of his film Billu Barber. Always the gentleman, and not wanting to hurt the sentiments of the barbers, he did his best to appease them and changed the name to simply Billu on whatever he could.

If that wasn't enough for our handsome hero, Indian politicians and film stars reacted with outrage after Shahrukh was detained for questioning at Newark Airport in New Jersey on his way to Chicago to celebrate India's Independence Day. But how can you blame them? I would like to "detain" him as well, though I can't imagine there would be a lot of questioning going on!

And lastly, Neetu Chandra a lesbian?
Neetu Chandra’s steamy photo shoot with model Krishita Gupta for a men’s magazine backfired, when activists protested and halted the crew shooting the pictures midway. Neetu said, "The whole shoot was being done ascetically. But those men were a frustrated lot...". Frustrated you say? I can't imagine why. I thought men dug that sort of thing!


Well, on a personal note, 2009 also brought it's share of experiences for me, good and bad, but what I am grateful for the most is the birth of my blog and the friends it has allowed me to make as well as the vast wealth of knowledge it has afforded me. I don't usually do New Year's Resolutions anymore (does anyone ever stick to them?), but this year I'm going to make 3.

#1 - Laugh more

#2 - Keep blogging

#3 - Learn more Hindi (I'm ordering RosettaStone on Monday! Yay!)


I hope everyone has a fantastically fun and safe New Year's Eve no matter their plans and that 2010 brings with it happiness, prosperity and another year of fantastic Bollywood films!

Well, it took a while, but I think I've finally learned to appreciate the fine art of Hindi humour and now that I'm watching with my eyes wide open, let me just say wah, wah, wah! Andaz Apna Apna is a full throttle roller coaster ride of non-stop hilarity with side splitting loopty-loops and slapstick bends at every turn. How's that for a metaphor?!

In a plot that has our two heroes trying to outwit, outlast and outplay each other, Rajkumar Santoshi had created a home run in field of comedy. Amar (Aamir Khan) and Prem (Salman Khan) are useless sons of poor, but hardworking fathers. Neither of them are content with what life has dealt them, so when the beautiful and rich Raveena (Raveena Tandon) comes to town looking for a husband, with friend Karishma (Karisma Kapoor) in tow, the two boys each hatch a plan to woo and marry her. Things are further complicated with the entrance of Raveena's uncle Teja and his henchmen who plan to steal the family fortune by any means necessary. If that wasn't enough, we also see the periodic entrance of Crime Master Gogo, whose aim is to recoup money he had previously lent to Teja.


I can't get over how funny both Aamir and Salman are in this film. I don't think I would have ever paired them together in a comedy, but they compliment each other so well, I can't help but compare them to some of the great comedy teams that I am familiar with like the Smothers Brothers, Wayne & Shuster or Martin & Lewis. Aamir is just about perfect as the brains of the operation. His comic timing is superb. His dialogue delivery, gestures, uninhibited style all compel you to laugh like crazy. It's really quite ironic that Aamir has emerged as one of the more serious actors in Bollywood today and one can only hope that he revisits this genre one day soon. I even enjoyed Salman as the bumbling, thick necked quasi-idiot Prem, and that's saying something.




From friends to enemies in one fell swoop!

Let me introduce you to my little friends...

Paresh Rawal and Shakti deliver some great bad guy comedy, but it's Viju Khote and Shehzad Khan who supply the most laughs with their dumbfounded nefarious intentions. They are smart boys indeed!


The girls also have their moments, but it is Karisma who was funny as hell in her outlandish costumes and doltish dialogue delivery more so than Raveena. Quick now, turn your head and bat your eyelashes and watch the boys fall for you!


Who was in charge on wardrobe? I say we assemble a lynch mob!


The nefarious end game: The chicken farm!

I think a lot of the humor in Santoshi's film comes from the inside jokes, which I'm happy to say I'm starting to get to the point where I finally recognize some of them (though I'm sure I have a long way to go). A few moments that I found especially funny in the film include :

- the opening credits (which I assume is the director's dig at numerology?)
- the entire opening sequence featuring Juhi Chawla as herself (Lord knows how many of these types of dreams I've had - or tried to have!)
- Amar and Prem land at the same guest house and squabble but appear as Lord Rama and King Bharata through the landlord's eyes
- Prem tries to propose to Raveena only to find himself making unusual visits to the loo instead, all due to Amar's handywork with the laxatives. I wonder what moving the tie from around his neck to around his head accomplished in there.
- Amar's whole amnesia bit, and Prem's doctor demeanor


- the entire climax including Prem and Gogo's unique fighting style (I laughed so hard here my stomach hurt! What the hell is that style called and can it be used for foreplay?)


There are so many others that there's bound to be something that will tickle even the most discriminative funny bone. The thing about Andaz Apna Apna is that it is not a movie that tries to be funny. It just is.

I have to admit that I tend to favor the more contemporary songs, but there's something to be said for the more classic filmi music. All of the songs are fun listens in their own right, but in this film they are enhanced about 1000% by the picturizations. Whether watching Amar annoy Raveena with his utterly ridiculous dance moves to the point where she feels the need to club him over the head to end her misery in Dil Karta Hai, or watching the foursome romp in night ware complete with Amar's phallic nightcap in the completely enjoyable Dil Mera Dhak Dhak Dole music director Tushar Bhatia gives us a soundtrack on par with the rest of the movie for sure.





While I would not recommend this to someone new to Hindi film, it has landed firmly in my list of fav comedies. It is definitely a movie worth buying (I know I'm picking it up my next venture into the city), if only to watch over and over again. Despite the language barrier (as there's probably a ton that gets lost in translation), I have a feeling that this is one that will continue to get better with each viewing.

I can not wait for the soundtrack to hit.

Facebook Countdown:
1 month, 16 days

Sometimes you just can't remember all the movies you want when you head to the store, or they just don't have it through the online rental service you use. When that happens, all I can say is thank goodness for youTube, which is where I finally got to see Parineeta - a film I was told housed a smouldering chemistry between heartthrob fav Saifu and beauty Vidya Balan. And I was not disappointed.

Directed by newcomer Pradeep Sarkar, Parineeta is a very simple love story set amidst 1960's Calcutta. Shekhar (Saif) and Lolita (Vidya) meet as children, he the son of a wealthy and driven businessman, she an orphan taken in by a loving neighbor family. They become fast friends and we watch their unspoken love blossom until Lolita discovers Shekhar's father's plans to usurp her family home out from underneath them. Enter Girish (Sanjay Dutt), to further complicate the situation by helping out the family with their financial desperation as well as providing the chink in the lovebird's armour.


After my last review for Mission: Kashmir, bollywviewer made a comment about how she liked that the characters were grey instead of entirely black and white. I think that this is the case for sure in Parineeta. Shekhar is a character that starts out content and casual, happy to be making music and living his life day to day as he's always known it - with Lolita always present. When their situation changes, we see a different side of Shekhar emerge, one that's full of anger, jealousy and cruelty. Even Girish, who is by all definitions a gentlemen, ultimately has ulterior motives with his bail out. All of this is what makes the characters interesting and human, and not knowing if all will work out in the end for our heroes is what keeps us engaged.


Sarkar could not have asked for a better cast in his debutante film. Up until now, Kal Ho Na Ho has been my favorite Saif movie, but instead of the boyish charm he exhibited in that one, he gives us nothing short of a powerfully complex performance in this one. He is able to emit a very diverse range of emotion, and does it all with finesse. Plus, there's no facial hair, no bandanas and no sunglasses. Now this is the Saif I met and fell in love with!

For Vidya's first movie, you can already tell that she's going to be a star. Not only is she is gorgeous, but she brings out the nuances and contradictions of her character in every scene and she does it with ease. It was a much meatier role than I've seen her so far, and, though her beauty has always left an impression on me, I think I was most impressed with her range in this film (even more so than Bhool Bhulaiyaa, which I just saw and enjoyed her in).


It was interesting seeing Sanjay in this film. Not only did I just watch him in Mission:Kashmir in which he had a very serious role, but I've been witness to the Dutt/Balan pairing in the very funny and charming Lage Raho Munnabhai. In this film he plays the role of Girish with sincerety and a maturity completely in line with his character. It's difficult to not want to root for him to win the girl in the end.


Visually, the movie is beautiful to watch and cinematographer N. Nataraja Subramanian has given us a movie that looks and feels like it belongs in the 60's. Musically, I needed to revisit the songs to refresh them in my memory before discussing them. One note: regarding filmi songs, I have to say something I'm sure I've said before. I think it is so important to have the right playback singer represent the right actor. What I mean is that you need to believe that Saif is singing, even though you know he's not, therefore the voice that seemingly comes out of his mouth must be believable. I think Sonu, while completely perfect on his own, is also a perfect match for Saif.

After completing a second listen to all the film's songs, I've decided that Shantana Moitra has created a classic soundtrack chalk full of beautiful melodies enhanced with wonderful singing. Piyu Bole is a sweet song, perfect in context and easy to listen to. Kasto Mazza, which made the list of fav train songs at Darshit's blog, is upbeat and an excellent addition to the "on top of the world" feeling that Shekhar is experiencing. We also get to see a stunningly beautiful Rekha in the jazzy throwback number Kaise Paheli Zindagani, which is a complete departure from the sound of the rest of the film, but still fun.





Parineeta is a beautiful and heart wrenching film that is an absolute must see, especially for those Saifu fans! Thanks everyone who recommended it to me.

Vinod Chopra has created a movie that clearly displays the disharmony that a region (and a country) can possess over the always sensitive matter of religion. The film's writer Abhijat Joshi was asked if he thinks this film makes a statement by fostering social or political change, he says:

"It would be a pity if a potent medium like cinema, with its massive reach, fails to make an important statement in a country with innumerable problems of terrible magnitude. Mission Kashmir is an anguished outcry against violence. Mission Kashmir is neither anti-Hindu nor anti-Muslim. It blames fanatical forces on both the sides for turning a paradise like Kashmir into a hell."

Wikipedia lists 21 different types of religions in Canada and, though we too have our share of spiritual discord, I can't imagine anything like Chopra depicts in his film happening over here. It's one thing to create a piece of actiony fiction, but another when it's based in reality.

Mission: Kashmir is the story of SSP Inayat Khan (Sanjay Dutt), who, after losing his son due to the effects of a well known terrorist, decides to find and eliminate said terrorist. However, his actions have consequences (as most actions do), and he unwittingly orphans a young boy named Altaaf Khan (Hrithik). Inayat and his wife take in Altaaf, and things look like they might work out for all parties involved, but, alas, Atlaaf discovers a black mask in a desk drawer and thus ends what could have been a happy life. Instead, he runs away and turns into the very angry, very buff adult Altaaf who is now in cahoots with another terrorism group hell bent on creating a religious war between the Hindus and the Muslims.


I don't often like war/terrorist movies, but usually Bollywood offers a little of what I enjoy in a film despite all of the violence (ie, Kajol and Aamir's incredible love story in Fanaa). What propelled me to watch this can be summed up in one word: Hrithik, but once the film began I didn't know if I would be able to get through even the first 20 minutes simply for the amount of adolescent homicide. I think had Chopra focused on this one either being a revenge thriller or a political drama, it could have worked for me, but I felt like Altaaf's story is overshadowed by the mission which I found difficult to follow most of the time. Plus, I felt like we should have been privy to the years between Altaaf running away and meeting up with him again as an adult. For instance, we never find out when or how Hilal Kohistani finds Altaaf and his personal journey from boy to man is taken for granted. Props have to be given to Chopra and his team for an appropriately intense and gripping climax.




One thing that Chopra has going for him in the film is the cast. Sanjay Dutt is fantastic as the nationalistic Muslim cop. I think I've only seen Sanjay in Lage Raho Munnabhai, and I liked him in that too, but as Khan, we get to see a different side to him. He's very human and his performance is completely genuine. Hrithik does well as the angst ridden young man in search of retribution and excels in the action sequences. Jackie Shroff gives us a brooding and menacing performance, but looks a little too much like a pirate for me. Aargh matey. Sonali Kulkarni and Preity Zinta add some much needed femininity to an otherwise testosterone-brimming film. Preity is gorgeous and disarming as always with her natural effervescence in the supporting role of Altaaf's childhood love, and Sufiya Parvez is equally effective as the matriarchal voice of reason.


Interestingly enough, the team of Shankar/Eshan/Loy have provided the music for the film, but with each composing their own songs separately. I think each of them have their place in the film, whether it's the ironic Rind Posh Maal or the beautiful So Ja Chanda (note: if my kid spit water at me during a bath, I don't think we'd continue frolicking in the water!) or the catchy Bumbro. Maaf Karo is the only one that doesn't really fit into the film's theme, but I still like it. It's a fun picturization (well until the ending that is - I've never seen such an upbeat song end so disastrous). Overall, a very good score (upon second listen) by a great musical team. Cinematographly speaking (is that a word?), the movie possesses some beautiful scenery, but is often very dark, almost too dark for me, during the terrorism bits, and that takes away from the story a little bit.



Will I watch this again and again? Probably not, but it is all about the journey after all, isn't it? On to the next one...

I usually really love Christmas, with all that it implies, but for some reason, this year I am having a really hard time getting into the spirit of things. So I thought, "I wonder what fun Christmas items I can find in the area of Bollywood youTube?" but my search didn't turn up much (except for one bit that looked extremely offensive). However, I found something that ticked my funny bone in an entry to Shah Rukh's Dance Pe Chance contest last year:



As I wind up to host a pre-Christmas family dinner tonight, I just wanted to wish all of my friends out there in blogland a very merry Christmas.

शुभ क्रिसमस
Śubh krisamas

With Christmas approaching dangerously fast, school concerts, Christmas parties, and trips to overcrowded malls have seem to taken over my blogging time. However, there's always time for movies, so here's a couple of quick looks at what I've been watching.


The Namesake
Mira Nair has created a fantastic slice of life film portraying an NRI couple as they create a life and raise a family in the US. The first movie I've really seen with Tabu in any kind of substantial role, I was blown away by her. I think I read once somewhere that Rani was considered for this movie, and, don't get me wrong, I love my Rani, but I can not see her in the role of Ashima for one second. Really the acting from the entire cast was genuine and believable, even Kal Penn (in a role that doesn't require finding White Castle).


fantastic script, fantastic cast, outstanding story. Nuff said.




Bhool Bulhaiyaa
The first Bollywood "spook" movie I've seen revolving around a vey superstitious community that believes the town's royal mansion is haunted by the spirit of a wronged Kathak dancer. The film houses a large ensemble cast, but the film clearly belongs to Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan. Shiney Ahuja, Amisha Patel, and a host of others have smaller roles.

What I liked: the suspense is believable, as is the explanation of it all. The soundtrack is a clear winner, with a good combination of love songs (Labon Ko) to upbeat dance numbers (Lets Rock Soniye, Bhool Bulhaiyaa title track), to classical fare (Mere Dholna), with picturizations that fit the movie very well (especially Vidya in Mere Dholna with it's fantastic dance sequence - quintessential Bollywood!).

What I didn't like: The movie feels like it should have ended a good 20 minutes before credits role, however, we do get to see a very creepy scene with Vidya that makes up for it, but then the actual ending seems both too neat and unfinished for me.




Chandni Chowk to China

I get a lot of flack for taking up space on the pvr with my movies, so I thought I may as well watch this one, which I recorded during Diwale. I seem to be on an Akshay kick lately, and even though I've heard not very many good things about this one, I invited my sister over and reved up to watch the East meet the South East.

For those people who enjoy action films (and I do), it definitely offers a fair amount right from the opening scene, whether it's a bit of kungfu or the all important training montage. Even the chicks get in on the action, however any kind of girl power exhibited by Deepika's Meow Meow character gets nullified by her ridiculous Miss TSM character. The title track is catch, and the beginning of the picturization is comical. Akshay tries his best to help the movie along, but his character is so completely hapless in the first half you just kind of shake your head. At least, once he begins to rise to his responsibilities, Kumar’s performance becomes more restrained and appealing and you get to see him without his shirt on for a while! ;)


Love the vamp look!

Completely all over the place, but enjoyable if you can manage to keep your brain turned off.




Life Partner

I bought this because of a song (big surprise), but what I got was a mixed bag of marital woes. It is a story of three men and the women in their lives. Fardeen Khan plays a man who wants to marry for love and has it in girlfriend Genelia D'Souza; Tushaar Kapoor belongs to a traditional family and thus, believes he'll find love in an arranged marriage; divorce attorney and self-proclaimed ladies man, Govinda is a commitment phobe who revels in procuring his next case. All is fun and games until "I do's" are exchanged and then all hell breaks loose.

Though the film does have some genuinely funny moments, the ignorance and selfishness of some of the characters was enough for me to rip out my hair. Genelia's character is 100% self-absorbed and clueless (a deadly combination and one that gives woman a bad name). I liked her in JTYJN, but in this film her irksome act irritates beyond the boundaries of her character and her nagging gets on your nerves. Poor Fardeen Khan looks literally harrowed. Tushar's character, while definitely sweet, is completely spineless and takes the side of his demanding father-in-law (Darshan Zariwala), who is not only chauvinistic but also has disparaging unapologetic opinions that include management graduates from IIM-Ahmedabad work as waiters in South Africa (though I bet had the graduate in question been a man his assessment would not have been the same).

Amrita Rao comes aboard with a snazzy item number, and the climax includes a bomb set to explode in 5 minutes, which is just about as long as it takes to set everything right in the world of love and marriage. Watch if there's nothing else available.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, now that I'm calmed down just a little, here's the first trailer for Karan and Shah Rukh's My Name is Khan! I can't help but be overwhelmed by the anticipation and excitement of it all and if the trailer is anything to go by this movie is going to be AMAZING!!!!!! Not a terrorist movie necessarily, as some predicted it would be, but a look at what 9/11 did to the regular muslims in America and how it perhaps changed their lives forever, with a little sideline about what life is like for people with Asperger's.



I'm not embarrassed to say that the trailer made me tear up a little.



February 12 can not come fast enough!!!!!!!!!!

Upon seeing the first pics of Rani and Shahid for this film, I thought this was a movie that was going to sum up everything I enjoy about romantic comedies. Usually I know I'm going to enjoy a rom-com before the opening credits even start, but at the end of it all I just kind of felt a little *meh*. There's been a couple of really great reviews on this film lately that delve deeper than the surface and look at theories such as "the sari point" over at Beth Loves Bollywood. Here's my take.

Rani Mukherjee shines in her media induced "comeback" (sorry Indiatimes, et al - in my books Rani has always been in fine form), as Veera Kaur, the small town girl who has big dreams of making it in the male-centric world of cricket. Realizing she has no chance to make it to the World Cup, she decides her only hopes to do so are to become male batter extraordinaire Veer Pratap Singh and try out for the local team set to play a yearly match against Pakistan. As Veera, she is the right combination of feisty and sexy and you want her to be successful in her endeavor. Veera's alter ego, Veer, is fun to watch but seems to have been created more for laughs than for any sexual tension it should have produced. Through it all though, Rani plays both roles with gusto and looks like she's having a good time doing it.


Playing Rohan, Shahid Kapoor is the captain of a English country cricket team. He returns to India to coach his father's cricket team, which has consecutively been losing the Aman Cup to Pakistan for the past 8 years, but only after his father fakes a heart attack to get him there. Classy. I usually enjoy Shahid's performances (though I've seen very few), but I found him almost completely expressionless for most of this movie. However, he does make up for it a little bit with some impressive dancing to compensate for his lack of acting ability (sorry Ajnabi!). Also it's easy to sometimes looks past the flaws because the man is so damn gorgeous. However, take a note: Shahid, seriously, if you are looking to shed the Shah Rukh Khan comparisons, doing a DDLJ reenactment is not going to help!


I suppose it wouldn't be a Yash Raj Film if we didn't have an amalgamation of themes all stuffed into one very colorful celluloid package. Anurag Singh gives us a plethora of plot elements (romance, sports, nationalism), but where I think the movie fails is in the execution of it all. The storyline is basic and certainly doesn't really offer us anything new, the romance between Rohit and Veera falls flat, the addition of Sherlyn Chopra and Rakhi Sawant contribute nothing to the film, and the climax is completely understated. I suppose the revelation of Veera's secret could have been way over done, but it's almost too subtle and you don't really get that big reaction that would then, of course, lead to the big reconciliation - even if I didn't buy their "love" to being with. However, I suppose Singh does deserve a shout out over trying to appeal to the ladies in the audience with an elaborate speech on women's rights.


Still cute though, na?

I liked Pritam's music in the film though, quite a lot, but anything that has a good bhangra beat to it is going to get my attention. Even the standard love song made it to my ipod. My fav's of the film are Bhangra Bistar, Ishq Hi Hai Rab, and Hadippa - the remix (good lord, Rani looks fierce and Shahid is GORGEOUS! -I could watch that man dance for hours!)





I was going to do this as a mini review (along with three other movies that are waiting to make there way onto the blog), but I guess I had more to say than I thought. Coming up: The Namesake, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Chandni Chowk to China.

We are going to finally get a glimpse of My Name is Khan. Well, that is if you have access to any of the STAR networks. Shah Rukh will be showing a promo for the movie on December 16th at 10 pm (India time I'm guessing). I'm crossing my fingers that B4U will have it, but I don't think it belongs to the same network so I'll be looking for it on youtube and posting.

Check out the new commercial for his Dishtv ad. Even as an aging man he's still handsome and charming and the commercial is totally adorable.



And lastly, an interesting news article about how Shah Rukh wants to conquer the porn industry. Even though it was in gest I can't say I wouldn't want to see that. What a cruel joke.

Found this on youtube today. Not 100% sure if it's really going to be in the movie, but it's by Jal, and I liked it. If it is a song from the movie I don't imagine it will be situational. It definitely sounds like more of a background song, possibly underneath some serious movie moments.



What do you think?

Anyway, it according to my facebook countdown, we are 2 months and 9 days away from the big release. I read that there is a preview of the film at the beginning of the James Cameron movie Avatar which I am not interested in seeing but almost want to go just for the trailer! I'm crossing my fingers that that means I'll get to see it on my home turf.

I know these aren't new pics, but because I haven't posted any of him in a while, here's a few that I finally found and got to see from the India Vogue shoot with Kajol.