What Got Me Into Bollywood

I was born in and live in India, so it may come as a surprise that something needed to get me interested in Bollywood, considering I was born watching films and will die watching films…

I had read stories before of how people got interested, normally by non-desis and they interested me. I’m following on from veracious’ and Filmi Girl’s posts about this topic, they have some pretty interesting stories to tell.

I had been watching Bollywood films for 16 years of my life before I paid any proper attention to it. This was mainly because it was no more than a timepass, albeit a pretty boring one. My parents watch the old, Raj Kapoor time films and they never interested me, but I didn’t bother going to look for newer ones.

Then one day I was at my friend’s house and we watched Chup Chup Ke… this is going to sound mad, but I instantly loved Shahid Kapoor, so I could credit him for my introduction to Bollywood.

Like Filmi Girl, I always find myself siding for the underdog, Jai was that underdog. He was a destitute but ambitious guy who’s been pushed around by others far more than he deserves, I felt for him. I loved him.

Later, I went on the lookout for news about him on the internet, of course its never that easy to find everything about a star you want to know, so I browsed through articles, clicking on anything that sounded interesting, slowly I built up a foundation of other actors, actresses, directors, singers and so on. Some interested me, I wanted to know more so I’d go and buy one of their films, or if they were pretty old, have a look through my parents’ collections. I still don’t know as much as I’d like to but I seem to know enough to understand news articles and know why there is bias.

While I was on the net, I came across Bollywhat and I read comments on the forums about how Bollywood has helped people, some were touching a lot of them mentioned that it made them grow closer to their families which is sweet. I always think family is important as well as true friends, so I quite like KJo films, they are pretty good for escapism. Not that a little reality hurts.

A lot of people criticise Bollywood for its escapist nature… In all honesty, if I wanted reality, I’d read a newspaper (which I do)! Hollywood is fine if you want a break from Bollywood but I wouldn’t want to watch it as often as I do Bollywood, I think the opposite could be said for Hollywood lovers, they should try out Bollywood when they want a break from reality. Neither is better or worse, just depends on your tastes.

I personally like underdog heroes, independent heroines, cruel villains, strong plotlines and plenty of comedy or a poignant film, either is fine.

Buzz Edition no.7

Hey guys, I have a lot of work to get on with so I thought I’d leave you with some buzz to think about…

My Shahid dose… Badmaash Company promos will come out in two days! There is a rumour that Shahid had a tantrum about wearing a vest for a video, has anyone else noticed how these stories come out months after the actual shooting of the film?

The rumour about Freida being the next Bond girl is false

Ranbir and Katz will be going to colleges to promote Rajneeti

Lol, Karan has decided to respond to the ‘gay’ tweets!

SRK and Saif would like to be able to dance like Shahid, welcome to my world!

I’m looking forward to Saat Khoon Maaf more and more! Naseeruddin and his son will both play Priyanka’s husbands in it! How much more awesome can it get?

Love Sex Aur Dhokha looks interesting, I want to see which route this movie takes…

Just to finish off… some song trailers from Paathshaala!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVRsmoydr_Y

Good to see the singer too! On a side note… doesn’t the person leaning over the singer look a bit like a young AR Rahman? This all looks so sweet, its a it of a ‘making of…’ video too

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=n7kG192GJno&feature=related

Right, from watching this I can tell I probably will cry watching this…

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=OJkNXFlblbQ&feature=channel

Signing off… KEEP IT REAL hehe

My Name Is Khan- Review

This film has such a heartfelt message that could have been conveyed better.

Meet Rizwan Khan, he isn’t a terrorist but people judge him to be because of his name, his religion, his identity. This is his journey to prove his innocence.

Character portrayals were definitely excellent and this is the first film I adore SRK in. Kajol didn’t really have much scope but did well with what she had. I agree with other reviews that there were plenty of American stereotypes, starting from the airport security right to the American children. The kid who played Sam was realistic but Rizwan stole the show. Shahrukh was actually Rizwan, not himself! Innocence shone from him and you really bonded with him.

The first half was definitely better than the second. There was a fresh feeling of not knowing where the plot was going there that was missing from the second. *SPOILER* The torture scenes were definitely toned down compared to New York *SPOILER*

They could have missed out the second bit in Wilhelmina, we already know Rizwan is a good person, no need to drill it in to our heads! On a side note, can people with Aspergers not cry? It seemed like it but I’d be grateful if someone could enlighten me.

I loved the message this film was trying to convey,

“We are all equal and none of us deserve to be reduced to just a name, or a religion or just to the way we look”

I think this is an essential idea that all of us must accept. What with the economic crisis, problems of population, poverty, terrorism and global warming, it is all the more important for us to work together and stand united, no matter who we are or what our backgrounds. Whit parties like the BJP and the BNP who are trying to divide us up, using hatred as their weapon, I am grateful to Karan Johar for trying to give us a film that attempts to open our eyes. I say attempts because it could have been better. One example would be *SPOILER* that the Asians in America could have reacted differently to the racism shown towards them, rather than yelling at the racists *SPOILER*.

The film’s message worked for me partly because, in all honesty and modesty, I’m very open minded. I could appreciate the idea and even though the film could have been better, it still made me all the more determined to never be prejudiced to anyone. Ever.

Rating: 4/5

P.S. Thank you to the two people who are following me, please do comment and say what you would like me to include more of in my blog. Also recommendations of good movies are always welcome, as are your thoughts on anything mentioned. Also, don’t forget to vote on the poll at the top.

Salman’s Joining Twitter and a couple of mini reviews

Salman Khan is joining twitter but I hope he refers to us as more than the ‘common people’ like he did on his blog!

Love Aaj Kal

I probably didn’t do it justice with my miniscule review in one of my previous posts.

I just cant understand how one can possibly enjoy this! Throughout this, all I wanted to do was doze off, what was there to enjoy?

Now generally I think Saif is OK and Deepika is quite sweet but I saw very little in either of their performances here. The parallel storylines weren’t hard to follow but I found myself drawn to Rishi Kapoor’s past a lot more than Saif’s present storyline. Thier love seemed so much more simple and clean, while the modern one seemed more about lust than love! Jai and Meera hit me as plain confused, by the intermisiion I was yelling for them to just quickly discover that they loved each other and be together and spare me the pain!

The only performance I liked was that of Giselle Montiero, in her debut as the sweet longing Harleen Kaur. Another plus point was the music, it’s generally enjoyable and doesn’t slow down the narration.

I’m disappointed with Imtiaz Ali, after giving us the superb Jab We Met, why did he have to plague us with this?!?

Overall: It dragged on for far too long and the storyline just wasn’t captivating enough!

Rating: 1/5

Dostana

Dostana’s a nice flick that no one should take seriously.

The first half was entertaining but the second let me down. Priyanka’s role was a cakewalk and she fit right into the skin of her character. John and Abhishek were totally entertaining but I felt the rather touchy issue of gay relationships could have been handled by Karan with a bit more care. I mean *SPOILER* if an inspector comes over to check if you’re gay, the last thing you want to do is overact in front of him! Surely he’s not that stupid? Well, apparently he is. *SPOILER*

Bobby Deol needs to take classes in chemistry as the second half was spoilt partly due to him. I didn’t think the transition from slapstick humour to rona dhona was smooth enough.

Overall: Just watch when you have some spare time on your hands

Rating: 3/5

My Name Is Khan

Hello, I hope you all have a great weekend. If anyone has any links to reviews of My Name Is Khan, please could they post it in the comments section. I've really been looking forward to this film as I love anything that'll make me think and I have a feeling this one will...

"My name is Khan and I'm not a terrorist"
What a tagline! I love Kajol, I'm OK with Shahrukh and Karan Johar tends to provide decent, fluffy stuff -although this might be different- so I have every reason to look forward to this.