Rewatches Rewatches

I’ve rewatched a few movies recently and I thought I’d review the rewatches! I’ll start from the worst and move down to the best… This is just how good I felt the rewatch was, not how good I felt the film was.

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

The first time I watched this I gave it a 3.5 out of 5. Now, after rewatching it, I’d probably give it 1! This is definitely a one time watch. The first time I found the acting varying between good and average, on the rewatch I found it all more hamming and Ranbir’s fake stammer was really starting to get to me. Katrina seemed OK on the rewatch but Ranbir had my begging for my sanity! He seemed to overact in all the scenes except for the emotional ones. the songs were nice once again, but the story seemed to drag on and on, until I had to switch it of halfway to spare my brain from melting. Never again!

Three Idiots

This, to my surprise wasn’t anywhere near as good on the rewatch. This might be because you already know what is going to happen, and when it is going to happen. The acting still felt excellent, even if Kareena’s over expressive face started getting to me a bit after a while. I guess it was the way the director wanted to make sure he disappointed no one and practically spoon fed the audience every little idea and part of the plot that spoiled the rewatch. It is understandable the first time, but by the third ‘demo’ we’ve got the idea that Rancho is a genius with a heart of gold, no need to force it down our throats with the fourth, fifth and sixth demos! Overall worth it if you are an Aamir fan like me and for the light comedy moments.

Chak De India

On a side note, is it me or does this poster suggest Shahrukh=God?

This was just as good on the second viewing. *SPOILER ALERT* You know India is going to win *SPOILER ALERT* but you keep cheering them on all the same. I guess what works here is the fact that the plot is so simple and meaningful, that it doesn’t need to be spoon fed to us, we’re big enough to take it in by ourselves. I’m a sucker for patriotic films to this completely worked for me, I can hear Maula Mere Lele Teri Jaan a thousand times and still love it afresh! Shahrukh was so sincere in this, it really touched my heart, you could feel the patriotic blood pumping through his veins, coupled with his need to prove himself. The film has good rewatch value mostly because of its performances, the girls are really believable and I have no problem with Balbeer’s monobrow.

Kaminey

As anyone who reads this blog can tell, I adored this film even the first time round.

This one seems to be like wine (not that I drink), it gets better with age… I actually preferred it the second time round in comparison to the first. This film compels you to rewatch it because it is so darn difficult to understand the plot the first time round and take note of the subtle symbolism used and the dialogues and the acting and the drama and the list goes on. Like on my fourth viewing I worked out *SPOILER ALERT* the brothers fight at the end in the old house they used to live in as kids together, how fymbolic and fweet!*SPOILER ALERT*

Also, it was refreshing to watch some real acting after partly rewatching Ajab Prem Ghazab Kahani, once again, I was left stuttering by Shahid’s rendition of a stammer. The dialogues were so new and original, they really stood out in the rewatch, I leart about four new Hindi swear words in one night because of Kaminey.

Overall, I’d recommend everyone to watch this at least twice to really enjoy it, I know I’ll be watching again!

A Rant About The Media

Is it just me or do the media really need to get their priorities sorted out?

There were so many reports about My Name Is Khan, they blew the whole problem out of proportion. I felt the same about the tiff between Chetan Bhagat and the producers of Three Idiots, what started off as a small dispute that could easily be sorted out in a sensible manner quickly grew to become the page 3 article in many newspapers.

We’re hardly being informed about the rate of farmer suicides in rural India, or about what we as the people can do to help this world become a better place to live in. Rather, our minds are being filled with sensational stories about the woman who didn’t know she was pregnant till she got to the operation theatre or gossip about ‘Who Is Priyanka Dating Today?’ How can we be expected to grow into learned citizens if this is all we’re being taught by the media?

What got me thinking about this was Javed Akhtar’s speech at the Star Screen Awards. He said something along the lines of:

‘It’s not that people don’t want good lyrics and good scripts, it’s the film industry denying them this.’

This could easily be applied to the world of media. It isn’t that people don’t want to be informed about important things, it’s the media that have got it wrong and think all the general public want is gossip and sensational stories.

I do agree that gossip about the celebs we love and hate is generally quite fun to read, but the very least that should be done is to get complete confirmation about if the stories are true or not. Take the recent alleged link up of Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, a thousand articles came out linking them and now it turns out it was all a rumour spread by fanatics.

Some people say these stories are to cheer people up and to stop the newspapers from being all about doom and gloom. I know I’d like to read about a child saved from a well rather than where Saifeena are going on Valentine’s Day if I need cheering up.

All in all, the media need to pull their socks up and stop getting so worked up about arguments that happen in Bollywood. I sometimes feel sorry for some the stars, imagine having your every move tracked and written about. The media should try and bring about peace rather than egging on fighters, and if they decide not to do this, atleast they can publish honest, important and meaningful stories and give Bollywood the amount of limelight it deserves, which I, while being an avid fan, still think is less than what they are getting currently.

Buzz edition no. 2

Vivek Oberoi has been accused of stalking Aishwariya, here's his response. It has failed to explain why he's always at the award functions Ash is at.

Shahid Kapoor has supposedly given Parmeet a hard time on the sets of Badmaa$h Company. But then again these rumours go round all the time, first its Ken, now Parmeet. His publicist, Rajni Gandha, cleared these rumours on twitter.

Has anyone seen this before on BollyWhat? I can tell this is going to entertain me for hours!

Here's a list of Filmfare nominations. Unlike Star Screen Awards, Kaminey has got more nominations than Three Idiots, I personally loved Three Idiots but I do feel Kaminey was better overall. Who do you think should host Filmfare this year?