Indian cinema is "pre-cynical."

I think I've found part of an explanation for the way I feel about Bollywood. I found this quote when reading an ESPN story "Why You Should Care About Cricket" by Wright Thompson. It's an amazing story and a great read that I'd recommend. It's an American sports writer's attempt to understand cricket, Sachin and India and how they're all intertwined.

But back to the purpose: This quote about Indian cinema really vibrated with me:

"The suspension of disbelief in India is prompt and generous, beginning before the audience enters the theater itself. Disbelief is easy to suspend in a land where belief is so rampant and vigorous. And not just in India; audiences in the Middle East, Russia and Central Asia are also pre-cynical. They still believe in motherhood, patriotism, and true love; Hollywood and the West have moved on." - Suketu Mehta in "Maximum City"

Essentially, it's a way of saying that Indian cinema still has true values; Hollywood has moved on to bitter cynicism.

In honor of India-Pakistan in the World Cup: Dil Bole Hadippa! (2009)

First official film post! This feels exciting!

So in honor of today’s India-Pakistan match (what a loaded thing that is) in the Cricket World Cup (which only Mighty Mango is watching; Kiwi and Papaya are otherwise occupied), it’s only fitting to talk about a cricket movie. Now, as fantastic a movie as Lagaan is, as close as it came to being first, I don’t think a movie could get more perfect for this day than Dil Bole Hadippa! (2009).

If you’re not familiar with it, Dil Bole Hadippa is the Bollywood remake of the 2006 Amanda Bynes movie She’s the Man, which is in turn a loose take on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. She’s the Man is on all of our top lists for American movies (Paagal Papaya can pretty much quote you the whole movie she’s watched it so many times).

Thus, we had great expectations for this movie from the get-go, even if we don’t fully understand cricket. Call it what you will, but they just don’t play cricket in our neck of the woods; it’s baseball, which is much, much simpler. (The Mighty Mango had some exposure to the sport when traveling in Australia about six years ago, but that was brief and mostly forgotten.) We pretty much have Lagaan and Dil Bole Hadippa to thank for our cricket knowledge (and now a little bit of World Cup coverage).

The story, then, of both She’s the Man and Dil Bole Hadippa revolve around a young girl (Viola and Veera, respectively) who plays a sport (soccer/football and cricket) but has no girls team available to her. The solution? Dressing up like a man and pretending to be your own brother. The complication? Falling in love with your team captain (which being either Channing Tatum or Shahid Kapoor, we can totally understand). The love triangle (which becomes a quadrangle or a pentagon or maybe even a hexagon) is a hundred times more complicated in She’s the Man, but that’s the basic premise.

And everything culminates in THE BIG GAME. (Dun dun dun!) For She’s the Man, it’s a high school rivalry. In Dil Bole Hadippa, it’s a little more loaded: a match between India and Pakistan that India has been losing for several years running, so India’s the clear underdog.

Our overall opinion of the movie? Pretty good. Good enough that we watched it twice within a week. Good enough that we ran out and bought it right away? Mmm, maybe not that much. Four out of five stars on our Netflix.

Reasons to watch:

Rani Mukherjee as a man. Come on, this is hilarious even if she is way too pretty to be a man. And at times more believable than Amanda Bynes as a man.

Shahid Kapoor. Mmm. Isn’t this always a good reason to watch a film? The first time we watched it, during the long opening credits, Paagal Papaya says: “Can we fast-forward to Shahid Kapoor’s face, please?” He's as much a reason to watch this one as Channing Tatum is to watch She's the Man.

Shahid and Rani are fantastic dancers. Every song is great just to watch them.

Shahid + Rani when arguing! In this, great jodi. All the wackiness and pizazz and sassy anger works out great.

Reasons not to watch: (mostly credibility issues)

Rani Mukherjee as a man. It may be hilarious, but believable? Whoever’s job it was to hide her womanish figure did a HORRIBLE job and she needed some coaching on masculine body language/movement.

Shahid Kapoor as a British Indian. Not British. At all. Not believable.

Shahid + Rani jodi when not arguing: the sparks leave when the jabs do. A magazine review we read said they prefer Shahid with a younger heroine. While we’re incensed at the jab to Rani (who is so not old), we understand what they mean. Even when bubbly and crazy, Rani has a sense of maturity to her (not a bad thing). Shahid feels too young.

The way that Veera’s charade is exposed to Rohan (Shahid): Her contact lens falls out on his hand when he tackles her to the ground after a great catch during the match. …really? Her contact falls out on his hand? But after jumping on top of her, he can’t feel her womanly curves? Um, fail.

The end resolution feels flat. You never get the actual make-up scene between Rohan and Veera after an explosive argument when he finds out she’s, well, not the man.

The impossible situation of the match. Pretty much all sports movies have this flaw: The climax scene is just not likely. How likely is someone to stay in batting after breaking their arm? Not very. How likely are refs (umpires?) to let someone play with a broken limb? Not very.

If Mighty Mango can step in briefly with a little bit of college knowledge… In literary studies, we talk about the “willing suspension of disbelief” when reading novels. That is, the author makes the assumption that the reader will come into it knowing it’s fiction and not expecting reality and so the author takes liberties with reality. Films are the same way – there’s a level of willingly acknowledging that things are almost always going to work out too perfectly or that special effects happen in movies that aren’t reality. But the problems with Dil Bole Hadippa aren’t factors that deserve your willing suspension of disbelief – they’re little things that could have been fixed very easily that just got ignored instead.

Overall, excepting those moments of minor plot fail, it was pretty decent. The movie is fun, it has a good patriotic Indian feel to it, and it’s even generous toward losing Pakistan.

Well, that's all for now. Today, chak de India! Beat Pakistan and go on to the finals!

EDIT: Yay, India! Shabash! Now on to beat Sri Lanka for the title!

Review: King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema by Anupama Chopra

A book? Why is a book the first real post we have on a Bollywood blog, even if it is a Bollywood book? Well, mostly because I had typed up my comments a few weeks ago when I actually finished the book. We’ll get around to actual movie blog posts later (I actually have a few saved up for soon but I don’t want to monopolize the blog!). Right now, there's a Shah Rukh Khan biography to talk about.

So, I had things I greatly liked about this book and things I liked less. Overall, I think I’d generalize it as more contradictory and confusing than enlightening: It has general moments of clarity and brilliance that are shortly thereafter bemuddled by statements from the other side.

The best example I can give is a difficulty in reconciling the Shah Rukh that Anupama Chopra paints as shy with girls and who was awkward when dancing, with the Shah Rukh that was the life of the party and a crazy dancer or with the Shah Rukh who almost always had a female best friend (since childhood) and was as comfortable with his feminine side and around women as his character Raj is in DDLJ.

What I liked:

The story is an insight into Bollywood that I was looking for, with a nice glimpse into the family legacies, the connection with the Mumbai mob and critical reception globally of Hindi movies.

“Indians suffer from a particularly virulent case of movie madness. … In a country mired in poverty, crowds, and oppressive heat, each day some 15 million people troop into over 12,500 cinemas to watch a movie.”

The opening and ending chapters gave me some hope that I am neither the craziest SRK fan nor am I alone in my love.

Many of the anecdotes in the book were great. They had me either laughing or tearing up appropriately.

What I didn’t like:

I felt like the book was full of holes. Salman and Aamir Khan (and several other actors) were kind of casually dismissed and there wasn’t much mention of any of SRK’s heroines or fellow heroes; his sister Shahnaz was essentially mentioned only in their father’s death scene (which made me so curious!!!), even Gauri seemed to fade off and his kids were barely mentioned. This made it feel like it was neither a solid glimpse of Shah Rukh’s career (and the reign of the Khans in the 90s) nor of his life. And after explaining Shah Rukh’s “fall from grace” and the bitterness over it and subsequently Hrithik Roshan’s rise… If Chopra was going to take the time to explain all of that, I don’t understand why Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham didn’t deserve more than a very, very passing mention in the last chapter.

As much as a biography’s allowed to mix in the biographer’s opinion, I felt like it was a little much. I felt almost like Chopra decided, “These are the SRK movies I like, and these are the only ones I’m going to talk about.”

For a book marketed overseas as a glimpse into Bollywood, it sure wasn’t very forgiving or inviting to an international reader. Even if I’m an international reader who likes India (which obviously I do), there’s only so much I can read about the rapid growth of the Indian economy and the coverage it received.

Yes, the book helped me understand some of the things I was after. I just wish that it was consistently good and functioned as a whole rather than in pieces.

I think SRK's so-so face says it all.

My First Post! (Favorites)

Okay, we'll start with... mine is going to be very wacky, probably alot of errors, and all sorts of crap. I don't check my work before I submit, I just don't have the patience. I will use alot of ...s I'm in love with them for some reason.

Now that the warnings and introduction to my poor writing is over, on with the show.

Favorite Heroes:

The first would have to be Akshay Kumar. He just makes me laugh, I think he pulls his roles off really well. His deep voice reminds me of the lemur or whatever on Madagascar. I hope that it's not offensive, lol. He also has a really nice smile, not that I am smitten with him. I think I've seen the most movies with him in it, saw my first Bollywood in theaters (Tees Maar Khan). He's just so loveable I suppose, lol.

Second would be Imran Khan. I don't know why, I just love him. I have only seen like... one movie with him in it. Since I have only seen one movie with him, there's not alot to say about him. I think he's kinda cute. He seams kinda down to earth, but yet... I don't know. He's lively? Like I said not a lot to say about him, I just like him, lol.

Favorite Heroines:

Priyanka Chopra. She's beautiful and somewhat reminds me of my mom, and that's not a bad thing. She's very pretty, and I think she does a really good job acting. Her performance in Fashion was really good, she seemed to play the role of shy, softspoken, and naive (to the fashion world) to a strong, outspoken, and kind of egotistical, was really smooth.

Katrina Kaif would be my second. She's just spazzy, lol, at least I think so. She's really pretty and seems like a go getter, lol. First movie I saw with her in it would be Humko Deewana Kar Gaye. She wasn't really spazzy there, but free spirited. Tees Maar Khan would be where she was spazzy. However, I still like her. Beautiful and simple. : ]

Favorite Motion Picture:

*Drum roll*

Rab Ne Bana De Jodi. I know I don't talk much about Shahrukh Khan, or Anushka Sharma (who was close to being in my favorites list), but this movie was just sensational. Seriously, it didn't drag too long, it was funny, and it really made me wonder how they were going to spring it back. The part I didn't like was the sumo wrestler; I just didn't like the image of that, lol. But even though I don't care for Shahrukh Khan, he is so stinking adorable as a geek, which I wouldn't mind if that was a permanent look :P : ] lol. Surinder is just so sweet to Taani (partner) I think it was what was best for her, which really showed his love for her. I cannot rave about this movie enough, sorry : ] lol.

  I also love Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, sooooo funnyyyy. It is, though, like Notting Hill with Julia Roberts. But all the same funny, and good. Hmm, I Hate Luv Storys, that was my favorite until I watched Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, lol. What's another Bollywood I liked? Dostana was pretty good, I get Desi Girl stuck in my head after the second time I watched it, lol. Bollywood/Hollywood was hilarious, and a 'What the Crap?!' movie, lol. Welcome was like Mickey blue Eyes, though I kept wavering back and forth about whether it was or not, until the killing scene, lol. Fashion was really interesting, not what I expected what-so-ever. It just really shocked me, but I would think had a good take on things of the sort. As a stick in the mud, I would have to say I did not like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, sorry just not any pizazz, you know? I really can't remember more movies I like, but I know you'll hear of them sooner or later : ] .

I hope I didn't roll around too much for you, just a piece of everything.

Happy Reading : ]

Paagal Papaya's (tentative) Favorites

Well. For starters, let me just say that I'm not going to be as good of a writer as the Mighty Mango, just so you know. Also, I'm not really sure how to navigate this thing really well yet (hence my thing won't be as pretty or well-organized as the Mighty Mango's) so if I do something dumb you'll just have to forgive me.

OK. To start off, let me just say this: I do not feel like I've seen enough Hindi films/heroes/heroines to choose definite favorites. Even though I've seen a lot, there's much more to be seen, and there always will be much more to be seen. There are also films I've seen that has someone in it that I'd like to see more of or I haven't seen enough of that hero/heroine to make a fair judgment on them. That being said, my "favorites" will keep changing.

My favorite hero(es)?

Hmm. Good question. Well, a favorite, would, most certainly, have to be Shah Rukh Khan, of course. Unlike the Mighty Mango, he was not (technically) my first Bollywood hero. However, he was one of my firsts, and I watched two of his movies back-to-back (K3G and K2H2), and decided I love him. That was just cemented when I saw Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and DDLJ. And he was incredibly cute and rather convincing in My Name is Khan. At first, I struggled with his face not being particularly attractive to me, but I got over it and fell in love with his overall charm. Yeah.

Another favorite would have to be Akshay Kumar. He's just so freaking funny to me. I think Tees Maar Khan was the first movie I saw with him in it (I know, crazy, right?). A lot of people said that movie was horrible, and while it was incredibly bizarre, I thought it was funny, and it made me interested in seeing more Akki. And while I roll my eyes sometimes at his "oh yeah, I'm hot" attitude, I still love him and he makes me laugh.

Now, from the... err, "younger" or "newer" generation, I guess you'd say, I have a few favorites. But for some reason my brain classifies them as different from my aforementioned favorites. First, Imran Khan. I'm not sure why I love Imran, but he's so cute and I just want to pinch his cheeks. lol that sounds kinda weird but whatever. Also I really like Shahid Kapoor. Whoo, he's not bad to watch at all ;).

There's a few others that I wouldn't call favorites but I would certainly like to see more of so that I can form a better opinion, such as Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, and Ranbir Kapoor. And there's a bunch that I haven't seen any movies that they're in but have heard great things about that I'd like to see.

My favorite heroine?

Yes, well. Just like my heroes, I think I have multiple heroines. But first, of course, I have Kajol. Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't just because I love SRK. She can totally stand on her own. However, I do love her with him; pretty much all of their films are favorites. But I love her because she's just so, like... fun, I guess. She's goofy but gorgeous, zany but lovely. It surprised me how she could go from being somewhat spazzy in K2H2 and K3G to being a serious, protective, and jealous mom in We Are Family and a sheltered blind girl in Fanaa. I just really like her.

Secondly, I like Rani Mukherjee. I think she's absolutely beautiful (*jealousss* :P). Besides that, I don't know. I just really like her. She's funny. And her performance in Dil Bole Hadippa! says to me that she's not really afraid to be un-pretty, seeing as how she's playing a man (even though it didn't really work. I mean, c'mon, she was still pretty). OH, and in K2H2 also because in the dying scene she's not wearing any makeup. I still like her in K2H2 even though she's sort of "the other woman."

I'll just make passing mentions of some others. I like Priyanka Chopra, I think. I'm trying to form a more complete opinion on her, trying to step back and make myself say "OK. WHY do you like her? Form an actual opinion." So I'll let you know on that one. Another is Kareena Kapoor. Hmm, I'm trying to go back through my brain's archives and dig out some thoughts on her. I think most of the movies I've seen her in she's played more secondary roles, so maybe that's why I don't have many thoughts on that. However I did enjoy her performance in We Are Family, trying to cope with being viewed as "the other woman" and cope with being young and being left with 3 kids. Another person was Katrina Kaif. I'm not really sure about her. I love her with Akki, but the only thing I've seen her in sans-Akki is New York, which I watched too long ago to even remember her performance. So, with Akki, yes; without Akki... mmm, the jury's still out on that one.

There's also a lot of other heroines I would love to see more of, like Aishwarya Rai, Genelia, etc.

My favorite film?

As with the other categories, I have multiple favorites. Really, can you ever just pick one? I don't think so.

Well, one of my favorites, for starters, would have to be Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. I just love it, the whole thing. Period. Also, I love Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. So funny! And I just wanted to pinch Shahrukh's little geeky cheeks. He was so cute. Another favorite is Dostana, which I found hilarious and crazy. Oh, and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, of course. SRK and Kajol, I just think they're so funny and good together. I like I Hate Luv Storys too. It was funny and I liked how Jai wasn't like the classic hero or whatever, but it ended up being a love story anyways. And how they made fun of a lot of films. Another favorite is Welcome. Dude, that movie was crazy! I was like "What?! HAHAHA. Wait what?!" the whole time. And I found it hilarious, even if the Mighty Mango didn't find it quite so hilarious. All my descriptions of these movies probably sound really shallow and aren't really good descriptions of why I love them, but they'll have to do for now. Sorry!

Aaand this was a lot longer than I was intending, but you know how Bollywood goes.

SRK, bed intruder

A little bit of humor to brighten your day. :) Because I was watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (♥!!!) again last night, and during this scene a certain "song" was playing in my head. ;)

Mr. Malhotra (Anupam Kher) should have remembered to hide his kids, hide his wife, hide his husband too.

The Mighty Mango's Favorites

As our first posts, we figured we'd kind of introduce ourselves by outlining our favorite Bollywood heroes, heroines and films. :) Lucky me, I get to go first.

Let me preface my selections with something: My choices are, yes, very, very clichéd. I can’t help it. I have many, many things that I love. Don’t think my tastes are restricted to this. But yes, it’s true, these are the things I love best.

My favorite actor/hero: Shahrukh Khan

Why: Because he’s SRK. Do you need more explanation than that? Well, I suppose you probably want some. The fact is, from the very first moment he stepped on screen in the very first Bollywood movie I watched (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham), I was smitten with SRK. He has an indescribable charm that I can’t not love. Never mind the fact that SRK is older than my dad, speaks Hindi at 5 million miles an hour so I can’t understand him, and is not even really that attractive in the face. He just has this persona that’s slightly nutty and mischievous but somehow always classy at the same time. But his charm aside, the man is a darn good actor. Seriously, his versatility amazes me, especially in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (SRK-plays-nerd-plays-cool-guy was actually amazing) and My Name is Khan. I was seriously floored by the quality of his performance in MNIK.

My favorite actress/heroine: Kajol

Why: At first, I thought I liked Kajol because, like Shahrukh was my first Bollywood hero, Kajol was my first Bollywood heroine and also because every SRK/Kajol movie has been an instant favorite of mine (except Baazigar, which I cannot seem to get my hands on!). And yes, SRK and Kajol remain my favorite jodi (although closely followed by Akki and Katrina Kaif). So I was afraid, in effect, that I loved Kajol because I love SRK. But then I saw Fanaa. Fanaa is a horrible film (overly complicated plot, horrible special effects, some weak dialogue). BUT Kajol and Aamir made it enjoyable in pieces. Kajol, who is usually all sorts of zany fun, did such a beautiful job with playing a sheltered but bold blind Kashmiri girl. And in the second half of the movie, she does an even more amazing job of playing a woman wrestling with conflicting love and morality. As much as I love him, I think Aamir Khan got outshined in that one.

My favorite film: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Why: By now, seeing SRK and Kajol are my favorites, you probably could have seen this one coming. I’m also a big fan, I think, of Karan Johar’s work in directing and producing. Other than the overly political second half of MNIK and the disjointed Kal Ho Naa Ho, I don’t think I’ve seen a movie made by KJo yet that I didn’t adore. Maybe it’s a matter of first love (K3G was my first movie and I enjoyed it, but K2H2 was my second movie and the first that I loved), but no matter how many times I’ve seen K2H2, it never ceases to make me smile or to move me. The college first half reminds me of Saved By The Bell, in a good way. lol. It’s so upbeat but with that heart-rending train scene at the intermission! And then the rekindled love in the second half plus all the fun with the kids at the camp? I mean, it's a movie made by Karan Johar starring Shahrukh, Kajol, Rani Mukherjee and Sallu. How can you not love it?

Honorable mentions:

Aamir Khan, who is sometimes the most crazy adorable thing ever and other times incredibly hot for a pint-sized man; Rani Mukherjee, who is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen and also a very versatile actress though I haven’t seen enough to convince me she’s on par with her cousin Kajol; Akshay Kumar, who always cracks me up; Jab We Met; Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (again, I am so cliche!); and Dostana, which would be my favorite movie (a hoot and a half, that one) if K2H2 weren't such a perfectly well-rounded film. Look for a post soon about the reasons that Dostana is better than its Hollywood counterpart.