Do you know those times where you’re thoroughly unimpressed
by a trailer but you figure “what the hey, I’ll go see this one anyway”?
That was the case today with Gori Tere Pyaar Mein. It looks
like exactly the same kind of rom com formula that produces as many fizzlers as
sizzlers. And then there’s the fact that Imran and Kareena’s last movie — Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu — thoroughly sucked.
Well, I won’t tell you their chemistry’s gotten a whole lot
better, because it hasn’t. It’s still mediocre.
But Gori Tere Pyaar Mein is actually pretty funny and fun
for at least three quarters of the movie (the ending, however, slows down and
drags on for a while once you hit all of the necessary moral stuff). And maybe it’s just because I wasn’t expecting much,
but I had fun.
Synopsis: Reigning don Shoaib (Akshay Kumar) falls in
love with new actress Jasmine (Sonakshi Sinha) amid his bid to control all of
Bombay by taking down Rawal (Mahesh Manjrekar). The only problem is that
Jasmine is also hanging around Aslam (Imran Khan), Shoaib’s understudy (though
she thinks he’s a tailor). Of course this can’t end well.
I must say first that I’m not a huge fan of gangster/underworld
movies. I haven’t seen the first Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara. But the
trailer looked sort of cool and I love both Akki and Imran, so I wasn’t
completely without hope as I went into the theater.
But it turns out OUATIMD (dammit even the acronym is long!)
really isn’t typical Akki at all as he plays a not (intentionally) comical
badass, and Imran is, well... In some ways, he’s not a whole lot different.
Imran plays a man who hates even the idea of love — where
have we heard this before? Oh, yeah, maybe something called I Hate Luv
Storys (and Delhi Belly, and MKBKM...) — or a grungy, “cool” sort of
antihero with values. I’m honestly not that fond of the persona and really pretty tired
of it.
Unfortunately, it quickly becomes predictable — as much as I
hoped otherwise — that Aslam will be Jasmine’s choice without so much as a
thought, though she carries on with Shoaib, accepting his overtures as if she
has no earthly idea that he likes her (c’mon, she is a ditz, but not
that big of a ditz).
Synopsis: Somewhere in Haryana, Harry Mandola (Pankaj
Kapur) is a wealthy industrialist who wants to take all the farmers’ land and
build some kind of car plant — only Harry also loves getting drunk, and when he
does, he gets into mischief and thwarts his own plans. His servant Matru (Imran Khan) — supposedly working off a loan from attending law school? — is supposed
to keep him from getting drunk and acting crazy, but he’s secretly Mao,
champion of the farmers, so he likes drunk!Harry. Then there’s Harry’s free-spirited
daughter Bijlee (Anushka Sharma). To secure Harry’s factory and power, Bijlee
is set to marry bumbling idiot Baadal (Arya Babbar), the son of Minister
Chaudhari Devi (Shabana Azmi), who enjoys playing footsie with Harry during
important meetings.
Oh, yes, and there are lots of pink buffaloes. (Harry’s mind
supplies them when he stops drinking beer — with pink buffaloes on the labels —
too fast.)
So, maybe we should start with the fact that I have
something of a mixed history with Vishal Bhardwaj. I loved Omkara, couldn’t
finish Kaminey (too confused, though I want to try again) and have absolutely
no desire to see 7 Khoon Maaf.
Well, Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola left me no clearer on my
opinions of Bhardwaj. I thought parts of the movie were great — some of it is
hilarious, the cinematography is great, the songs are catchy — but overall, the
thing left me thinking, “WTF am I watching?” And not because of the pink
buffaloes — those were more understandable.
I got to a point where I couldn’t tell what was supposed to
be funny and what was supposed to be serious. I don’t think that’s a good thing.
Oh, and don’t get me wrong. I’m totally down with the
dung-throwing drunk-stumbling pink-buffalo type of humor.
Hullo, gulabi bhain!
And the plot had some great darker twists — like poor Bijlee
contemplating suicide and then getting drunk in order to bear her wedding to
Baadal — but I think you can tell from the moment that Shabana Azmi steps on
screen that the big bad politician will lose and Harry will choose his daughter’s
happiness and the plight of the villagers (and retire from his wild drinking).
Go home, Harry. You're drunk.
So overall, I think perhaps I was bored because I knew where
it was going, and the slow, drawn-out pace didn’t help. It was so slow and
dragging at some points that I wondered if the film crew was drunk-slurring its
way through the entire movie. (By the way, drunk!Mandola is nearly impossible to
understand. I think subtitles would be necessary even for the Hindi fluent.)
Even Anushka Sharma and Imran Khan — both of whom I love —
didn’t help this one.
Sorry, guys. Not feeling it.
The rich man’s rebel daughter is a such a great character
of possibilities, but I don’t know if Bijlee’s presence is really ever earned
in this movie (except for the getting drunk in order to go through her marriage). And Matru’s presence in the Mandolas’ household is kind of underexplained
and even undeserved; Imran has his moments, but I found Matru a mostly
lackluster accessory to scenes where he just played Harry's shepherd or told angry villagers what to do.
Basically, for a film named for the three main characters, I was underwhelmed by the development of Matru and Bijlee.
This tattoo of Bijlee's, though. Want. "Dekho magar pyaar se." (Look, but with love.)
Hey, at least the music was good and I got a few laughs, right? Err, right.
One of the people I went with — part of the new Bollywood Movie Club of Tampa Bay! — said, “Well, since everyone spends half the movie
drunk, maybe you have to be drunk to fully appreciate it!” That sounds like a
good idea to me. Next time, I’ll bring a bottle of rum.
So I was supposed to go see Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu last week, but I waited because others wanted to go see it with me. I still ended up seeing it alone this week, but I was excited because in addition to it starring Imran Khan (♥!) and Kareena Kapoor (on a ROLL), I read such great reviews about this one. They were all glowing.
I wasn't wowed.
Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (previously called Short Term Shaadi) is young and a little off-beat. It's fun and goofy. But it just kind of...flounders. Not much actually happens. The plot is thin, and I felt like it just kind of lacked depth.
I missed the first 15 minutes (traffic, ugh), but from there on, the basic premise is this: One drunken night in Vegas, straightlaced Rahul Kapoor and zany, rulebook-out-the-window Riana Braganza -- both out of work -- get hitched. After agreeing to get an annulment, they become close friends. When Riana's thrown out of her house, Rahul lets her stay with him until she gets back on her feet. And then Rahul, whose world has been turned upside down by ever-happy and ever-bubbly Ri, realizes he's fallen in love with her. But when he finally plucks up the courage to act on it, she rebuffs him, saying she loves him like a friend but nothing else and she doesn't want to be in a relationship now. And so Rahul narrates an epilogue in which they repair this rift and both get jobs, but they just stay friends even though she tries to push girls his way and he turns them away because he loves her.
Sum total, I think in that depressingly antiromantic kind of way, it kind of resembles 500 Days of Summer. It goes the hipster route and tries to be cool by being purposely antitraditional. And I don't really think it works.
I heard people comparing Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu to Wake Up Sid and Jab We Met (Vegas version), two films I love. It is kind of like Wake Up Sid in reverse: Instead of the woman teaching the man to take responsibility, she teaches him how to let go of a responsible exterior. And that's also what happens in Jab We Met, where a bubbly Kareena character helps a depressed guy loosen up.
But in both of those films, those storylines are the catalyst to things happening in the relationship. In Ek Main, the two characters fight and Rahul goes home to his repressive family, where his father still picks his ties and his mother still tells him how to chew his food. Finally fed up, he tells his parents off. And he goes back and talks to Riana. And they become friends, get an annulment, and that's...it. Riana refuses to have a deeper relationship (without much explanation, might I add) so they don't.
I liked the film's first half, even though it dragged. I liked part of the second half. But then...nothing happens! It has no climax and no satisfaction. It's a wasted half.
So, sum total, that's all about the film.
But on a slightly off-topic note, the theater-going experience was perhaps too interesting (a story you already know if you follow me on Twitter). It involved some rather rudeness from desis. There were two guys in the theater for the film, sitting like five or six rows behind me, and after
interval, the one guy left the other and came and sat down right behind me. And he didn't SAY anything. He just sat there. And stared. And when I
left the theater, the two guys were outside, smoking, and as I left they just kept staring! I understand if you're curious why there's a gori in the
theater, but at least ASK me something. It was very strange, creepy and rude. I know enough Hindi to have told the one guy off or at least snapped at him, and I probably should have said at least, "Aap ka problem kya hai?"
First, before I get into Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, I’d like to announce some happy news. As part of my student newspaper’s revamping for the semester, we’ve added a whole slate of new blogs, including yours truly getting a Bollywood blog put on the list. Words can’t describe how happy it makes me to get Bollywood in there amongst the many varied blog topics we have. It’s called The Filmi Gator, and you can find it here, including my first post to encourage folks to try out Bollywood. (And pardon my apparently poor choices for suggestions at the end; I tried to go Bollywood Lite since I’m making first-time recs for people. Those are all films I’ve actually recommended to first-time watchers, with success.)
And now on to Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, which I saw with Papaya on Saturday. And there WERE subtitles! Yay. Thanks for that this time, AMC.
Synopsis: London-living, just-broke-up-with-his-five-year-girlfriend Luv Agnihotri (Ali Zafar — who is not the same as Ali ABBAS Zafar, the writer/director, I found out the hard way) asks his brother Kush (Imran Khan) to find him a bride in India. Kush is fed up with his search when he runs into Dimple Dixit aka D (Katrina Kaif), a free-spirited wild-child he met in his college days. Convinced that Dimple’s spunk is exactly what Luv needs, Kush begins arranging the marriage. The only problem is that he falls in love with Dimple while planning the wedding, leaving the two to concoct a plan to trick Luv into letting Dimple go.
Overall, I liked Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, but it was not quite as much as I’d hoped for. Seeing the way it was styled (and some of the great promo pictures below), I (and Papaya) hoped it’d have the same level of spazzy WACKINESS as Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. Unfortunately, while it was a little spazzy, it wasn’t spazzy enough.
I freaking love this picture. Unfortunately this scene was very passing in the film.
Still, it was funny in its own right. I wasn’t in stitches, but I had a few good laughs, especially at scenes like this one.
But the awesome thing about this movie? Its girl power. I will admit to you that Katrina Kaif is not my favorite person in the world. Sometimes, she’s downright annoying. But between her awesome character in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and this, I’m definitely giving the girl a couple of thumbs up for kicking @$$.
Katrina ruled this movie. It wasn’t Ali and it wasn’t Imran, though each had enough of his own tug that I thought it was nicely balanced.
But Dimple is a girl who knows what she wants and how she’s going to live her life. She drinks with the boys (sometimes she even supplies the beer), wears what she wants and has tattoos (even though one of them disappears in some scenes). And not only that, she stands up for herself sexually too because just because she likes to have fun doesn't mean she's easy.
But if you had any illusions that either Luv or Kush had any sort of control over Dimple, she knocks Kush out with sleeping pills and bodily runs away with him when he refuses to elope with her.
Passin' out the drinks after the boys told her to stay out of them.
Although, random sidenote, Kush’s refusal to elope with Dimple was somewhat annoying, especially after she’d pretty much already run away with him. He got on his soapbox about why eloping was not a good idea, and I was like, “Really? Are we doing DDLJ right now?” It was pretty out of context for the film, especially since (ahem, spoiler?) Luv ends up eloping himself.
But one of the really great things about the girl power in this is that it’s a pretty thorough celebration of a woman’s individuality. Other than the eyebrow-raising, eye-rolling line about “matrimonial eyes” in the title song, even the small things helped boost Dimple’s right to hang with the boys. In the song “Madhubala,” she gets to wear the same thing as the boys (the plaid shirt over a white tank). Details like that make me happy because generally films will make even a tomboy girly (i.e., sadly, my favorite film, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,or Dil Bole Hadippa).
And while on “Madhubala,” I’d like to say that while I didn’t necessarily adore the songs of this film (see: stupid “matrimonial eyes” line in the title song), I loved every song-dance sequence. They were all fabulous. (And, if you needed more convincing that Dimple was the dangerous one in charge, see the item song, “Do Dhaari Talwaar.”)
Dimple has both brothers wrapped around her little finger.
And off-hand, Ali Zafar and Imran Khan make very interesting (quite pretty) brothers. (Also, thanks to lovely folks on Twitter for explaining to me the significance of the names Luv and Kush! I feel like I need a crash course in Hinduism these days.) (Also also, Papaya pointed out that Ali and Shahid Kapoor could very convincingly play brothers.)
At the start, I didn’t really like Ali Zafar. Maybe it’s just that his character was being a jerk at the beginning because he grew on me really quickly! I was surprised to find out he’s actually a singer and not an actor (hey, don’t judge me for my ignorance) and I shall be checking out his music :). And he totally looks like a desi (and prettier) Freddie Prinze Jr. to me, which was kind of driving me nuts.
And yes, I wasted most of my time compiling this post trying to find similar pictures of Ali and Freddie because I must prove my point but there are VERY few good pictures of Freddie.
But in short, I'd recommend Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. Go see it. :)
Continuing Imran Week, we come to what was supposed to be the highlight of the week (that has been less than expected because of certain bloggers' slowness; they swear posts are still coming). Well, it's unlikely to be quite so climatic as we predicted, so this is likely to be brief.
So, I don't know what we expected from Delhi Belly, even knowing it was rated R, but let's just say we were all a mix of over and underwhelmed.
Even after hearing that the language of the film is rather colorful, our poor ears were quite offended. We read that the Hindi version was "less offensive" and we probably should have seen that one. (We weren't in love with the idea of an English-language film in the first place for many reasons.) There's an obnoxious amount of F-bombs in this film. An obnoxious, awkwardly placed amount. The number of times that F was forcefully crammed into the dialogue detracted from everything else. The sex scenes were also mostly just awkward and nothing but that. Both the vulgar dialogue and the vulgar sexual stuff just felt like the film was trying too too hard to be edgy.
The film also has a lot of lead-in that's just obnoxious language and bathroom humor. Seriously, I sat through the first 45 minutes of the film wondering if anything was ever going to happen and where the humor was outside of the bathroom. (And if the bathroom humor could even be called humor; we usually find a certain amount of that hilarious [see: yours truly laughed at every single pee joke in Ready] but this... didn't make us laugh.)
For a stretch, once the plot got kicked into gear, it was really moving along. There was less cussing, more of substance happening and more actual subtle humor that drew laughs.
We appreciated getting to stare at Imran, who was looking mighty fine and mighty scruffy. We weren't overwhelmed by this performance from him, though, even if it's nice to see him branch out a little bit. But maybe branching isn't necessarily a good thing: He mostly felt like he wasn't a fit for the role.
And for a film with a premise essentially based on bromance, there was surprisingly little palpable bromance (compared with other great male-trio films like 3 Idiots, Dil Chahta Hai and even kind of Thank You). And there was also not nearly enough chemistry flowing between Imran and Poorna Jagannathan to win us over. (And for that matter, I was kind of annoyed with the idea that wealthy, prissy Soniya was so in love with the idea of marrying Tashi, who was basically a slob fruitlessly chasing a serious journalist's career.)
Oh, and as a journalist, I have an ever-increasing thing about the portrayal of journalists in film (sleazebags or crusaders; most of us are neither) and this one SUPREMELY bothered me. It's a horrible representation of our profession, way of life and codes of conduct (for example no self-respecting newspaper would let a journalist who went through all of that personally and committed crimes, etc., in the process write an article, especially of that magnitude, due to conflicts of interest). Oh, and on the note of Tashi being a slob, journalists are often known for being a bit lax, but anyone chasing the career of "serious" journalism doesn't seriously pursue it being a slob. (Another note being that I hate the stereotype of the writer pursuing being a "serious" journalist; most reporters honestly aren't like that and being a "serious" reporter is essentially a soul-sucking job.)
I've been told this film is a realistic portrayal of Delhite bachelorhood, which is perhaps a way of ripping the glimmering "Bollywood" sheen off of things. But then, to me, this begs the question... Is a comedy really the way to go with that? If you're trying to make a serious point, make a serious point.
Honestly, this was the best part of the film for us. (Also randomly note that we rather enjoyed the music.)
And we'll end it, like the film, with Aamir.
And on a note of things to come, despite our disappointment with Delhi Belly, Imran week should continue. Papaya and Kiwi promise me their posts are in the works and will be done around Monday. We'll see how that goes.
Specifically, the Times says, “Karan Johar seems to have delayed the release of his film 'Short Term Shaadi' to bank on Imran Khan's rising popularity.”
Now I’m going to skip my high-and-mighty journalistic rants about the quality of composition in this little article (from the world’s largest English-language newspaper) and the fact that short-term should be hyphenated in the film’s title, and get to the real interesting thing here: KJo thinks he needs to wait to capitalize on Imran’s popularity.
I’m still rather new to the whole Bollywood arena, but it does seem to me that Imran is less of draw than even the others in the younger set like Shahid and Ranbir. Maybe we have the stronger attachment to Imran that we do because we watched an Imran flick (I Hate Luv Storys) before a Shahid or Ranbir one, but it seems that we’re in the minority. Imran is, though, somewhat younger to the business than Ranbir or Shahid, even though they’re all about the same age (Ranbir and Imran are 28; Shahid is 30).
But with today’s opening of Delhi Belly, which has been much-hyped, Imran appears to be looking at a possible launch (re-launch?) of popularity. At least that’s what KJo seems to think, and I may agree with him.
Another Imran flick, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, also starring Katrina Kaif is set to land Sept. 9 (the same day, mind you, as Ranbir’s Rockstar and Shahid’s much-much-much anticipated Mausam; theaters and yours truly are going to have some tough decisions to make). I don’t know much about Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, but it sounds like it’s set to be a decent draw too.
So, then, if Delhi Belly and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan are set to give Imran a boost, is Karan Johar wise to delay Imran’s next film? The way I see it, this decision has two sides to it. One, if Imran gets a boost from these next two films, holding off on releasing the next one instead of releasing it on the heels of a successful one can hurt you. The old adage strike while the iron’s hot.
But on the other hand, waiting to see how your star’s image comes out in his two preceding films can help you with your advertising and marketing plan. If Imran comes out well-liked, you slant the campaign toward the fact that it stars Imran. If Imran doesn’t get much of a boost, you focus on something else.
So, is KJo’s choice wise? The Times seems to think so. I’m on the fence.
This, I suppose, is one of those rare places where Hollywood and its one-film-at-a-time model have an advantage over Bollywood’s high-volume, one-on-the-heels-of-another output.
Read the rest of the Times’s brief article here, if you’re interested. Additional thoughts, anyone?
So it appears that our Imran “week” will be something more akin to an Imran “days” as we’ll probably pack in our posts within the next two days and then have something on Delhi Belly after we see it Saturday. We just have ambitions that are greater than our free time at the moment, it seems.
Of course, it appears to be only fitting that the film reviews of Imran Appreciation (insert word for short timespan here) starts with Imran’s first film as an adult: Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. (And as probably could be predicted, it’s by yours truly, the Mighty Mango, because the others here are notoriously hard to get in gear.)
Synopsis: On the cusp of graduating and learning to make it in the real world, best friends Jai “Rats” Singh Rathore (Imran Khan) and Aditi “Meow” Mahant (Genelia D’Souza) face a lot of choices. They’ve been so close through school that everyone has assumed they’re together as a couple -- Aditi’s parents even ask seriously when the wedding will be. But Jai, who’s a pacifist, and Aditi, aggressive and impulsive, are convinced they’re all wrong for each other and each sets out to pick the perfect mate for the other, not realizing, of course, that everyone around them was right all along. Meanwhile, Aditi grapples with chasing a dream in America, and Jai unknowingly struggles to suppress a violent family nature that would fill his late father’s conditions for him becoming a man. The narrative is framed as a story recounted by Jai and Aditi’s group of friends -- Bombs, Jiggy, Rotlu and Shaleen -- to their new friend Mala.
Speaking of groups of friends, I feel like that’s a good place to start. This is a great movie about friendship and love. In case you haven’t already figured this out, I’m a big fan of fun friendship movies. I just feel like friendship is such a universal concept that an audience can connect with, and when real friendship works among the cast, it creates real chemistry that gives a film a firm foundation to build on. When you create that kind of atmosphere around a set, the film attains a smooth feel that almost guarantees a success.
And this film has a great bunch of friends who are the right mix of zany and serious. While I will say not all of the characters were necessarily deep enough to stick in my mind (had to look up almost all of their names for the synopsis), they were a delightful cast of supporters.
Of course the main feature of the film is the complicated friendship-relationship between Aditi and Jai. I think one of the big reasons that I like this film is that it plays with the dynamic of a friendship-relationship really well. Jai and Aditi understand that they love one another as friends and just don’t understand that they really love one another more than that. The film plays on the theme that love is based in friendship (Shahrukh is in my head right now saying, “Pyaar dosti hai: Agar woh meri sab se acchi dost nahin ban sakti toh main us se pyaar kar hi nahin sakta” [hopefully I said that all correctly]) but with the idea that they’re too confused by that love to chase it outright. It’s love and friendship with a twist.
For example, take "Kahin To Hogi Wo." That whole scene just about makes me want to cry because poor Jai and Aditi are both hopelessly in love with one another, but they’re confused and with other people and both jealous...
But before we get to this whole mess, we have a bunch of wonderful friendship moments. Like, and sorry I’m going to refer so much songs here, but "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi," where Jai tries to cheer up Aditi and we’re treated to plenty of adorable Imran, and "Pappu Can’t Dance," which is a fun group song.
Speaking of people who can’t dance... I’m afraid I must add Imran to this list. I know I’m probably getting a reputation as a dancing critic after mentioning Abhishek Bachchan’s gangliness, Saif Ali Khan’s stiffness + lack of rhythm and Salman Khan’s infuriating lack of motion or enthusiasm, but when you have to watch so much dancing... You notice these things.
Imran’s lack of dancing prowess is much milder than those mentioned above, and it’s often well-hidden. I cite this film as an example. Imran doesn’t actually dance-dance very often, if you pay attention. And when he does, it’s in a group or goofing off, so you don’t really notice. Like, again, if you go back to "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi," Imran is just having fun through the song, being adorable. And honestly I’m convinced the fact that he can’t dance doesn’t at all detract from his appeal, either.
Instead of dancing, we get lots of this dramatic arm-fling during songs.
Now if I can refer back to the post I made earlier this week, you’ll remember I said while Imran lacks in overwhelming star power, he has instead a cool, relaxed demeanor. This film pretty much capitalizes on that in a way I don’t know that I’ve seen another film do. For most of the film, Jai is just kind of cruising along, all passive. But by the end of the film, Jai finally gets worked up enough to punch Aditi’s fiancé Sushant in the face and you get to rejoice that he finally got fed up enough to do it.
Speaking of that, the storyline about pacifist Jai and his true heritage -- as a member of the violent Rathore clan in which you must hit a man, go to jail and ride a horse to “become a man” -- was just about the strangest, most ill-placed element I’ve ever seen in a film. (Well, perhaps it’s second to the headless horseman pot-growing detour in Tees Maar Khan. Perhaps.) Apart from the fact that the name Rat-hore made me laugh every two seconds, IT WAS SO WEIRD and had nothing to do with anything! In a film dealing with the complex line between love and friendship, there’s a dead dad painting that has arguments about manhood with Jai’s mom (who oddly never does much but lay around the house reading). There’s also Jai’s random cousins -- ironically played by two of the other Khans, Sohail and Arbaaz -- who have been obnoxious the entire film, that he meets up with in jail. They seem to have been chasing what it means to be manly in their family with little success.
Three Khan I mean Rathore jailbirds.
Oh, and one more thing about that -- after getting out of jail to go after Aditi, Jai has to fulfill the third part of being a Rathore: riding a horse. So he rides a horse (quite well, might a person with some riding experience say) down Marine Drive (how epic would that be?!) at night... And has no problem with cars or people! Come on!
And then the film’s story (not the film because it has that convoluted framework) culminates in what has to be one of my favorite love-professing scenes of all time. Jai-Rats frantically runs from airport security to the terminal where Aditi-Meow is boarding her plane for America, gets tackled and still manages to both sing and meow (yes, meow) at her, much to the confusion of airport security officers. And, you can probably guess what I’m going to say about this scene and Imran in this scene. That’s right. It’s adorable. He’s adorable. It’s sweet and cute and a million other things. And I loved every second of it.
Another thing, I really like Genelia D’Souza. She’s cute but a kind of off-the-wall, atypical girl with some edge (like in Chance Pe Dance, where she sports multicolored hair). I love it when we get to have a girl like that who’s off-beat; it makes things so much more fun. She also just seems to radiate energy to me, especially in this role, which I think balances perfectly with Imran’s coolness in this film. And there, I will end this review on a positive note instead of going into the reasons that I think Meghna (Jai’s other love interest/the peepeewoman) is the most annoying character ever.
So! That's it. The debut of Imran, the debut film of Imran Week. Hopefully we'll have more for you soon. :)
In honor of this weekend’s release of Delhi Belly, we bring you a mini Imran Khan Appreciation Week, complete with a post each from the three bloggers here, including (HOPEFULLY) my lame co-bloggers who rarely show themselves these days. If anyone wants to join in, that’d be more than welcome. We plan to cover Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, I Hate Luv Storys and Break Ke Baad (we have yet to see Kidnap, Luck, and Imran’s roles as a young Aamir in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak or Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander).
To kick off the week, I want to talk about some of the reasons we just love Imran.
But before I get into the specific reasons that we love Imran, I want to take a look at a larger sort of trend about our blog. I’ve noticed so far that an overwhelming amount of our blog thus far has focused on films from the 2000s, particularly on new films since 2010 (eight posts on films from just the last 18 months). Part of that is ease of access through Netflix, part of that is probably attributable to our age.
Yes, we have quite fervent attachments to Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and particularly Imran Khan, probably more than we’ve seen from other bloggers. To be perfectly honest, I attribute it to the fact that these guys are the stars of “our” generation. We’re all quite young (I won’t go into exactly how young, but let’s just say even these three youngsters are older than us), and while we all adore Akshay Kumar and the three seemingly ageless Khans, these men are older than our fathers. Despite their youthful appearances (really really youthful), they aren’t young. I also admit I think I developed a strong like for Shashi Kapoor in the 45 minutes of Kabhi Kabhi I watched, and Shashi is roughly the age of our grandpas. Obsessions like that just get a little weird at that point.
So it’s really nice to have some younger fellows on the platter as well so we can feel slightly less creeped out by our obsessing.
Maybe part of it is also that with the basis of our movie-watching experience formed by Hollywood, it’s refreshing to see the films of this younger generation step out of traditional Bollywood boxes and take on some more globalized film elements. I think it's an effect one of ever-growing globalization (with technology, the world keeps getting smaller, folks) and an audience that is globalized. In fact, I get the impression that with several films of the younger lot that they could, with minor adjustments, take on a Hollywood audience. If you cut down or out the songs, shortened the runtime and spoke English, many of these films could be on the clean side of Hollywood. And all of this is perhaps pushing further and further all the time, like with the fact that Delhi Belly is in English (which we all actually have mixed feelings about); I know lots of Bollywood folks want to be able to capture the American-film audience. (Which is particularly interesting because our dear Imran is actually Indian-American; love you, brother!)
For example, I’ve noticed that an increasing trend with the younger set is they’re much freer with kissing and talking about sex. The dynamics there are certainly shifting. There’s also been a healthy dose of skepticism added to the normal love story (see I Hate Luv Storys) but without changing the basic message of all-conquering love. (And it’s a healthy skepticism too; not the mess that Hollywood has.) Then there’s also the fact that these films increasingly take place partially abroad (Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na has its protagonists fly off to America, I Hate Luv Storys has a jog in New Zealand, and Break Ke Baad is set primarily in Australia).
Call this change what you will, but it’s nice to enjoy a younger, more globalized film once in a while; some of the obvious points that other films ignore are getting easier to tackle for the younger, less-established set. (Not that untainted, pure, classic Bollywood cinema isn’t fabulous itself; we obviously love Bollywood more than Hollywood for many reasons. Trust me, we get tired of the unrealistic sleazy sex-fest that is Hollywood all the time.)
*ahem* Anyway, proceeding off of that... One of the reasons that we love Imran is that he’s, well, sexy. Like really. (Even though the poor fellow cannot wow with his dancing skills.) Photos say it all when words can’t.
But Imran’s not just a sex symbol either. The man, like his Uncle Aamir, is completely adorable in the most basic, unmanly, cheek-pinching way. Maybe it was growing up around Aamir because sometimes Imran is almost frighteningly like him. And hate to break it to you, fellas, but an adorable man works his way into a woman’s heart much faster than a hot one.
And Imran works both sides of that coin flawlessly.
The man can even do both hot and adorable with just his eyebrows!
And as part and parcel of his being adorable, he can make us laugh pretty easily.
He’s so likable, in fact, that you like him even when he’s a MEAN pain in the you-know-what like in I Hate Luv Storys. (This is a quality he shares with his buddy Ranbir, as seen in Bachna Ae Haseeno.)
Do I think Imran has potential for leading-man status worthy of the surname Khan? Sometimes I doubt he has the full-power impact of the elder Khans, and instead of Aamir’s perfectionism, Shahrukh’s charm and Salman’s badfannyness, Imran has a chill, relaxed coolness instead. He has less of an immediate knockdown-powerful presence. But even if he doesn’t, I’m convinced he has the subtle likableness to be just fine without it.
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 beImran 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.
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.
Do you know those times where you’re thoroughly unimpressed
by a trailer but you figure “what the hey, I’ll go see this one anyway”?
