Two weekends ago now, I attended the International Indian Film Academy — IIFA — Awards here in own back yard of Tampa Bay as a member of the
media — a dream come true, right? A dream that led me to come home early from
India, to skip a trip to Assam.
Boy, did I end up regretting that.
I've watched IIFA broadcasts before and was so excited to see it up close and personal, but I came out of it realizing that IIFA is much, much better enjoyed as a TV show. Covering IIFA was a terrible, terrible experience that given
the chance I’d never choose again. It was infuriatingly unprofessional and much
less than promised (more on that later). And I'm not the only one who feels that way. I've heard complaints from everywhere, and there's even a survey circulating about how awful the experience was. Some others have made me feel like a whiny baby though (boohoo the stars came to my back yard but didn't want to see me), so I've held back on posting even after writing this epically long rant days after the events ended. But, nope, most of the fury hasn't died down.
I get the impression that IIFA’s “imperfections” are
generally glossed over by media and everyone else, but I’m not one to sugarcoat
things — ever — so here goes nothing.
Those of us sitting on the floor at the IIFA Awards this
weekend in Tampa Bay saw the rumored spat turn into a full-blown fight during
PC’s act.
After some aerial stunts and busting more than a few moves,
Priyanka descended from the stage during Tune Maari Entriyaan to the celebrity
seating, where she was met by an eager Ranveer. After good-naturedly shimmying
a bit with her Gunday co-star (worth noting other co-star Arjun Kapoor wasn’t
there, though his daddy was), she proceeded to her real target: John Travolta.
60-year-old Travolta, of course known for shaking a leg in hits like Grease and Saturday Night Fever, was there accepting a special award for his
outstanding contribution to international cinema. He proceeded on stage with
her to show off those dance moves. The video is amazing, if you haven't seen it.
He later accepted the award from and then
did a dance with Hrithik Roshan, the only star’s name he even tried to
pronounce, probably wisely so after his now infamous Oscar gaffe.
But let’s just say Ranveer wasn’t too happy about being passed
over for a Hollywood star.
He stormed off to the side, found organizers and proceeded
to let loose a serious string of abuses. The organizers of course had to
placate Ranveer as he was performing later in the show.
Also later in the show, Priyanka was supposed to be
presented with a special “Woman Of Substance” award (you know, one of those things
they cook up just so she gets something). But announcers said she had left to catch a
flight and so her music agent would accept it in her place.
I have to wonder whether a fight rather than a flight was
the cause for PC’s early departure. It does seem odd that she'd plan to leave before being presented with her only award of the night.
Synopsis: Now-married
and domesticated superhero Krishna/Krrish (Hrithik Roshan) gets a supervillain:
Kaal (Vivek Oberoi), a paraplegic telekinetic who is obsessed with finding bone
marrow to fix his paralysis and thus fuses his odd DNA
with animal DNA to create mutant humans. The
mutants don’t help his marrow problem, but they do help him in his evil quest
to rule the world by creating viruses and the providing an antidote based on
that same wacky DNA.
This post should start with the disclosure that I haven’t —
sadly — seen Koi Mil Gaya or Krrish. I have some idea of what happens in both
and had every intention of watching both (especially Koi Mil Gaya, given my
affinity for aliens and science fiction) before Krrish 3’s release, but, well,
it didn’t happen.
So I was able to come in this with a fresh set of eyes that
turned out to be mostly skeptical.
Okay, Krrish is a pretty cool all-purpose superhero. I will
give him that.
But Krrish 3 mostly turns out to be the kind of overloaded
superhero movie that makes you cringe at the plethora of superhero types.
Barfi, Barfi, Barfi.
I don’t know what I expected from Barfi, but it blew away any expectations. It
was poignant, its performances wonderful, and yet it was still funny.
Barfi is definitely a romance and an entertainer — but still artsy. So it
appealed to me on several levels, and I’ll try to address them all, from simple
to complex.
Before I begin anything, let me say this: I loved this movie. I would
definitely recommend seeing it. It’s different — really, actually different —
and enjoyable. I say this first because I’m not sure my other commentary on the
movie will adequately convey how much I enjoyed the film. Talking about Barfi
seems to be fairly easy; describing why I like it is not.
I think Bollywood saved the best for last this year.
If we could have skipped all of the Ra.One buildup and gone
straight to Don 2, I would have been happy. Although, as you know, I didn't hate Ra.One as much as most people seemed to, Don 2 is all that it promises and
more (including some of what Ra.One promised!).
There are sexy foreign locales (from Thailand to Switzerland
to Germany), hot women (Piggy Chops and Lara Dutta), flashy cars (lots
of Hyundais), car chases through great locations, spectacular stunts (base
jumping from buildings, anyone?) and explosions and guns a-plenty. And, of
course, tons and tons of SRK acting like a total badass. And then the plot has
drugs, bank robberies, jail breaks and assassination plots — all major
action plots in one.
And Don 2, I thought, did all of these things even better
than the first film. If Ra.One was shooting for Hollywood's level, Don 2
reached it. It's so cool it's ridiculous. It's slick, glitzy and so
action-packed you never have a down moment. The stunts and special effects
really are Hollywood caliber. And the camerawork (which film classes have
taught me to notice) is really brilliant, including the quick cuts and
slow-pans.
Oh, hey. What, I actually have a blog here? I’m afraid I nearly
forget sometimes. Not for wanting to, but for the insanity of life (getting a
job [and a good one at that!], trying to graduate, working 40+ hours a week at
the newspaper, competing in National Novel Writing Month and so much more) and
the necessity of writing for the other blog weekly. Good news is, though, that
the other blog is doing amazingly well (blogging about Aishwarya Rai is
apparently the way to have a post that’s more-read than the entire, very
popular, sports section of the website).
BUT ANYWAY, I’ve had this written in pieces for at least a
month. I’ve just haven’t gotten around to the rest of posting it. Haha. But
better late than never, right? Here we go!
On goes the SRK saga, though this one predates my quest to
watch through his films. Several folks on Twitter assured me that Don
was one of the SRK films that I simply had to see. Papaya and I watched
it with one of our brothers who is now anxious — as we all are — for the
release of Don 2 at Christmastime.
I really enjoyed Don. It’s slick and cool as an action film
— I’ve called it one giant excuse for SRK to walk around being a badfanny for
two hours — while holding a smart and intellectually gripping plot at the same
time.
Genre films and particularly action-genre films are always
interesting because they come with a predefined set of tropes to work with to
please an audience’s expectations, but a really good film knows how to work
those for its advantage. (Forgive me for the theoretical framework here; I’m locked
into a semester of studying genre films where things like this come up often.) Don
understands what’s expected of it as an action film and mostly does it. There’s
sexy foreign locales (starting an ironic contrast of Paris’s underbelly and
then onto Malaysia, where of course everyone speaks Hindi), hot women (though
see note about Bebo), flashy cars (though see caveat below), spectacular stunts
(fight midair over a parachute, anyone?) and things that explode against logic
(like when a car runs into a bus). All of that plus the songs that make it
Bollywood (see: the silly Khaike Paan Banaraswala song that's hilarious but pretty much has nothing to do with anything).
Synopsis: In Goa’s flashy China Town, a motley crew of folks ranging from a struggling actor, a scorned bride, a gambling-addict hotel owner and his wife, a would-be Romeo and a couple on vacation get embroiled in a murder mystery when casino owner Sonia Chang turns up dead. Hard-nosed Inspector Karan (Akshaye Khanna), who seems to fancy himself a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, then goes on a quest to sort out the tangled web and find the killer.
Picked this up from the DVD store because Shahid Kapoor was on the cover and also Kareena Kapoor and Akshaye Khanna. I’d never heard of it, but seeing those three, I was like how could I not have?
I didn’t know what to expect (36 China Town is a kind of vague title), but when I realized it was a murder mystery, I braced myself for the worst and prepared to just enjoy staring at Shahid.
And then it didn’t happen. The film was pretty solid. I actually felt suspense even though I pretty much could guess what was going to happen (I have a rather uncanny knack for predicting “twists”; writers everywhere are not as clever or original as they think). I mean, I wasn’t terrified or anything, but I held my breath when certain characters were unknowingly trapped in a house with a murderer and gasped a little when a dead body fell out.
And then on top of it, it wasn’t just a suspenseful murder mystery. The story is about a whole bunch of innocent, well-meaning folks who are connected in some way to the murder but keep lying about their connection so as not to seem guilty. And it’s hilarious. There’s antics about bodies being stuffed in suitcases (kind of gruesome)...that a couple then tries wildly and fails to get rid of on a train (hilarious). In a way, it reminds me of Clue, more of a whodunit than anything else. (Like bodies being stuffed in suitcases can go one of two ways: Law & Order, where it’s, “Eek there’s a body in a suitcase!”; or Psyche, where it’s like, “OMG, I can’t believe this; there’s a body in a suitcase!” This film is a mix but mostly the latter.)
And the slate of characters that runs through this one... Man, it’s crazy. There are so many quirky people, and the cast gets more and more entangled with every passing moment. If you’ve seen Welcome and you know how the plot gets increasingly more complicated in that crazy way that makes you go, “Oh, God... This is so... convoluted!” every couple of minutes... You should have a good idea of how 36 China Town operates. Everybody and their brother gets mixed up at least once with everybody else in this film.
My favorite set of characters are Raj and Priya, a struggling actor and a scorned would-be runaway bride who find Sonia Chang’s missing son and set out to bring him home for a reward. Shahid and Bebo had such lovely chemistry. It makes me somewhat sad that they aren’t together anymore (no offense to Saify-poo). This wasn’t perhaps on par with Jab We Met (which turned out fascinatingly well since they broke up in the middle of filming) but it’s still up there pretty close. And again Bebo didn’t get on my nerves!
Oh hai cuteness.
Akshaye Khanna did, though. I will say that I love Rahul much more than his younger, fairer-skinned less beautiful brother, but I usually like Akshaye. Loved him in Dil Chahta Hai and Tees Maar Khan (Osssccaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!), even liked him fairly well in Mere Baap Pehle Aap, which I despised as a film. I think it was more of a seeping annoyance with the character of Inspector Karan and the poorly arranged deductive reasoning a la pseudo-Sherlock Holmes (I have a very deep love for the original Sherlock Holmes), but for as many of these annoying cops as there are in film, this is the first one I’ve been so thoroughly annoyed with. Every time he showed up on screen, I groaned.
I'm afraid the logic of your deductive reasoning is elementary, my dear Akshaye.
Another groaner is Upen Patel playing Rocky. He kind of annoyed me in Namastey London (although a lot of things kind of annoyed me in Namastey London), but he definitely annoys in this film. He plays a playboy who repeatedly uses the same lines but gets no good results. AND they're the most ridiculous lines too! "Your dad must have been a terrorist because he sure knew how to make a sex-bomb." SCUSE ME, WHAT?! And still he goes on his way, thinking he’s all good. Oh, also, he’s a playboy but can’t defame women in public -- as in he can sleep with them behind closed doors, but he won’t tell about it. The assumption is because he respects women (though by his lines he obviously doesn’t); these folks need to see Thank Youand Akshay Kumar’s Kishan, a reincarnation of Lord Krishna who loves women in all ways.
Tanaaz Currim as Ruby and Payal Rohatgi as Gracy play the wives of two gamblers -- one poor and the other (formerly) rich -- who are controlling and keep their men in line. Ruby also wins tons of money and puts her husband to shame with it. Here, the ladies rule the roost.
Their poor can’t-keep-on-the-straight-and-narrow husbands K.K. and Natwar are played by Johnny Lever and Paresh Rawal respectively, who are always welcome comedy schlubs as far as I’m concerned. Johnny Lever has amused me since Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (my second film), and despite what others say, I’ve honestly never not found him less than amusing. Paresh Rawal is also always fun as the poor schmuck who gets all kinds of crap done to him (see: Ready, Welcome, etc.). BUT there is one major drawback of Paresh Rawal being in this film.
Paresh Rawal in a speedo! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! I think my eyes will never recover! (And now you must also suffer with me. Mwhahahhahaha.)
To maybe help you recover from that (maybe), Piggy Chops makes a cameo.
One thing I will say that kind of perplexed me about this film was its setting, which seems to roughly translate to a version of Vegas. I didn’t know until this film that Goa had a China Town, and personally no Chinatown that I’ve ever been to is even remotely like the China Town of this film. I actually find it somewhat funny considering India’s proximity to China.
But something else bothers me about this setting. In my literary study of colonialism, I’ve also learned a great deal about literary tropes and practices like exoticism and, a particular form of exoticism, orientalism (especially as defined by Edward Said). Exoticism in its most simplified form is using something foreign for the sake of using something foreign or exotic, basically reducing the culture to a distinct foreignness and not much else. Yes, there is a fine, fine line between being influenced by a culture and reducing it to exoticization, and I feel this film steps somewhat into the latter.
This film engages in exoticization of China Town; China Town is foreign and Other (set apart from regular Indian Goa), swathed in bright colors and druggy, dreamy sequences, oversexed and embroiled in all forms of sin (drinking, gambling, etc.). The “foreign” place is full of intrigue and it cannot be fully understood simply because it is foreign; rules of decency common to the civilized and dignified homeland of the exoticizer do not apply, so murder is allowed to happen. (Perhaps the classic literary reference I can point you to is Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone; historically, exoticization is a colonial practice often applied to India.) In these ways, the film engages in exoticization (of Chinese culture), a form of racism historically descended from colonialism. Ever since taking a semester course on exoticism, I see it everywhere (I’ve written an essay about its prominence in the space-western TV series Firefly) and it bothers me.
I think I first noticed it in this song, touting the “unique” nature of China Town.
And speaking of songs... The choreography and dancing for this film – superb! Shahid’s always a brilliant dancer, and Upen Patel’s not shabby as a dancer even when he is a frustrating actor. Watching this one really made me realize that the last few films I watched before this were really not well-choreographed. But the sets for the songs – ridiculous! Someone was on crack! Case in point:
But then, this is a zany Bollywood whodunit. Maybe insane song sets were called for.
This post! I've been wanting to do it ever since we started this blog, but I just got inspiration again finally and decided to sit down and knock it all out.
11 Reasons Why Dostana > Hollywood's Version
So, we all know it happens. Bollywood quite frequently and quite shamelessly rips off Hollywood films. Sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's brilliant. Right now, I want to talk about one that is BRILLIANT in all caps.
Dostana (2008), about two men who pretend to be gay to live in a nice apartment and get their immigration papers approved quicker, is a shameless copy of the Adam Sandler-Kevin James flick "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" (2007) about two firefighters who pretend to be gay to keep one's pension benefits.
I watched Dostana first several months ago with trepidation because I really didn't find Chuck & Larry to be that great of a movie. In fact, I found it pretty much downright unfunny. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of Adam Sandler, but the man definitely has his moments; I find Kevin James definitely funnier though he's also not a favorite.
Well let's just say I was more than pleasantly surprised when I watched Dostana. I was in fits of laughter the entire time, and this instantly catapulted itself into my favorites list. I then made sure that Kiwi and Papaya watched it. Papaya never saw Chuck & Larry, but Kiwi agrees that Dostana is a thousand times better. We now bring you some reasons why, then some rambling/expounding below.
1. Abhishek Bachchan is funnier than (professional comedians!) Adam Sandler and Kevin James combined.
2. John Abraham is a million times better-looking than Adam Sandler and Kevin James. And that may be an understatement.
3. Friendship is a more translatable message than the garbled gay-rights-maybe-law-maybe-sacrifice? message of Chuck & Larry.
4. Abhishek and John pull off being a gay couple better than Adam Sandler and Kevin James, even with the horribly fake kiss. I mean, really, this movie gave us AbhiJohn! And what did Chuck & Larry give us? ...more Adam Sandler and Kevin James.
5. Music like Desi Girl! (Which is my ringtone. Irony being that I am not a desi girl except at heart.)
6. Kirron Kher (aka Dimples! as we call her) coming in as Sameer's mother presents the horribly hilarious complication of family entanglements that fails with Larry's kids, who are barely around.
7. Chuck & Larry tries to make a comedy from a serious situation (James's character is losing pension benefits as a widower); Dostana is a comedy with a heartfelt basis.
8. Dostana is young and fun, and Chuck & Larry is... not. Kevin James and Adam Sandler are, well, old. And yes, old people are funny too, even James and Sandler (see: Grown-Ups, Paul Blart: Mall Cop), but the youth of Dostana is a definite appeal.
9. Miami > New York for comedy and sex appeal. Florida girls may be biased, but come on, you have to admit you go to South Beach for fun in the sun, not New York.
10. Jessica Biel's character may have more substance and brains than Priyanka Chopra's, but the love story in Dostana (with Bobby Deol) makes infinitely more sense.
11. Bollywood avoids sex, but even the bed scene was better!
I love Abhishek Bachchan for many reasons. The poor guy is one giant gangly, goofy teenager, though (you probably would be too if you were a 6'3" [195 cm] monstrosity in a country where the average man is 5'5" [165 cm]), and it sometimes makes his "serious" dances in other films... Well, laughable. I'm sorry, but the man is ALL LEGS and no rhythm. Here he just gets to be that wildly hilarious gangly awkward teenager and it's GREAT (again, see Desi Girl). As a matter of fact, I wish Abhi would quit trying to do too many serious roles (taking on drugs and stuff in Dum Maaro Dum) and just have fun more often (or mix them, like in Bunty Aur Babli).
John Abraham is another one that I feel often gets lost in more serious roles. The man is adorable. Like I love it when he makes his goofy-looking laugh face. Let him be adorable. And he's darn hot too. As petty as it sounds, I'm tired of him being in roles where he has horrible long hair and you can't enjoy the beauty that is John Abraham.
And even though the first time I watched it, I thought Abhimanyu (Bobby Deol) was the peepeeman, I have to admit, I became increasingly endeared to Bobby as I watched the film over and over again. And, wonder of all wonders, he doesn't have horrible hair in this one!
But anyway, back to the comparison this post is really about. Really, I think the main problem with Chuck & Larry is that the movie started with an issue and tried to spawn a comedy off of that issue, so it tries to straddle the line between serious ideology-thumping and comic situations and juxtapositions. The two don't really mix. On the other hand, Dostana starts off with a comic situation that gets even worse (when both Sameer and Kunal decide they've fallen in love with Neha), but the whole thing is interwoven (not straddled) with a story of friendship and acceptance (which go hand-in-hand).
Yes, perhaps Chuck & Larry has a more serious and/or tightly written plot, but I'd go to bat with you over the quality of its weaver work. Does Chuck & Larry weave in four love stories (Abhi-Neha, Kunal-Neha, Sameer-Neha, Sameer-Kunal), a kid and a begrudging mom? Nope!
And I will say that on the surface, Jessica Biel's character in Chuck & Larry gets a lot more brains and substance to her (she is a lawyer) than Priyanka Chopra's Neha, who has spunk but ends up mostly being just batted between the three guys that love her. BUT Jessica Biel has to walk around in a bra and underwear and put Adam Sandler's hands on her boobs for sex appeal. All Priyanka has to do is stand up in a shimmering gold one-piece bathing suit.
All the appeal with twice the clothes and none of the sluttiness. Doesn't that = more power?
In case you haven't gotten it yet, I think Dostana puts Chuck & Larry to shame, especially in the laughs department. This film never ceases to make me laugh, no matter how many times I watch it.
I always have to do these blogs right after the movie, or else I forget, this is part of the reason my writing is a tad screwy, lol.
Okay, so, I went into this movie knowing it had a bunch of bad reviews and my fellow fruits (Papaya y Mango) wouldn't watch this with me. I was kind of scared watching it by myself, because I didn't know if it would be sad or what not. So as I ventured on my quest to watching an uncertain film....... I found it decent. I gave it 3 stars on Netflix, lol.
The beginning of this movie was very rough, but it definitely smoothed out towards the end. Maybe it was intentional? To make you feel what she was feeling? Maybe? No? I don't know, just a thought. There were parts in the beginning that I wasn't sure quite belonged in the movie, maybe because I watched the first 20 minutes and had to leave? Not sure. I came back to it of course. The sets were beautiful, and I think the movie carried out very well.
I tried keeping track of these husbands, it was hard. I loved but hated John Abraham's part in the movie. Loved: that he was truly in character. Hated: He did not look his best :P. He was hilarious though, scenes with him.... were the funniest parts. I have to put screen caps. Irrfan Khan's role scared me a bit, that's really all I'm going to say, if you saw it you should understand. To say the least I was highly surprised that she then married Russian, I've honestly never seen Russians in an Indian film.
So overall, it was better than expected. I'm not like, "You HAVE to see this movie!", but I wouldn't discourage it either. I think I might even find it funnier the second time, who's to know?
Yes, That is John Abraham in a nightgown. (the only full length clear shot I could get.) (Oh, and these were screen capped from Netflix, that's why it's not the best quality and why it has captions)
Let me preface this post by saying SORRY we haven't posted in a while. I was caught up in the mess that was final exams and final papers, and I haven't been able to watch as many films, much less post about them. That being said, I've gotten backlogged and have posts in the works for Bachna Ae Haseeno, Vivah, Devdasand 3 Idiots(probably in that order) and will be watching Mere Baap Pehle Aaptonight andChalte Chalte, Action ReplayyandKaho Naa... Pyaar Hai within the next couple of days. So! Hopefully plenty of posts soon. :)
Without further ado, onto Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (Will You Marry Me?).
Synopsis: Since childhood, Sameer has had problems with his temper, even punching the principal at school. As an adult, it’s about to send him to jail, so he relocates to Goa where he works as a manager at a resort and meets beauty Rani Singh, who he instantly falls head over heels for (pretty much literally: He falls from a balcony when he first sees her). But then Sunny comes to town and begins making Sameer look bad to everyone from Rani to Sam’s landlord. Let chaos and rivalry ensue.
Watching this movie was stressful. Everything that COULD go wrong DID (on purpose, of course) and it was enough to drive you crazy. Overall, the point of the film is that Sunny aka Sameer's childhood pacifying friend Arun in disguise (Akshay Kumar) is trying to teach Sameer (Salman Khan) to not get angry by, well, doing things to infuriate him. Despite the fact that this whole premise is pretty much pointless because Sameer never really loses his temper and all it really does is confuse Sameer’s girl Rani (Priyanka Chopra)… In the process, Sunny pretty much infuriated me and brought up my blood pressure! Forget Sameer, I wanted to choke Sunny.
Despite that, I still can’t help but love him at the same time because I freaking love Akshay Kumar because that man is HILARIOUS. Completely and totally. Don’t think so? Watch this song. Yes, he enters riding a boat like a horse. Yes, he and Sallu are dancing in grass skirts that are obscenely short.
I decided after watching Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam that I like watching Sallu be… not Sallu-like. Like I said in my post about that film, I’m so used to Sallu’s current image as some bitter, quiet, angry bad boy (who also paints beautifully… maybe “angry, tortured soul” is a more apt description). And I love seeing him be NOT that, even though it makes my head spin. He had his angry bad boy-ness in this film, but he also had his humorous, lighthearted adorableness.
Sallu as Sameer is some weird hybrid of bad boy with a vicious temper and complete dork with social awkwardness issues. He’s also a violent man who beats his way into biker gangs but a strictly religious fellow who saves all of his money and puts it aside for his grandmother’s eye surgery and sister’s wedding. Oh, and he's a lifeguard who plays guitar and rides a motorcycle and paints. Can they make up their minds about this guy? For that matter, he seems to have Hindu gods set up on his mantle, but he prays to Jesus later in the film. I don’t think they could even make up their minds on Sameer’s religion.
Sameer's savings pots for his grandma's eye surgery, his sister's wedding and his sister's education vs. angry Sameer...
No offense to my dear Kiwi, but Piggy Chops is not my favorite heroine. Does she hold her own in this film? At points, I want to say “yes” – she does a good job of “do I love Sunny or Sameer?” But at points, I want to say “no” – did her character stick with me? …not much. I think I may consider Rani a bystander caught up in the Sameer-Sunny feud more than a full-fleshed character in the story. I don’t know whether it was Piggy Chops herself or just the role, but Rani doesn’t feel like a very mature, rounded character.
I don't feel like Priyanka really holds her own. Although sandwiched between Akki and Sallu... What is there to do but debate your choices and enjoy the man candy?
Speaking of characters, the supporting characters run the gamut. Sameer and Sunny’s landlord Duggal is probably a little preposterous but hilarious – after sustaining a head injury, he alternates between being blind, deaf or mute depending on the day. Rani’s father the Colonel is frightening like crazy (although Amrish Puri always ALWAYS scares me… See DDLJ and Karan Arjun). But the astrologer Raj who tags around after Sameer… I was kind of wondering the whole time what purpose he really served. Samir’s grandmother also felt a little thrown in, barely used.
And the clothes in this film… Ay. I look at pictures of myself often and think, “MAN, clothing from 1997 to 2005 was ultra tacky! What was I thinking?!” Um, well, this film assured me that I was certainly not alone. Despite the fact that Rani is supposed to be a designer, the clothes are pretty horrendous! Very bright, and not in a good way. I know this is Goa, the beach, but come on. This is a little much, people.
Sallu, please don't wear outfits like this again.
But if the clothes are frightening, the music is great. I feel like I’m paying attention to the quality of music in the films I watch more and more, and the music in this film… All good! From the title track (above) to Lal Dupatta… And despite the frightening shortness of Sallu’s shorts/sarong thing in this song, I think I adore this song the most. (And think this song, about the shortness of youth, was a little truer than Sallu realized.
Oh, and something else great about this film… Cameos from these people!
Cricketttttttttttt.
The climactic scene takes place at a cricket match (a “friendly match between India and Pakistan”… I’m not convinced that ever exists) where, well, actually cricketers are. Kapil Dev, Navjot Singh Siddhu, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel, Srinath, and Ashish Nehra make appearances. As Papaya can attest to, I actually shouted with delight when I recognized Harbhajan and Ashish. (Sorry, I forgot to screencap the actual cameo before sending the DVD back to Netflix.)
But anyway, overall, I enjoyed but wasn’t wowed by Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
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.
