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.
Summary: All Mrs. Rao (Padmini Kolhapure) wants is to see
her son grow up to be the honest policeman his father never was. All Vishwas
(Shahid Kapoor) wants is to go to Bombay
and become a hero. Well, when he does, under the guise of joining the police
force, he’s mistaken for a cop by a serial complaint-filer Kajal (IleanaD’Cruz). So begins a very long tale of a guy who accidentally kicks bad guy
butt (including his father’s) and learns about being a real hero.
Y’all know I love dumb masala movies. I’ve written in detail
about why.
When I was home visiting for Mother’s Day weekend, I paid a
visit to my old bazaar and bought a couple of DVDs for old time’s sake. I
noticed when I did so that I haven’t bought a new Bollywood DVD in ages, much
to my sadness. I have unwatched DVDs (mostly SRK stuff from the 90s) but
haven’t made a dent in them.
BUT at the bazaar, I bought Duplicate because I really can’t stop adding
to the SRK collection (remember I said once I’d watch through all his films?)
and Mausam, which I was very disappointed to have missed in the theaters
because I adore Shahid Kapoor.
Well, I’ve only watched Mausam so far, but now I’m really glad I missed
it in the theater.
Synopsis: Punjabi boy Harinder “Harry” Singh (Shahid) falls in love with
Kashmiri refugee Aayat Rasool (Sonam Kapoor) when he’s aspiring to join the
Indian Air Force. Circumstances force them apart and back together again across
the world.
Mausam, whose title means “seasons,” is ridiculously disjointed. The entire
first half-hour of the film is not very well set up, but it is confusing.
Papaya and I couldn’t figure out who was whom, what the hell Harry was waiting
for to come in the mail (papers from the air force, it turns out) and what
people were doing.
After the season of confusion leaves, there’s some adorable romantic moments
between Harry and Aayat, like when they lie in the rain after having kissed for
the first (only?) time.
But it quickly this season fades and it goes back to confusing again. Aayat’s
family leaves unexpectedly on the day when Harry is supposed to go set a date
for their marriage. Nobody knows where they went or how to contact them.
Nobody. And the best thing about this plausibility stretch? You have to endure
it about four more times in the movie. Yes, really. Evidently the once
bitten, twice shy idea is lost on these folks. They keep leaving without
leaving contact information! That may have been a nice, heart-tugging plot
device the first and maybe even second times; by the fourth, it’s nothing but
frustrating.
The movie also somewhat frustratingly traces several seasons of terrorism in
India’s recent history: Aayat’s family is forced from Kashmir by riots, Harry
is forced away from Aayat by fighting in the Kargil war, the Sept. 11 Twin
Towers attack affects Aayat’s Muslim family, she and Harry meet again during
the 2002 Gujarat riots... Now, I’m not saying these aren’t important things
that should be addressed in film. I’m just saying this was not the film to
address them nor did this film do it well.
And in the final of those terrorism scenes, something serious and immediately
life threatening, at the movie’s close after Aayat and Harry are back together
for the third (?) time, the movie enters a season of utter ridiculousness. One-armed
Harry--well, one-functioning-arm-ed Harry, whose other arm was paralyzed years
before in a crash, climbs a stopped Ferris wheel to save one child whose family
was shot with everyone else on the Ferris wheel, somehow missing this one
little girl. Oh, and this Ferris wheel is on fire. Like everything else. And so
Harry, rather than fully functionally four-limbed Aayat, decides to climb this
Ferris wheel. And of course, he almost falls and almost drops the little
girl... only to discover he can use his other hand again. It is ridiculous.
And not in the amazing did-that-really-just-happen this-is-totally-filmi way
that Bollywood has.
Best part of this movie. Really.
Also, a disappointment to me: Despite how dashing and retro Shahid looks in his
IAF uniform and mustache... The movie isn’t actually retro. Well, it is. But
it’s only set in the 90s. It has a bit of a retro ambiance... that kind of
fails because it’s not actually retro. (And oddly as I type this, I’m reminded
of Veer-Zaara, also a retro-ambiance film about a dashing young IAF pilot...
That one’s retro vibe was much more successful.)
And though I’m often one to stand up for Sonam Kapoor, she pretty much sucks in
Mausam. She has over-the-top emotional reactions, little emotion otherwise and
just...not much to work with.
And so we passed through the seasons of terror, confusion, frustration and
disappointment with Mausam. With rare pockets of fresh humor and romance... But
not worth weathering all of the rest.
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?
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.
Poonam (Amrita Rao), a middle class girl from Madhupur, and Prem (Shahid Kapoor), youngest son of a wealthy family from Delhi, have an arranged marriage and fall in love with each other during the engagement period (which lasts the entire length of the movie). Yes, the plot of this one really can be summed up in one sentence.
So this film has a sort of independent feel to it that I’m not sure how to take. In purest terms of movemaking quality, it was probably one of the worst quality Hindi films I’ve seen (not the poorest because that’s the film I watched the next night, Mere Baap Pehle Aap, which was by far the worst-quality film I’ve seen ever in any language). Maybe it’s because I’d just recently watched the gorgeousness that is Devdas a few days before, but the quality of the filters and camerawork in Vivah really bothered me.
Even worse than the camera quality, which I guess you adjust to, is the music. A couple of the actual songs were somewhat intriguing, but the background music during scenes, ugh! It was like Tetris was going on in the background or cheap telenovela(soap opera) music. Even when the movie had some quality moments, they were cheapened to soap opera quality with this music. So basically, with the camera angles and the music, the movie becomes a bland blur.
Unfortunately, this adorable picture has more personality and life than the entire film.
To further sink into the blandness, the whole story feels really bland. The first meeting occurs, the arranged engagement happens, the two families bond while spending time together, and then separation as Prem goes back to Delhi and his family business. There’s the typical class conflict of Poonam’s family not matching the wealth of Prem’s, but it’s negligible since Prem’s entire family seems disposed to accept any and everything with open (or extended) arms. Poonam and Prem being separated, there’s some time talking on the phone, briefly being reunited…
It’s all bland. The only hint of spice to this film is the fact that Poonam is an orphan and her “parents” are her aunt and uncle. Her uncle Krishnakant favors her and she’s prettier (and less obnoxious) than her younger sister/cousin Chhoti, and so her aunt majorly resents her. But even that is, to a degree, muted because the aunt just sits around like a bump on a log most of the time looking like an angry toad.
Auntyji does this angry sulking thing during the entire film.
I feel like what happened was that this film was done on the fly with an outline in place of a script. So it’s mostly just “this is the general direction… let’s let the actors take us there.” And this isn’t a good, zingy no-script, off-the-cuff like say Robert Downey Jr.’s improv dialogue in Iron Man, if you’ll pardon an American comparison. Maybe it’s because I’m a writer and a word person, but I feel like I can’t enjoy a film if the dialogue isn’t done well, and this… well, wasn’t really done well. Like I said, I feel like an outline was written rather than a script.
It really is perhaps an actor’s worst nightmare, a true test. And Shahid Kapoor rises to the occasion. As the shy but head-over-heels must-steal-time lover, Shahid is wonderful. And his dialogue is probably the best. It’s true that I adore Shahid and it’s possible my judgment is clouded by the beauty that is his face, but he’s the thing that I feel really makes this movie.
If he rises to the occasion, the also-beautiful Amrita Rao doesn’t; she succumbs to the blandness. Maybe her character was written to be reserved and quiet, a demure blushing bride, but Poonam has ZERO personality. I won’t pass judgment on Amrita and this one may be explained by the bland script, but this was the most boring character ever. The film finally attempts to reach a climax by having the Krishnakants’ house catch fire the day before the wedding. Poonam gets severely burned while saving Chhoti, which of course finally earns her aunt’s respect. In the hospital, I feel like Amrita’s finally given something to work with, and it’s pretty decent. But seriously, it takes getting nearly burnt alive to give this girl some personality? Major flaw.
Pretty, but absolutely no personality.
She gets burned and wakes up with some miniscule bit of personality.
Then, wonder of all wonders, Prem and family show up at the hospital right before Poonam goes into surgery. Despite the fact that the doctor warns that even family might abandon Poonam because she’s so badly burned (everywhere except her perfect face, of course), Prem and crew once again take everything in stride. Prem marries Poonam in the hospital to prove it and takes responsibility for her medical decisions. It all happens just a little too quickly, too.
I felt like Prem ended up being both the man of the relationship (stealing time and glances, being the initiator, etc.) and the woman (caring for her in the hospital, having all the personality, etc.). Basically Shahid Kapoor takes on shouldering the whole weight of the relationship. And I mean, I know Shahid’s got enough gorgeousness for both of them, but come on. He wouldn’t think twice about a woman he doesn’t really know that much and is arranged to marry who just went through severe trauma and is so upset about the way she looks that she even asks him to leave? And when she asks him to see how burned she is, he declines without a thought?
After the fire, Poonam stays nearly completely covered. Not even a burned hand. Considering the "extensiveness" of her burns... That's kind of annoying.
Also, after getting so used to the norm of Bollywood that goes to extreme lengths not to talk about sex, this film actually addresses (somewhat) the complication that a severely damaged body brings to, well, a new husband and wife (they have the wedding ceremony after Poonam’s recovered and on their wedding night, Prem finally “takes his right” to dress her burns himself). I was actually happily surprised that it did.
Even so, that was just about the film’s only pleasant surprise. It wasn’t bad; the whole thing was just supremely bland. (Which actually, I ultimately find hilarious because Vivah resembles viva, the vibrant Spanish word for life.)
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!
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.
