February 21, 2008
My beloved Shammi’s second (and last) directorial venture, Bundal Baaz is a fantastical fairy tale beset by really cracktastic special effects (courtesy of Babubhai Mistry, one of the pioneers of special effects photography in Hindi cinema). It’s a goofy, fun ride, although the plot wanders quite a bit. Shammi as the genie with good intentions but poor execution shows his usual mischievous flair, and the music by RD Burman is great 1970’s funk-a-delic which complements the mayhem on screen perfectly.
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Posted in Hindi movies, Yahoo! Shammi! |
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February 19, 2008
I love this line from Raja Sen’s review of Jodhaa Akbar on Rediff:
Aishwarya, pretty as ever, is not given much dialogue, a directing masterstroke.
Other than that, though, I have to part ways with him on this one. I’m climbing aboard the “All Hail Ashutosh Gowariker!” train.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
22 Comments »
February 16, 2008
This has been a week of real milestones in the Hindi movie world…
Pran celebrated his 88th birthday in style; Sanjay Dutt got married (also in style); Rajendranath passed away; and yesterday actress Manorama passed away also.
She was in a LOT of movies in her lifetime, the last being Deepa Mehta’s Water (she played Madhumati, the “head” of the widow’s ashram). Probably her best known role was as the wicked aunt in Seeta Aur Geeta.
May she also rest in peace.
Posted in Hindi movies |
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February 14, 2008
An actor whose work I have enjoyed through many, many movies passed away yesterday at the age of 76—or as they say very beautifully in India: Rajendranath is no more.
I always thought he had the good looks to be a hero, but he was always cast in comic roles—which he did perfectly.
May he rest in peace!
As requested, additional photos:
Posted in Hindi movies |
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February 12, 2008
After Ansoo Ban Gaye Phool, I set out to find more Deb Mukherjee films to see whether he could hold up under further scrutiny. I found this one:
Hooray! It’s 154 minutes of Trauma-Drama-O-Rama in Eastman Kodak Color. The main ingredients in this potboiler are:
- Several Big Misunderstandings
- A series of Bad Decisions
- An endless string of Coincidences
- Many Lost Opportunities
- A couple of Unnecessary Side Plots
and some very tight pants and loudly patterned shirts. If you don’t care for soap operas then you needn’t read further. You won’t like Adhikar. If you do sneak peeks at soaps on sick days and holidays…read on! But be warned: I can’t do this justice without a verrrrry long narrative and many many screen shots.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
32 Comments »
February 7, 2008
Early last year, I met an Indian filmmaker. I’m a big fan of his work, and he seemed quite surprised to find an American girl who had seen his movies. During a conversation he mentioned the song “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” from the film Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi. “Hmm,” I said, “that’s from Howrah Bridge, not Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.” His jaw dropped and he stared at me, astonished.
I know my Helen songs.
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Posted in Hindi movies, Yahoo! Shammi! |
100 Comments »
February 6, 2008
I was pretty happy to finally find this film on DVD since I’ve long loved OP Nayyar’s songs from it. Also it features three of my favorite people: Prithviraj Kapoor, Mumtaz and Helen. It’s beautifully shot in black and white and is very atmospheric (except for the omnipresent bright orange Time N Tune logo). The story takes some unexpected turns, the music is stunning, and overall the pace and the acting is good. But I ended up feeling that I should have liked this movie better than I actually did.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
24 Comments »
February 4, 2008
Leena’s (Leena Chandavarkar) marriage has been fixed. She is not happy. And when she is not happy, nobody is happy.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
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February 1, 2008
Set in a jungle estate, this is a fun movie mystery with bountiful clues and plenty of suspects to go around. What really makes it work though is the stellar cast: Dharmendra and Asha Parekh star along with Sanjeev Kumar—he won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award for it. They are also supported by Johnny Walker, Manmohan and Rehman—and my favorite girl Helen who gets two dances and a substantial role in the film! The songs by Shankar-Jaikishan are wonderful, and the dancing superb.
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Posted in Excellent Use of Helen, Hindi movies |
7 Comments »
January 28, 2008
In India—to my great excitement!—I got to meet Vinci Wadia, the son of JBH Wadia and nephew of Homi Wadia. JBH and Homi Wadia are the brothers who founded the Wadia Movietone studio in the 1930’s, and launched the career of Fearless Nadia the stunt queen. Homi Wadia also eventually married Nadia in 1961. Vinci Wadia spent a couple of hours with me talking about films, life, and Nadia, and generally charming my socks off (as a boy he met Frank Capra on Capra’s visit to Bombay!).
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Posted in Hindi film history, Hindi movies |
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