My favorite movie-watching companion turned eight yesterday, and I forgot!
It seems like just yesterday she was a baby.
Happy birthday, my sweet girl!
December 17, 2007
Trivia time #11
It’s been too long since once of these! Can anyone tell me what these three actors have in common (and who they are)?
Okay, I’m giving up on all of you! :-) I thought at least someone would know who the actors at the very top and bottom are…
In order from the top down, they are Rajendranath, Narendranath, and Premnath; and what they have in common is their gene pool. They are brothers, and all three acted in Hindi movies for decades. Premnath began working in the 1940’s as a hero (and even for a while had a relationship with the gorgeous Madhubala); he went on to become a very busy villain, acting into the early 1980’s. Rajendranath was a very popular comedian/sidekick especially in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and continued working into the 1990’s. Narendranath was not as prolific as his older brothers, but found fairly steady work through the 1970’s to the 1990’s.
December 16, 2007
Ajanabee (1974)
Here was the third clue that I was really going to enjoy at least something about this film:
—the first two clues being that it was directed by Shakti Samanta and that it was made in 1974.
Rajesh Khanna hasn’t been one of my favorites, partly because his characters are often chest-beating male chauvinist types. Here too he portrays a struggling young man who is attracted to and marries a strong-willed, high-spirited heiress, only to resent her for missing the comforts of her former life and wishing for some success of her own. This ends in tears and recriminations, of course. But the film is saved by the nuances of the relationship between the two (a Samanta specialty). Khanna’s performance is very good—he is convincing as a man torn between his inborn values and the woman he adores, and Zeenat Aman as his wife Rashmi is no martyred push-over! And the songs by RD Burman are just brilliant; they include two “tribal” dances and several lovely romantic songs.
December 5, 2007
Watch this…
My favorite movie critic Raja Sen has a short film on youtube which parodies Saawariya.
It’s very funny, especially at the end.
November 30, 2007
My favorite not-Hindi movies
Although I have largely abandoned western films in favor of Hindi ones, there are some that I still sometimes get a yen to watch. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I saw The Incredibles again (in spite of being surrounded by Patels, go figure). It got me thinking about my favorite movies from my life Before Bollywood. This is my list of those non-Hindi movies—the ones I suddenly have to see, which I’ve owned on VHS and DVD and will own on whatever medium comes after DVD as well. I watch them again and again (sometimes back-to-back), and they never fail to entertain me. And please know that I realize, as one of my nieces would say, that a couple of them are pretty “sketchy” if not downright BAD.
November 19, 2007
Chak De! India (2007)
When I started this blog, I decided that my policy would be to write only about films that nobody else has really written about, because many Hindi movies already have great write-ups elsewhere and I’ve really got nothing inspirational to add.
My USP is that I watch a LOT of movies. Movies that most people will probably never see (many with good reason). But I seldom see a film when it’s newly released. I wait for the DVD because I hate going to movie theaters and having to deal with all those other people (I’m grouchy in addition to under-employed). Also theaters showing Hindi films are few and far between in my area. I am also naturally disposed to dislike things that everyone else universally raves about (the grouch factor again). Like Chak De! India. But this movie thoroughly deserves all the acclaim it’s gotten and I want to write about it, and hey! it’s my blog.
November 15, 2007
Good Hindi film criticism (not an oxymoron!)
Finding a film critic whose opinion you can trust is much like finding a wine seller with the same taste in wine as you have.
Indispensable!
Raja Sen at rediff.com has always been that for me. I think he writes the most erudite, thoughtful, credible, intelligent and well-rounded criticism of films in Bollywood (it doesn’t hurt that I almost always completely agree with him). His is the first opinion I look for when a movie I’m interested in seeing is released. Maybe I should ask him if he drinks wine!
He has just been joined by another critic calling herself Bollywoods, and I have really been enjoying her columns and reviews as well (she is knowledgeable and writes well, and is funny. Particularly I enjoyed her column about critics).
If you haven’t discovered them, you should!*
*along with some of the blogs I have listed under favorite links!
November 10, 2007
Ansoo Ban Gaye Phool (1969)
Despite the DVD cover showing Deb Mukherjee and Alka looking young and beautiful, their romance is only half of the plot. The other half revolves around Ashok Kumar’s character, the principal of a college named Vidyanand. This is not a bad thing! it’s a nice drama about keeping one’s integrity and lofty ideals intact even in the face of injustice. There’s also a rich-vs-poor subtext which starts out strong but doesn’t really go anywhere. The very very best things about the film are the marvelous songs by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, including two Helen numbers, and—Deb Mukherjee! I did not see that coming, I confess.
November 3, 2007
QOD
When asked in an interview if he believes in reincarnation:
“I think, after you die, the atom finishes in the air and attaches to a cat or a dog.”
–Shah Rukh Khan
(on indiafm.com)
November 1, 2007
Trivia time #10
In what movie is the whole story of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” enacted as a play, starring Helen as the wicked Queen? Bonus points if you can tell us who plays Snow White!
Okay, nobody even has a guess! The movie is Baazi (1968) starring Dharmendra and Waheeda Rehman (who plays Snow White in this segment). The movie is okay, but this play within the movie is fabulous. It’s about 15 minutes long—and ends with a Helen dance, of course! It’s worth seeing on its own.
MemsaabStory 