May 22, 2009
Ah, the ’90s: swelling orchestral music, wind machines, flowing chiffons, campy sound effects, foreign song locales, palatial mansions, excess on every front. How I love excess! Especially when it includes Shah Rukh’s twisty almost-crying face. Why is it that he can make that face and I don’t want to toss things at the screen? Why is it that I love this film so very very much? It should annoy me, but it doesn’t. It’s corny and cartoony and shamelessly manipulative, but it tugs at my every heartstring. I always end up awash in tears—and loving every minute of it.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
69 Comments »
May 9, 2008
Bhappi Sonie is one of my favorite directors (Ek Phool Char Kante, Janwar, Brahmchari, Tum Haseen Main Jawan…wah!) and this film stars Dharmendra with Vyjayanthimala, Helen, Pran and Mehmood! It also contains one of my all-time favorite songs “Dekha Hai Teri Aankhon Mein” by Shankar Jaikishan. I searched high and low for it for several years and finally got my grubby little hands on copy that worked. Happy happy joy joy! Unless you hate fabulous songs, a great cast and a riveting story with lots of twists, you will love this movie.
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Posted in Excellent Use of Helen, Hindi movies |
19 Comments »
May 2, 2008
It’s time for more Shammi, in brilliant Eastman Color! Janwar is one of my favorite Shammi films (okay, I know I always say that), because it’s chock full of crazy outfits and disguises, great repartee between Shammi and his sidekick Rajendranath, and the presence of Prithviraj Kapoor and Rehman as well. It also has a great fast-paced story full of fun, and the songs by Shankar and Jaikishan are brilliant.
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Posted in Hindi movies, Yahoo! Shammi! |
19 Comments »
April 19, 2008
Widely considered the inspiration for Sholay, this film is quite simply awesome. It’s much smaller in scale, but director Raj Khosla’s deft treatment of the same themes, the pace and the fantastic performances by everyone make it just as compelling. Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s tunes are foot-tappingly addictive too.
Laxmi Chhaya is especially impressive in her role as a dancer spying for the dacoits. Besides her dancing ability (she’s memorable as the girl in the golden dress in “Jaan Pehchaan Ho” from Gumnaam), she has acting skills too. She very competently played Asha Parekh’s best friend in Teesri Manzil, and she’s beautiful to boot. But in all her films (sadly few in number) she was relegated to secondary roles and bit parts. I don’t get it.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
27 Comments »
April 7, 2008
In the almost 10 months I have been writing this blog, the most often read (and commented upon) post—by a huge margin—is the one about my love for Shammi Kapoor. It is also—again by a large margin—the top search that directs traffic here.
There’s a lot of love for this man out there! And that’s as it should be.
Quite a few people have asked lately for more Shammi movies to be posted here. So here’s another!
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Posted in Hindi movies, Yahoo! Shammi! |
39 Comments »
February 29, 2008
I needed a respite from a spate of bad/mediocre Hindi movies, so I dragged out some favorites to watch again. Jugnu is one of them. Dharmendra and Hema Malini are dreamy together, and Pran takes a break from villainy. It contains 100% of the Recommended Daily Masala Allowance: it’s almost three hours long and jam-packed with excitement and entertainment. It’s also one of my sister’s favorite films, and there’s no higher recommendation than that!
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Posted in Hindi movies |
27 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 |
20 Comments »
January 7, 2008
Attention all Shashi fans (and I know you’re out there)—this is a must-see movie for you! It is just so much fun, and Shashi is so…well…Shashilicious! His first song alone is worth buying the DVD for (I’ve watched it many times already and just can’t get enough of it). It’s called “Kehne Ki Nahin Baat” and it features Shashi dancing like Shammi, a marching band and a bunch of guys wearing berets with pom-poms.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
35 Comments »
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