September 2, 2008
Ahhhh masala. The very very best filmi masala has at the very very least most of these twenty-one ingredients:
- Scenery-chewing
- Prodigious use of religious symbolism, preferably encompassing at least The Big Three: Hindu/Muslim/Judeo-Christian
- Squishy dil™ (ppcc) (aka “Oh! the humanity!”)
- Fabulously mod fashions
- Outlandish nonsensically fun plots
- At least one weeping mother
- Brothers/friends on opposite sides of the law
- Incredibly pretty hero(es) and heroine(s)
- Disguises, preferably which mock some ethnic or cultural group
- At least one child lost at a fair, preferably two who are childhood sweethearts
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Posted in Hindi movies, Memsaab's lists |
29 Comments »
July 7, 2008
Our hero’s training continues with an endurance test inside the Room of Ice…as the temperature gets colder and colder! Mogambo urges him on—even Mike is rooting for him. Will he survive?
Oh, the suspense! The tension! The gazillion beeping gadgets!
Has there ever been anything sillier, dear readers?
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Posted in Hindi movies |
18 Comments »
July 7, 2008
We catch up with our hero as he checks into the Hotel Hilton. He is shadowed by a girl in green hot pants and floral go-go boots.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
14 Comments »
July 6, 2008
This film could have just as easily just been a comic book. A racist, stupid comic book, but a comic book nonetheless. So that’s how I’ll pass it along to you, faithful readers—in installments, since it’s hard to swallow this much insanity all at once.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
9 Comments »
May 17, 2008
The title screens are pretty cheerful, with hearts and rainbows and whatnot. The opening scene is not. But before I get started on that, this is another Bhappi Sonie produced-and-directed film, and one of the last of the Shammi-starrers (as hero). He is *sigh* aging and bloated—but I still adore him!
There’s plenty else to love, too. The songs by Shankar Jaikishan are marvellous, including what I think is one of Helen’s finest numbers EVER. And that’s saying something! There’s a very young Vinod Khanna, Mehmood in a Cleopatra wig, sparkling and gorgeous Leena Chandavarkar, and some good subtitle mischief to boot.
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Posted in Excellent Use of Helen, Hindi movies, Yahoo! Shammi! |
8 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 »
March 17, 2008
Ah, testosterone. It pours out like a river from the screen during Qurbani. One fistfight leads to another, and another, and another. Punctuating the fisticuffs are doses of male bonding and declarations of undying friendship. Also many many (not necessarily testosterone-related) Poor Decisions are made.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
31 Comments »
September 1, 2007
This is not a Hindi film per se but falls into the “crossover” genre; most of it is in English and it was filmed by a mostly American crew, although it stars some of the brightest stars of Hindi cinema. And I must confess that for the first half hour of this film, I was pretty bored.
I thought: I need masala like a crackwhore needs crack!
But I stuck with it, and by the end was glad I had watched it all the way through.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
7 Comments »
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