jmcnally

I just saw A Peck on the Cheek (Kannathil Muthamittal) and here's what I wrote:

"This is the first Indian film I've seen in the Tamil language, and while it does share some similarities with other Indian films (wonderful music and choreography, sweeping storyline), the director attempts more than just to entertain. The film tells the story of Amudha, a precocious nine-year old whose parents reveal to her that she was adopted, thus beginning an odyssey that takes them all from India to war-torn Sri Lanka. Gorgeous visuals mix with horrifying scenes of violence expressly to make a point, though it is a simplistic one. Amudha is played by P.S. Keerthana, and she is one of the few child actors I've seen who can be precocious and yet not annoying. Her charm and beauty held the film together. "

Has anyone else seen this film? Any news on a DVD release?

Truffaut Fan

If you can't get it anywhere else, you can always get it here:

http://www.cdstore.com.pk/india/dvdh.html

I just watched Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and loved it! So I guess if I like these sappy romantic ones, then I really need to see DDLJ and KKKG?? Anything else in this genre worth recommending?

Jeff

chaver

jmcnally, Kannathil Muthamittal is available as an awesome DVD (anamorphic video, 5.1 DD audio) from Ayngaran. I'm not sure whether its avaialable from Indiweekly.com, but I usually get my Tamil fix from TheMahal.com and its definitely available there.

Note that this movie has also been directed by Mani Rathnam (the director of Dil Se). I'd also highly recommend his Alaipayuthey (again in Tamil). Unlike ordinary love stories where the movie ends with the lovers meeting or getting married, Mani takes a look at life after a love marriage, and how the high expectations before marriage slowly crumbles in the face of the realities of life.

flixtime

Hi Truffaut Fan - good to hear from you again! You should certainly check out DDLJ and, even though I haven't seen it yet, it is most likely a safe bet to also check out K3G (aka KKKG). Also - though again I haven't seen it yet - you might want to check out Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994). It stars Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit and I think falls into the category of what you are looking for. It's the first movie that sprung to mind. Just double-check that it is available with English subtitles, I haven't looked into it in detail. Hmmm...among more recent films, maybe Tum Bin and/or Chori Chori Chupke Chupke which stars Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, and Preity Zinta. I haven't seen Tum Bin but I enjoyed Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (even though many of Preity Zinta's scenes are directly lifted from Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts). Both of these films are available with English subtitles. Anyone with other possibilities and/or comments on those I've suggested?

jmcnally, I hadn't heard of the film A Peck on the Cheek until your mention of it. I'll keep an eye out for it.

mr_jbloggs

Just watched "Bhaji on the Beach" this past weekend. It was quite enjoyable.

Its all about moral and cultural dilemas (sp?) faced by Indian Women in modern England (It could have been based in any western Country). Its also quite funny in places.

jmcnally

I watched Dil Chahta Hai a few nights ago, and was mostly disappointed. If this represents the "new" Bollywood, then give me more of the old! Though the characters were sympathetic, the way the story was structured was out of balance. Since the story begins with Sid, I'd thought his story would have been the one given the most weight. In fact, he's hardly there at all. He gets involved with an older, divorced woman who is apparently an alcoholic. She is being rushed to hospital at the beginning suffering from liver cirrhosis, but this is patently ridiculous since we never see her drunk or with even a hair out of place. Toward the end, Akash's thread takes over, and the story of Sameer is tied up much too quickly and neatly. The last hour is given over to Akash, and poor Sid is just hung out to dry. This could have been so much better.

If anyone out there has seen this film, I'd be interested in your thoughts...

jmcnally

Just read this on another film mailing list I'm on:

http://us.imdb.com/StudioBrief/2002/20020916.html#6

Hindu Group Vows To Unleash Snakes At Movie Theaters

The Hindu activist group Shiv Sena has vowed to mount a protest against
the screening of a Bollywood version of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir
Dogs. The movie, titled Kaante and featuring a number of song-and-dance
numbers, is due to be released across India next week. But Shiv Sena has
denounced the American cultural values that it says are displayed in the
film. (There are several product-placement scenes featuring the Indian
soft drink Thums Up, a product of the Coca-Cola Company, which helped
finance the movie.) The group has already begun destroying posters for the
movie and has threatened to unleash venomous snakes in any theater showing
it. That threat was denounced by animal-rights activists.

darius

the facts are wrong.... that news item is actually referring to a movie called "Ek Chothi Si Love Story", which is a remake of a little-known french film. The movie's about a carefree young woman being stalked by a 15 year old boy and is very controversial due to its subject matter. The film is also being sued by its lead star (the actress Manisha Koirala) because apparantly the director went ahead and shot some racy scenes (including brief nudity) with a stunt double. Manisha said that she didn't give permission for those scenes, but the director said he did. The courts issued a stay order on the film, yet it was released in some theatres anyway. The current prints are being allowed to be remained intact, yet any future releases will have altered and edited scenes (maybe - it has not been decided yet).

The dvd's out right at indiaweekly, and from some screenshots, it looks like it's the uncut version. Here's the links to the screenshots of the DVD: http://www.zulm.net/cgi-bin/ikonboar...=1;t=2911;st=0

if you follow that thread, you'll also see links to articles regarding the controversy, and some movie reviews of the film itself.

And you can buy the movie from Indiaweekly for $15.99. My advice to wait till it goes on sale for about $6 then buy - for the controversy alone!

flixtime

I watched the newly-released Agni Varsha last night. The film is based on a play called "The Fire and the Rain" which itself is based on a tale from the Mahabharata - one of the two great religious epics in Indian literature (Ramayana is the other).

With a run-time of 2:10, it is a deliberately-paced, attention-demanding, fairly dialogue-heavy, & performance-driven film that held my interest throughout. The production values and cinematography were first-rate and I enjoyed the musical tracks as well (might pick up the cassette if I can find it at my local shop). The special-effects were a little weak but their use was quite brief and it did not distract me too much; they got the job done but just barely.

Watching the film sort of felt like watching one of the numerous film adaptations of a Shakespearean play, that's not meant to be a criticism, but more simply to convey what style of film you should expect. The performances for the most part were very good; the performances of the young couple (Aravasu & Nittilai sp?) were adequate in the beginning but significantly improved as the film went along; the rest of the cast was strong. Again, this film isn't exactly typical Bollywood fare; certainly more "artsy" than the norm and even a little sexy/steamy (no nudity) especially during one scene. Perhaps a drawback for some though it did not bother me to any significant degree, I did get the feeling that a measurable amount of the character motivations/thought-processes is left for the viewer to infer/question/speculate upon (aka "not everything is spelled out for you"). I am a considerable distance away from being the most religious guy on the planet but that did not detract from my being able to enjoy the film (I very much enjoyed Shyamalan's Signs too). Again, I did not analyze too closely the philosophical/spiritual/religious/theological statements the film was perhaps trying to make but more simply just enjoyed it on more of an entertainment level.

When all is said and done, Agni Varsha was a very pleasant surprise and certainly - for me - merits consideration for purchase as opposed to being just rental material. As usual, your thoughts would be appreciated.

Most likely up for me next is another new release Sur which based simply on a quick glance at the front and back covers of the DVD looks quite promising.

mr_jbloggs

If you are the singing type, here is good Karaoke site.

http://www.geetnet.com/hindigold/

flixtime

Following up on my most recent post, I did watch the recently-released film Sur. I seem to be on a bit of a roll lately as the last few films I've watched have all been winners; Sur continued my lucky streak ( for those familiar with the film, the pun was completely unintentional but sure does fit well with this review). This is the film debut of Lucky Ali who is a well-known musical artist in India. I don't know if it was simply a matter of playing a role for which he was perfectly suited, but Lucky's performance is one of the two highlights of the film. A terrific debut for him and I hope he keeps it up as I would certainly like to see him try his hand at other roles. Put yourself in the mindset of a Mr. Holland's Opus (starring Richard Dreyfuss) type of film and you would be in the ballpark as far as this film goes. Lucky plays a middle-aged famous musical artist (not much of a stretch I admit but he played the part so very well) whose ultimate aspiration is not to sell millions of records and have hordes of fans screaming for him but more so to leave some sort of legacy behind that will carry into the future. With that in mind, in addition to his singing career, he also started a small music school for India's best of the best (sort of like that old TV show Fame). Then one day he stumbles across a girl singing in a church and in that girl sees the potential for all his dreams and wishes to come true; she is the "one". This teacher-student drama, although a bit uneven, is a very commendable film. With a run-time of approx. 2:25, I felt the first half was measurably stronger than the second. When I say it is an uneven film that is not really meant to disparage it, what I am saying is that the film has a bit of "peaks & plateaus" feel to it (plateaus aren't bad, valleys would be bad (I hope I've got my elementary geography correct)). Something a little different with this film, while many Bollywood films have religion playing a role in the films, in Sur the religion happens to be Christianity as opposed to the more common Hinduism or Islam. Just to clarify, the film doesn't preach religion, a strong Christian belief is simply one aspect of the "dream" student's character. I just thought I'd mention it because it was a little uncommon.

Earlier I mentioned that Lucky's performance is one of the two highlights of the film. The second highlight and even more memorable for me is one of the songs. After renting DVDs from my local shop, I usually pop them in to my player right away just to make sure they have subtitles, etc. When I popped Sur in, the main menu screen came up, and this song started playing, I just stopped and listened to it and then again a couple of times after that. I think the song title is "Jaane kya dhoondta hai". It is the first song in the film and also plays on the main menu screen of the DVD. It is an OUTSTANDING, OUTSTANDING, OUTSTANDING song. My local shop was sold out of the cassette so I couldn't buy it when I returned the DVD, but they are supposed to get a new shipment in a few days; I will be buying one for certain. The song is used as the first song in the film and runs for nearly seven minutes. It actually felt like watching the music video for the song which it probably was. However, the way it was utilized in the film was quite natural and fit seemlessly in with the story. There is a Making of Sur included on the DVD and to my surprise there was more discussion and praise for another apparently "hit" song (which I didn't care for as much) in the film as opposed to the one I liked. I also liked another song which was a duet and was referred to as "Tu" by the female lead when she spoke during the "Making of Sur" feature. Just to note, for fans of Bollywood song & dance numbers, while the songs in the film are good don't expect extravagant dance numbers as you would find in other Bollywood films. This film once again is not the standard Bollywood fare and would - like Agni Varsha - fall into the "artsy" category. Nice performances by the "dream" student's sister, a record company exec., and the actress playing a nun help complete the film. I'd count Sur a winner.

flixtime

Last time I checked in here I had mentioned that I was on a bit of a roll with my Hindi film viewing so I decided to really press my luck and picked up Mujhse Dosti Karoge starring Hrithik Roshan (I forgot his character's name), Rani Mukherjee as Pooja, and Kareena Kapoor as Tina. Since I am not that big a fan of romantic/love triangle films, I wasn't really interested in seeing the film but just picked it up because there was nothing else available and I had some free time. I actually watched the film just a few days after my last post to this thread so I might be off but I think it had a runtime of a little over 2:25 minutes.

In the early going I thought my luck had run out as the film was pretty bad........annoyingly bad.........turn of the DVD player bad. Perhaps I'm overstating because it wasn't really bad I suppose just supremely forgettable and a tribute to mediocrity. When I find a film to be entertaining I can overlook quite a few flaws but when it isn't then I begin to nitpick. First nitpick: the films starts in the past (1987 approx.) and the three main characters are shown as childhood friends who are about to be separated as the character to be played by Hrithik Roshan (as an adult) is about to go to London with his father. His father mentions he is going to try and make it big in "dotcoms" and the kids talk about e-mailing each other. Correct me if I'm wrong but in 1987 there was no such thing as "dotcom" was there? At least not such that a common man would think of going into the dotcom business. Related to that, kids did not have computers with Internet and e-mail connections in their bedrooms in the year 1987. That's a phenomenon of the early-mid 90s at the earliest, isn't it? Anyway I know stuff like this goes on all the time in Hindi films but this time it bothered me. Also I found the Tina character to be a little too annoying (although, in fairness, I recognize the character was supposed to be that way). So it went for approx. the first 1/3 of the film; I figured I was in for a long night. But slowly things began to change somewhere 30-60 minutes into the film; I found myself quite drawn to the story well ahead of the film's intermission. By the second half of the film I was thoroughly engrossed in the film and just had to know how things were going to turn out for Roshan, Tina, and Pooja (no one was getting the remote away from me). To be fair, I have to say that I haven't seen many of the great films in the romantic triangle genre nor have I seen many of the not so great films. Maybe more experienced viewers knew who Roshan was going to end up with, but the film really had me guessing with numerous well-done twists at the end. Just my opinion but with a better first third, this film could have made it to classic status in the genre. Even despite the poor opening I would still give this film a strong recommendation. DVDTalker Truffaut Fan - if you're reading this - I think you would really enjoy this film. One more point, although most of the song/dance numbers were rather uninspired, there is a 12 minute song/dance medley towards the end of the film that I found quite impressive. Actually since I'm fairly new to Hindi films, it took me a couple of minutes before I realized it was a song medley and a couple of more minutes before it dawned on me that it was a tribute to the renowned Hindi film music composer - the late Anand Bakshi. I would almost recommend a viewing of the film based on that one 12 minute song & dance number alone. Anyway, after seeing this film I might have to reconsider my stance on the love triangle genre and actively search out some of the classics. So once again, I consider myself lucky as Mujhse Dosti Karoge far exceeded my expectations.

Lest you folks think I am giving a "thumbs up" to every Hindi film I watch, I did watch a "thumbs down" film. It was Shararat starring Abhishek Bhachan (sp?). The first problem I had was with Abhishek Bhachan who I don't find to be that good an actor; he lacks a presence on the screen. The story was supposed to be about Bhachan playing a spoiled rich young man who is sent to a home for the elderly with the hope that the experience would change him for the better. The older cast members lead by Amrish Puri were all good and it was nice to see this tried on film but the story did not work for me. The female lead was pretty cute but the romance between her and Bhachan was unconvincing. The story should have focused on Bhachan's interactions with and discussions with the older cast members. We should have watched his gradual transformation through his experiences with the others but the story was somewhat less subtle. The film really never grabbed my interest and ultimately was quite forgettable, though I do hope to see more works focusing on the older generation.

Just a note, in my short reviews I am trying to give you guys a very general idea of the film without giving away any of the story so as not to spoil the film for those who have not yet seen it.

Also just wanted to mention the film Maachis again (I think I recommended it very early on in this thread). The film is a few years old but if you like the terrorist-themed film genre (maybe films like Dil Se, Roja, Mission Kashmir, Lal Salaam, Fiza, etc.), I very strongly recommend the film Maachis. I haven't yet seen Roja but I think Maachis is superior to the other films mentioned above (I do ackowledge that Dil Se especially is considered a classic) and I'd place it in my favorites list somewhere after Satya, Company, Lagaan, and The Legend of Bhagat Singh.

So what have you all been up to? Anyone get a chance to see some of the other recent releases: Gunaah (as far as I'm concerned if Bipasha Basu is in it then it can't be all bad), Om Jai Jagadish, Jaani Dushman, Ek Chhotisi Love Story, Dil Hai Tumharra, etc. I'm looking forward to Shakti and because I've enjoyed Ram Gopal Varma's past efforts - Road.

jmcnally

flixtime, you have GOT to see Kuch Kuch Hota Hai right NOW.

darius

it was nice of you flixtime to chime in on Mujhse Dosti Karoge. While many people though it was aweful and embarrasing, I liked it very much from the get go. I'm a sucker for well-made romances and this was it! I know of the HUGE inconsistencies of the plot (watch out for the Shrek video in the 1987 portion!), but the songs were great, the scenery was amazing, and the cast was excellent. What did you think about the DVD itself? I actually thought it had really good video (and decent audio), but some people on Zulm thought it was pretty poor....

As for recent releases, yeah I've been seeing them all as they come out in theatres.

Road is pretty damn fantastic!! The film is normal chase/road movie but it did have some clever twists and turns and the lead actress, Antara Malli, was REALLY HOT! The songs were really good (kind of funky-offbeat music with some good techno/rock beats) and actor Manoj Bajpai made a really good psychopath. I shouldn't go too much into the story but basically it's about a couple (Company's leading actors Vivek Oberoi and Antara Malli) who decide to elope but end up picking up a hitch-hiker (Bajpai) who makes their lives a living hell. It has a very clever ending aswell and it has the feel of a Ram Gopal Verma film (like Satya, Jungle and Company) even though he only produced it.

Shakti has some good performances and awesome cinematography but I think it has some MAJOR plot holes. It is a must watch for sure, but prepare for a pretty depressing movie with a lot of brutal violence and gore (and mostly towards women). The movie's about a Canadian woman who gets caught up in her husband's family rivalries in India and tries to escape from a rural village with her young son. The plot is reminiscent of "Not Without My Daughter" but the film is definately not a remake. Karisma Kapoor is very good as our leading lady while Nana Patekar is equally outstanding as the evil patriarch of Kapoor's family. And for SRK fans, Shahrukh is only in the movie for about 30 mins, but does manage to provide some decent laughs in an otherwise serious movie. However his last scene is very annoying. Still, the movie has to be seen for Karisma Kapoor and Nana Patekar's performances.

Jaani Dushman is only ok if you like Akshay Kumar's action scenes and he only has about 3 main scenes (but he's in the whole movie though). Everybody else is wasted (particularly Sunny Deol and Sunil Shetty) and the FX are laughably bad. Even diehard Bollywood fans hate this movie so watch it with caution.

Dil Hai Tumhaara is a pleasing slice-of-life comedy. There are some good comedy scenes, and some nice songs but it's no award-winning stuff. Preity Zinta is very good in the main role as a woman neglected by her mother, while Rekha is also in fine form as the mom. Everybody else (Mahima Choudhary, Arjun Rampal, Jimmy Shergill) is their for support and aren't given any thing special to do - however Rampal does have a few good comedic scenes. The movie is nothing special but some people would actually LOVE it - it's a really good date flick.

Sur as stated by flixtime is actually very good, but I didn't like it as much as flixtime liked it. However the songs are EXCELLENT!

Om Jai Jagdish is nothing special, especially if you've seen the other far superior family films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Mohabbatein, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Besides, I REALLY HATE Abhishek Bachchan!! However to be fair Anil Kapoor does do a decent job with his role. The film is about 3 brothers who get torn apart due to their different ambitions and attitudes on life, and how they struggle to overcome their problems (mostly financial) before coming together at the end again. Anil is the eldest brother and does a good job (he's the only GOOD guy), while Abhishek Bachchan is just horrible as the youngest brother. Fardeen Khan plays the middle brother and does an ok job, but nothing particularly noteworthy. The movie is really mediocre.

flixtime

Already done my friend, and you are certainly correct about the film; it is very good. Actually it was one of the first Hindi films that I watched. At the time - much to my surprise, given the genre of the film (romance) - I found it highly entertaining and the film was one of the primary reasons I first became interested in Bollywood films; I figured if I enjoyed a romance that much, imagine how much I would enjoy other genres which I am more inclined to prefer.

Wow, I didn't even notice the Shrek video myself. Probably for the best or it might have really killed the film for me given the problems I had with the dotcom and e-mail stuff. I'm surprised to hear that Mujhse Dosti Karoge has received so much negative feedback because even with the weak start (imho) I found it a highly involving and entertaining film. As for your question about the DVD technical quality, I don't really feel too qualified to answer that question as I am not very discerning/demanding when it comes to DVD technical quality (compression artifacts, edge enhancement, haloing, etc.). Though I am a little picky with regards to OAR (Original Aspect Ratio) which the vast majority of Hindi DVD don't seem to represent correctly. I've watched quite a few films that are letterboxed but you can still tell you are not getting the OAR. I don't understand why the Hindi DVD manufacturers do such a poor job with their product. Which is probably one of the reasons I simply rent the films and don't buy them (at least not yet). Also, I suppose between reading the subtitles and trying to watch the action on screen I am quite forgiving when it comes to any picture flaws.

darius, thanks for the extensive update on the recent films! I'll probably watch Shakti this week. It's a long one though (over 3 hours). I didn't realize Shahrukh Khan had such a small part. Good thing you told me or I might have been disappointed. I'll check in with my thoughts after I watch the film.

I did watch Gunaah starring Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea. I enjoyed their work in Raaz and was looking forward to this film. I understand that Raaz did copy a great deal from the Harrison Ford/Michelle Pfeiffer film What Lies Beneath but to be quite candid, I thought Raaz was a more entertaining film. I had already seen What Lies Beneath but that did not take away from my enjoyment of Raaz because Raaz did add in some new wrinkles to differentiate things and, like I said, actually made it a better film (imho). Back to Gunaah though. It's a short film with a 2:15 runtime. Though mildly entertaining, I would have to say ultimately that Gunaah is a largely forgettable B-class thriller that probably should be avoided by more discerning Hindi film fans. If you are a fan of Bipasha Basu (like me) or a frequent viewer of Hindi films then Gunaah is a passable rental but others should probably skip it. Bipasha Basu plays an honest cop working in a corrupt department; Dino Morea is a not-so-bad criminal she tries to reform. Surprisingly I found the chemistry lacking between Basu and Morea. Also, Bipasha Basu was pretty unconvincing as a cop (she's turned in far better performances); it seemed like she had glycerine tears running down her face for half the film. The story while pretty good for most of the film started to fall apart towards the end. Again, I found it reasonable entertaining but I suspect that most others would not be so kind. The songs were okay but there were no extravagant dance numbers which some might have enjoyed.

Also managed to fit in the film Bombay which was released a few years ago (don't remember when exactly). Without giving away too much to those who haven't yet seen it, the film is a serious drama about an interfaith (Hindu/Muslim) marriage and the difficulties which follow both internally (family disapproval) and external (set against the backdrop of religious riots). Bombay is a very good film that is a must see for those who enjoyed a film such as Hey Ram!. It is a deliberately-paced film with a runtime of 2:20 minutes. The performances are excellent and the story is gripping. Bombay gets a strong from me.

darius

The long-awaited Devdas is finally out on DVD.

Price at Indiaweekly is $21.99 US with free shipping:http://216.122.236.174/datacart/prod...ProductId=4890

flixtime

Thanks darius for the reminder on Devdas.

Since I last posted here I've gone through 4 films:

Shakti
Zindagi Khoobsoorat Hai
the controversial Ek Chhotisi Love Story
Road

I don't know if I've overdosed on Hindi films or something but two of the films I was anticipating I found to be disappointing: Shakti and Road, I wasn't expecting much from Ek Chhotisi Love Story and that is pretty much what it delivered (actually a little less than that), and a pleasant surprise was Zindagi Khoobsoorat Hai.

Shakti - darius' earlier review is pretty on target. However, I think part of my disappointment with the film stems from the following: 1) Karisma Kapoor's performance was fine but I thought her character was poorly written. Her character to me came across as a little too hysterical and over-the-top. I would understand the reaction if some blonde beach bunny from L.A. were put in the situation but I thought her response was too overdone given her Indian background. Yeah, the husband's family and village were somewhat nightmarish but some of the things should have been taken in stride. One example, when she first gets to India she is wearing some revealing clothing that her father-in-law comments negatively upon. Later when she and the husband are getting set to leave India, she is shown in tight blue jeans. I would think she would have more sense to dress like the other women in something more conservative as a sign of respect, it was supposed to be only a short trip anyway. Also, in one scene where the family is doing a sword-dance around her son, she is completely freaking out. In some scenes the kid was crying so her reaction is okay but I don't think he was crying or otherwise overly disturbed in this scene in particular. 2) The 2nd problem I had was with Shahrukh Khan, I realize he is India's most popular actor but frankly I am starting to find him nearly unwatchable, it's the same old Shahrukh "shtick" in all his movies, kind of like he is doing a parody of himself sometimes. And like darius said, his last scene is bordering on ridiculous (spoiler: . His dance number with Ashwariya Rai was very good and she looked hot!, though it was out of place in the film.

All that being said, the first half of the film is pretty good, except for when Karisma Kapoor's character commands a scene. It is sort of 2/3 art film and 1/3 mainstream Bollywood. However, in the 2nd half of the film, things go downhill fast as Karisma Kapoor's character gets more screen time and Shahrukh Khan too. It is more like 3/4 Bollywood, 1/4 art film. Runtime of the film was 2:55 minutes. The latter half comic violence detracted from the impact of the earlier "realistic/ugly" violence. If one doesn't find as much fault as I did with the character played by Karisma Kapoor, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that some very much enjoyed this film. Overall, I thought her character should have been written as more somber/subdued/restrained and less hysterical/out of control. In that way, perhaps the entire film should have been done as an art film and would have been better all around. I would be remiss not to state that Nana Patekar's performance as the father-in-law was outstanding as was the whole feel of his family and their village and lifestyle. In the end I wanted to see a movie of their story and their lives not Karisma Kapoor's.

Zindagi Khoobsoorat Hai - Just sort of picked up this film on a lark and found it quite satisfying. It is the story of a male singer (in love with an alcoholic prostitute) who soon find himself in the service of a gangster with a mentally-challenged daughter. The singer's music is one of the few joys in life for the mentally-challenged daughter. The alcoholic prostitute reminded me a lot of the Nicholas Cage character in Leaving Las Vegas, and some of the plot reminded me of Maria Puzo's The Last Don, however I still found the film pretty entertaining. The cast is pretty much some lesser know talent (as far as I know) except for Tabu as the prostitute. The film has a very slight bit of a raw/unpolished/independent/lower budget feel too it but not so much as to detract from the film overall. Overall a worthy rental, runtime was 2:30 minutes.

I rented the controversial Ek Chhotisi Love Story just to see what all the fuss was about. I wasn't expecting much (and that's about what I got) from the story of a teen voyeur who obsessively watches a young woman in her apartment. It is a fairly short film at 2:10 minutes but the first half felt more like 3 hours. Nothing really happens (didn't even have to read subtitles since so little goes on) just endless scenes of him watching her through a telescope. The 2nd half is a little better but still only so-so. I'd recommend skipping it entirely. Some of the more controversial stuff: they show the top 1/3 of the girl's bare bottom (though I think it might have been a body double), medium-distance shot of a guy putting his hand down the back of the girl's panties, the girl says the f-word, and a long-distance shot of a couple having sex (girl's legs up in the air) but no nudity and they are partially clothed.

Lastly, and the greatest disappointment is Road. I was surprised (especially since darius and I have tended to be in agreement more than not (and he gave it a very good review) at how dull this film really was. With Ram Gopal Varma (Satya & Company - 2 great films) producing I expected much more. Hollywood has done this type of movie to death (Breakdown, JoyRide, Duel, and any of a number of crazy hitchhiker films) yet most have been at least average to imho exceptional (Breakdown). I expected something on par with those efforts (asking for more would have been unfair). However, Road did not even meet the lowest expectations I might have had. With a runtime of 2:15 minutes, I was expecting a tight, taut, smart, suspenseful thriller. The film was very stylish. The performances by Vivek Oberoi and Antara Malli were solid, Manoj Bajpai was good but I thought he has done better (especially in a similar role like Aks). The songs were cool and presented in a stylish music video-like manner (music was more contemporary/modern/rockish than other Bollywood films). However, the songs really brought the film to a screeching halt more often than not and did not help progress the story whatsoever. I thought the director/producer made quite a few poor decisions. 2 overlong, somewhat repetitive in theme, songs in the first 10-15 minutes kept the film from getting off to a fast start. Again the first half was okay but the 2nd half once again falls apart. Too many things are unexplained (characters showing up out of nowhere). The story in a film like this has to be built brick upon brick, but here it felt more like separate scenes, there wasn't a flow. It wasn't a smart film either, one example, if you are the police setting up a road block on a sparsely travelled road in the desert in order to catch a criminal, wouldn't you stop every car that comes by and question if they've scene anything? Not these cops, they just let cars drive right on through. I thought many of the dialog scenes continued for too long and that they could have easily been shortened without losing any of the story (alot of the dialog was non-essential and repetitive). One suspense scene in particular should have been handled in a more frantic chase-like manner instead of an overlong slow cat&mouse game (that is solved by having a character come out of nowhere without building the suspense). Instead of suspense, the scene seemed to be more in order to show off the assets of Antara Malli (her butt seemed to be in an exaggerated pose up in the air while she was crawling around). Very nice view and all, but my focus should have been on the suspense not her butt. Again just prior to the end there is an overlong series of scenes between two of the characters which should have been broken up with cuts to what other characters were doing at the same time. Also throughout the film one of the characters tends to stand around doing nothing instead of taking action when the opportunity presents itself. I'd actually recommend Shakti as a rental over Road as Shakti does have a commendable degree of excellence in the film. Road while having a good cast, and quality production values, is let down by a poor script, poor directorial handling of the mediocre script, overlong scenes, very good yet ultimately story-halting songs, and unintelligent characters. By no means is Road a bad film, I simply found it to be quite a run-of-the-mill film and a great disappointment.

As always, continued discussion would be welcome and appreciated. darius, I am very surprised that we have such different takes on the film. We must have really confused the lurkers following this thread; they must be wondering if we saw the same film.

Yahoo Sirius

Boy, they're really bashing the Devdas DVD over at Zulm.net.

Anyway, fans of Bollywood movies should also check out IndiaWeekly for their Daily Specials ("Today's Deal"). They've had some outstanding bargains in the past week, such as the DEI version of DON for only $3.99. Currently they have the DEI versions of AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY and UMRAO JAAN, both really fine older films, for only $3.99 each. Those are excellent deals!

indycohiba

This is the reason I quit buying Bollywood films for the most part. I am tired of the subpar DVDs being produced by these studios.

darius

hey flixtime, you pretty much got Shakti on the spot - yeah it's true that SRK does the same role over and over again but I do like his performance in all of his movies and I'm kinda biased in that he's my favourite actor. However I will admit that he DOES overact and hams it up quite a bit in his roles now. But he's trying a little variation in films so you gotta give him credit for that. You should really check out his earliest films where he actually was an actor before a superstar (kinda like Nic Cage) and actually took roles that no popular actors would dare to do.

Some films to see are:
Baazigar - a very good con thriller kinda like The Talented Mr. Ripley, but made much before that. Also stars Kaajol (in her second film) and Shilpa Shetty (in her first film - she looks VERY different than she does now).


Darr - a run of the mill stalker thriller, but one that has Sunny Deol as the hero and Shahrukh as a obsessive stalker - he totally owns this movie.

Anjaam - ok in this one he's a complete psycho and there's no justification to his character. He plays a spoiled rich guy obsessed with Madhuri Dixit, who rejects him and marries someone else. SRK goes completely over the edge and destroys her life completely (wait till you see what he does!) and she eventually gets revenge. The third act is very surprising and comes out of nowhere.

Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa - SRK isn't a psycho or a criminal, but he still has a negative role in this romantic comedy. This is from the same director as "Kya Kehna" or "Dil Hai Tumhaara" so it has the same small town, slice-of-life feel. SRK is a down on your luck loser who falls in love with his best friend. The trouble is that the girl is in love with SRK's other best friend. So Shahrukh goes and tries everything to break them apart and get the girl (nothing serious, just lying constantly and getting his friend into trouble). And there are alot of small little subplots such as a gangster who becomes SRK's guardian angel, and SRK's father who wants him to quit school, etc. The characters are very pleasing and the film is often funny and doesn't border into melodrama. And the good thing is that there's NO violence whatsoever - no one dies, gets hurt, or even gets slapped. The current DVD may be horrible, but the movie is definately worth-watching and is very highly regarded. Even SRK says that this is his favourite film.

Duplicate - now this is an over-the-top satire of action films. SRK plays a very naive chef and a psychotic criminal who decide to switch places with each other (accidentally ofcourse). Lots of silly comedy, and some very good parodies abound make this a mindless entertaining film.

Yes Boss - now this is a romantic comedy with a slight different twist than the Yashraj films. SRK plays an ambitious executive who'll do anything to move up. He meets a girl and starts to like her, but then his boss falls in love with the same girl. In order to get in good standing, he decides to hook the two up together. This movie is less dramatic than you think with lots of comedy thrown in, and there's a unique fact that all of the characters have some flaws in them - the boss's a scumbag, Shahrukh's really ambitious (and greedy), while the girl (Juhi Chawla) is really greedy and borderline slutty.

Ram Jaane - SRK gives an amazing performance in a very fine Gangster film. I would rank his performance to be almost as good as Pacino's performance in Scarface. The story has his gangster character dealing with all sorts of problems (both dramatic and action-related) but the film is worth watching for his portrayal.

These films are kind of old (early 90's), but these are highly regarded and some were very big hits in their days. These are the films that made SRK and it's interesting to note that he was making these films while doing his normal, blockbuster romantic comedies. And as you can see all of these roles are a drastic departure from his newer roles. Add Asoka and Devdas into the mix, and you can see that he has a range of acting that very few actors possess (Ajay Devgan and Amitabh Bachchan are the rare exception). You can get most of these movies off Indiaweekly, but it's advisable to rent them first as there's something wrong with all of them (either they're cropped or feature pseudo soundtracks or very horrible video transfers. The only ones worth buying FOR SURE are the Baazigar, Darr, Ram Jaane, and Duplicate if you can get the DEI versions - don't even bother with the B4U version). However Darr will eventually be re-released by Yashraj films (believe it or not, it was directed by Yash Chopra).

OH, and as for the Devdas transfer - those people at Zulm are not all wrong. I understand that they nitpick a little too much, but the motion artifacts are really horrible on my tv (which is interlaced, but is 53" with component inputs and has the anamorphic squeeze thing). I notice the scan lines right away during any scenes with motion (which is constantly). However on smaller tvs this DVD may have one of the best transfers ever for Bollywood. But the movie is worth buying, and the audio is amazing. And the extras aren't bad either.

jmcnally

http://www.panindia.com/displaynews....id=42744&cid=0

Salman Khan up on charges of culpable homicide, as well as being investigated for organized crime links. I never liked this guy...

flixtime

jmcnally, I'm glad I watched - and very much enjoyed - Salman Khan's Yeh Hai Jalwa before all the stuff he did. Pretty shameful on his part. I suppose Khan and Sanjay Dutt sharing scenes together in Yeh Hai Jalwa is pretty appropriate in hindsight(Dutt has ties to the mob, guess we shouldn't give him too much credit for his "acting" if he turns in a good performance in the upcoming gangster film Hathyar). By the way, I've already seen Vaastav - which I thought was just okay - but I am still looking forward to the sequel Hathyar.

darius, your highly informative post about picking up some of Shahrukh Khan's older films is much appreciated. Also, now perhaps is a good time to bring up a point that has been a little frustrating for me, that is the difficulty in finding these older films. I've wanted to check out quite a few older films for some time now but my local stores do not carry them or they carry earlier versions without English subs. I know the online option is there, but given the generally inferior technical quality of Indian DVDs combined with uninformative/inaccurate e-tailer websites and inaccurate information listed on the DVD boxes (example, the film Gadar starring Sunny Deol, and released by Videosound stated English subs on the box but it did not have English subs on the DVD (though I understand that has now been corrected)) makes it very difficult for me to commit to purchasing any of the older films. I realize the older films - as posted by DVDTalker Yahoo Sirius - are very inexpensive (just a couple of bucks more than a rental) but still I find it hard to commit to blind buys of these films. A couple of the films that you mentioned darius were already on my list but I can't find them locally. I've had no luck with others mentioned here as well (Jewel Thief, etc.).

However, please do keep the suggestions coming. If I hear it often enough I just might take the gamble and order the DVDs. On the bright side, there is certainly no shortage of new releases coming out every week so I've got plenty to keep me busy if needed.

darius or anyone else, what are some of the highly anticipated releases coming up between now and the end of the year. Though I am fed up with the wait and have lost a great deal of interest in seeing the film, what about Kaante???

Also, what do you guys think of continuing these discussions in a newly titled thread, maybe called "Bollywood/Hindi/Indian film discussion [PART 2]" or something like that (suggestions for a thread title are welcome)? Should we stick to this thread a little while longer or start a new one sometime soon?

MrN

I think a new thread title or just a new thread is very much warranted, as the film Gandhi has basically nothing to do Bollywood.

darius

yeah a better title should be given to this thread or we should just stick to this one as it's already so big - there should be lots of lurkers out here.

As for the movies I mentioned on DVD - they're all subtitled, are very popular, and should be in almost any reputable indian dvd/video rental store.

Yeah there are REALLY old films (from the 70s, and 80s) that are on no-name brand dvds and go for like $3 on Indiaweekly - I would avoid them if I were you. All of the DVDs from major brands like Eros, Video Sound (atleast anything past 2000), Soven feature subs.


as for new movies coming up:

Talaash - Akshay Kumar spy-type actioner - you can check out the website at www.talaashmovie.com). Releases Dec. 6 - supposedly the same day as Kaante.

Saathiya (a remake of a famous tamil movie called Alaipayuthe) and stars Vivek Oberoi, Rani Mukherjee and a mystery star - remember its' a Yashraj films romance). Releases in December.

Jaal - A Sunny Deol action/spy film which had the actors doing most of their stunts so should be really good. The director is Guddu Dhanoa who directed the so-so Shaheed but the awesome action films Ziddi and Saakhen - all with Sunny. Releases in December.

The Hero - Another Sunny Deol spy film, this time from the director of Gadar and it was mainly shot here in Canada (and some in Toronto). Releases January 26.

Sandhya - Offbeat horror/psychological thriller set in a mental asylum with a bizzare story. Ashutosh Rana stars a doctor who went crazy after his family's brutal murder. He gets cured but is still depressed from the incident, so he hires a ruthless assasin (Jackie Shroff) to kill him (doctor) on the anniversary of the crime. Things get really worse from here. Gives off the same bizarro-different type of feeling as Company, Aks, and Kaun. Releases next week supposedly.

Deewangee - a Primal Fear type thriller that look surpisingly a lot like Humraaz, with Akshaye Khanna, Urmila, and Ajay Devgan. The kicker is that Khanna IS in the Richard Gere role, and NOT Devgan. So can Ajay pull off a villanous role - we'll see. Still the thriller looks very different and should be pretty violent aswell. Releases tomorrow.

flixtime

DVDTalker darius, thanks - as always - for the detailed update on the upcoming films. I don't know about everyone else but I kind of like Sunny Deol so I'm looking forward to his upcoming films that you listed. He does a pretty good job - at least I think so - in the "mindless but entertaining" film category. Interesting that Ajay Devgan is the bad buy in the upcoming Deewanjee, I too would have assumed he would play the good guy. Devgan's a good actor so I think he'll be fine; he did sort of play a bad guy in Company.

Based on the feedback, it does seem like a good idea to start a new thread. darius, I know what you mean about perhaps losing the lurkers but given that we've put the idea on the table for some time now, I doubt we'll lose anyone, besides if they viewed this thread then they'll certainly check out the new one. Of greater concern to me was "losing" the vast amount of information contained in this thread but I'll simply put a link to this "old" thread in the first post of the new thread. Plus I'll include a link here to the new thread. Perhaps with a new thread some of the lurkers might feel more comfortable in de-lurking and joining in (any input is welcome, it doesn't have to be as "long-winded" as mine).

Is the new thread title Bollywood-Hindi-Indian films [PART 2] okay with everyone? I thought about a shorter title but I think the longer title makes the thread more eye-catching if you just do a quick scroll through this forum. I don't frequent this forum as much as some of the other forums. The "eye-catching" title was one of the things I liked about this "Gandhi" title; it stuck out like a sore thumb in a quick scroll through the threads.

I'll start the new thread in a couple of days (giving some time for everyone to read this post). Next up for me is the film "Dil Vil Pyar Vyar" not so much because I have any great interest in seeing it but more so because Hathyar was not available for me to rent. Sometimes when I'm not expecting much from a film, it is for the better, and I often end up being pleasantly surprised. Let's see what happens this time. At the least, I suppose that the film won't be all bad, Hrishita Bhaat (sp?) is in it and she's pretty cute. Am I the only one who thinks she looks a little like Alyssa Milano (from the TV show Charmed, and the old sitcom Who's the Boss)?