flixtime

As a follow-up to recent discussion, “Awarapan” is now available on DVD. toddly6666, just a heads up, the visuals of “Awarapan” are more muted in keeping with the story, so I wouldn’t expect the spit and polish grand production values of stuff like “Dhoom 2”, “Krrish”, “Don”, etc.

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007 – Bollywood (Hindi))
Big stars and a glossy product once again courtesy of Yash Raj Productions. The director is Shaad Ali who was responsible for two earlier efforts which I enjoyed – “Bunty Aur Babli” and “Saathiya”. The two leads are Jr. Bachchan and Preity Zinta, with supporting efforts by Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta, and with Sr. Bachchan on-board in sort of a guest role in instances throughout the film. Now that that’s out of the way…….this film was a winner! I had a smile on my face throughout and found it very enjoyable even through the end credits (runtime of 2:12). The film was similar in style to last year’s “Jaan-E-Mann” which I also enjoyed…meaning it sort of was a very playful entry that payed homage to yet also poked fun at traditional Bollywood romances….as was the case with “Jaan-E-Mann” I thought this was a very progressive effort to come out of Bollywood and after a strong 2006 I hope it might be an indicator of great things to come from Bollywood in the coming years (I hope so because the last half-dozen Korean films I’ve watched have been fairly boring and disappointing so I need someone to step up and fill my movie-watching void….perhaps “void” is the wrong term given that my unwatched pile is rivaling the height of a skyscraper). Not too long ago, I praised South Indian cinema in comparison to their Bollywood counterparts, but I retract that now as Tamil and Telugu cinema seems pretty archaic, dormant, predictable, and cookie-cutter in comparison to the progress being made by Bollywood. Enough with the editorial, back to “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”…Abhishek Bachchan turns in a very amusing performance and Preity Zinta fares quite well in a role that is typical for her. Lara Dutta should be singled out for some praise. After looking a bit like she was spending too much time in the fast lane, the former Miss Universe is absolutely gorgeous in this film….and she does an excellent job in a role that seems perfect for her abilities….she was perfectly cast for the part. Bobby Deol too turns in a fun performance. Even Sr. Bachchan – who I’ve been growing tired of – is just perfect for his role here. Job well-done by all the cast for delivering their roles just right. As usual from the Yash Raj camp, the film is visually pleasing, glossy, and shiny. I thought the song and dance numbers were very good and I readily enjoyed every one of them including the oft-repeated but still super catchy title track Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. This title track appears a few times throughout the film including during an extended musical finale. While “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom” might not have the emotional hook or reach some of the high points of “Jaan-E-Maan”, it isn’t necessarily a lesser film as it avoids some of the slight silliness found in "Jaan-E-Maan". I had a blast watching this one so “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom” will definitely land in my year end Top 10, and as of now, seems likely to be near the top of the list…as a matter of fact it stands at number 1 as of this date.

The Killer (2006 – Bollywood (Hindi))
After enthusiastically bypassing this, I decided – after enjoying “Awarapan” – to check out this Hindi version of “Collateral” (Cruise, Foxx). My initial inclination was correct, this is one you can easily avoid. It is a fairly straight re-make of “Collateral” but poorly done. Nisha Kothari is a cutie and the romantic angle is handled better in this Hindi version, but other than that it is weak in every other area.

Desamuduru (2007 – Telugu)
This makes three Telugu blockbusters in a row that have failed to impress (Pokiri and Bommarillu being the previous two). The pre-intermission portion of this film reminded me a lot of “Krrish” (which I really didn’t care for)…it really had a feeling of déjà vu. Lead actor ALLU Arjun is charismatic, but the very thin story of boy/girl romance and post-intermission battle against a villain is about as routine as it gets in Indian cinema. The song and dance was uniformly good with a nice bhangra-influenced number throw in (which seemed a little unusual for a South Indian film, but was still very enjoyable). There was a decent fight scene early on, and then a later one which didn’t impress but was lifted directly from one of Thai performer Tony Jaa’s martial arts films. The film had too many comedy sidebars…one of which was fairly amusing, but still too bloated by comedy overall. Basically, I just kept waiting for the next song because that was the only time the movie really moved along. You can pretty much enjoy the best of this film by going to youtube and checking out the songs and even at least one of the fight scenes.

toddly6666

Is Jhoom Barabar Jhoom a bit like Moulin Rouge? I think I will skip on Awarapan. I really can't watch any more unpolished Bollywood turds. If anything, I can only now watch the polished ones...

toddly6666

FLIXTIME, so when and what's the next big Bollywood film? I mean big as in Doom 2, Don, or Krrish?

flixtime

toddly6666, very sorry mate for the much-delayed reply.

No, I wouldn't say that "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" is comparable to "Moulin Rouge".....hmmm, aren't you glad you waited so long for such a useless reply from me. And Yash Raj seems to have yanked all the music videos from youtube too, so you can't even take a full gander now (besides some brief snippets) if you were interested.

So you want to know the next big Bollywood film like "Krrish", "Don", and "Dhoom 2"....well the simple wiseass reply would be "Krrish 2", "Don 2", and "Dhoom 3", of which I believe "Krrish 2" would hit theaters first but that's a long way off. Seriously though, the one that would interest you the most is a movie called "Drona" and I think it'll hit screens in 2008. It's a superhero-type movie starring Jr. Bachchan and the Bachchan clan are really pushing for it to be even bigger than "Krrish". It's a big budget effort with tons of special effects and such.

As for some more recent ones, nothing I'm aware of that is akin to the films you mentioned. Some of the high-profile films coming out are Ram Gopal "I'll continue to waste my talent" Varma's remake of India's beloved classic "Sholay". The update is titled "Ki Aag" and I believe it debuts next week, but I'm not expecting much from it. Varma is also working on a sequel to his gangster flick "Sarkar". You might be interested in the upcoming Hrithik Roshan/Aishwarya Rai flick called "Jodhaa Akbar". It's hitting screens in October and is a period romance which could make for some great visuals in the costumes and such.

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali ("Devdas", "Black") has a big release romance coming in November called "Saawariya". I didn't care much for either "Devdas" or "Black" but I do concede that the guy can make some very pretty looking films, and "Saawariya" certainly continues that tradition. The gorgeous trailer can be seen here:
Saawariya - official site

Renowned choreographer and now director Farah Khan ("Main Hoon Na") also has a release for November entitled "Om Shanti Om". It stars Shah Rukh Khan and again seems romance-based, but the trailer looks fun:
Om Shanti Om - lame official site with trailer

And Madhuri Dixit returns five years after "Devdas" in what could be a slightly more arthouse effort from the Yash Raj camp. This one is also coming in November if I recall correctly. Not a whole lot there, but here is the teaser:
Aaja Nachle - teaser trailer

toddly6666

FLIXTIME, thanks, I'll think I'll wait for DRONA then....haha....The SAAWARIYA trailer looks pretty polished, but reminded me of the boring Hong Kong flick, PERHAPS LOVE. Where are all the people in that movie? The two lovers are walking around some nicely filmed city with no people. It's a movie, yes, but that's annoying and cliched...

I'm sure Farah Khan's flick will be entertaining, definitely a better filmmaker than most male Bollywood directors...

flixtime

Dharm (2007 – Hindi)
I made reference to this film earlier in this discussion (page 3, post 74). It is the first directorial feature from a woman by the name of Bhavna Talwar, and it played at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. This art-house effort is a powerful message-film which examines religion and caste in India through the focus on a central character of a Hindu priest. I’d be careful of reading any reviews beforehand as they may contain spoilers (though even average viewers would be able to see them coming). “Dharm” is the best Indian film of 2007! Actor Pankaj Kapur is solid in the central role of the priest. Supporting cast is generally respectable. Directing, cinematography, etc. is skilled. The runtime is short by Indian standards at 1 hour and 40 minutes. The DVD isn’t yet available, but “rental copies” should be on-hand at your local shops (English subs are present though sort of “rough draft” quality for now). Dung-for-brains! That’s what I think of the Indian selection committee which opted to select “Eklavya” as this year’s Oscar representative. Overlooking the excellent “Dor” from last year was a gross injustice so I suppose at least they are consistent in doing the same again this year. Honestly, what a bunch of buffoons.



Anyway, as to other matters…I regret the recent scarcity of my posting in not only this thread but the forum in general. I’ve watched some other Indian-related films of late and I hope to check back in soon with further thoughts on them. For now I’ll just say that I was rather unimpressed by the Telugu-language/Berlin award winner/Ebert 4-star review “Vanaja”. I’ve directed some amount of heat towards Indian film critics in the past, but you know what, sometimes Western film critics make me laugh as they can be just as clueless. Mira Nair’s English-language “The Namesake” – though it started out well – also failed to impress, moreso than “Vanaja”. The Sholay re-make “Ki Aag” is eminently skippable (for what it is worth, I don’t consider myself a huge fan of the original, but this re-make is truly a waste of film stock). Ram Gopal Varma should go crawl under a rock somewhere thereby granting mercy to film audiences everywhere (trailers I saw for a couple of other upcoming efforts from his factory seemed truly abysmal). India does a nice job in regard to films on the subject of terrorism and I was hoping director Pooja Bhatt’s “Dhokha” would be another winner…it isn’t (though it does have some pretty okay moments towards the end). Finally I also watched the well-received 2006 Telugu film “Godavari”…again another one that isn’t worth your time.

I’m eager to check out director Vishal (“Omkara”, “Maqbool”, “Makdee”) Bharadwaj’s 2005 effort “Chatri Chor” aka “The Blue Umbrella”. Though a couple of years old, the DVD was just recently released. I suppose I should also check out “Chak De India” just because it is a high-profile title, and “Cash” to see how bad it really is.

nitin77

oh you really dont want to find out how bad Cash really is

flixtime

Here are a couple of recently released smaller suspense/thriller-type films that seem to have generated some positive buzz (hopefully that aren't too closely related to any U.S. films):

"Manorama Six Feet Under" (2007)
Link to youtube teaser trailer
Seemingly sort of a neo-noirish-type detective film.

"Johnny Gaddaar" (2007)
Link to youtube trailer
This one is directed by Sriram Raghavan and is his directorial follow-up to the well-received "Ek Hasina Thi" (2004). The trailer looks like it could be a lot of pulpy fun. Dharmendra seems to have a signficant role in this one.

Anyway, as of now, they might be worth keeping an eye out for at your local shops (or at least tracking to see how further reviews stack up).

flixtime

Chatri Chor aka The Blue Umbrella (2005 – Hindi)
Although a 2005 film, this was just recently released on DVD. Director Vishal Bharadwaj has done four films and this was his second one after his family film debut “Makdee” and preceding his crime films “Maqbool” and “Omkara”. I’ve seen all four and I’m confident that this one – “The Blue Umbrella” – is his best. Note: I think the International/English title is far superior to the Hindi title. While I do have some minor nitpicks with it, “The Blue Umbrella” is a success and a very nice family film with a message. The story follows a young village girl and the local village moneylender as they feud over a coveted blue Japanese umbrella. Pankaj Kapur (who I just praised for his work in “Dharm”) is solid yet again with his effort in this film, and Shreya Sharma is devilishly charming as the young girl (though her IMDb entry seems to link to someone else, either that or she’s the youngest looking twenty-two year-old in film history). There are just maybe 2-3 songs but they are all quite good. The film also features some really pretty cinematography…aided too by its setting in the very scenic North Indian mountain state of Himachal Pradesh. The runtime is a short but satisfying ninety minutes. It’s a film that certainly warrants a viewing.

flixtime

Jab We Met (2007 – Bollywood (Hindi))
A small, feel-good, smile-on-your-face romantic comedy featuring familiar ingredients brought together quite well. The film has some minor flaws but overcomes them to provide a very satisfying viewing, so I’ll stretch things just a bit and label the film very good.

This is the sophomore directorial effort from director/writer Imtiaz Ali. I haven’t seen his earlier effort “Socha Na Tha” (2005) but I recall it had positive buzz and is generally in the same vein as “Jab We Met”; it is now set for a near-future viewing. The lead performers are Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor, and they are both outstanding in this film. The on-screen chemistry between this former real-life couple is top-notch. Shahid Kapur is actually the son of actor Pankaj Kapur (recently praised by me for his performances in both “Dharm” and “The Blue Umbrella”). I hadn’t been a fan of Shahid but this film won me over, and I’ll submit him as the future heir to Shah Rukh Khan’s throne atop Bollywood filmdom. As good as Shahid was in the film, Kareena Kapoor, in the more demanding sassy-girlish role, was even better. The supporting roles are solid as well. Apart from the fine lead performances, I thought the dialogues/writing were generally good and above the usual Bollywood fare (albeit this is from someone who doesn’t speak the language). I have some minor nitpicks with the post-intermission segment where the film sags slightly, and also at least a couple of the songs could have been trimmed. But the film does finish on a strong note and two of the songs in the film were very, very enjoyable. The comedy was amusing and I cared about the characters so all-in-all this one was a very pleasant surprise and one I can see re-visiting. Writer/director Imtiaz Ali is one to keep an eye on.

The DVD is not yet available but the pre-release rental version (with lousy English subs) is available at your local shops.

“Jab We Met” might not be the best film of 2007 but it could well end up being my favorite, and I’d venture that it could be considered a neo-classic of the Indian romance genre.

And here are youtube clips of the two songs I enjoyed. One comes late in the first half and the other serves as the closing scene/credits…in that sense it could be considered a spoiler, but from earlier description of the film it is obvious that all ends happily and boy-gets-girl so in that regard it shouldn’t deter you from watching the clip.

Jab We Met - song Nagada Nagada

Jab We Met - song Mauja Mauja
One of my favorites of recent times.



As for other matters, I again regret my lack of participation here but for better or worse I envision some clear sailing in the near future so look for more regular contributions from me. In the coming weeks I plan to view and comment on films including: "Chak De India", "Johnny Gaddaar", "Manorama Six Feet Under", "No Smoking", "Gandhi My Father", and of course "Om Shanti Om" and "Saawariya"....maybe "Bhool Bhulaiyaa" too but I've seen the original Malayalam-language version so I'm not in a big hurry to catch this re-make. I'm also giving the teeniest, tiniest bit of consideration to starting my own blog where, among other things, I can do my own "20 Indian films you must see" list and then get ripped on message boards across the 'net....but likely odds are I'll just keep blabbering on here at this forum.

And I'll close with some more youtube goodness of song clips from "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" (which I loved and wrote about earlier). Someone on youtube is a little sneaky and has managed to get them on youtube and away from the eyes of Yash Raj (who tend to frown on clips being made available). So here they are:

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom - catchy title song
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom - song Ticket to Hollywood - linked for Lara Dutta hotness
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom - song Kiss of Love - great number

nitin77

i'd be interested to hear views on Johnny Gaddar and No Smoking.

flixtime

First things first...I accept it, I'm a total loser for not jumping back into this discussion as I'd promised...so my apologies to nitin77 and all the other readers/contributors to this discussion.


So is anyone interested in Jodhaa Akbar which opens this coming Friday the 15th. It is one of the more anticipated releases for sure and stars Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. The director is Ashutosh Gowariker who has both the Oscar-nominated "Lagaan" and also "Swades" on his directorial resume.

Here is the IMDb link:
Jodhaa Akbar (2008) at IMDb.com

Here is the link to the official site with a long 4+ minute trailer (trailer can also be found on youtube):
Jodhaa Akbar - Official Site with trailer

Give a few seconds for the site to fully load and then you'll see a link to various trailers in the top right. Click on TRAILERS and then you'll see assorted choices with the last one "first theatrical trailer" likely being where you want to start (English-subs are offered as an option).

The trailer is visually impressive...epic feel...with a grand fortress/palace...costuming...colors...elephants, etc. A lot of the visual cues in regard to the action seem to follow closely the path laid out by recent fare such as "Troy", "Alexander", "Kingdom of Heaven", etc. I'm having some doubts if the performers can really bring their characters to life or if the movie will be simply of eye-candy appeal. Also, while it looks solid in the trailer, I wonder if the action scenes will play out to the level of recent Hollywood fare.

I'm intrigued enough that I might make the trip out to the theater to catch "Jodhaa Akbar" on the big screen.



And while I'm at, and since toddly6666 likes animated films (and of this one I'm sure he is aware), here is a link to one of the big upcoming animated films from India. It stars Rajnikanth and is called Sultan the Warrior. It will be made available in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and English and is anticipated for 2009. The music is by A.R. Rahman.

Sultan the Warrior - Official site with trailer

And a youtube link with an earlier teaser:
shorter Sultan the Warrior trailer

toddly6666

Flixtime, hey...you psyched for that new Shankar film?

Thanks for the animated movie update - never head of it, but looking forward to it now. It stars the same dude in this new Shankar film as well...

And Jodhaa Akbar looks pretty good as well - it looks like a cross between Troy and Curse of the Golden Flower. I'm curious how they are going to film Hrithik's double thumb. I love watching how directors deal with filming that double-thumbed hand...

The only negative about Bollywood movies getting better is that there is going to be a longer wait for the DVD release (instead of 3 weeks after theatrical release) due to Hollywood buying the decent ones up...

flixtime

Just got back from the first showing of "Jodhaa Akbar" and wanted to quickly chime in with my thumbs up! I'm glad I supported this by making the trip to the theater. The runtime is mammoth at 3 hours and 33 minutes, and that doesn't include the intermission offered at my showing (that was maybe 15 minutes, and I was certainly grateful for the opportunity to stretch a bit). After sitting for so long, the last thing I want to do is sit here some more to type about the film, so I'll reserve that for a little later. For those who might go, don't expect a war film, it is more royal romance with added royal court intrigue.

flixtime

Om Shanti Om (2007 - Bollywood (Hindi))
Farah Khan's sophomore directorial effort following "Main Hoon Na" (2004). This is a romantic/comedy fantasy with a pinch of darkness, the supernatural, and very light caper elements. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, newcomer model-turned-actress Deepika Padukone, and Arjun Rampal....their performances were quite respectable and Deepika Padukone turned in a strong debut. The runtime is approximately 2 hours 45 minutes. All-in-all I found this film to be both satisfying and enjoyable...it might be fluff entertainment...but it succeeds. While it would help to be fairly well-versed in Bollywood old and new, the film could still be enjoyed by less experienced viewers. Director Farah Khan constructs a loving homage to Bollywood past and present, while also showing a sense of humor in poking fun at the industry and I admired the way they melded both elements...good to see that Bollywood doesn't have its head in the sand and can laugh at themselves too. I thought a couple of the songs fell flat, but there are at least three very solid song-and-dance efforts including the catchy title song in the middle that goes on for nearly eight minutes and features cameos from a wealth of Bollywood stars. The film does have at least a couple of flat spots besides the aforementioned couple of songs that didn't score too well with me, but nothing that put me off to any measurable degree. Though it lacks the momentum and stronger emotional hooks of something like "Jab We Met", "Om Shanti Om" built upon a long-live Bollywood foundation still earns a thumbs up from me and it would land in my Top 10 for 2007.

Chak De! India (2007 - Bollywood (Hindi))
Actually I watched this a fair while back so I can go into much detail. I had avoided it for some time, but upon viewing I see that was a mistake on my part. It was a very pleasant surprise. While basically your typical stirring underdog sports movie...this time revolving around the tale of the girls' national field hockey team, the film is not without some measure of substance. I liked how they showed how each state in India is at times almost its own country (with its own cultural specifics) without thought of striving for the national good and unity. Shah Rukh Khan performs as you might expect in the lead role of the coach. The real praise though goes to the young female cast who make up the team...many of whom seem to be newcomers to the industry. There performances were quite good with Shilpa Shukla I believe showing great potential. All said, the young ladies in this film soared bright in comparison to the usual debut efforts of more glamorous Bollywood starlets. The director here is Shimit Amin and like the previous film above, this is also a sophomore directorial effort following on his acclaimed 2004 Nana Patekar-starring crimer "Ab Tak Chhappan". I've got two hands, so "Chak De! India" also earns a thumbs up and it too would rank in my Top 10 list for Indian cinema 2007.


And a couple of quick hits that I watched a while ago but neglected to comment upon....Manorama Six Feet Under gets a thumbs down as does Gandhi My Father. Johnny Gaddaar was watchable enough but nothing that got me too excited, it certainly didn't live up to the hype it had received in many corners....and it has a fatal flaw where they show the end of the movie at the beginning and then flashback to tell the tale...it would have faired far, far, far better if it had just been a chronological telling.

No Smoking, I wish I had been much more timely in writing about (while it was fresh in my mind). I can't label it a success, but I would comfortably recommend it for viewing nonetheless. There is some fine filmmaking on display, especially in the first half of the film. Ultimately it greatly overreached with a kitchen sink approach of adding just too much experimental quirkiness, though I do admire it for the shoot for the stars approach. The film at times reminds one of David Fincher's "The Game", but this is still a unique creation. However, a fair bit of the oddness fails and some is just plain insultingly crude...some stuff about Hitler and gas chambers and such if I recall correctly. Despite missteps I recall being fairly enthralled by most of the first half, but I very, very quickly lost patience and the film overstayed its welcome in the latter half. But still, I'd not dissuade anyone from checking it out for themselves...it was an interesting non-success...and depending on the availability of spots in my top 10, I wouldn't be averse to a little charity and sliding it into that last spot...to acknowledge its boldness in comparison to the usual Hindi fare.

flixtime

Taare Zameen Par (2007 - Bollywood (Hindi))
I like Aamir Khan, and I root for him as he seems a bit of a lone-wolf maverick in comparison to other Bollywood A-listers. This film is his directorial debut, and in the post-intermission portion he also appears as the co-lead actor. This work seems to have struck a chord with both Indian film critics and Indian audiences who have seen it as the reviews seem to be almost universally of high-praise. As for me, I found this effort to be incredibly heartfelt...but on the final scorecard it is a grand disappointment. This is a tale of a largely ignored dyslexic child whose salvation is brought about by a newly arrived sensitive teacher (played by Aamir Khan). Newcomer Darsheel Safary plays the child and is fine in the role (his left-of-center physical appearance also helps his performance succeed). Aamir Khan turns in a warm and sincere performance during the post-intermission segment, and really the film for me only comes to life in his scenes. The best performance might have been turned in in a small role by Tanay Chheda (if he is the young fellow who plays the part of the smart classmate with crutches). The runtime on the film is 2 hours and 36 minutes, unfortunately the pre-intermission segment (lasting about 70 minutes) is dull and repetive. As a viewer I got the gist of our lead child's predicament quite quickly, and I certainly didn't need the point dwelled upon over seventy minutes by a repeating and rather uneventful cycle of events...there is also an overuse of music in the film and again these scenes tend to be repetitive telling us what we already know. Frankly speaking, I might even recommend you watch the film by skipping the pre-intermission segment entirely and starting after that...I assure you that nothing will be lost as you are again given all the information you need to know in the second half too. It really is odd that you could skip the entire first segment and not miss a beat, but that truly is the case. The post-intermission kickstarts with a bang thanks to a terrific song-and-dance number featuring the new teacher and his students. After that though, the remainder of the film is largely uneven with the good material still being in the minority. I was not impressed by Khan's turn as a director, and generally I thought his treatment of the material was a bit too serious and artsy. Given the subject matter of the film I was disappointed to find myself so unmoved by the proceedings. I admire Aamir Khan for what he set out to do with this film, but ultimately it just isn't good, even disposing of the first segment you are still left with a mediocre effort...a sad thumbs down (going in I thought for sure this would have scored well enough to land in my 2007 Top 10).


Next up for viewing will be "Dus Kahaniyaan" (2007) - a film consisting of ten short stories. And some time down the road "Halla Bol" (2008) starring Ajay Devgan and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi ("The Legend of Bhagat Singh", "Khakee", etc.).

flixtime

Saawariya (2007- Bollywood (Hindi))
This was one of the more anticipated releases of last year and marks the latest directorial effort from Sanjay Leela Bhansali (“Black” (which had a strong first half but suffered from actress Rani Mukherjee getting stuck in Charlie Chaplin mode…for which director Bhansali deserves the blame), “Devdas” (which I thought was quite poor aside from the gaudy visuals and some of the song-and-dance), etc.). It also marks Sony Pictures’ first foray into Bollywood film production as they seek to grab some cash out of the lucrative Bollywood market. The source material for this tale is Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s story “White Nights” which I expect has seen a fair share of film adaptations, though I can claim familiarity with only director Luchino Visconti’s “Le Notti Bianche” (1957) (a film which I did not connect with as much as most others it seems). “Saawariya” is also of note in that it features the film debuts of a couple of progeny from Bollywood royalty. The lead actor is Ranbir Kapoor and his bloodline pretty much goes back to the birth of Bollywood; he is the great grandson of Prithviraj Kapoor and the grandson of Raj Kapoor…or for newbies, he is a cousin of Kareena and Karisma Kapoor…so to say that Bollywood is in his blood would be a grand understatement. The lead actress is Sonam Kapoor (they are not related to each other), and she is the daughter of veteran Bollywood leading man Anil Kapoor. Okay then, deep breath, that was a lot of background information.

As to the film…well, I’ll be charitable and call it sub-par…certainly a great disappointment for me. It really is a bit of a clunker. For those who might recall the trailer (linked in an earlier post), it does feature eye-candy in the form of pretty visuals…though the same can be said of director Bhansali’s “Black” and “Devdas”. Still the pretty set design is rather one-note and fails to sustain interest for very long. The film readily admits its otherworldly, fantasy setting…which comes in the form of a studio-bound set that feels – I presume close to the original written story – very early 1900’s Europe, but in an artificial, stagey, blue-hued way…think something out of the most recent version of “Moulin Rouge” maybe.

Aside from the nice-looking set design, the film delivers virtually nothing else of merit. Ranbir Kapoor is rather dull and innocuous, and did not exhibit much screen presence. Likewise, actress Sonam Kapoor failed to impress, there were fleeting moments of screen presence but her acting abilities fell shy of the not-too-hard to match performance of her co-lead. Besides not impressing with their performances, the two together exhibited zero in the category of romantic chemistry. Salman Khan has a brief supporting role and Rani Mukherjee a more significant supporting role, and they basically deliver what you might expect of them…they are there, but that is about it. Also in a strong supporting role as an elderly landlady is actress Zohra Seghal and a very early scene between her and Ranbir Kapoor is the most heartfelt of the entire film. Other than that, the film was heartless, soulless, entirely uninvolving and unmoving. At times too, watching this film felt more like watching a filmed stageplay or Broadway show, and this resulted in making me as a viewer feel cold and detached from the proceedings.

The film is plentiful in the music department and also dance, but none of it impacted me to a measurable degree…and that really is odd as even the worst Indian films tend to deliver some satisfaction in at least one song and/or dance number which pleases the viewer.

I’m not recalling the runtime at this moment but it was a fair bit over two hours if I had to guess… unfortunately I’d pretty much had my fill of things with maybe a half hour still to go before the final credits rolled. “Saawariya” earns a decided thumbs down from me…watch any ten minute segment for the pretty sets, aside from that there is very little of value…it was a chore to sit through.


Dus Kahaniyaan (2007 – Bollywood – (Hindi))
Ten short stories, half of which are delivered by director and sometimes rip-off artist Sanjay Gupta (“Zinda” (Indian version of “OldBoy”), “Musafir” (Indian version of “U Turn”), “Kaante” (“Reservoir Dogs”)). Another five directors deliver one segment each. The runtime is 1 hour and 54 minutes with basically each story lasting ten minutes or just a little more…throw in time for the opening credits and a music video of the title song over the closing credits, and there you have it. As to the film, it was quite okay and certainly watchable…I found it reasonably entertaining and enjoyable enough. The ten stories are standalones but there is, in general, a somewhat slightly dark core running through most of the works…a number are sort of morality tales which also encompass issues such as marital infidelity, pleas to ending Hindu-Muslim clashes, AIDS, etc. A couple of the tales feature a slight hint of the supernatural. Of the ten stories, one I found really impressive was the third one “Pooranmashi”…from the first frame it grabbed me and it was high-quality filmmaking…the director was Meghna Gulzar. The “Lovedale” segment was the one which really failed to impress. The other eight varied but all were watchable. Actor Nana Patekar features in the ninth tale which was quite touching...though the twist was easy to see coming. Actor Sanjay Dutt (who also co-produced) features along with Sunil Shetty in the final short story which is a gangster tale called “Rise and Fall”…this one was directed by director Gupta and it is basically a short film version of the 2004 Hong Kong crimer “Jiang Hu” which starred Andy Lau. All-in-all, I’d label this collection of short stories a technical success in that they looked well-done for the most part and in general all the performances were commendable. The collection also felt, in a way, fresh and contemporary…like a look at a more real India as compared to the sometimes very artificial, escapist fare in mainstream Bollywood. Artistically, the stories were interesting but not really profound or unique, but they were watchable and, for the most part, not without merit. I don’t think I’d label “Dus Kahaniyaan” as Top 10 material, but in the end, it was certainly at least average-to-good so I’d score it a thumbs up and recommend it for viewing.



So that’s all for this time….another film - besides “Halla Bol” which I mentioned in my previous post - which I have on my to-watch schedule is Anil Kapoor’s latest, the terrorist-themed “Black & White” (2008), directed by Subhash Ghai (back in the director’s chair for the first-time since “Kisna” (2005)).

nitin77

cheers, nice descriptions and reviews of movies I was half interested in.

flixtime

Race (2008 - Bollywood (Hindi))
This film stars Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Anil Kapoor, Sameera Reddy, and in a guest role the re-emergence of old-time comic relief actor Johnny Lever.

For a summation of the movie, I offer the following...Bollywood frolics in tourist/white South Africa and showcases exactly why they could be considered the least competent filmmakers in all of world cinema.

A rough estimate would put the number of films I've watched so far this year at eighty...."Race" is the worst by far, not only that, it is one of the most unbearable films I've elected to sit through in a very long time. I should have my head examined...the trailer looked awful yet I still subjected myself to this...I had way more than my fill of this one as early as the ten minute mark (but suffered through the entire two and a half hour plus runtime, just to be dead certain before warning you guys off this clunker).

I thought that something like "Dhoom 2" was a stinker, but when compared to "Race", "Dhoom 2" is an outright masterpiece. "Race" is a disgrace on every level imaginable...and some you might not have imagined (which I'll get to at the end of this post); it is the type of film that makes me want to bypass Indian cinema for the next six months (which I of course won't do, but that is the feeling it elicits). Please run far, far away from anyone who might recommend this film to you.


Oh yeah, there was one redeeming aspect to "Race" in the form of a very pleasing romantic ballad as one of the songs in the movie, here is the youtube link to the song "Pehli Nazar Mein":
India 2008 - Pehli Nazar Mein song at youtube

The curiosity being due to the following youtube link:
Korea 2005 - Sarang hae yo song at youtube, from 2005 KBS TV show DELIGHTFUL GIRL CHOON-HYANG

So...anyone notice any similarities between the two songs...as in, pretty much everything!

And see how well they meld together in the following youtube video which alternates/intercuts between the (rip-off?) Indian and original Korean version:
Youtube fusion of the Indian and Korean versions


Anyway, I do like the song, and am a little curious now in regard to viewing the Korean TV show from which it originated (and the show is in no way related to the film "Race"...thankfully). And as luck would have it, and as best I can tell, the TV show is coming to DVD soon under the title "Sassy Girl, Chun-hyang" (see the main page at dvdfromkorea).

iskandam

I saw RACE last week at the INOX in Pune. This was the first time I've ever seen a Bollywood movie in a theatre in India with Indian audience. They seem to dug the movie with enthusiastic applause everytime a major star makes their first appearance. Having absolutely zero skills in Hindi and all the plot twists and turns certainly reduced my enjoyment of the film, but it's not bad for what it is. Glossy production value, incredible eye candy (Katrina and Sameera are lush), and very catchy song and dance sequences saved the movie for me.

I'd watch it again but only for the musical numbers

flixtime

Sainikudu (2006 – Telugu)
Big-budget, old-fashioned, masala actioner starring "Superstar" Mahesh Babu…all these South Indian actors should conduct a big rumble, with proceeds donated to charity, and determine who truly is the "Superstar". With a runtime of 2 hours and 47 minutes, I found the movie not unpleasant. I think this is the third film of Mahesh Babu's which I have seen and I probably liked it the best as it was more evenly entertaining than "Pokiri" and "Athadu". Still I’m not too keen on Mahesh Babu; he isn’t much of an actor and lacks screen charisma, coming off as dull and one-note. Reigning Telugu box-office champs NTR Jr. and Allu Arjun are much more impressive to me. The storyline is the tired South Indian plot of a righteous individual going up against an evil man in power, in this case Mahesh Babu is a college student going up against a corrupt politician. The villain is played by regular Hindi-film actor Irfan Khan ("The Darjeeling Limited", "The Namesake"); he turns in an on-par performance. Telugu regular Prakash Raj is in a supporting role; this guy seems to be in every Telugu film and some Tamil too. Telugu/Tamil actress Trisha is the heroine…who – as was the case here - I generally find tolerable at best. As I understand, this film was highly-anticipated but ultimately received with disappointment. The good part is that the budget does appear on screen, with some very grand scenes, big crowd scenes, CGI-enhanced action and the like. The action was handled by "I-worship-The-Matrix" Peter Hein ("Anniyan", "Sivaji")…so you know what to expect, lots of wirework, editing effects, and such. By Telugu film standards, I found the action acceptable with the opening and closing action setpieces being highlights, along with an action setpiece in the middle of the film. The song and dance was mostly just okay, with maybe only one better than average number…neither here nor there. I can't really say I was impressed by anything besides some of the general grandeur of the film, but still – coming in with no real expectations - I found it an okay watch.

flixtime

Don (2007 – Telugu)
To start, this film has nothing to do with the classic (or its remake) Bollywood film "Don". This Telugu movie is another masala actioner and stars Nagarjuna (a long-time and much beloved leading man of Telugu cinema). The director is Lawrence Raghavendra, he also co-stars prominently (and too is credited with the screenplay). Lawrence Raghavendra is primarily known for his work as a choreographer, and in fact handled choreography for the recent Tamil sensation "Sivaji". The story centers on the clash between a Telugu (state of Andhra Pradesh) underworld don versus a Mumbai-based don seeking to take criminal control over the South Indian state. Actor Nagarjuna is of course the loved-by-the-masses Telugu don, while professional male model (and ex-Lara Dutta boyfriend (lucky bastard)) Kelly Dorji shines as the formidable villain. The romance and comedy tracks while just okay, are kept to a minimum (as much as is possible in a film of this type), and are very well-integrated into the main storyline; they don't take away from the momentum of the main don vs. don plotline. The song and dance is just okay, though I think two of the romantic track songs were rather weak and old-fashioned (and could have been snipped). The action scenes are the usual "we-love-The-Matrix" style. The female lead is Anushka, and while she lacks a certain on-screen sparkle, she is otherwise acceptable. Now it might sound like I'm rather lukewarm on this movie, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. The runtime is 2 hours and 24 minutes and it moves at a rather nice pace. Ultimately, it is subjective, but the storyline (while nothing new) was effective in capturing my attention and the film always felt as if it was being propelled forward. And for this type of film, it was somewhat more grim than the norm. If a couple of things (better songs, less bland female lead) would have been tweaked just a bit, I would have considered it a dark horse for top ten material (of the guilty pleasure variety). I liked it better than the previously covered "Sainikudu", and, as opposed to most other recently covered Telugu films in this thread, it wouldn't cause me discomfort to give "Don" a tag of recommended, it isn't essential or anything, but it was entertaining and you could do much worse when it comes to this type of film.

Here are a couple of youtube clips for two of the early action scenes (the second clip need only be watched for the first 3:40 as the fight ends after that):
DON action scene featuring lead hero Nagarjuna
DON action scene featuring villain Kelly Dorji (guy in white)

flixtime

And the off-chance, there are a few who might bookmark this thread and not read the remainder of the forum on a regular basis:

Sivaji (2007 - Tamil)
I've watched this one and am talking about it with toddly6666 in the following thread:
toddly's SIVAJI DVD review thread


And before I go, I keep forgetting to mention that I would give an easy thumbs up to the India/UK/Germany co-production - Prapancha Pash aka A Throw of Dice (1929). It's apparently one of only about a dozen Indian silent films still in existence. I picked up the BFI R2 DVD, there is also a German DVD, and Kino is releasing it to R1 DVD this Summer. You can find clips on youtube...search "throw of dice".

toddly6666

Flixtime, I also picked up also CASH, which I couldn't even finish because of that main nerdy tool pretty boy actor in the airplane. I picked up Dhoom, which was surprisingly entertaining, and I picked up the classic Mughal-E-Azam, which was remastered in color. I haven't watched that yet. Is Mughal-E-Azam considered the most famous classic bollywood film?

Can you recommend me an old school classic fantasy/fairytale-type Bollywood film, like did India ever do a Thief of Bagdad, Wizard of Oz type film?

flixtime

Hey toddly, in regard to CASH, I mentioned my interest in seeing it sometime back in this thread. Our fellow masochist in this thread - nitin77 - basically said "you don't want to know how bad CASH is". That was good enough for me to nuke it from my radar entirely. Which is likely the reason why I still had remaining fortitude to subject myself to RACE.

I like DHOOM - in the guilty pleasure sense - much better than DHOOM 2.

MUGHAL-E-AZAM - yeah it is pretty much considered the king of Indian cinema. Though depending on one's definition of classic, it might be argued that SHOLAY holds that title. The original MUGHAL-E-AZAM was filmed mostly in black-and-white with some smaller segments in color. I know hardline cinephile types hate colorization. But I thought MUGHAL-E-AZAM worked well in its colorized form. I can see why the film was so revered, but I would argue it doesn't meet the standard of greatness when judged in the present.

As far as your inquiry in regard to old-school fantasy type films. I expect they are out there, likely stories based on Hindu mythological texts (Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc.). Outside of that, there is a director Homi Wadia who did a couple of films with actor Mahipal (from the classic NAVRANG). Wadia's ALADDIN AUR JADUI CHIRAG (1952) and ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES (1954) might interest you. I've seen both but it was a long while back so I don't recall the exact nature of the film's content, meaning how much of that sort of special-effects/fantasy type material it might have which would interest you. Also actor Dharmendra (dad of the Deol's) from SHOLAY did a film ALIBABA AUR 40 CHOR (1980), but again I don't recall specifics whereby I could say with certainty it has what you are looking for.

Actually I'd really like to explore more classic Indian cinema but my local shop doesn't have good inventory of those for rental, which means I'd have to spend - though very inexpensive - for the DVDs. Problem is India is the only country which can't seem to figure out how to make DVDs. As you know, I import films from everywhere, and India is the only one which churns out such problematic DVDs. They even totally botched a high-profile new release like OM SHANTI OM. Thankfully for new films I have rental options. And for old films India treats them like junk, even when released it is sometimes a cut version or some work of absolute idiocy like taking an OAR fullscreen classic film and cutting of the top and bottom to make it look widescreen (see NAYA DAUR as an example).