What makes me Bolly-happy

[dangermousie]

Well, seeing that I did a Bollywood rant earlier, it's only fair to do a counterbalance "I am happy" post.

So, here (in no order) are the 10 things that have me excited about Bollywood:

1. Yagna: It's coming out next year, and I am already counting the days. It's a period movie, it's set in Rajasthan, and it's described as a "Shakesperean family drama." This alone would get me excited, but it is also done by VVC who did Parineeta and stars Amitabh Bachchan as a royal bodyguard, plus the cast of Parineeta. Sunjay Dutt is a police inspector, and Saif Ali Khan is a prince who returns home on his mother's death (which, considering that Saif is a RL prince amuses me to no end). And it also has Vidya Balan and Raima Sen. I have no idea who they are playing, but if VVC has any brains, he'd pair Saif and Vidya again.



2. Kajol is coming back! Her last movie was in 2001 but she will have another one next year, confirmed for August!!!! And this means she could potentially, in the future, make a movie with SRK!

3. Abhishek Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan in one movie (Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna). I'll explode in the theater.

4. A movie starring a Bollywood actor (Salman Khan) is going to hit mainstream US theaters in January (Marigold.) The thought of being able to watch Prem in a Loew's or AMC is mind-boggling.

5. Saif Ali Khan is picking the best projects lately: Salaam Namaste, Yagna, that arthouse movie with Dimple whose name escapes me. Yay!

6. Sequel to Munnabhai! Yay!

7. I have discovered new actors I like: Priyanka Chopra and John Abraham. Which means more movies for me.

8. And speaking of John Abraham. Water is finally releasing!!!!! And if the summary is anything to go by will have enough social issues and angst to keep me very very happy!

9. Shahrukh Khan. Because he always makes me happy about Bollywood. And he has at least three movies in the pipeline.

10. Humko Tumse Pyar Hai is finally releasing this year! I want my recovered-eyesight-but-thinking-tue-love-is-dead angst.

Comments

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

You'd be proud of me. I put a Bollywood movie in my rental queue at Netflix and I'm actually sort of looking forward to it.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

Wow, netflix has non-BW movies, too? LOL, I never noticed that :D

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Wow *is suitably impressed*

Which one?

btw, love the icons!

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm tricked out in Equilibrium and Bale right now.

I rented Kaal. Seemed suspenseful. Hard to tell from just reading a blurb, but it looked pretty good.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh My God. No, nononononononononoononooooo!

This is by consensus on the board I belong to, one of the worst movies of this/last year. Seriously, stay away unless you want MST3K type entertainment!

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

It's deceptively slick looking if that's the case. I just struggle to find any Bollywood entertainment that strikes my fancy. I have nothing against foreign films, seeing as I'm a rabid anime fan and one of my favorite movies is French while another one is Japanese.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

You might like Karam It has a lot of action but it's also visually very pretty and plot-twisty. It' actually one of my faves. It's pretty violent (especially for Bollywood) but I know that doesn't bother you.

Other actiony type movies are Dus (I haven't seen, but supposed to be OK) and Dhoom, which is a bit derivative, but slick.

If you tell me what kind you like (I assume not true love dancing in Switzerland, I might be able to recommend some :))

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

P.S. Yuva might also be up your alley. It's a really good movie that has a distinctive visual look and deals with political violence.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Also (yes, I am lame, with a memory like a sieve):

Ek Hasina Thi and Company both of which are gritty and twisty.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

I'm just not a dancin' and singin' kinda girl. I'm a sucker for a good fight scene though (which is why I lean towards Japanese/Chinese movies as they have the corner market on all that while French movies have the corner market on the saber fighting). I like a little suspense and an upbeat outcome.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Karam, EHT and Company both have songs only in voice over, except for the annoying opening credits song in both Company and Karam which you can just skip.

But if you like upbeat outcome, those three movies are NOT the way to go :)

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

See, that's the problem. Bollywood movies just have a different mindset than the movies I'm used to watching. Japanese movies can be very violent but still have pleasant endings since fighting is more of an art form there than in other countries. I'm at a loss.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

India seems to prefer a gritty in your face kind of violence. You can have the hero slaughtering a whole town and still walk out as the glorious hero in the end. But most of these type of action movies have songs.

Karam is an example of slick, stylish violence though, and therefore rather untypical for Indian movies.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

That makes it pretty hard. In BW "no songs" is usually a sign for "this is deep and serious". So most I can think of are either not upbeat or not suspenseful. :)

Some that come to my mind though (for no dancing 'n singing):

- Black: Fairly uplifting, but not suspenseful
- My Brother Nikhil: Guy gets diagnosed with Aids in India in 1980s. The whole town *freaks* because they are uninformed. Very sweet family story, but naturally no happy ending.
- Sarkar: Crime/The Godfather type of story

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Okay, so forget the no singing stipulation. I can get around that. I like Moulin Rouge. Let's go for stylish and well choreographed action scenes. Is that feasible?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The newer movies have decent action scenes (Dus, Karam, Dhoom). As I said, I recommend Karam really highly, but it doesn't have a happy ending. It rather reminds me of a film noire...

[thelana.livejournal.com]

Aww, they are still learning that part :)

Try Dhoom, which has a policeman (hot Abhishek Bachchan) hunting down a motercycle gang (lead by hot John Abrahams). As far as I can remember there was no embarassing looking action in there and the soundtrack is pretty good. Khakee is a movie about a group of policemen trying to escort a master criminal. But it's a pretty smart story for BW standars. There is also Mission Kashmir, which has a bunch of action (and some embarassing dancing), but the ground story is a father being pitted against a song for ideological reasons. Happy ending though. Very solid action.

Yuva has a rather famous big fight scene near the end. It's a meaningful story with an uplifting ending. It's about politicians and corruptions and young more idealistic politicians making their way up. Dus has stylish action, but very weak plot.

I liked Gangajaal, which had a more realistic looking fight style. But it has a pretty tight corruption storyline about a new police officer taking over a remote police district and slowly seeping out the rotten parts. I also liked Deewar which had a fun "Running with Camels" action scene.

I'd go for Karam (typical stylish professional hit man want to leave the business story) and Dhoom first, based on your description. Dhoom was the "hip" movie last year this time around.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

What she said :)

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

I think I nearly rented Khakee but couldn't decide whether I should or not.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

Most people think that it's excellent. But it's more along the lines police thriller (naturally with action elements, too) than action movie.

BTW, in case you like serial killer movies, Samay is a great one. A tough policewoman hunts a Se7en type of serial killer. More brain action rather than actual action.

Kaante is a mix between Reservoir Dogs and Usual Suspects (and with "mix" I mean that it rips off scenes from both movies). Musafir is a rip off of U-Turn with a happier ending. Both do "stylish", but both have their lenghts compared to their, well, smarter originals.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

It *is* extremely terrible, filled with bad acting and, well, boredom. Get rid of it if you still can!

If you like ghost stories, rather go for Bhoot, which is a typical creepy appartement horror movie. I didn't care for it, but it is miles and miles above Kaal.

The only thing entertaining about Kaal is how unscary it actually is (so it might still be good for inviting over some friends and poking fun at it).

[katranna.livejournal.com]

Call me this evening, as I am all alone in New Jersey, and I'll be all sad this evening.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

After 9?

[wasabi-girl1.livejournal.com]

3. Abhishek Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan in one movie (Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna). I'll explode in the theater.

Hahaha, that's how I felt when I saw K3G! :D

Man, KJo is the greatest for casting coups! ^_^

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

:)

[rajni.livejournal.com]

And this means she could potentially, in the future, make a movie with SRK! That would be a DREAM.

And Water! And HTPH! And KANK! Yaynesss.

Oh wow, I had no idea about the plot of Yagna! Sounds really interesting. I just thought they were dressing AB up like that for fun. Hahaha, kidding.