Bollywood smorgasbord: Being Cyrus, Love Love Love and Bunty aur Babli

Yes, another Bollywood post. My apologies to everyone who couldn't care less, but Veronica Mars and BSG are both on a break :)

I have a movie to recommend: Being Cyrus. It's an Indian movie, but it's not Bollywood. It's under an hour and a half, it has no songs, and if you want sweetness and light, look elsewhere. The characters in this one are beyond fucked up. And it's entirely in English. It centers around a drifter (played by my favorite Saif Ali Khan, looking hotter than he's ever looked IMO) and his interactions with a wealthy Parsi family in the course of a year. To say more would be to spoil it. I did a picspam of it here My spoilery review is behind the cut. ( Being Cyrus )

On the other end of the spectrum is the atrocious Love Love Love, a 1980s movie. If any movie had the power to stop my Aamir obsession cold, it would be it.

( Wherein I bash )

And because no Bolly post can be complete without picspam, today's picspam is of Bunty aur Babli, a hilarious charming comedy about a couple of crooks who creat complex scams, fall in love, and try to outwit one stubborn police officer. It's one of my favorit movies from last year, and it stars Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherji (and boy do they steam up the screen). I've had posts and picspam on it here and here and here

( Bunty aur Bablie picspam )

Bollywood smorgasbord: Being Cyrus, Love Love Love and Bunty aur Babli

Yes, another Bollywood post. My apologies to everyone who couldn't care less, but Veronica Mars and BSG are both on a break :)

I have a movie to recommend: Being Cyrus. It's an Indian movie, but it's not Bollywood. It's under an hour and a half, it has no songs, and if you want sweetness and light, look elsewhere. The characters in this one are beyond fucked up. And it's entirely in English. It centers around a drifter (played by my favorite Saif Ali Khan, looking hotter than he's ever looked IMO) and his interactions with a wealthy Parsi family in the course of a year. To say more would be to spoil it. I did a picspam of it here My spoilery review is behind the cut. ( Being Cyrus )

On the other end of the spectrum is the atrocious Love Love Love, a 1980s movie. If any movie had the power to stop my Aamir obsession cold, it would be it.

( Wherein I bash )

And because no Bolly post can be complete without picspam, today's picspam is of Bunty aur Babli, a hilarious charming comedy about a couple of crooks who creat complex scams, fall in love, and try to outwit one stubborn police officer. It's one of my favorit movies from last year, and it stars Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherji (and boy do they steam up the screen). I've had posts and picspam on it here and here and here

( Bunty aur Bablie picspam )

Bollywood smorgasbord: Being Cyrus, Love Love Love and Bunty aur Babli

Yes, another Bollywood post. My apologies to everyone who couldn't care less, but Veronica Mars and BSG are both on a break :)

I have a movie to recommend: Being Cyrus. It's an Indian movie, but it's not Bollywood. It's under an hour and a half, it has no songs, and if you want sweetness and light, look elsewhere. The characters in this one are beyond fucked up. And it's entirely in English. It centers around a drifter (played by my favorite Saif Ali Khan, looking hotter than he's ever looked IMO) and his interactions with a wealthy Parsi family in the course of a year. To say more would be to spoil it. I did a picspam of it here My spoilery review is behind the cut. ( Being Cyrus )

On the other end of the spectrum is the atrocious Love Love Love, a 1980s movie. If any movie had the power to stop my Aamir obsession cold, it would be it.

( Wherein I bash )

And because no Bolly post can be complete without picspam, today's picspam is of Bunty aur Babli, a hilarious charming comedy about a couple of crooks who creat complex scams, fall in love, and try to outwit one stubborn police officer. It's one of my favorit movies from last year, and it stars Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherji (and boy do they steam up the screen). I've had posts and picspam on it here and here and here

( Bunty aur Bablie picspam )

Bollywood's gender and ethnic roles (aka, white girls drool over Bolly hunks) and a bit of Superman

This morning, a thirteen year old, after making eye contact told me "I want you to be my girlfriend. Won't have it any other way." I am afraid I couldn't help but crack up as I told him that my husband might object. If he was taller, MUCH older and this was Bollywood, I'd imagine with such an approach he'd go far. But still, considering I could have been the sprog's mother if I started REALLY early, it was kinda flattering and amusing at the same time.

My BSG Baltar/Six fic has hit a writer's block the size of South America. Sigh...

And completely unrelated, I've been thinking about the late trend in Bollywood movies of white women falling for Bollywood heroes, and what it says about cultural expectations.

Bollywood often reminds me of old, classic-era Hollywood. The same love for musicals and outsized melodrama, the same care for glamor, the same reliance on star mystique and power to carry movies, more than any other element of the film. And this is borne out yet again in their approach to interracial relationships. You know, how in old Hollywood movies, this tragic native girl would fall in love with the white hero? Or an exotic Asian woman would love an American? And these stories seldom ended well, with the woman 'other' being either unrequited or too different to fit in, or dying. Because that story couldn't have a happy ending? And how when movies got more progressive in the 1950s, you'd have a movie like Sayonara, where the interracial couple would overcome obstacles and be together. But even in those movies, it's always a man who is white and a woman who is other.

I think it ties in to the patriarchal nature of the culture, any culture really. Women are percieved as vessels of culture, so a woman of other culture falling for you is an indirect proof of the superiority of your culture over hers. And it's proof of the superiority of your men over those of the other race. OTOH, if it's your women going for other culture the reverse is true and is a humiliation and pollution.

Well, it's a fascinating mirror experience to watch Bollywood's approach. I am sure if some white supremacist saw these, he would probably be clutching his head in horror and pulling out his hair.

Because Bollywood has recently been making a variety of movies where white women fall in love with Indian men. And what a fascinating study they are. Here is a sampling (as I cannot claim I've seen every one ever made). I find it very interesting how those portrayals progress, in a very short term, from the pining and unwanted white girl, to Bollywood staple of star-crossed obstacles to something that is viewed matter of factly as any other relationship might be.

( Rather long and case-studyish )

And because it's bad to have nothing but Bollywood, I bring you pics from the upcoming Superman Returns. The movie will probably bore me, but the boy is hot.

( Superman photos )

Bollywood's gender and ethnic roles (aka, white girls drool over Bolly hunks) and a bit of Superman

This morning, a thirteen year old, after making eye contact told me "I want you to be my girlfriend. Won't have it any other way." I am afraid I couldn't help but crack up as I told him that my husband might object. If he was taller, MUCH older and this was Bollywood, I'd imagine with such an approach he'd go far. But still, considering I could have been the sprog's mother if I started REALLY early, it was kinda flattering and amusing at the same time.

My BSG Baltar/Six fic has hit a writer's block the size of South America. Sigh...

And completely unrelated, I've been thinking about the late trend in Bollywood movies of white women falling for Bollywood heroes, and what it says about cultural expectations.

Bollywood often reminds me of old, classic-era Hollywood. The same love for musicals and outsized melodrama, the same care for glamor, the same reliance on star mystique and power to carry movies, more than any other element of the film. And this is borne out yet again in their approach to interracial relationships. You know, how in old Hollywood movies, this tragic native girl would fall in love with the white hero? Or an exotic Asian woman would love an American? And these stories seldom ended well, with the woman 'other' being either unrequited or too different to fit in, or dying. Because that story couldn't have a happy ending? And how when movies got more progressive in the 1950s, you'd have a movie like Sayonara, where the interracial couple would overcome obstacles and be together. But even in those movies, it's always a man who is white and a woman who is other.

I think it ties in to the patriarchal nature of the culture, any culture really. Women are percieved as vessels of culture, so a woman of other culture falling for you is an indirect proof of the superiority of your culture over hers. And it's proof of the superiority of your men over those of the other race. OTOH, if it's your women going for other culture the reverse is true and is a humiliation and pollution.

Well, it's a fascinating mirror experience to watch Bollywood's approach. I am sure if some white supremacist saw these, he would probably be clutching his head in horror and pulling out his hair.

Because Bollywood has recently been making a variety of movies where white women fall in love with Indian men. And what a fascinating study they are. Here is a sampling (as I cannot claim I've seen every one ever made). I find it very interesting how those portrayals progress, in a very short term, from the pining and unwanted white girl, to Bollywood staple of star-crossed obstacles to something that is viewed matter of factly as any other relationship might be.

( Rather long and case-studyish )

And because it's bad to have nothing but Bollywood, I bring you pics from the upcoming Superman Returns. The movie will probably bore me, but the boy is hot.

( Superman photos )

Bollywood's gender and ethnic roles (aka, white girls drool over Bolly hunks) and a bit of Superman

This morning, a thirteen year old, after making eye contact told me "I want you to be my girlfriend. Won't have it any other way." I am afraid I couldn't help but crack up as I told him that my husband might object. If he was taller, MUCH older and this was Bollywood, I'd imagine with such an approach he'd go far. But still, considering I could have been the sprog's mother if I started REALLY early, it was kinda flattering and amusing at the same time.

My BSG Baltar/Six fic has hit a writer's block the size of South America. Sigh...

And completely unrelated, I've been thinking about the late trend in Bollywood movies of white women falling for Bollywood heroes, and what it says about cultural expectations.

Bollywood often reminds me of old, classic-era Hollywood. The same love for musicals and outsized melodrama, the same care for glamor, the same reliance on star mystique and power to carry movies, more than any other element of the film. And this is borne out yet again in their approach to interracial relationships. You know, how in old Hollywood movies, this tragic native girl would fall in love with the white hero? Or an exotic Asian woman would love an American? And these stories seldom ended well, with the woman 'other' being either unrequited or too different to fit in, or dying. Because that story couldn't have a happy ending? And how when movies got more progressive in the 1950s, you'd have a movie like Sayonara, where the interracial couple would overcome obstacles and be together. But even in those movies, it's always a man who is white and a woman who is other.

I think it ties in to the patriarchal nature of the culture, any culture really. Women are percieved as vessels of culture, so a woman of other culture falling for you is an indirect proof of the superiority of your culture over hers. And it's proof of the superiority of your men over those of the other race. OTOH, if it's your women going for other culture the reverse is true and is a humiliation and pollution.

Well, it's a fascinating mirror experience to watch Bollywood's approach. I am sure if some white supremacist saw these, he would probably be clutching his head in horror and pulling out his hair.

Because Bollywood has recently been making a variety of movies where white women fall in love with Indian men. And what a fascinating study they are. Here is a sampling (as I cannot claim I've seen every one ever made). I find it very interesting how those portrayals progress, in a very short term, from the pining and unwanted white girl, to Bollywood staple of star-crossed obstacles to something that is viewed matter of factly as any other relationship might be.

( Rather long and case-studyish )

And because it's bad to have nothing but Bollywood, I bring you pics from the upcoming Superman Returns. The movie will probably bore me, but the boy is hot.

( Superman photos )

Bollywood thoughts

I've been thinking more about Fanaa. I'd realized that usually there is one Bolly movie a year that I go insane for. This year it's Fanaa, last year it was Parineeta, the year before that, Veer-Zaara. It seems that for me to go crazy over a movie, it has to be an epic and very beautifully filmed uber-angsty love story. Not a suprise. Frex, I think Rang De Basanti is a better film, as a film, than Fanaa, but Fanaa somehow got under my skin in a much more crazy way.

I've also been listening to the Fanaa soundrack. That little bit before the first lyrics in "Chand Sirfarish," the one with clapping overlaid with a heavy beat, is my favorite thing ever. ( Fanaa spoiler )

And "Mere Saath Mein" is definitely in my Top 5 picturizations (together with SHM from K3G, Tujhe Dekha from DDLJ, Roshni Se from Asoka and the one whre Joythika imagines herself and Akshaye Khanna as story characters in Doli Saja Ke Rakhna). Though I am still impressed that neither Aamir nor Kajol came down with hypothermia. And "Des Rangeela" is one of those moments in the movie, where I am so happy watching something I wish it would go forever (Kajol spinning in Des Rangeela, or that Amitabh/SRK/Hema/Preity number in Veer-Zaara being good examples).

I've also been thinking about language and imagery. I love that Aamir and Kajol speak so largely in couplets in the first half, but in the second half the couplets are gone, except for the few that have personal meaning to them from the past association. It's such a symbol for the fact that in the first half, it's all about masks, false indentities, hiding your true self, not knowing, and the second half is about seeing, recognizing, true nature. And that is why I love the color palette change as well. The first half is romantic and happy and innocent, so there are bright vibrant colors. In the second half, everything is stark, chill, frozen, to fit the grim tone of the story and the frozen state of both Kajol and Aamir.

And that makes me think about Aamir versus SRK. (And that is why I'd never post this on Bollywhat. And Aamir/SRK comparison is liable to start WWIII). And how, much as I love SRK (he remains the only actor I will watch ANY movie with), I am so glad that no one but Aamir got to play Rehan. Aamir always has a certain steely core in his roles, something unbendable. He will die for love, but he will do so on his own terms. SRK always comes across as opening his heart like a carpet for you to walk on. Aamir has a certain darkness and SRK's vibe is nicer. The whole beauty of watching Rehan is that he has all these walls and the pleasure is to see them slowly come down, one by one, passion demolishing his reserve. SRK is someone who comes across as utterly open and vulnerable to emotion. (Btw, just to make it clear, I am just talking about their on-screen vibes. I know little about them outside their roles and care even less). Not that I haven't seen SRK play someone ruthless and frightening: his Asoka was a monster by the end, but his ruthless darkness comes across as different to Aamir's. I can't imagine Aamir as Asoka any more than SRK as Rehan. Of course, I could be wrong, and SRK could have made a brilliant Rehan and Aamir an amazing Asoka, but I think that's actually the talent of either of them: they take a role and make it irrevocably their own, such that I can't imagine anyone else in it, not even if the movie itself is bad (Josh or Dil).

And I was also thinking about how Bollywood treats the idea of love as paramount, larger than life, something Hollywood movies after 1940s don't do any more. And by love, I don't necessarily mean romantic love, though Bollywood loves their lovers. I mean every kind of love there is. In Bollywood, love can ruin a person (Devdas) or make him (Parineeta). It can ruin families (QSQT) or bring them together (HSSH). It can negate borders (Refugee), class (Baaghi), religion (Bombay), and death itself (Hamesha, Karan Arjun). It can take on a government and its army and win (Gadar), and it can result in body doubles of your dead soulmate (KNPH). It can save the soul of a terrorist (Dil Se, Fiza) or it can destroy one's humanity utterly (Asoka). It can win over stubborn elders (DDLJ), restore the sight of your blind mother (Amar Akbar Anthony), reunite a family scattered since childhood (also AAA), and even make animals into divine messengers (MPK, HAHK). Kinda amazingly cool.

Bollywood thoughts

I've been thinking more about Fanaa. I'd realized that usually there is one Bolly movie a year that I go insane for. This year it's Fanaa, last year it was Parineeta, the year before that, Veer-Zaara. It seems that for me to go crazy over a movie, it has to be an epic and very beautifully filmed uber-angsty love story. Not a suprise. Frex, I think Rang De Basanti is a better film, as a film, than Fanaa, but Fanaa somehow got under my skin in a much more crazy way.

I've also been listening to the Fanaa soundrack. That little bit before the first lyrics in "Chand Sirfarish," the one with clapping overlaid with a heavy beat, is my favorite thing ever. ( Fanaa spoiler )

And "Mere Saath Mein" is definitely in my Top 5 picturizations (together with SHM from K3G, Tujhe Dekha from DDLJ, Roshni Se from Asoka and the one whre Joythika imagines herself and Akshaye Khanna as story characters in Doli Saja Ke Rakhna). Though I am still impressed that neither Aamir nor Kajol came down with hypothermia. And "Des Rangeela" is one of those moments in the movie, where I am so happy watching something I wish it would go forever (Kajol spinning in Des Rangeela, or that Amitabh/SRK/Hema/Preity number in Veer-Zaara being good examples).

I've also been thinking about language and imagery. I love that Aamir and Kajol speak so largely in couplets in the first half, but in the second half the couplets are gone, except for the few that have personal meaning to them from the past association. It's such a symbol for the fact that in the first half, it's all about masks, false indentities, hiding your true self, not knowing, and the second half is about seeing, recognizing, true nature. And that is why I love the color palette change as well. The first half is romantic and happy and innocent, so there are bright vibrant colors. In the second half, everything is stark, chill, frozen, to fit the grim tone of the story and the frozen state of both Kajol and Aamir.

And that makes me think about Aamir versus SRK. (And that is why I'd never post this on Bollywhat. And Aamir/SRK comparison is liable to start WWIII). And how, much as I love SRK (he remains the only actor I will watch ANY movie with), I am so glad that no one but Aamir got to play Rehan. Aamir always has a certain steely core in his roles, something unbendable. He will die for love, but he will do so on his own terms. SRK always comes across as opening his heart like a carpet for you to walk on. Aamir has a certain darkness and SRK's vibe is nicer. The whole beauty of watching Rehan is that he has all these walls and the pleasure is to see them slowly come down, one by one, passion demolishing his reserve. SRK is someone who comes across as utterly open and vulnerable to emotion. (Btw, just to make it clear, I am just talking about their on-screen vibes. I know little about them outside their roles and care even less). Not that I haven't seen SRK play someone ruthless and frightening: his Asoka was a monster by the end, but his ruthless darkness comes across as different to Aamir's. I can't imagine Aamir as Asoka any more than SRK as Rehan. Of course, I could be wrong, and SRK could have made a brilliant Rehan and Aamir an amazing Asoka, but I think that's actually the talent of either of them: they take a role and make it irrevocably their own, such that I can't imagine anyone else in it, not even if the movie itself is bad (Josh or Dil).

And I was also thinking about how Bollywood treats the idea of love as paramount, larger than life, something Hollywood movies after 1940s don't do any more. And by love, I don't necessarily mean romantic love, though Bollywood loves their lovers. I mean every kind of love there is. In Bollywood, love can ruin a person (Devdas) or make him (Parineeta). It can ruin families (QSQT) or bring them together (HSSH). It can negate borders (Refugee), class (Baaghi), religion (Bombay), and death itself (Hamesha, Karan Arjun). It can take on a government and its army and win (Gadar), and it can result in body doubles of your dead soulmate (KNPH). It can save the soul of a terrorist (Dil Se, Fiza) or it can destroy one's humanity utterly (Asoka). It can win over stubborn elders (DDLJ), restore the sight of your blind mother (Amar Akbar Anthony), reunite a family scattered since childhood (also AAA), and even make animals into divine messengers (MPK, HAHK). Kinda amazingly cool.

Bollywood thoughts

I've been thinking more about Fanaa. I'd realized that usually there is one Bolly movie a year that I go insane for. This year it's Fanaa, last year it was Parineeta, the year before that, Veer-Zaara. It seems that for me to go crazy over a movie, it has to be an epic and very beautifully filmed uber-angsty love story. Not a suprise. Frex, I think Rang De Basanti is a better film, as a film, than Fanaa, but Fanaa somehow got under my skin in a much more crazy way.

I've also been listening to the Fanaa soundrack. That little bit before the first lyrics in "Chand Sirfarish," the one with clapping overlaid with a heavy beat, is my favorite thing ever. ( Fanaa spoiler )

And "Mere Saath Mein" is definitely in my Top 5 picturizations (together with SHM from K3G, Tujhe Dekha from DDLJ, Roshni Se from Asoka and the one whre Joythika imagines herself and Akshaye Khanna as story characters in Doli Saja Ke Rakhna). Though I am still impressed that neither Aamir nor Kajol came down with hypothermia. And "Des Rangeela" is one of those moments in the movie, where I am so happy watching something I wish it would go forever (Kajol spinning in Des Rangeela, or that Amitabh/SRK/Hema/Preity number in Veer-Zaara being good examples).

I've also been thinking about language and imagery. I love that Aamir and Kajol speak so largely in couplets in the first half, but in the second half the couplets are gone, except for the few that have personal meaning to them from the past association. It's such a symbol for the fact that in the first half, it's all about masks, false indentities, hiding your true self, not knowing, and the second half is about seeing, recognizing, true nature. And that is why I love the color palette change as well. The first half is romantic and happy and innocent, so there are bright vibrant colors. In the second half, everything is stark, chill, frozen, to fit the grim tone of the story and the frozen state of both Kajol and Aamir.

And that makes me think about Aamir versus SRK. (And that is why I'd never post this on Bollywhat. And Aamir/SRK comparison is liable to start WWIII). And how, much as I love SRK (he remains the only actor I will watch ANY movie with), I am so glad that no one but Aamir got to play Rehan. Aamir always has a certain steely core in his roles, something unbendable. He will die for love, but he will do so on his own terms. SRK always comes across as opening his heart like a carpet for you to walk on. Aamir has a certain darkness and SRK's vibe is nicer. The whole beauty of watching Rehan is that he has all these walls and the pleasure is to see them slowly come down, one by one, passion demolishing his reserve. SRK is someone who comes across as utterly open and vulnerable to emotion. (Btw, just to make it clear, I am just talking about their on-screen vibes. I know little about them outside their roles and care even less). Not that I haven't seen SRK play someone ruthless and frightening: his Asoka was a monster by the end, but his ruthless darkness comes across as different to Aamir's. I can't imagine Aamir as Asoka any more than SRK as Rehan. Of course, I could be wrong, and SRK could have made a brilliant Rehan and Aamir an amazing Asoka, but I think that's actually the talent of either of them: they take a role and make it irrevocably their own, such that I can't imagine anyone else in it, not even if the movie itself is bad (Josh or Dil).

And I was also thinking about how Bollywood treats the idea of love as paramount, larger than life, something Hollywood movies after 1940s don't do any more. And by love, I don't necessarily mean romantic love, though Bollywood loves their lovers. I mean every kind of love there is. In Bollywood, love can ruin a person (Devdas) or make him (Parineeta). It can ruin families (QSQT) or bring them together (HSSH). It can negate borders (Refugee), class (Baaghi), religion (Bombay), and death itself (Hamesha, Karan Arjun). It can take on a government and its army and win (Gadar), and it can result in body doubles of your dead soulmate (KNPH). It can save the soul of a terrorist (Dil Se, Fiza) or it can destroy one's humanity utterly (Asoka). It can win over stubborn elders (DDLJ), restore the sight of your blind mother (Amar Akbar Anthony), reunite a family scattered since childhood (also AAA), and even make animals into divine messengers (MPK, HAHK). Kinda amazingly cool.