Musings of the Obsessive Kind

Today's movie push of the day?

One of my favorite Bollywood movies of all times, Salaam-e-Ishq, which came out a couple of years ago. SeI is a movie that can cheer me up when I am in a bad mood or tired, which makes me sigh, and get girly, and grin ear to ear.

Very loosely inspired by Love Actually, SeI follows six interconnecting stories about six very different couples. Each story has a very different vibe: from angsty star-crossed love, to sexy screwball, to a farce, to a fairytale to a midlife crisis etc.

First, there are Kkamini and Rahul (Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan), in what is my favorite story of the bunch.



Kkamini is a scheming 'item girl' (woman who does sexy dances in movies), over-the-top and every inch a diva. In order to further her career, she decides a change of image in order, and she 'renounces' her scandalous ways and invents an imaginary faithful fiance named Rahul. Only to be confronted by a mysterious, cheeky stanger who claims he is that very same Rahul. Will Kkamini decide to use him in her plans? Who is he? Will she fall for him instead? Oh, this story is such a delight...

Favorite scene: Kkamini's proposal at the end...

Then there are Ashutosh and Tehzeeb (John Abraham and Vidya Balan), in my other favorite story.



They are an inter-religious married couple, happy together, despite the fact that they have been disowned by their family. But then tragedy strikes, and Ashutosh must find out if his wife is even still alive. And if she is, will she still want him?

Favorite scene: Ashu climbing into unconscious Tehzeeb's hospital bed and holding her...

And there are Raju and Stephanie (Govinda and Shannon), surely the most adorable couple ever...



Raju is an idealistic, unworldly taxi driver. Stephanie is a Westerner who came to India to look for her scummy boyfriend who ditched her to marry a 'proper Indian girl.' She speaks no Hindi. Raju speaks no English. But can they fall in love with each other anyway? if you don't like their story, you have no heart, I mean it.

Favorite scene: When she tells him at the end...You know.

There are three other couples. I like them, but not as much as the first three which I adore. There are Shiven and Gia (Akshaye Khanna and Ayesha Takia). Both upper-class yuppies, they are engaged, but will Shiven's cold feet make him realize how much he loves Gia too late? There are Vinay and his wife (Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla), whose marriage goes on the rocks because of his midlife crisis. And there are the new Mr. and Mrs. Ramdayal, two newlywed bumpkins who are there for a comedy track. The poor things simply can't consummate their marriage :)

This movie has great stories, funniness and angst, awesome sountrack, more eyecandy you can shake a stick at and basically, how can you not love it?

Here is the title song:



I did a lot of long posts on SeI when I first watched it.

To start with, if you are interested in potentially checking it out, and want to know more but not to be spoiled, I did a little unspoilery, dreadfully-rhyming, picture summary of the movie. It's here. I also did spoilery write-ups on it here and here. Oh, and even though I write fic very rarely, I even wrote a fic for it (it's Ashu/Tehzeeb) here.

Go watch!!!

Today's movie push of the day?

One of my favorite Bollywood movies of all times, Salaam-e-Ishq, which came out a couple of years ago. SeI is a movie that can cheer me up when I am in a bad mood or tired, which makes me sigh, and get girly, and grin ear to ear.

Very loosely inspired by Love Actually, SeI follows six interconnecting stories about six very different couples. Each story has a very different vibe: from angsty star-crossed love, to sexy screwball, to a farce, to a fairytale to a midlife crisis etc.

First, there are Kkamini and Rahul (Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan), in what is my favorite story of the bunch.



Kkamini is a scheming 'item girl' (woman who does sexy dances in movies), over-the-top and every inch a diva. In order to further her career, she decides a change of image in order, and she 'renounces' her scandalous ways and invents an imaginary faithful fiance named Rahul. Only to be confronted by a mysterious, cheeky stanger who claims he is that very same Rahul. Will Kkamini decide to use him in her plans? Who is he? Will she fall for him instead? Oh, this story is such a delight...

Favorite scene: Kkamini's proposal at the end...

Then there are Ashutosh and Tehzeeb (John Abraham and Vidya Balan), in my other favorite story.



They are an inter-religious married couple, happy together, despite the fact that they have been disowned by their family. But then tragedy strikes, and Ashutosh must find out if his wife is even still alive. And if she is, will she still want him?

Favorite scene: Ashu climbing into unconscious Tehzeeb's hospital bed and holding her...

And there are Raju and Stephanie (Govinda and Shannon), surely the most adorable couple ever...



Raju is an idealistic, unworldly taxi driver. Stephanie is a Westerner who came to India to look for her scummy boyfriend who ditched her to marry a 'proper Indian girl.' She speaks no Hindi. Raju speaks no English. But can they fall in love with each other anyway? if you don't like their story, you have no heart, I mean it.

Favorite scene: When she tells him at the end...You know.

There are three other couples. I like them, but not as much as the first three which I adore. There are Shiven and Gia (Akshaye Khanna and Ayesha Takia). Both upper-class yuppies, they are engaged, but will Shiven's cold feet make him realize how much he loves Gia too late? There are Vinay and his wife (Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla), whose marriage goes on the rocks because of his midlife crisis. And there are the new Mr. and Mrs. Ramdayal, two newlywed bumpkins who are there for a comedy track. The poor things simply can't consummate their marriage :)

This movie has great stories, funniness and angst, awesome sountrack, more eyecandy you can shake a stick at and basically, how can you not love it?

Here is the title song:



I did a lot of long posts on SeI when I first watched it.

To start with, if you are interested in potentially checking it out, and want to know more but not to be spoiled, I did a little unspoilery, dreadfully-rhyming, picture summary of the movie. It's here. I also did spoilery write-ups on it here and here. Oh, and even though I write fic very rarely, I even wrote a fic for it (it's Ashu/Tehzeeb) here.

Go watch!!!

For some weird reason, the movie theater I went to decided to chop off the very beginning of the movie (probably to save time). While I can live without seeing the censor's certificate and even the movie's title, it was rather odd to go straight into the song already in progress. Plus, missing precious minutes of John and Vidya cuteness should be considered a certifiable offense.

Also, our print died during climax and they had to restart it. Heh. I was probably less upset about either of these because:

a. I will have a DVD soon
b. The audience was fun (at one critical point, a little kid piped up, imitating Govinda's "I love you" ROFL)
c. I still love the movie entirely too much not to be giddy to see it in any form.

( Spoilery disjointed comments )

My map is making me feel all cosmopolitan. I've apparently had visitors not just from US, Canada and the UK, but also Australia, New Zealand, Brasil, Poland, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Phillipines, Germany, Spain, Sweden, India, Finland, Denmark, France and etc. Yay. Am impressive world-renown author of popular lj. Or not and am delusional geek. You pick :D

In other news, it's almost Friday which means it's almost Hana Yori Dango 2 time, which means I have an almost Pavlovian reaction. Sad but true. And on that note, full of adorableness, I bring you two awesome scans from the upcoming ep. Not very spoilery IMO, but your mileage may vary (from a magazine).

( Go for Hanadan cuteness behind cut )

In other gorgeous Asian people being gorgeous news (that really should be a tag in my LJ lately), I bring you some totally awesome pictures from the launch for Salaam-e-Ishq. There are some gorgeous stars, some gorgeous clothes (and some horrible clothes) and a lot of eye candy. What's not to like. It's like a Hollywood launch only with hot people.

John Abraham (Ashu in SeI). I love the outfit, but he clearly was in such a hurry he forgot to put on a shirt:



( A lot of pictures of hotness and oddness )

My map is making me feel all cosmopolitan. I've apparently had visitors not just from US, Canada and the UK, but also Australia, New Zealand, Brasil, Poland, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Phillipines, Germany, Spain, Sweden, India, Finland, Denmark, France and etc. Yay. Am impressive world-renown author of popular lj. Or not and am delusional geek. You pick :D

In other news, it's almost Friday which means it's almost Hana Yori Dango 2 time, which means I have an almost Pavlovian reaction. Sad but true. And on that note, full of adorableness, I bring you two awesome scans from the upcoming ep. Not very spoilery IMO, but your mileage may vary (from a magazine).

( Go for Hanadan cuteness behind cut )

In other gorgeous Asian people being gorgeous news (that really should be a tag in my LJ lately), I bring you some totally awesome pictures from the launch for Salaam-e-Ishq. There are some gorgeous stars, some gorgeous clothes (and some horrible clothes) and a lot of eye candy. What's not to like. It's like a Hollywood launch only with hot people.

John Abraham (Ashu in SeI). I love the outfit, but he clearly was in such a hurry he forgot to put on a shirt:



( A lot of pictures of hotness and oddness )

Title: Interlacings, 1/1
Fandom: Salaam-e-Ishq
Tech stuff: Somewhere between PG13 and R. I really really tried to make it more explicit, but I fail at pr0n. Sorry. 1190 words. Ashu/Tehzeeb
A/N: If you know me, you’d know that Ashu and Tehzeeb’s story would push every single one of the buttons I have. I mean it’s kdrama! In a Bollywood movie! With John Abraham and Vidya Balan! I couldn’t stop writing this in my head for two days, so here it is. It’s set after the end of the movie (hence spoilers) but before the little coda scene. I really really would like concrit. I mean it. Because it’s sort of an unusual format for me and I don't know if it works.
Warning: I think by its nature it spoils the outcome of this particular story.

( The uncertainty in her eyes is matched by the uncertainty in his. )

Salaam-e-Ishq for five year olds. IN RHYME.

Yes, I am in love with this. But I know most people on my flist have never seen an Indian movie (no, I love Water, but it doesn't count. Though the hottie from Water is one of the leads here. Does this help?)

So I shall make it my mission to try to indoctrinate as many people as possible into joys of Salaam-e-Ishq, the joys of Bollywood (the Indian movie industry that is centered in Mumbai) and rope fresh victims into my John Abraham kidnapping plot. Ooops, the last part wasn't supposed to slip out.

Anyway, before you invest into a three-and-a-half hour movie, here is a very brief run down for those lazy ones who do not want to watch without knowing what it's about.

SeI follows the stories of six couples. And my summary rhymes, people! AND HAS NO SPOILERS.

( click for brief unspoilery summary )

Salaam-e-Ishq for five year olds. IN RHYME.

Yes, I am in love with this. But I know most people on my flist have never seen an Indian movie (no, I love Water, but it doesn't count. Though the hottie from Water is one of the leads here. Does this help?)

So I shall make it my mission to try to indoctrinate as many people as possible into joys of Salaam-e-Ishq, the joys of Bollywood (the Indian movie industry that is centered in Mumbai) and rope fresh victims into my John Abraham kidnapping plot. Ooops, the last part wasn't supposed to slip out.

Anyway, before you invest into a three-and-a-half hour movie, here is a very brief run down for those lazy ones who do not want to watch without knowing what it's about.

SeI follows the stories of six couples. And my summary rhymes, people! AND HAS NO SPOILERS.

( click for brief unspoilery summary )

OK, watching Salaam-e-Ishq reminded me how much I love John Abraham, arguably the hottest guy anywhere evah. Who also happens to be a Bollywood star (he and fiancée Bipasha Basu should be mandated to have children for the sake of genepool).



See? How can you resist?

But anyway, here is a list of my Top 10 John Abraham movies, in order from most fave down. Happy watching! With the exception of Salaam-e-Ishq which is currently in theaters, they are all available on DVD. Netflix should have most of them:

( List here )

More Karam posters as a bonus: ( Yumminess )

If you want to see more pics, just click on the 'john abraham' tag.

Oh, I know I shouldn't. I know they are likely pirates. I know!

But I cannot help it!

I really want a copy of Salaam e Ishq of my own, as soon as I can. Of course, I will buy a legit DVD when it comes out (did with Veer-Zaara after all) but must have stopgap. Especially when it's 2-in-1 with Guru.

I cannot help it.

Argh.

In good news though, I am giddy to find out that Amitabh is playing Khaderbhai!!!!!!!! In Shantaram!!!! With Johnny Depp!!!!! Not only will this mean I'll see Amitabh on my regular cinema screen, but he is exactly who I pictured as Khaderbhai. I remember indulging in fantasy casting for this. OMG!

Now if they only cast John Abraham as Abdullah (he was the only other character I really just pictured, from the get go), I will be in heaven.

But still, AMITABH!!!!!

If you haven't read Roberts' Shantaram, you should. My favorite book last year.

P.S. Apparently there is a Canadian movie out, called The Partition with Lana Lang playing the heroine. I read the review and it sounds like an inferior rip-off of Gadar. You know Bollywood made it when it's being ripped off as opposed to the other way around.

P.P.S. Oh Salman in my icon. Stop making me stare at you. Why can't a fantasy boyfriend kneel to me? Oh right, Mr. Mousie would be displeased :)