Although Dil Bole Hadippa! (DBH) did not do particularly well at boxoffice, I still love it anyway. Shahid and Rani have always been my favourites. You have all the typical Bollywood elements - Punjabi culture, nice songs and all the impressive dance scenes (eg. Discowale Khisko). I watched it twice and I have to say it was a pleasant experience. It's sort of important that I don't have to think too hard in those 2 hours (like I'm not using my brain too often and too much...) I love the scenery in the movie. (Don't know if it's really shot in Punjab or not)
Okay, maybe I should try to be a little rational w/ DBH. It has the vice (yes, I really want to use this word to stress how much I disapprove of this!) that many other Hindi movies have. The first few minutes showing Shahid having finished his cricket match in the UK and how he interacted w/ his mates. The way he spoke wasn't very British... (It doesn't fit w/ the way upper class/middle class/grassroot people speak) Please, I beg you all Hindi movie scriptwriters - Don't mistake foreigners as Americans anymore. It has annoyed me more than it should have. Luckily, Shahid is cute enough for me to tolerate all these. I love Rani's performance. It was very natural and I think she and Shahid make a good on-screen couple. Although I've read from somewhere else that Shahid has more chemistry w/ the camera, I think there's the chemistry between Shahid and Rani that makes a comedy work.
I really love the songs in DBH. There's always the inherent problem of me not knowing Hindi so I can't tell whether the lyrics are good or not. But at least I love the melody! Ishq Hi Rab Hai is my favourite song. Love the picturisation even more! It's absolutely correct to say that Shahid is a V-neck wonder! (Again, read from some other blogs~)
I'll never get tired of these singing and dancing!
Rani as Veer
Cricket - you can't pick a better sport to feature in an Indian film.
Punjabi culture is so colourful! Vaibhavi Merchant's choreography can give you confidence too! (Though she's disappointed a little w/ Kambakht Ishq)
Perfect smile, perfect body :P
We can totally see that Shahid isn't lazy w/ his work out at all!
Same as many others, I prefer Rani the way she used to be. This final scene w/ her in bikini doesn't really appeal to me.
I’ve spent so freakin’ much time on that stupid assignment and the grade totally confirms that Prof Valpey doesn’t like me.
Anyway, what I’m writing sort of proves why Bollywood is so fascinating to me. Things/people can succeed for very crazy reasons.
Emran Hashmi! I really like the songs from the film Janaat. I quite like the female lead Sonal Chauhan. She’s beautiful. But when I first watched the video, I was like “how come that guy can be a hero?” Well, we do know that sometimes the heroes in the Bollywood world may not score very high in the look department. But when I discovered that Emran Hashmi has been the lead for quite many movies on Indian TV, I became more and more curious. Recently, his new movie Tum Mile has caught my attention with nice songs. I went through the music review. (In case you’re new to Bollywood – they always release the OST before the movie comes out!) And I found something like this – “Hasn't it become all so predictable when one begins the review of any music coming from the house of Bhatts that has a Pritam and Emraan Hashmi association to it? So many times has a statement being made that 'Good music is pretty much on the cards when forces like Mukesh Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt, Pritam, Emraan Hashmi and lyricist Sayeed Quadri come together.'” (www.indiafm.com) After reading this, I was really really curious! We have music director groups like Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Jatin-Lalit. But I haven’t heard of anything like a “actor-music director” combination. (Maybe there have been some but I didn’t notice) Then I looked at the filmography of Emran Hashmi. Most of his films are produced by his uncles and some of them were hits, especially those w/ the music by Pritam. I’ve read some people saying that the success of Emran Hashmi has quite a lot to do with the good music. Good music adds to a movie but I didn’t expect there can be such a direct impact.
Then I listened to the songs in Emran’s movies on Youtube. Have to say they’re really quite good. (At least good enough to make me download them)It's not that easy for me to say a new song is good because I can't understand the lyrics and I haven't seen the movie. But all the songs below are good enough to make me listen to them listen to them again and again when I haven't seen any one of the movies.
Tum Mile It should be quite an interesting film because part of it is about a flooding Mumbai, starring Emran (of course) and Soha Ali Khan.
Jannat With 2 of my all-time favourite songs and the very very lovely Sonal Chauhan
Razz – The Mystery Continues The songs are really quite good!
I've been wanting to write about this for a while but never really did. Anywayz, Indian national bank has bought quite a bit of gold. So, I'm writing on gold in India!
Priyanka told me that Tamil people LOOOOOOVE gold. They save money hard and bought gold jewellery. Well, I didn't really pay attention to people on the streets in Chennai too much. But I can definitely say it's true. Why? Because these are the ads I saw during the intermission when I was watching movie in Chennai!
I've been trying to maintain the sensitivity towards Indian culture and I usually managed to do that successfully. But, I would really call this kind of jewellery ridiculous............
From Roti Kapada aur Rum: I've been following all of Filmi Girl's posts on the emerging trend of being really skinny in Bollywood these days. It really annoys me that there's no normal size heroines anymore as they've all decided to slim down Deepika style and let their ribs poke out! Perhaps I maybe harking back to the days of oldie cinema when the heroines had some flesh and a round tummy but we didn't poke at them before unless we were Baburao Patel! So here's a list and a rant of some of my favorite heroines of the yore and now that just scream:Healthy and Gorgeous, while the Deepika's and Kareena's who promote an unhealthy weight for Indian women to aspire to.
1. Hema Malini - I just love her dancing skills, she looked great in any outfit but to me she exuded a sexy heroine because nobody looked at her tummy when she was performing a dance and she still drew in the male fans that swooned over her curvaceous hips. She was South Indian and loved her food and her Dharam. Its quite sad nowadays that whenever a Southie heroine comes to Bollywood they have to slim down because they look toooo chunky for audiences! UGHHH
2. Vyjanthimala - Another lovely South Indian heroine who looked beautiful and lovely when doing some fabulous dancing, and there were no bones picked against her for having a lovely round face and tummy. Her body was probably the average size of a woman today as it was back then and even in her biography which i read she had a voracious appetite which didnt hinder her dancing or how the audience viewed her. In fact, my sleazy yet lovably Blobby Raj Kapoor did ample justice to her beauty in Sangam, she looked hot in a swimsuit and did the striptease to "Mujhe Budda Milgaya."
3. Meena Kumari - This might be a questionable addition to rant list as Meena apparently got overweight from all that drinking and marital problems. But Pakeezah and her slew of rubbish films that she made Pradeep Kumar and Ashok Kumar, I really didn't care that she looked drunk or tired throughout, she just could act and I didn't poke or try and spot how big she was. Her image and acting was cemented in my mind, and whether she looked big or not was not what the audience or I looked for, we are prepared to cry and weep during her films like Dil Ek Mandir or Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam.
4. Neetu Singh - perhaps my favorite masala heroine, and being a girl with big boobs myself I looked to Neetu and Rekha and cheesily said "Well even in Bollywood you can't choose your assets!" Admittedly cheesy when I watched old Bollywood films I identified with the heroines that were my size and Neetu just did that for me. Maybe that's why I love old school heroines more these days as they weren't toooo criticized for having a huge rack or having roly tummy because back then audiences went to see a film and their stars for some escapism, and to be titillated by the hero and heroine wearing tight and stylish clothes
5. Mumtaz - One of my favorite heroines, and she just radiated curvaceousness and she just looked wonderful in sarees especially in her films with Rajesh Khanna and she wore the shortest sari tops with her, showing off her cute tummy! In her Dara films, she had her puppy fat that just didn't look puppy fat it made her the sexy B-movie heroine in distress! And obviously the directors loved showing off her bod to the audiences in rain songs in Do Raaste and Prem Kahani!
6. Nargis - the original curvy lady of the RK banner, she looked just lovely in any of the films she did with RK, and he definitely knew how to make the camera just soak up all that wonderful acting and her curves especially in the Rk penchant of the white sari! Obviously the best example of her dancing prowess and showing off her bod was in the "Ghar Aaya Pardesi"song in Aawara, lol even I wanted to have sparkles on my face and dance about like she did. And the key moment of cinema history was her wearing that fashionable swimsuit (lol that i bought after watching that!) and her changing scene after, of course Raju wanted to take a peek and act like a junglee and so did the audience!
7. Finally these two people that I've really lost respect for YA I'll show off my ribs, while standing behind some sexy curvy ladies! DUHHHH
YA, A side profile of my tinny tummy looks really sexy! NOT!
I'm not gonna hate on all naturally skinny gals like Anushka Sharma, or others but its just that Kareena Kapoor is going all out to promote an unreal expectation and the fact that people look up to her as a role model. Its very harmful to hear quotes from magzines with "Kareena Kapoor the trailblazer of size-zero fad in India, admits that occasionally she does feel like putting on some extra kilos but resists the temptation because being a fashion icon she has to remain lean and sexy. " or even worse "My size zero is what got the attention of an international clothes manufacturer. I will be launching a clothes line soon.” This is gonna be awful if she starts a clothing line as it will probably bee 0-8, which will encourage young girls to be an unrealistic size just because their idol Kareena says its cool and men will flock to you!
Why does being lean need to be the new thing, its far more sexy and attractive to have some meat on you and not just show off your bod by shrinking in size to fit into a bikini ala Rani Mukherjee in DBHadippa which was just sooo unnecessary I don't mind an item number like the next fan but it just made me sad to see her sell out by trading her voluptuous figure to gyrate in a bikini for a few seconds in a silly shower. Sonam Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and now Lara Dutta and other heroines really need to set a better example to young girls out there that are bombarded with their idols looking like Ally Macbeal's all of a sudden. Its just a sorry state of affairs in Bollywood that we now value skinny and unhealthy looking heroines to average sized Vidya Balan or Madhuri Dixit.
I really feel bad for the South Indian heroines that want to cross over to Bollywood, Asin has already said she had to slim down for London Dream and Trisha is toning her curves down for her film with Akshay Kumar! Honestly, beauty is skin deep for god's sake, it just makes me feel angry with the Deepika's that promote their size and just make girls feel bad for being the size that they are and wanting to be beautiful. Countless eating disorders will probably rise if this trend continues and who knows Kareena is probably starving herself to look the kind of "good" she sees. And I haven't noticed any slim heroine saying "Girls listen up, you've got to love what you see in the mirror, learn to love yourself, beauty comes from the inside!?" LOL maybe i've watched too much Tyra this week
What are your thoughts, and who are your fave voluptuous heroines?
Next week is going to be an interesting week! We have....
Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani - Katrina Katrina Katrina!!!!! And it seems to be quite an entertainer.
Jail - The new Madhur Bhandarkar film! Don't think it's just copying "prison break". It's definitely not 'cuase Madhur Bhandarkar's just a wonderful filmmaker!
3 Idiots
Well, not that I don't love Aamir, I totally do. But is it convincing to have somebody over 40 to play college student? It didn't work so well in Rang De Basanti..... Again? And pair up w/ Kareena Kapoor?????????
Kites
3 Idiots is too huge. Even Kites w/ Hrithik Roshan has been pushed back to Jan 2010.
I just finished my job application for Swire. It took me like 3 hours......... Well, I admit that I wasn't very well prepared in dealing with that online application system. And all my standard cover letters didn't help 'cause they were all for consulting firms.
Sometimes even I wonder why I'm spending time to apply for a bunch of jobs that I won't get it. But if I have the luxury (ie. tutoring full-time) not to compromise for less, why not? I'm lucky in this aspect. I also hope that my time doing all these applications can exchange for an opportunity that some HR people are more sophisticated and look at things other than academic results/exchange/scholarships.
Gosh........if Swire took me 3 hours, don't know how long the other one's going to take!!!!!! And I have numerous things on my to-do list and they're not just mid-terms.
This should be the 1st assignment of mine that actually has a 2nd draft!
-----------
Film Review : Kandukondain Kandukondain
Jane Austen's works have been the favourite of film makers for a long time. There are films and TV series based on Pride and Prejudice, Emma and other Austen's works.
A few years ago, a film called Bride and Prejudice impressed the global audience with the Jane Austen story with an Indian touch. Pride and Prejudice is not the only work of Jane Austen that has an Indian remake. Kandukondain Kandukondain is a remake of Jane Austen's first novel, Sense and Sensibility. It was not remade by Bollywood, which is better known to the global audience, but by another major Indian film production centre Kollywood, the Tamil cinema.
This essay will discuss the different types of love illustrated in the movie and the Indian characteristics of the movie. Personal opinion on the film will also be shared.
Part 1: Summary The story of Kandukondain Kandukondain evolves around the life of two sisters, Sowmiya and Meenakshi, and their family. The family is a respectable one since they have been running a local school in the village. The focus of the film is the romantic relationships of the major characters.
Sowmiya, the elder sister, is the Principal of the school. She is of marriageable age but not yet married. Everyone in the village thinks she is inauspicious because a man approached the family to discuss marriage died right after meeting her. This rumour disheartens and troubles Sowmiya. She acts tough just to reassure her family. She meets Manohar who is struggling to become a film director. They fall in love but Manohar will not marry before he can make a breakthrough in his career.
Meenakshi, the younger sister, has many fantasies about love. She meets Srikanth, the owner of a finance company. It is love at first sight. But young Meenakshi also catches the attention of a disabled retired soldier, Major Bala.
Unfortunately, the family is driven away from their home as they cannot inherit the property. They are forced to leave for Chennai and face the hardship of living in the city. At the same time, problems also come up in the relationships of the two sisters.
Part 2: Love Illustrated in the Movie 1. Familial Love
Usually, when we talk about love in movies, we would think of romantic love. But the movie can show another important aspect of love in the Indian culture – familial love.
First, we can see that the unity in the family is strong and they are willing to sacrifice for each other. After the family left their home, they had to settle in Chennai. Sowmiya took tried very hard looking for a job to support her family. She was willing to work as a receptionist even though she used to be the Principal of the school. And her mother and the old maid also tried to ease the family’s burden. They sold all their jewelleries and worked in a restaurant despite their respectable family background.
Besides, the characters in the movie are caring to their family at the time of need. Sowmiya and her family used to stay away from their village because her grandfather disapproves the marriage of his son and Sowmiya’s mother. But they returns to take care of him when he becomes seriously ill. Another son of grandfather’s was away from home and left the responsibility to Sowmiya and the others. Major Bala’s uncle is also a caring elder. He keeps Bala company and always encourages him.
Finally, family is forgiving. When grandfather died, he left the house to his son. His wife drove Sowmiya and the others away. However, when the son died later on, they came back from the city for his funeral and were kind to his wife. They did not take revenge of the way she treated them.
2. Romantic Love There are three romantic relationships in the movie.
The first one is the relationship between Sowmiya and Manohar. Different from typical Indian romantic fantasy, Sowmiya’s relationship with Manohar was very subtle. Sowmiya hopes for love and care but she did not show it because she bears the burden of being called unlucky and the responsibility of taking care of the family. People look up to her and expect her to be prudent and reliable. Therefore, she often suppressed her feelings and did not let anyone know. Her relationship with Manohar depicted in the movie is also far from perfect. She had to work very to support the family and Manohar was constantly struggling to have a breakthrough in his career. The difficulties in reality caused them a lot of frustration.
Meenakshi is romantically involved with both Srikanth and Major Bala.
Meenakshi is the complete opposite of Sowmiya when it comes to the attitude towards love. She has always dreamt about it and indulged her imagination in poetry. Although she lives in a society where arranged marriage is popular, she challenges the feasibility of marriage without love. She believes love to be beautiful and passionate. She thought that other people should be awakened from the traditional values of marriage.
Srikanth seems to be the soul mate and true love that Meenakshi has been waiting for. He has all the qualities of a typical Indian romance hero. He is wealthy, successful and handsome. When he first met Meenakshi, she was injured and he came to her rescue. Also, he shares Meenakshi’s passion for poetry. However, this passionate love does not last. When Srikanth’s company is at the edge of bankruptcy, he marries a girl from a rich family to save his business.
When Meenakshi is completely overwhelmed by her relationship with Srikanth, she finds Major Bala annoying. He is an alcoholic middle-aged man. He is ashamed of himself because of his disability. Despite the fact that Major Bala is not a typical hero in Indian movie, his relationship with Meenakshi reflects the positive side of love.
Originally, Major Bala has given up on his life. After meeting Meenakshi, Major Bala quits his bad habits such as heavy drinking. He has a new purpose in life. Then, he helps her when she needs help and he does not expect any return. He thinks that the age difference between Meenakshi and him is irresolvable. He helps Meenakshi to contact Srikanth and later on persuades Meenakshi to marry another man. At the end, Meenakshi is finally mature enough to appreciate what Major Bala has done.
Part 3: Indian Characteristics Having captured the main ideas of the book or the movie of Sense and Sensibility, Kandukondain Kandukondain has also managed to incorporate many Indian characteristics.
First of all, the audience can find some characteristics of Indian movies. There are many songs and dances. Indian films are known for their songs and dance. Tamil movie is no exception. Sometimes, time would be frozen and the characters depart from the storyline temporarily and start dancing and singing. Many people reject the use of song and dance in Indian films. But they can help develop the storyline and portray the feelings of the characters. Also, the importance of religion in Indian culture is reflected in the movie. Many scenes are conducted in religious occasions. Major Bala first met Meenakshi at a worshipping ceremony of Natraj. Some dialogues are also delivered when the characters are doing pooja in temples.
Second, several social issues are addressed in the movie. The first example is superstition. Sowmiya is not married because of the rumour about a potential groom committing suicide after meeting her. Since then, she has been labelled as the unlucky girl. In the 21st century, people are still heavily influenced by these superstitious ideas that have no scientific basis. Even Sowmiya, a well-educated person, believes herself to be unlucky. For this reason, she becomes very sensitive and has the idea that she would never marry. Another example is dowry. Nowadays, dowry is still popular in many parts of India. The family of the bride has to pay a sum of money and give other valuable gifts to the groom’s family. But the mother of the sisters repeatedly says that she would rather have men who marry her daughters for who they are but not for their asset.
Finally, the movie mentions the Kargil war. Kargil war was the conflict between India and Pakistan in the Kashmir area in 1999. Although it lasted for a relatively short period, it was widely reported in the media. In the movie, Major Bala was an outstanding soldier but he lost his legs in the Kargil war. He realized the cruelty of war. Since then, he could not find the motivation in life and he found no purpose to lead a positive life. The war is not only important in portraying Major Bala’s character. The filmmakers start the film with a scene of fighting and there are also a few scenes in which Major Bala expresses his questions and anger towards the war and the government.
Part 4: Opinion In general, Kandukondain Kandukondain is an entertaining film. It is a good adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. I think it has outdone Bride and Prejudice as an adaptation of Jane Austen’s work. The acting is good as the movie has prominent actors from both and North and South Indian cinema in the leading roles.
It was an interesting experience to watch Kandukondain Kandukondain because I could compare the Tamil films and Hindi films. In general, mainstream Tamil films are quite similar to mainstream Hindi films. In 2 to 3 hours, there has to be humour, romance, songs and dance (the only part that is missing is the exaggerating action and fighting scenes which audience can often find in Tamil movies). But details in the movie, such as clothes and accessories, can reflect how South Indian culture is different from the North. For example, South Indian women like to wear flowers in their hair and a lot of gold accessories. It is also common for South Indian men to wear dhoti, while not traditional clothes are less popular among North Indian men. There are also completely different standards of beauty, especially for men.
As an adaptation, I was amazed how compatible a Western story can be in the Indian context. The 17th-century England and modern South India are completely different, yet the main ideas and the values underlined in the story can be perfectly presented in both contexts. It is another thing that I really appreciate in Kandukondain Kandukondain – It is an entertaining movie but it is not unrealistic as many Indian movies are known to be. It is closer to the daily life of most people and it has touched on some social issues.
It being a mainstream Indian film, the audience can expect a happy ending. But I think it is not just the usual cliché but brings out something positive. Compared with Sense and Sensibility, it seems to be more fortunate for the characters in Kandukondain Kandukondain. Even though they were in difficulties, they could be less passive in the process of becoming independent. In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwood family could only hope and wait for assistance as they were restricted by their gender. But in Kandukondain Kandukondain, they can have more control over their life although the situation is difficult. Women are less vulnerable than they were a few centuries ago.
It's pretty crazy to do this at 0426. I'm working on my mid-term assginment for Love in Indian Culture. It's almost done! (Although I planned to finish it last week...) Anywayz, the main point is that the assignment is on Kandukondain Kandukonain (the Tamil adaptation of Sense and Sensibility!). I will really finish it ASAP and I'll post it up (despite it not being particularly good)
A fan of Indian cinema from Hong Kong. I also write on my Chinese blog in the hope of promoting Indian movies to my fellow Hong Kong people.
印度電影迷, 致力"傳教". 電影及音樂是心頭好, 關心世界大事亦是副業. 決志在30歲前追求夢想, 極其厭惡愛金錢但不敢承認而且諸多掩飾的人.
.jpg)
