Thursday, April 26, 2012

I'm forcing myself to keep my blogging dream alive by giving you some fluff

It's Thursday. It's my prescribed day to write. I did start on an epic post, but can't seem to clear my thoughts (it's almost 12:30 AM and I have to change the second episode for the series I've been writing). So I'll just give you a list of some of my favourite Hindi films to date (which will fulfill my personal obligation of writing). These are, of course, in no particular order:

CHAMELI (2004): Aman's (Rahul Bose) car breaks down in the rain. He can't find a mechanic, but does meet Chameli (Kareena Kapoor), a young know-it-all prostitute who's trying to get out of a date set up by her pimp. The two form an unlikely friendship, as they fight off crooked cops, an annoyed john and his cronies, a greedy pimp, even each other. The majority of the film takes place in one location, all in one night.

SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM (1978): literally translated, Truth, Love, Beauty, or Love Sublime. It's a story about inner beauty. Because her mother died during childbirth, Rupa (Zeenat Aman) is considered unlucky and is shunned by her village. A freak accident leaves her face partially, but permanently scarred. But Rupa has a beautiful voice, which attracts a rich, handsome, educated engineer who's come to the village for the new dam project. The two fall in love, even though Rajiv (Shashi Kapoor) has only seen her eyes. He finds her father and asks for her hand. Rupa, foreseeing catastrophe, begs her father to reject the proposal, but agrees under pressure. Her life is turned upside down when her prediction comes true. Rajiv rejects her when he sees her face. But after time, he realizes that beauty is only skin deep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nuHptM5pn4

MERA NAAM JOKER (1970): Raj Kapoor's epic film about a clown who has to make people laugh at any cost, is believed to be, to some, somewhat autobiographical. Whether it is or not, it's a four hour 15 minute film divided into three acts (and yes, I've sat through it in its entirety without stopping it for "intermissions"). The film follows Raju (Rishi Kapoor/Raj Kapoor), who's forced to care for his elderly mother by entertaining people, and the three loves of his life: his school teacher (Simi Garewal), a Russian circus performer (Kseniya Ryabinkina), and finally, the woman whose career he helped launch (Padmini).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHncSWTF-yU


MUGHAL-E-AZAM (1960): the fact that this film took over a decade to make, employed the Indian army for its battle scenes, and had some of the most fantastic costumes I've ever seen automatically qualifies it for a "bestie". Add to this the fact that only one scene was released in colour with the remainder of the film in black and white (the director, K. Asif, originally shot most of the film in black and white and about one reel in colour. He wanted to colourize the rest, but the backers were too frustrated and couldn't wait anymore). K. Asif tells the ill-fated love story of Prince Salim (Dilip Kumar), heir to the Mughal Empire and future Emperor Jahangir, and Anarkali (Madhubala), the courtesan, who's eventually sealed into a wall.

The film was digitally remastered and released in colour in 2004. There you go K. Asif.

Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya was the only scene in colour:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdOS-0sIW-Y


DEVDAS (1955): this isn't the first version of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel on the big screen, but it's probably one of the best Hindi versions. Devdas (Dilip Kumar) is the son of a wealthy zamindar. He grows up playing with Paro (Suchitra Sen) and the two fall in love. His family refuses an alliance with Paro's lower class family who marry her off to someone else. Thus begins Devdas's spiral into self-destruction.


FASHION (2008): Madhur Bhandarkar's look into the seedy underworld of Bombay's (I still find it hard to call it Mumbai) fashion industry. Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) claws her way to the top, but finds it's never that easy to stay there. Probably her best role to date, with a great supporting cast including Mugdha Godse and (surprisingly) Kangana Ranaut (who I hear is quite the diva).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPWcIw5xF4c

PAGE 3 (2005): another Madhur Bhandarkar film, which also looks into the seedy underworld of Bombay's (see a pattern here?!) elite. Madhavi (Konkona Sen Sharma) works the party circuit as the Page 3 writer/editor, getting to know who's who and what's hot. Over time, she discovers just how shallow that world really is, and just how much she doesn't want to be a part of it.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Preface

Hello and thank you for joining me.

For those of you who don't know who I am, I'll take this opportunity to give you a little insight into yours truly. For those of you who already know me, shut the hell up and keep reading. It'll be pretty short, sweet, and to the point.

WHO I AM: I am a daily news reporter. I'm a nice guy. I have days when I think I'm really fat. I normally have pretty dumb, inane thoughts about things (that I often forget).

That's basically me in a nutshell. Well, not really, but I've nailed down the important facts, but it's up to you to find out a little bit more about me as I continue this "journey" (however far this may take us). And please. Don't be shy. Feel free to comment.

So why did I decide to write this? I've been thinking about blogging for some time, but wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to write about. It almost seems like a form of narcissism to me, showing the world just how smart you are, hoping CNN will eventually take notice, read your posts, and put you on air as an "expert" or "professional blogger" after you've raged about some trending topic that might be in the news these days. 

Actually, the thought came to me while I ranted and raved about Bollywood and its "fraternity" (Aishwarya Rai called it that during an interview I did with her once, and every "in" person seems to call it that, so I'll use that term too). Problem is, I just got lazy and never bothered. The good thing with doing this now is that I can't be chastised for having an opinion AND expressing it. In one segment, I bitched about why people like Preity Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan should give up their careers. Unfortunately, people don't like hearing the truth. The truth that PZ looks like a chipmunk, hasn't put out a decent performance since Dil Chahta Hai, or that SRK is really an overacting melodramatist. How many more times can we see him do the same two or three roles over and over and over again? Was I the only one who rolled his eyes everytime he saw that damned trailer for My Name Is Khan? Quite frankly, I've never liked him. He's always seemed so...fake on screen.

What? What happened after I broadcast my views, you ask? Simple. I was told "we need to give people what they want, and they don't want to hear anything you have to say". Apparently, I needed to rein it in. So I did, because apparently I was threatened. Yup. But now, I won't. Hence the "Bollywood Un-Hero". So, PZ. Give it up. Your days are over. Oh, wait, PZ you HAVE given it up! If only SRK would listen.

I'd like to say I love Bollywood, but I can't. I did, but not anymore. But that's for a later post. That and the IIFAs. Woah.

I decided to keep this post short. But I will end by letting you mull over something that's been bugging me for years:

How did Poochie end up in Kaho Na...Pyaar Hai?


Seriously, was Poochie (The Simpsons, 1997) the inspiration for Raj Chopra (Kaho Na...Pyaar Hai, 2000)? Perhaps a more apt title would have been Kaho Na...Poochie Hai.