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.
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