The Bollywood Thread

[Karen]

chonies said:

Anyway, has anyone seen Guru yet? It's playing nearby but so is Salaam-e-Ishq and I'm trying to decide which one to see this weekend. Is Salaam-e-Ishq any good? I have a feeling this is the last weekend for SeI but the first weekend for Guru. And it's a long drive and they're screened at the same time. Sigh.

In related news, is the female in this picture

[/color] Shannon Esra? I'm kind of intrigued that she's being billed as "the first caucasian actress to be cast in a Bollywood lead", and I wonder if she's going to be speaking Hindi. I immediately thought of Katrina Kaif, who is always described as half Indian, who's Hindi is so bad it's dubbed. Why does she keep getting cast? She's pretty, but her dancing isn't great, she needs to be dubbed...and she's dating Salman Khan.

But anyway, I have high hopes for Guru.[/quote]

I'm not planning to see SeI, the six stories don't seem that interesting to me, the soundtrack has no standout songs and it doesn't star any actors I particularly like. I did go look for promo pics and that is Esra. Didn't manage to find information about whether she'll be speaking Hindi/dubbed, though. But if you think you'll have a chance to see Guru some other time, SeI might be the safer choide.

Guru was a pleasant surprise. Abhishek impressed me this time. It's the opposite of what I felt after watching Dhoom 2 where he was so overshadowed by Hrithik's charisma. Now I think that maybe he was given a character that was too bland and over-the-top action is something Hrithik is just more comfortable with, because he made a much better leading man in Guru. It's kind of like my reaction to DiCaprio in The Aviator: still don't see the hotness but now I believe that he can act. I usually like glamorous romances with lovely costumes/sets but Guru had a more regular, gritty, everyday feel in a good way.

[Deleted]

Why does Akshaye Khanna - my fave - always get cast with such fug or average Bollywood actresses?? Especially when i think in general Bollywood actresses with fab looks and that special something outweigh Bollywood actors 10 to 1. He's with Kareena in Hul Chul (fug) and the utterly ordinary (not in a cute girl next door way, but in a totally forgettable way) girl he's with in Shahdi Se Pehle is apparently with him again in SeI. I also disliked the girl in Aap Ki Khatir. Funnily enough for someone who seems to have a reputation for being v. choosy about his roles, he doesn't half end up in some stinkers (much as i love him). That's in sharp contrast to Aamir Khan who is someone i find completely unappealing, yet has been lucky enough to be offered the creme de la creme of Bollywood roles/films.

Ditto for Shahrukh Khan - although his films are still fairly embarrassing he gets paired with lovely women, despite himself looking like a darker, male version of Jade Goody. And i hate that head waggling/quivering thing he does when he's got tears in his eyes. At the risk of sounding unPC i have seriously only seen that kind of movement when someone suffers from Parkinsons disease, and have an involuntary head bobbing movement going on.

My ideal pairings for Akshaye wd be Preity Zinta (so adorable with her dimples and seems like she'd be a really cool person. I just saw Salaam Namaste with her and Saif - possibly my fave male after Akshaye, and it's great. Possibly my fave Bollymovie after Dil Chahta Hai) and Kajol both of whom i think are so beautiful and also full of character. There's a pic of Akshaye and Preity taken at some function (comes up when u google there names together), and it makes me totally want to SHIP them, in real life as well as onscreen. Akshaye also looks so cute and cool with his close cropped hair that he has in this picture and in DCH - it makes me want to cry that he's sporting that cheesy shaggy hair in other movies.

As for the Rani Mukherjee observations, i have to say i really like her, and think she has that certain something - probably because of her voice which i think sounds really cool. She definitely looks much more special with brown hair like in Mangal Panday and her imdb pics. With black hair she still looks technically gorgeous, but a bit bland.

A gorgeous male i've recently come across who i can't believe isn't ruling over Bollywood is Arbaaz Khan who plays Shakti in Hul Chul. O. M. G. Great face, great build, and natural onscreen. It's criminal that he's so little-known while we have Sharukh and Aamir in so many leads. Also strange, because apart from his looks and charisma, Arbaaz has the connections too - he's Salman Khan's brother. Except he's v. tall!!

[atpeacewithme]

I saw Chalte Chalte last night and I admit I was bored to tears. Why does Bollywood think that "pretty, dutiful girl" and "charming, determined man" equals character development? They were like cut-outs. None of these characters are memorable - they are just talking props.

Are there any Bollywood films where the characters have real personalities? I would love to watch them!

[chonies]

I am ridiculously fangirly for SRK and Rani Mukherjee but I *hated* Chalte Chalte. Is that the one where he follows her to Greece? I was totally hoping the movie would end with a lesson about knowing when to cut your losses and move on.

ETA: Weird! I came back to post something else and the first page of this thread had me talking 'bout Chalte Chalte.

Anyway, I was thinking SRK in Swades showed personality and character development. I'll have a good long think and come back.

[Deleted]

Oh, how I can't stand SRK oflate. I used to be all fangirly till a couple of years ago, but now, I find him to be a very bad actor. He had a lot of potential, unfortunately chose to do the same character over and over in all his roles. I believe Swades was the last movie of his that I thought had a good performance by him. But that wasn't surprising as the director is Ashutosh Gowatriker, who is really good.

Saw Guru, it's good. I felt AB's performance was really heart-felt. He played the part in a way which felt distinctive to him. Movie-wise, not the best of Mani Ratnam. His tamil movies are so amazing.

[chonies]

Is SRK a bad actor, or just lazy? I generally hate the SRK=Indian Tom Cruise comparison, but it's sometimes a little more apt than I would like. I think that if he would branch out and do more Swades-type roles (like CTC in Magnolia or even Collateral), I wouldn't feel so guilty about my latent fangirlyness. It doesn't take a lot of mental leaps to take the character elements from Darr and rearrange them into Veer from Veer-Zaara, but I want to believe there's more than that to his oeuvre. I want to believe!!!!

maddyme, which is your favorite Mani Ratnam movie?

[Deleted]

Hey chonies, love your avatar . So, do you like Mani Ratnam too?

When it comes to Mani Ratnam, it is so hard to choose a favorite. But I suppose I will always love Alaipayuthey, and ofcourse there is Nayagan. One of the best movies ever in any language Nayagan, which is simply superb. The thing is they are in tamil, and the subtitles in english do not do much justice. I need subtitles to follow them too as I don't understand tamil fully. But, even with subtitles, these are simply great.

I have always felt that non-hindi Indian movies are more authentic and engrossing than much of commercial Bollywood.

[chonies]

Tee! I love yours, but I didn't want to copy too much. Although, it would be funny to have my seductive, alluring Madhubala contrasted with your brooding, thoughtful Madhubala. Kashmir ki Kali was totally Junglee 2.0, but it had some great songs, and Sharmila was so ridiculously cute.

Sadly, the only Ratnam films I've seen are Dil Se and half of Bombay (and hopefully Guru this coming weekend). I loved them-- I thought they were appealing and interesting and complicated. Thanks for the links about the other films! Some Telugu films are available near me but there's a bottleneck of English information on them.

[spycandy]

I wanted to join in on the SRK debate, since he is one of my favorites. I think that, in his early career, he took a lot of risks, that's why he did things like Bazigaar and Darr. He is not a good looking man, he couldn't rely on looks, like someone like Akshay Kumar, or family connections. The risky roles payed off, but now it seems like he thinks he has to play it safe and do these romantic roles, because that's what is expected of him.

[chonies]

I agree, spycandy! I only watched Darr recently and I thought it was a good move, and he sold me on psycho obsessive. I just wish he would do something to get out of the 'SRK romantic' roles.