Dostana

Got Dostana from Netflix the other day---and finally had an evening to watch it and laugh in peace!! This movie was funnier than I had expected, I have seen some major duds that Abhishek has been in (Drona was like watching a very bad train wreck, you had to be certain that all the injured got out!! Everyone, even the horses, looked embarrassed to be in this movie!).
I had watched the publicity on this movie, since they filmed in Florida, and that the filming took place at the time Abhi and Aish were celebrating their first wedding anniversary--Yes, I am a Bollygeek, and followed the wedding preparation!!

The chemistry between the three lead characters, Abhi, John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra is fabulous--you kind of want them to fall in love, but then you don't want them to lose this wonderful friendship they have.

The Florida beaches, art deco architecture and nightlife is as much a part of the movie as the story of the 3 young friends. Priyanka's aunt is a real hoot--she reminded me of someone, and I can't quite place her.
This was a fun movie to enjoy on a night with a bit of knitting!! I would recommend it highly!

And then, I had some Sunday enjoyment of a repeat viewing of Paheli--when ever I can get 2 SRKs at one time, I certainly will take it!

Kaminey

Got to see Kaminey last Sunday afternoon. Went to the theatre in Worcester area that shows regular first run Bollywood flicks, and did not hit the first show--that show always seems to be just me, my friends and I!! I got to the theatre early, as usual, and sat in the front of the upper section, so as to have a foot rest on the railing!! Well the audience began to fill the back of the theater--couples in their best clothing (one young lady's salwar kameez was stunning), small family groups, teens, a few clusters of young men or women out with their buddies.
No one else sat in the front row-oh well, had it to myself.
There was lots of visiting going on amongst the groups---in Hindi, English and Hinglish!! I caught a few words here and there--two couples sat directly behind me, and I thank the young man translating the Hindi on the censor certificates for the previews! I had heads up for the stuff upcoming--the Aladin with Amitabh Bachchan looks pretty awesome, and with the second viewing of the new Shahid Kapoor, Rani Mukerjee film Dil Bole Hadippa!, plus having the music, makes me want to see it.

Kaminey is a pretty intense movie--a thriller-mystery. It is a story of 2 brothers (both played by Shahid Kapoor--and very well too-though this trend toward dual roles in Bollywood is getting a bit overwhelming). The audience hooted and hollered at the good guys, and jeered the bad guys--which made the film even more enjoyable. Guddu and Charlie both have speech impediments--one stutters, one lisps--but they both hate each other, they have opposite ideals in life. Charlie wants to make fast money, and does so by fixing horse races. Guddu wishes to do good--he works for a NGO educating about AIDS. When Guddu's girlfriend Sweety gets pregnant--things get touchy--you see Sweety's brother is the head of the local mob that wants to run Charlie out of business!
Charlie stumbles upon a guitar case filled with high quality cocaine--in his quest to get the highest price, he kills another mobster, cheats the crooked cops and gets in trouble with the drug dealing gang. Guddu is mistaken for Charlie and kidnapped--I don't want to give too much of the story away--but in the end both Charlie and Guddu are no longer at odds with each other and the crooked cops and sneaky mobsters have been eliminated!

This movie moves along at a breakneck speed--the action flies by, and you need some time to digest it! I took a leisurely ride home, listening to the music, which helps me to recall the action--and was able to truly enjoy the film. This movie is not for the faint at heart, there is a lot of violence and mayhem, and I do agree with many critics that this is the 'must see' movie for 2009. Try to see it with a full theater--the audience's energy also makes the movie more awesome!

On my soap box--or My Name is Khan for real!!

Ok, after flying to and fro to Louisville Kentucky--and having had to be re-checked by TSA in Cleveland--I need to vent about Shahrukh Khan being detained in Newark airport!!
Unless you live under a rock, you by now know that Shahrukh Khan-named one of the 50 most influential men in the world by Newsweek magazine in January of this year, was detained for 2 hours at the Newark New Jersey airport. SRK was on his way to an Indian Independence Day (August 15th) in Chicago, with a stop first at Donald Trump's Taj Mahal Casino for a fan dinner. His name--Khan--popped up on the TSA computers, since all Muslims named Khan are terrorists. I guess they did not buy his 'I am an actor' line, they obviously did not look at his passport (he had been here less than a month ago for nearly 2 months filming a movie on how Muslim Indians were in the aftermath of 911. After a long wait, they finally let him call the Indian embassy in New York and they straightened it all out.
Umm--people, wake up!! Not all folks named Khan are terrorists!! This thinking has gotten other Bollywood actors detained--Irrfan Khan, Aamir Khan and the former president of Indian manhandled in the airport!!!
Sure, we need to be on the lookout, but 'flying while brown' should not be part of it. We still have these ideas about people different from us, and how they are 'scary'--but it is the 21st Century, we have GLOBAL communications--it should not be that hard for foreign nationals, who are loved and respected all over the globe to travel!!

Well--sorry for the rant--but I needed to get it off my chest!
One way to placate my injured soul, I will be heading to see Kaminey today--all by myself--and will post a review later.

Oh, by the way--Happy Independence Day India

Love Aaj Kal--an outing

I have always been a fan of Saif Ali Khan--he he was also in the first movie that got me totally hooked on Bollywood--Kal Ho Naa Ho. Then when I also saw him in Dil Chata Hai, Omkara, and Hum Tum!! I was totally hooked on him, and considered him one of the most underrated Bollywood actors. He has great scope and is very versatile. When I began seeing promos for Love Aaj Kal, and knew for sure that the distributor's strike was over--I totally began checking out the local theaters that play Bollywood.
My friend Kitty and I planned out Sunday outing to see this new flick, we weren't going to have dinner out, but planned on hitting an Indian market we had spotted before. What wonderful stuff we found at Desi Market in the Shrewsbury Commons shopping center!! We got spices, snacks, naan and lots of ideas for another visit.
This movie was wonderful! Some reviewers thought that the switching time periods did not work, well, I felt that it did. I kinda wish that the young lady that played Harleen(Giselle Monteiro) had more lines--but hey,she is Brazilian, this was a Hindi film, there might have been a bit of a language barrier!! Though I feel that we shall see more of Giselle in the future--for there is a pocket of Bollywood lovers in Brazil!!
Saif did a great job with the dual role--he was able to capture Rishi Kapoor's mannerisms and when they were together as Rishi told his story, you could almost mistake them for some sort of relatives!!

Take the time to find this movie in the theatre!! It was a great night out!!

Been a slacker!

Sorry folks, I have been a bit of a slacker! I have seen a few movies, but have been busy with 2 jobs and lots of other projects. I suppose I could give you a bit of a review on one or 2 of the most recent movies I have seen. I will be heading to Worcester area today to see Love Aaj Kal with Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, I have already fallen in love with the music (you gotta love iTunes) and I find that Saif is one of Bollywood's most underrated stars--I do like his style and scope.

One of the most recent movies I watched was a Salaam Namaste with Saif and Preity Zinta. I had fallen in love with their chemistry in Kal Ho Naa Ho--and had heard much about this movie.
Well, take the time to find it and watch. This movie takes place in Australia-Preity is a DJ, Saif an architect turned chef(he really wanted to go to culinary school, but his folks insisted he do a 'real' career). Saif and Preity meet when he caters a beachside wedding of a friend of Preity's.

The couple, falls for each other, but Saif doesn't want to commit. They move in together and soon are into a very hot and heavy relationship. This movie has a very western style love entanglement. There are some modest but very hot 'sex' scenes--(my favorite was in the tent on the beach), yet they still meet with Indian expectations. I guess that is why I love Bollywood--they try to develop a relationship with a couple rather than just having them jump in bed--and even if the relationship gets physical, the physicality is not the focus, it is still the relationship and feelings of the couple.

When Preity gets pregnant--Saif doesn't want anything to do with the baby, and Preity decides to have the child anyway. Well, with typical Bolly/Hollywood style, Saif realizes how much he loves Preity and they get together--I don't want to give you too much--soo-go rent!

Knitting has taken center stage!

Well, I have been neglectful here! But since my purpose here is to spread KNITTING and Bollywood--the knitting side has been taking over.
I have been able to watch a number of great movies that I will soon be posting about--Ghajini(with Aamir Khan), Salaam Namaste, Shakti:the Power. But right now I wish to mention all the Yarny bollyencounters!!

I have told you all before that I play Bollywood, or related music when I am at work at the yarn store(I have that wonderful 3 CD set of Rahman's music that has been getting regular 'airplay') The music has gotten me talking to very many Hindi film lovers as well as NRI(for those not in the know, NRI is Non-Resident Indian)!!

One very slow Sunday morning--I was working to allow the young lady who normally works Sunday participate in graduation festivities(she graduated high school). This couple came into the store, it was obvious that they were Indian--they heard Rahman, and began to whisper amont themselves. The husband approached me to ask a question about the Polish pottery--and hesitantly asked if the music playing was Bollywood. I said oh yes, it was a new CD I had gotten from a friend in India that was Rahman's music. Well, this lead to a long, very enjoyable conversation about Hindi films, music, actors--I told them there were 2 theaters near the area that played first run Bollywood. We talked about the strike--they left and we felt as if we had been friends forever--they also joked I should start a side business and rent Hindi films from my collection at the yarn store. That might make our selection even more eclectic!!

This past Saturday I had a similar encounter with another Indian couple. I had just downloaded the soundtrack to Salaam Namaste from iTunes(don't you love iTunes!! once you figure out how they list bollywood soundtracks, you can usually find them!) We also had a very pleasant conversation about Hindi films--as well as knitting!!

I have found that most people, when they come into the yarn store and I am playing Bollywood--seem to smile more, often even very elderly men, will tap their foot, hum along and altogether seem happier when they leave!!

I will try to post some reviews of the movies I have recently seen and hopefully, there will be a first run movie that I want to see, running near me soon.

Soo---Namaste and here is to happy knitting with Bollywood!

Blogging or Bollywood?

Its a rainy night, I should be sitting in the comfy chair, knitting in hand, watching Bollywood! But, alas, I am here on the computer. The 3 month distributor's strike in India has ended, new movies are being released. This 3 month lapse in movies has been not only hard on the movie junkies that Indians are-but it has been hard on us Hindi film lovers!! This has meant Bollywood lovers all over the world have been clamoring for new movies. One bonus from this strike--old Bollywood has become a hit again in India! Many theaters dug into their archives and brought out classic films.

I have been chatting with folks via Ravelry about the movie dry spell we have all been looking forward to new releases-which start in about 2 weeks.

For those of you that live in the greater San Francisco area--Karan Johar and his Dharma Productions company are in town for a 2 month shoot for Karan's awaited film My Name is Khan. This movie deals with how Indian Muslims were treated in the period following 911. Shahrukh Khan plays the lead-but he is doing it with a twist-he plays a man with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of Autism. Humm, it seems a bit of a coincidence that one very highly publicised release is another movie about 911. This film stars John Abraham and Irfan Khan-New York is a Yash Raj production and looks promising. I can't wait until the local theatres here have some new Bollywood flicks!
Sigh, I will just have to be satisfied with finishing reading many of the books I have on Bollywood. I am working my way through the essays in Bollywood Reader (edited by Rajinder Dudrah & Jigna Desi)--this is a great compiliation of essays that deal with theory, current trends and classics-a great class textbook.
Another book I am reading is City Flicks:Indian Cinema and the Urban Experience by Preben Kaarsholm-this book has been a bit slow going, but I have not spent too much time with it.
I probably should put a list together of books that help you understand Indian cinema better--but for now I will recommend an author-Rachel Dwyer. She has written extensively on Bollywood and has a wonderful way with words which makes even her most serious books a pleasure to read.