I know this is a Bollywood blog, but sometimes I have to talk about Tollywood.

I saw my second Telugu film the other day: Bommarillu (2006).  The first Telugu film I saw was Varsham (2004), which I enjoyed just as much.  I was excited to see Genelia D’Souza in a movie, since her much anticipated Bollywood film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na  is set to debut this weekend. If you’re curious as I am about JTYJN, Nawab theBollywoodFan has translated the songs from the movie (music by A. R. Rahman!) and given a lot of great preview information at his site.  He’s also had some brushes with the film’s director, Abbas Tyrewala, that you can read about here. 

D’Souza is adorable ADORABLE as Hasini in Bommarillu. 

She’s like the daughter of Kajol and Rani if that were possible, with a dash of Tanuja, and twist of Gidgit; meaning if she were any cuter she’d explode.  The movie reminded me of DDLJ, KKHH, and Cinderella.  Its appeal is vast, but in particular, I think all 8-12 year old girls out there would adore this movie.  Second to D’Souza, my other favorite part in the film was the domineering father, marvelously played by the brutally handsome Prakash Raj.  I was delighted to find that when this move is remade in Hindi, one of my favorite hot villains, Nana Patekar, will play the father.

 

             

Calling all Bollywood bloggers and Bollywood blog readers!  SOB!

I was hopping around the web tonight and found some spectacular photos of Bollywood stars. Let me tell you how it all happened.  I finished watching the thriller Aggar (2007) and was doing my customary post movie research. I usually like to refresh my memory about where I may have seen the actors before and find out about the ones I don’t remember after I’ve finished a film.  So this evening, like many other nights, I jumped over to IMDB & wikipedia, and checked out filmographies of the movie’s stars: Shreyas Talpade (hot!), Udita Goswami, and Tusshar Kapoor (also hot, hmm, where have I seen him before?) click:

Tusshar Kapoor(　तुषार कपूर; born 20 November 1976) is an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor and brother of producers Ekta Kapoor & Sharan Kapoor. He studied at the University of Michigan. (wikipedia)

Then I think, “Hey, I still haven’t seen Jeetendra, maybe I’ll see Caravan (1971) since it also stars Asha Parekh who I also haven’t seen!”  So I’m thinking I will kill 2 birds with one stone, hain na? Now I want to see some photos of them, so I do a google image search and find great stuff. Excellent stuff!  So many great shots at this one place.  For example, photos like these of Madhubala and Asha.

The blog source of these fantastic pictures About section reads:

About Me: Karen, Fanatic fan of hindi movies! Love the classical ones just as much as the new ones (pretty apparent from the blog)! Madhuri Dixit is my favorite actress and Salman Khan is my fav actor!

 Ahh! a kindred spirit!  Then I read this sad news there:  

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Regarding anyone who has iterest in my blog if it hasn’t already become apparent, i have pretty much abandoned this blog. reason being that i thought that no one cared about this blog so i stopped doing stuff with it. plus i have so many pics that it became very long and tedious to upload pics. so i uploaded my pics into webalbums! which if you want you can view at http://picasaweb.google.com/home i have now also ran out of space here and i still have a lot of pics to upload! so i will i guess make another account! well thanx for all the comments and feedback! do checkout the webalbums!

Once again it’s time to get the latest Bollywood chugli from Suzi Mann, Bollywood Food Club’s favorite entertainment correspondant. Suzi gives us the latest news hot off the press on all your favorite Bolly stars!

From June 6, 2008:

Emraan cashes in, Fresh start for Akshay

From June 13, 2008:

Get the latest on Bollywood’s biggest stars in a special feature on the 9th International Indian Film Academy Awards hosted in Thailand.

From June 20, 2008:

Sanjay Romances Ash, Kaif voted sexiest woman

From June 27, 2008:

Bolly goes futuristic in Love Story 2050

When I saw Nikkah (1982) which means an Islamic marriage contract, I thought it really should have been called Talaq, Talaq, Talaq! So in my post movie online research, I found that it originally was to be titled Talaq Talaq Talaq (divorce). I thought, “Hey that’s what I thought it should be titled too!”

Nikaah is a 1982 Hindi film produced and directed by B. R. Chopra. The film stars Raj Babbar, Deepak Parashar and Salma Agha in her Hindi movie debut role. The film also had Asrani, Iftekhar and Gufi Paintal in support roles. The films music is by Ravi. The original name of the movie was Talaq Talaq Talaq, but was renamed Nikaah on the insistence of Islamic clerics. (wikipedia)

No one wants to get on the wrong side of an Islamic cleric. The movie begins with a series of rather sensual oil painting in the background. Some of the paintings are nudes!

As the paintings flash by, a woman recites the following:

I am a woman the daughter of Eve
Sent down from the heavens pure and sacred
I’ve bloomed the flowers in this world
I give birth to a man and train him to walk
As a sister I tell him amusing stories
As his beloved, I make his life melodious
I sacrifice the precious pearls of my life
In a need I walk along with him
By serving him like this I lose my entity
The story of my sacrifice is in all the holy books
All that I have said is an illusion
I’ve always had one fear after many centuries
I may be pushed into some brothel
I don’t know when I may be bet in gambling
I may be compelled to prove my chastity
I may be put to death just after my death
I may be auctioned in the flesh markets
I may be accepted as a wife after marriage
I may also be divorced and rejected
My chastity may be ravaged by the same men
This is all because I am a woman

Off to a dramatic start with that opening poem, right? That’s followed by some subtitles I’d never seen before using the word buttock, not buttocks, just buttock:

That’s Haider Raj Babbarand his college buddies talking about Nilofer (Salma Agha). Haider is actually a good guy and is a real Ghazal expert. Haider and Nilo had a bit of an attraction in college, but Nilo was set to marry the fancy Nawab Wasim (Deepak Parashar) who immediately gets a business deal for a 5 star hotel! I love how often the term “5 star hotel” appears in Bollowood movies. I’ve seen enough Bollywood to know that the 5 star hotel theme is quite ominous and those involved in the deal will eventually fall from their greedy quest for power. 5 star hotel = bad guy. 5 star hotel = bad scene.

And sure enough, the 5 star hotel deal interrupts the celebration of the honeymoon. While Nawab Wasim meets with his business partners, poor Nilo sits on the rocky Mumbai beach, watching other honeymooners as she scrawls “honeymoon” on a rock, the word eventually being washed away by the crashing waves.

As may be predicted, since Nilo and Wasim’s marriage starts of with a rocky honeymoon (sorry couldn’t resist) it only continues to have highs and lows like the waves of the ocean. Eventually things take a nasty turn when Wasim gives Nilo a tight slap to the face, and the highs are gone. Nilo spends most of her time waiting for her workoholic husband, and when he finally appears after standing her up repeatedly, he’s often in a foul mood. Although Nilo dedicates herself to the marriage, she realizes that it’s not working.

But fear not ladies, Nilo is a strong woman and doesn’t take this abuse and the next time that arrogant nawab raises his hand to her she puts him in his place!

Macho Wasim has to have the last word. In fact he has the last 3 words and says “Talaq! Talaq! Talaq!” Giving her the triple talaq = D-I-V-O-R-C-E! I warn you if you see this scene and are prone to seizures, this may trigger one as it flashes back and forth between these 2 pictures at a rapid rate of about 100 times in 30 seconds.

Nilo gets her talaq and goes on to marry Haider, who thinks she may still love Wasim. Haider then trys to reunite Nilo and Wasim in an act of sacrifice. Nilo’s not having that! These men making all the decisions and not consulting with her at all drives her to the edge and she declares the truth:

What I loved about this movie:

• More adabs and Subhan’allahs per scene than any movie ever!
• 5 star hotels mentioned
• Tight slaps to the face
• Johnnie Walker consumed by a bad guy
• Women triumph in the end

The most interesting part of this movie to me was the fact that Salma Agha was her own playback singer for the tune “Dil Ke Armaan” and won the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for the song.

Thanks to anupkumar07 for the video.

LYRICS with and English translation by Madhu.

Even more interesting than Salma being her own playback singer is the fact that she was discovered at Rishi Kapoor & Neetu Singh’s wedding. And it gets even better: Salma was already famous for recording the hits of ABBA in Hindi with her sister Sabina:

AGHA - Salma and Sabina Agha sing ABBA hits in Hindi. (wikipedia)

Listen to Salma and Sabina work their magic:

Mamma Mia, Super Trooper, and Dancing Queen

I’ve posted about The Unforgettable Tour earlier. Here’s some more current information on the US part of the tour:

Here’s another video that explains who is participating, and reports that Saif Ali Khan, Bipasha Basu, and Lara Dutta have dropped out of the tour. And for you Canadians, here’s all the information you need.

I often order the Hindi movies at my local library. If it’s Hindi, I order it! Sometimes I end up with rather odd things as was the case with Sabse Badi Ganga Ki Saugandh. Is this maybe a TV movie remake version of Ganga Ki Saugandh (1978)? Maybe the library thought it was ordering the real Ganga Ki Saugandh? Who knows what happened, but now I want to see the real Ganga Ki Saugandh, and after seeing the wonderful screen capture maybe YOU will want to see Sabse Badi Ganga Ki Saugandh, which is from either 2000, or 2003, and sometimes listed as 2004. Dharmendra is cast in the film playing the good cop fighting the dacoits, but I don’t find it in any of his filmographies, so I wonder if it’s from television. Plus the DVD reads Show World Television, which would indicate a television production. I can’t wait to go to India one day, driving around in my Tata vehicle, saying, “I am of your caste and a spinster too!” If you know anything about this campy film, do tell!

Speaking of Dharmendra and dacoits, see what MemsaabStory has to say about Pratiggya (1975).

I watched a parallel cinema film from 1993 last night directed by Kalpana Lazmi called Rudaali.  Like parallel cinema is supposed to do, it dealt with a serious topic: professional mourners, known as Rudaali in Hindi. I was happy to hear great music by both Lata and Asha throughout the movie, a feature not always present in the parallel cinema.  I had a whole stack of Hindi movies from the library waiting for me to watch them, and I was in the mood for some personal, professional mourning, as the night before a ferocious hail storm ruined my garden.  I knew I loved my hosta plants, but this destructive storm only confirmed this attachment.  What in the past I would have described as golf ball sized hail, and now refer to as ladoo sized hail, fell from the sky at high speeds and in minutes ruined my garden. These aren’t my hosta pictured here, but I believe mine would have looked like these if the storm taken a different path:

Ahh, the power of Shiva! I wanted to weep at the loss, and briefly hired myself as a professional mourner.  Afterwards, I had to accept it, tip my hat to mother nature’s shakti, and seek peace through a movie. I was in the mood to mourn and had the perfect movie in front of me so things were already looking up! Here’s a bit about the movie: 

Rudaali is a 1993 Hindi film directed by Kalpana Lajmi, based on the short story written by Mahasweta Devi. The title is a reference to a custom in certain areas of Rajasthan where women are hired as professional mourners after the death of a male relative. These women are referred to as a ‘rudaali’ (roo-dah-lee),literally translated as female weeper. Their purpose is to publicly express grief of family members that are not permitted to display emotion due to social status. The film is set in a small village in Rajasthan, India. It tells the story of a woman named Shanichari, who was abandoned by her mother shortly after her father’s death. Bad fortune follows as she marries an alcoholic, who leaves her with little hope of a brighter future for herself and her son. Throughout Shanichari’s lifetime of misfortune she has never cried. This creates great difficulty once she is called to become a rudaali until Bhinkni, an experienced mourner, enters her life. But Shanichari is simply led to more misery that will surely bring her to tears. Dimple Kapadia won a National Film Award for her role of Shanichari in the film. The film also features Raakhee, Raj Babbar and Amjad Khan in one of his last films. Amjad Khan had died before the film’s release and the film is dedicated to him at the beginning of the film’s credits. (wikipedia)

Read more on the film at Philip’sfil-ums, rAjOo, and alternate movies.

Here’s my progression of Amjad Khan viewing: Sholay (1975), Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1978), Qurbani (1980), Lawaaris (1981)  and last night I saw Rudaali (1993).  In the beginning Rudaali  you see this:

I then realized Amjad must have died around the time of the movie’s release.  I was thinking that maybe he wasn’t in the movie, but rather that the movie simply was dedicated to him. So when someone who looked like a MUCH BIGGER Amjad Khan appeared…

I couldn’t believe it was him. I remember seeing Khan in Lawaaris and thinking how chunky he’d become and how fitting since that character started out in the film as a pig of a man. Khan’s character appears in Rudaali several times and he’s on his death bed, trying unsuccessfully to die. Ironic that it was one of his last roles to play a dying man. 

 Finally I figured out that this was indeed Amjad Khan:

After I got over my shock about Amjad’s apperance, I was free to enjoy the film.

For today’s video, listen to “Dil Hoom Hoom Gare” (My heart beats with fear) which is about Dimple’s character’s sad life, but reminds me of the hail storm I’d just survived.  I am dedicating to this song to my plants harmed by the storm.  It’s sung by Lata Mangeshkar, picturized on Dimple Kapadia, with lyrics by Gulzar, and music by Bhupen Hazarika:

Thanks to bhumikafan for the video.  

Dil hoom hoom kare, ghabraaye

My heart is gasping, it shivers in fear

Ghan dham dham kare, darr jaaye

The clouds are thundering, my heart becomes afraid

Ek boond kabhi paani ki mori ankhiyon se barsaaye

A drop of water sometimes flows from my eyes

Dil hoom hoom kare, ghabraaye

My heart is gasping, it shivers in fear

More Lyrics HERE.

Thanks to Dimple, for her excellent acting, for crying over my injured hosta, for being the Rudaali of my hail storm.

I have been fooled by official looking film festival palm leaf logos before. Haven’t you?  Those palms make something look legitimate and award worthy. So when a friend sent me Gulabi Aaina (2003) and I saw those leaves on the DVD I thought it would be great.  It’s a movie about drag queens who perform some Bollywood hits.  How could I not love it?  Unfortunatley, the palm leaves and the drag queens performing Bollywood tunes gave me high expectations that simply could not be met.  The film opens with “In Aankhon Ki Masti Ke” from Umrao Jaan (1981).  For those who’ve seen that, you already know that there’s no way to improve upon perfection.  Enjoy Mohammed Zahur Khayyam’s gorgeous tune from the original movie, picturized on Rekha and performed by playback singer Asha Bhosle.

Thanks to amangill for the video.

LYRICS

If you haven’t already seen the classic Umrao Jaan, check out what these wonderful blogs have to say:

Philip’sfil-ums HERE.

Bitten by Bollywood’s Nida, HERE.

Filmi Geek HERE.

Doc Bollywood HERE.

About Gulabi Aaina:

The Pink Mirror pits two Indian drag queens against a westernized gay teenager in a battle to woo a handsome hunk. It’s a clash of the east and west. Who will win? The drag queens, who are expert in the art of seduction with their wit, innuendo and cunning or the young teenager who is saucy, slutty and sly? Underneath the campy humorous exterior, the film is an exploration of the Indian gay landscape and understanding of the deep, humanly tender bondings that exist between drag queens in India who form unique, non-patriarchal families. Using the Bollywood soap idiom of song, dance and drama and for the first time in the Indian drag queens’ very own language, Hindi, the film also explores other veiled issues related to the Indian gay community: the lurking threat of HIV/AIDS. (IMDB)

 Controversy around Gulabi Aaina:

In 2003, the Indian Censor Board banned the film ‘Gulabi Aaina (The Pink Mirror)’, a film on Indian transsexuals produced and directed by Sridhar Rangayan. The censor board cited that the film was ‘vulgar and offensive’. The filmmaker appealed twice again unsuccessfully. The film still remains banned in India, but has screened at numerous festivals all over the world and won awards. The critics have appluaded it for its ’sensitive and touching portrayal of marginalized community’ (Wikipedia)

I think maybe it was banned because it was offensive that anyone would try and recapture Rekha’s Umrao Jaan performing “In Aankhon Ki Masti Ke.” 

If I’m going to watch a drag queen, it will be Queen Harish of Rajasthan, the “Dancing, Whirling Desert Drag Queen,” featured a few months back over at Rough In Here. If I’m going to watch “In Aankhon Ki Masti Ke,” it must be picturized on Rekha! I’ll also accept Queen Harish’s intrepretation of Umrao Jaan.  

Once again it’s time to get the latest Bollywood chugli from Suzi Mann, Bollywood Food Club’s favorite entertainment correspondant.

From May 23, 2008:

Abraham wedding! - Khan bites back - Bachchans in Cannes - Dhoom Dhadaka

From May 16, 2008:

Bolly big in Cannes, Liz and Arun baby rumours, Canine Khan, Dhoom Dhadaka

From May 10, 2008:

Dream team Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan in Tashan, Bachchan trio in Sarkar Raj and Big B conquers the Internet

For even more impressive entertainment, step over to MemsaabStory.

Memsaab proudly represents filmi goris on Bollywood Ka Boss, India’s first-ever Bollywood quiz show, hosted by Boman Irani. Shabash!

Bollywood Bewaafa!

Bollywood, I’ve been unfaithful. Please allow me to explain. Maybe it’s because it’s spring, and sometimes that’s the season when hearts wander, but I’ve been back to my old self, sampling the world and enjoying it. Yet still I keep getting reminded of you and all the great times we’ve had. I’ve cheated on you with China, (my ex), Egypt, Ethopia, and Kerala. I’ve cheated with films, documentaries, food and even books. Here’s how it happened:

I saw a Chinese movie a few weeks back called Luxury Car (2006). It was bleak, depressing and very good, but it brought me back to Bollywood. How you ask? Well it was directed by Wang Chao, who studied under director Chen Kaige, who made some movies starring the lovely Gong Li. Gong Li was the first actress I saw that moved me to want to see all her films. It was only after running out of movies with Gong Li, did I think maybe I’d like to see another movie with “that guy from Devdas,” who I later found out was Shahrukh Khan.

Then I was listening to NPR and heard a mini documentary on Umm Kulthum. Now hipped to Umm Kulthum, I promptly went to the library to get “Umm Kulthum: A Voice Like Egypt.” It’s an excellent documentary on a fascinating life. While watching Umm-ji’s life story, I thought of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.

‘All Arabs agree,’ reads The Rough Guide to World Music. ‘Umm Kulthum is indisputably the Arab world’s greatest singer.’ The name Umm Kulthum may not strike a chord to Western ears, but she was a larger-than-life presence in the Arab world. The Egyptian singer’s career was long, its heyday extending from the 1930s to the 1960s, and her music became a powerful symbol of Arab nationalism. When she died in 1975 at the age of 70, 4 million people poured into the streets of Cairo to mourn her passing. Today, her music is everywhere. Even at truck stops, CD kiosks are brimming with Umm Kulthum’s many recordings. In the 1950s and ’60s, her fame grew, thanks to her legendary live radio broadcasts. On Thursday nights, the streets of Cairo would empty as people gathered around radio sets to hear the great singer. You can still hear a lot of Umm Kulthum on Egyptian radio today. In honor of her famous broadcasts, her music is played at 10 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month. (NPR)

Can you watch and hear this and not want more? I couldn’t.

Is even Umm telling me in this song to get back to Bollywood?

Click here for a subtitled rendition of the same tune, and here for another.

First I cheated with films, documentaries, China, Egpyt. Then I cheated with food, Ethiopian food!

When eating out, instead of dining at one of my favorite Indian restaurants, Best of India, I strayed over to Fasika and dined on Ethiopian food, which I hadn’t had for years. My mind was seduced by the wall mural of Victoria Falls and other images throughout the restaurant of Lalibela, Axum, and Addis Ababa. My interest was peaked, but how could I even think of traveling to Ethiopia before I see my mother India? That food was really great!

I also cheated with books. When I’m not watching movies, I enjoy reading and I’d heard the “The God of Small Things” was an excellent book. It’s set in a village in Kerala, India, so I was slowly getting back to Bollywood, more or less. I know the author, Arundhati Roy, wrote “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones” which was one of Shahrukh Khan’s first gigs. Bollywood calling me again. Then within the book, Roy makes reference to a tragic love triangle (sound familiar, Bollywood?) in a Malayalam film Chemmeen(1965). It’s not Bollywood, but it’s the Malayalam film industry, so I’m getting closer to coming back Bollywood.

Bollywood was so majestic, waiting gracefully as I looked around enjoying all the world has to offer, all the while being reminded of him. Really, I never left, you were always in my heart, I mean in my dil.

Forgive me Bollywood, for I have sinned!

I confess to almighty God, (Bollywood) and to you, my brothers and sisters,that I have sinned through my own fault,in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.