Bollywood Insider from 3/27/09: Ek – Power of One, Aa Dekhen Zara!

Here’s the latest chugli with Bollywood Insider from March 27, 2009:

John Abraham in new cricket film, Deepika Padukone strikes a pose on a catwalk, Aa Dekhan Zara and Ek- Power of One released!

Click on the picture to view:

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Filmfare Bollywood for Minneapolis for the next 5 weekends!

FILMFARE AWARDS 2008 Film Festival

at Brookdale 8 theater starting  this weekend!

For 5 weekends – every Saturday @ 3:30!

from March 28th to April 25th, 2009

 

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! – Saturday, March 28th @ 3:30 PM

·        Best Actor Critics – Manjot Singh

·        Best Dialogue – Manu Rishi

 

Rock On – Saturday, April 4th @ 3:30 PM

·        Best Story – Abhishek Kapoor,

·        Best Actress Critics – Shahana Goswami

·        Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Arjun Rampal

·        Best Debut – Farhan Akhtar

·        Outstanding Performance of the year – Purab Kohli

 

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na – Saturday, April 11th @ 3:30 PM

·        Best Debut – Imran Khan

·        Best Music – A R Rahman

·        Outstanding Performance of the year – Prateik Babbar

 

Fashion – Saturday, April 18th @ 3:30 PM

·        Best Actress – Priyanka Chopra

·        Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Kangana Ranaut

 

Jodha Akbar – Saturday, April 25th @ 3:30 PM

·        Best Film

·        Best Director – Ashutosh Gowariker

·        Best Actor – Hrithik Roshan

Watch all 5 films for $10 or each film for $3. Hey those are recession friendly prices, hai na?

Also showing this weekend and or in the coming weeks:

   

TIMES & DIRECTIONS

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Shashi Kapoor & Leela Naidu in The Householder (1963).

As part of Beth Love Bollywood’s Shashi Week 2009 I would like to add my humble contribution recognizing Mr. Shashi Kapoor’s greatness in Merchant Ivory’s The Householder (1963).   Since it’s the end of the Shashi week, I thought it fitting to show images from The Householder, since it captures Shashi at the beginning of his career. The DVD I watched of the film included a 2003 interview with Shashi as part of the Conversation with the filmmakers,so there’s also an almost current version of Shashi.

This segment included stills of  the 25 year old Shashi, here pictured with the late Ismail Merchant. Skip ahead to 2003 and  an older and wiser pashmina wearing Shashi is captured. Shashi then and now:

In this 2003 interview Shashi talks about how Merchant approached him for the part but the screen writer and novelist Ruth Prawar Jhabvala at first rejected him because she thought he was too good looking for the part. He describes going out and getting a budget, more pedestrian looking haircut to make him more suitable for the role.  Here’s a bit about how the Merchant Ivory site describes the film:

Filmed entirely on location in Delhi, The Householder is a comedy that revolves around Prem (Shashi Kapoor), a young teacher at a boys’ college who has been married to the beautiful but retiring Indu (Leela Naidu). Little more than a boy himself, at least in the face of his imperious, impossible mother (Durga Khote), Prem struggles with the burden of his responsibilites as a husband and, when Indu becomes pregnant, with his impending duties as a father. Prem’s fumbling and his mother’s constant belittling become too much for Indu to bear, and she leaves her husband to return to her family home. Left alone with his mother (who delights in her newfound umbilical arrangement), Prem seeks enlightenment from an older married man, from a swami, and from Westerners who have come to India with orientalist illusions and Silk Road naivété. Only then, in Indu’s absence, does Prem fall in love with his wife. (source)

Enjoy these images of Shashi’s Prem in the first part of The Householder, acting like a young married brat complaing to his wife:

Complaining about his wife:

I’m not house-proud either Shashi, I mean Prem.  In fact, I’m avoiding housework by blogging about YOU!  Prem even wishes his wife were more like a film star:

Not me Prem/Shashi,  I hadn’t heard of Nimmi, so I looked her up HERE.  I will make sure to see one of her films now that I know about her.  He keeps bad company who provide poor advice about women and marriage:

Eventually Prem comes around to appreciate the lovely Indu (Leela Naidu), who gives him the love and support he needs. (more on Leela HERE)

And they lived happily ever after:

Merchant Ivory’s site included an great article entitled, There, Where It All Began,  from the Delhi Times on how Merchant, Ivory and Kapoor started their partnership, which includes some of the following plus a photo of Shashi:

It is a long, winding road that leads to 7/7, Daryaganj. Equally long-winding is the celluloid history of this house, dating back as it does to 41 years. But for three men – Ismail Merchant, James Ivory and Shashi Kapoor – this house is not just about celluloid history: it is about a partner ship which was forged on February 24, 1962 – a partnership which has stood the test of time. For this huge house is where Merchant, Ivory and Kapoor canned the first shot of The Householder – the movie which brought them together for the first time…While sipping on a glass of cola, Ivory points to the beverage and reminisces, “This was the one thing that kept me alive through those 10 weeks of shooting here.” “Yeah! You were always so quiet and bothered,” says Kapoor. “Absolutely, I was always standing under the fan,” confirms Ivory. Having returned to the roots of a 40-year bond, the thoughts of the three men is insightful. How do they feel? “Old,” laughs Kapoor. “Good,” quips Merchant. “Happy,” says Ivory, and gets a picture clicked on what was his first film set. (source)

If you get a chance to see The Householder, go on to see Merchant Ivory’s Heat and Dust (1983),  featuring Shashi playing the part of a scoundrel nawab, which I featured in THIS POST.  Hey, it’s not bollywood, but it stars Shashi, so that’s close enough for me. Now head over to Beth’s site to continue your celebration of Shashi Week 2009 ! Then stop over to Apni East India Company to enjoy more Shashi action! And the jump to Roti Kapada aur Rum for even more Shashi! And here’s one more for the road:

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Janani (2006)

A delightful tale of a brother accidentally dating his own sister.

Namaste! I want to save you a little time.  Since I sacrificed my time and watched Janani (2006), I don’t really see the need for you to do the same, unless of course this little review compels you to watch Janani, then by  all means watch karo!  I kept delaying my returning this movie to Netflix, since I knew there was a lot of groundbreaking screen capping to do, which I finally got around to and I offer to you now. I got this movie after doing a search for the sweetheart of Maine Pyaar Kiya (1989), Bhagyashree.  I’ve always wanted to see more of her after Maine Pyaar Kiya, and remember reading this about her: Her career took a down turn after she started insisting on doing roles only opposite her husband Himalaya Dasani. Since then she only acted in television serials. (source) Well you know I had to find a sample of them together, and here it is, Bhagyashree and her real life husband:

How did you like those phones? Now back to Janani!  Janani popped up in my Bhagyashree search and since I saw Mohnish Behl co starred, it was a no brainer to order it.   Most important of all,  Bhagyashree and Mohnish looked fantastic.  They’re both even more attractive than when they appeared together in Maine Pyaar Kiya.  This film seemed like it was a made for TV movie, and it was surprising that there was even any information about it out there on the web, but I did find things and I particularly enjoyed this review.  A nice feature to the DVD was the option to, Select your own end. First time on DVD.  Well it was the first time I’d seen that and I elected to see the Heartbreaking Ending first, knowing I could temper the sorrow with a 2nd viewing of the Heavenly Ending. Which ending would you choose?

Here’s how the story goes; Rahul (Vineet Raina) and Neha (Sonica Handa) go on a date to the go cart track. There’s dancing, and lots of good clean fun.  There’s also quite a bit of sexual tension on the date, since Neha doesn’t wear too many clothes and when she does they are very revealing.  As you may predict, a go carting date leads to them consummating their relationship in the shower.

Rahul brings Naha home to meet his parents, Urmila ( Ayesha Julka who I remember from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar) and Raj (Behl), who ask a few questions about her.

Initially polite, they take a sudden turn when they find out who Neha’s mom is.

Stupid Rahul thinks it’s a class issue, so naive!

He thinks it’s their fancy toy company, in fact the best and leading toy company of India, that’s making his parents have their adverse reaction to Neha. At this point I was thinking  Nahin Rahul, the best and leading toy company of India was owned by Amitabh in Waqt: The Race Against Time. I distinctly recall him holding a stuffed giraffe from his factory in that film, so how could YOUR family have the leading toy company? Back to Janani, sorry. OK. so here’s the reason Neha has to go:

Don’t you hate when that happens? So Rahul freaks out, runs out of the mansion and drives off really fast on his motorcycle and generally acts suicidal. He’s completely unhinged, knowing he’s committed incest with Neha, but luckily he runs into a group of vagrant sufis singing an inspirational qawwali. I searched to find this song online so I could include the video, but haven’t found it yet.  In fact the only clips I could find were the shower scene described above.  Go figure.

Meanwhile, we need to learn a bit about Neha’s mom, Akanksha (Bhagyashree).  Akanksha used to work in India’s best and leading toy company back in the day with Rahul’s mom.  Akanksha was Urmila’s assistant and it seems that her husband, Tarun, also worked at this company.  Akanksha and her husband Tarun (Aman Verma) have a son, also named Rahul.  He’s also a go carting fan, but he has some trouble one day during a race, since he’s dizzy from a brain tumor.

Akanksha and Tarun can’t afford the expensive brain tumor surgery, so rich co-workers/friends Urmila and Raj step in and pay for it.  Akanksha goes to their home to thank them, and as is traditional in Bollywood films, she overhears some important information; Urmila is infertile, but desperately wants a baby and brings the following idea to Raj:

Raj will not go for this idea.  He questions how his offspring can be correctly nurtured in another woman’s womb since they would not know her morals or beliefs.  Urmila is distraught and begs him and the whole scene seems hopeless.  Akanksha knows that her little Rahul’s life was just saved thanks to  them funding the brain tumor surgery.  She really is indebted to them and wants to help.  Akanksha, just overhearing their dilemma goes to the temple and has a plan that she runs by her  mother in law first.

Then with approval of her mother in law and husband, she goes to tell Urmila and Raj her plan and they’re like Say what?

So she’s carrying Raj’s baby, through artificial means, and then the unthinkable happens! Her son Rahul  (Master Smith Seth) ends up dying, despite the pricey brain tumor surgery. Hota hai, but still, a bummer.

With her own son now dead, and now with the new baby she promised to Urmila here, Akanksha changes her mind and decides to keep the new baby, even name him Rahul, since her Rahul’s spirit went into this new baby anyway. I guess you could call her an Indian giver. Sorry to be offensive, but it was too funny to resist.

Akanksha’s decision reversal drives Urmila to insanity, since who would she be if not a mother?  The Dr. comes by and sedates her a lot since she’s berserk / pagal without her promised baby. What more can they do?

Raj makes an appeal to Aksnksha, and begs her to give Urmila the baby.  I especially like the picture on the wall of dead brain tumor Rahul that you can see here:

Just look how great Behl and Bhagyashree look here:

Yes, she eventually ends up giving Rahul to Urmila and Raj and then goes to work as a nurse.  To add a little more trauma, her husband and mother in law are killed in a car crash.  To ease the pain, Akanksha adopts little baby orphan Neha, and raises her as her own.  Now, fast forward to real time and Akanksha’s daughter, Neha, tells her mom what just happened at Rahul’s home and how his parents reacted to her.  Akanksha tells Neha the tale of her past.  Neha, thinking she’s Rahul’s biological sister, and knowing what they did in the shower is now, like Rahul,  also suicidal.

Her mom tells her that she was merely a surrogate mother to Rahul and that Neha is adopted, so they are NOT siblings after all. Phew!  Neha frantically calls Rahul with the good news, but he’s too busy trying to shoot himself that he won’t answer his phone.  They speed to his home and break down the door only to find…

So I’ve told you most of the movie, but from these last pictures, you have to wonder how it all ends?

I’d love to hear from anyone who has taken the time to watch this film.  What did you think? And if you haven’t seen it, don’t you almost want to see it now?

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Bollywood Insider from March 6, 2009: Kylie Minogue, Shilpa, Freida Pinto

Here’s the  latest chugli with Bollywood Insider from March 6, 2009:

Kylie Minogue in Mumbai, Shilpa Shetty and the Indian Premier League, Pinto power as Freida takes on the world post Slumdog. Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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