Happy Birthday Rekha!

The great lady turns 60 today.  Happy birthday Rekha!

Have You Watched "The Bollywood Episode?"

TV shows have been doing one-off episodes forever.  Christmas episodes, reunion episodes, "very special" episodes which helped teach us kids not to do drugs (Saved By the Bell anyone?) and where babies come from—these were a staple when I was growing up.

But more and more producers are writing a new type of "very special" episode: the Bollywood episode.
Bollywood is still a bit of a novelty in most parts of the United States, and the success of films like Slumdog Millionaire and Bride and Prejudice have TV studios jumping on the India bandwagon faster than you can say "Jai Ho."  

The result has been a flood of Bollywood-themed plot lines on shows ranging from daytime soap operas to popular sitcoms (and everything in between!), and while most of these episodes are written in an honest and good-hearted attempt at having fun, some miss the mark badly and veer dangerously close to mockery.

Without further adieu, here are some of the best (and worst) Bollywood episodes I've come across.  Which ones have you seen, and which shows (if any) managed to nail that special filmi style?

(linked titles to go Youtube videos where available, which weren't embedding properly at the time I wrote this post!)

Passions

The hilariously bad soap opera featured a couple desperate to escape the plotting of a man-hungry woman, so they plan to run away to India together.  Cue the dream sequence, which involves not-so-bad dancing and hilarious music (sample lyric: "I'm tired of your meddling, get lost Theresa!")

Hotel Babylon

Late night British soap/drama Hotel Babylon started its fourth season with a bang when a wedding at the hotel between film star Omar (Chris Bisson) and Aishia (Preeya Kalidas) goes horribly awry.  Determined to still have a good time, the hotel staff don their best saris, crank up the music, and dance the night away.

Psych

Sean and Gus help a man (the gorgeous Sendhil Ramamurthy) who believes he has had a curse put on him which is causing his girlfriends to suffer tragic accidents.  Bonus points for casting Sendhil, I guess?

Smash

The less said about this one the better.  Poor Raza Jaffrey.

The Big Bang Theory

Now we're getting to the good stuff.  Raj (played by the very funny Kunal Nayyar) expresses his love for Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) the only way he knows how—by imagining a cheesy Bollywood dance sequence.  The scene works by not taking itself too seriously.  The result is fun and adorable—just like Raj.

The Simpsons

Bollywood's so popular even cartoons are getting in on the action!  This one's a classic, and is the only "Bollywood episode" I've seen which bothers to feature an actual Hindi song (the glorious "Pal Bhar Ke Liye").  In the words of Mr. Burns: "Oh go ahead and join them Smithers.  I know you want to."

In Remembrance: Dev Anand

 

Dev Anand, 1923-2011

Sunidhi Chauhan and...Enrique Iglesias?

1.  How did I not know this existed?

2.  How beautiful is Sunidhi's voice?

3.  I'm not entirely in love with it.

4.  Hmmm.

Chammak Challo Teaser Is Out!

Love the colors, love the song, love love love.  Can't wait for the full number!!

Official Trailer for Freida Pinto's "Trishna" Released

Like much of the Bollywood fanbase I'm a bit put off by Freida Pinto's condescending attitude towards Indian cinema.  BUT...I'm not swearing her off entirely.  She hasn't done anything to impress me yet, acting-wise, but I'm hoping that will change when Trishna premieres at TIFF this fall.  Pinto stars as the daughter of a rickshaw driver in an adaptation of Tess of the D'Ubervilles directed by Michael Winterbottom and scored by Amit Trivedi.  The trailer released this morning and it looks promising to say the least.

Thoughts on the film?  Anyone planning on seeing it when it comes out?

Love Breakups Zindagi--Official Trailer

Found the official trailer for Love Breakups Zindagi on Youtube this morning.  For a Zayed Khan movie this one doesn't look too bad--he doesn't look so frenetic and Dia Mirza, while not the greatest actress ever, looks cute.  But to me the real star of the film is going to be Cyrus Sahukar, who I loved loved loved in Aisha and in his small role in Delhi 6.  He always cracks me up and I'm hoping he'll continue the trend in LBZ.

I'll definitely check this one out if it plays in my neighborhood--it looks like a cute little afternoon film.  :)

My Top 10 Amit Trivedi Songs

Amit Trivedi has accumulated an impressive number of hits in his (relatively) short career.  First receiving notice for his work on the underrated Aamir, he went on to garner critical acclaim for Dev D, one of the most innovative and diverse film soundtracks to come out of Bollywood.  He followed up with what I think is equally impressive work in Wake Up Sid, Aisha, Udaan, and No One Killed Jessica among others.  He's proven himself capable of writing fast-paced rock numbers, qawwali-style pieces, and sweet love songs with equal panache.

Output-wise he's (luckily for me in this post!) still in his early years--I'd pull my hair out selecting my favorites if he had a body of work as large as, say, an A.R. Rahman or R.D. Burman.  So before his repertoire grows to an unmanageable size, here are my top ten Amit Trivedi songs.

It was a very close call between first and second place, but in the end sweet and romantic won out over pure 80s danceability.  Did I leave out your favorite song?  What would your top 10 look like?

10.  Gal Mitthi Mitthi Bol, Aisha

9.    Mahi Mennu, Dev. D

8.    Lehrein, Aisha

7.    Ha Raham (Mehfuz), Aamir

6.    Pardesi, Dev D

5.    Iktara, Wake Up Sid

4.    Aali Re, No One Killed Jessica

3.    Behke Behke, Aisha

2.    Bombay Bombay, Striker

1.    Dhol Yaara Dhol, Dev D 

In Remembrance: Shammi Kapoor

 

Shammi Kapoor

1931-2011

Malaika Arora Khan's Music Video Days

I've loved this song for a decade and had this video stored away on my computer for years and I can't believe I never noticed this!

Before Munni and Chaiyya Chaiyya (in 1993, so waaaaay before in fact) Malaika Arora Khan starred in a weird little music video for the Malkit Singh/Bally Sagoo collaboration "Gur Naal Ishq Mitha," where she plays the apple of Jas Arora's eye at a wedding.  He sees some sexy shoes, finds their owner, and then plots to make sure she becomes his.  How...sweet.

Anyways, check out the Chaiyya Chaiyya girl before she became a star--and enjoy some fab Punjabi tunes at the same time!

Friday Man Candy: Prateik Babbar

Tall, dark and (broodingly) handsome.  That's Prateik Babbar to a T.  Happily I can say he's more than just a beautiful face (and body--wow); his work in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, while brief, was noteworthy, he was the heart and soul of Dhobi Ghat, and his upcoming My Friend Pinto looks adorably hilarious.

What better way to go into the weekend than to have a (unashamedly objectifying) look at one of Bollywood's most attractive new talents?

"Mausam" Poster: Seriously Gorgeous

Love love love this.  I've been ambivalent about the film (I haven't really been digging what Shahid's been doing since Jab We Met) but I do love Sonam and so far all the trailers and song promos have looked really promising.

And then of course there's this, which is...wow.  I kind of want this poster for my house.

My Biggest Bollywood Pet Peeve

In an earlier life, before I was a Bollywood fan and Occasional Blogger of Things of Dubious Importance, I was a cellist.  Not, you know, a concert cellist or anything, but a pretty decent cellist nonetheless.  I knew how to do all the important things, like how to play open string notes on the strings below them because I was too lazy to tune my instrument properly, and how to make a really whiny noise by turning my bow upside down (or playing on the wrong side of the bridge). 

Most importantly, I knew how to hold my damn instrument in a way that made people think I wasn't touching a cello for the first time.

Your move, Kat:

I don't expect film stars to be the reincarnation of Pablo Casals or anything, but it takes maybe thirty seconds to look up a picture of Yo-Yo Ma and check out what he's doing with his right hand.  And his left one, for that matter.  Look at her!  She's not even playing a real note!  She's got her fingers in a squished up version of first position on the A and the D string, but her bow is on the C string!  Cheeee!

This has got to be my biggest pet peeve in the history of the world right here: actors who play musicians who can't be bothered to try and look authentic.  We all know Katrina Kaif isn't playing the cello but would it kill her to try and look the part? 

Lest anyone think I'm picking on Katrina, let's check out some other offenders.  Like Rishi "I'm just gonna put some fingers on some strings and hope it looks good" Kapoor.

Or this.  WHAT IS THIS I CAN'T EVEN OMG.  Are you going to play that or eat it?  Because based on what you're doing here I'm leaning towards the eating.

Here's Akshay, demonstrating that it may take two Bollywood stars to film a romantic scene but only one to fuck up the violin.

Sigh.  The less said about this the better.  If only I could find a job teaching the violin where there was no requirement that I actually be able to play the violin.

Long story short: Katrina, if you ever decide to film Yuvraaj 2 (and I think we can all safely say we hope that never happens), here's some study material for you.

Memorize this.  For my sanity.

Song of the Day--Paayaliya (Dev D)

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

I put on the Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara soundtrack today to chase away some rainy day blues.

A week ago I wouldn’t have given that CD a second thought.

In all the excited buildup to Zoya Akhtar’s sophomore film I felt like the person who got left behind at the rest stop and didn’t really mind.  I was psyched for the trip but the further we got the less enthused I was feeling.

“Zoya!  Farhan!  Hrithik!  Abhay!  I’ll pack my stuff!”

“Spain!  Hmm…this is starting to look like a tourist brochure…maybe I’ll just come for a few days.”

“Katrina’s coming?  Ugh.  Fine.  Look, I’ll tag along but I’m not going to be nice to her.”

“What the hell is this music we’re listening to?  No.  No, I’m good.  You guys go ahead, I’ll hitch a ride home.”

And then I saw the film.  And I fell in love.  

Was the film flawed?  Yes.  

Did I completely forget every criticism I had of the film five minutes after I left the theater?

Yep.

I hesitate to even continue typing at this point—this is my third attempt to capture a piece of what I felt after viewing ZNMD and I’m finding it impossible.  I just erased four thousand words of…of what, exactly?  Fawning praise of some camera work and criticisms that don’t need to be explained.  We all know the gentle negatives of the film: the intro was too long and fluffy, the characters live in a world of wealth outside the reach of most of those who will see the film, it veered dangerously close at times to being a commercial for the Costa Brava.

So why am I listening to Der Lagi Lekin with tears in my eyes right now?

It’s because regardless of how artificial ZNMD’s world is, I know that the film is right.  Those characters are right.  They did something we all need to do—they figured out how to let go and live in the moment.  

Is that cheesy?

Maybe.

 

Is it important? 

Absolutely.

The film centers around Arjun (Hrithik Roshan), Kabir (Abhay Deol), and Imran (Farhan Akhtar), but the main character, without a doubt, is Spain.  Director Zoya Akhtar said she initially had Mexico in mind for the location but I think she made the correct choice with Spain.  Having had my own Spanish adventures I can say that the transformative effect of that Barcelona air isn’t just movie magic—it’s real.  So real that I sometimes remember the smell of a rainy day spent wandering around Parc Güell and it puts me in a good mood for days. 

ZNMD was full of little surprises.  The first was Katrina Kaif.  It’s no secret that I’ll often flat out refuse to see a film if she’s in it, so little do I regard her, erm, “talents,” but she was so natural here that I actually found myself liking her.  I’m inclined to think she’s either a director’s actress or that she just isn’t at all suited to the type of acting required in your typical Akshay Kumar film (who I love, bless his heart, but that brand of cheesy film making requires a certain kind of actress and Kat doesn’t have what it takes for them).

The second (major spoiler alert here) is the treatment of Imran’s reunion with his father.  It would have been easy (and lazy) to throw together a happy scene where the son embraces his long-lost father and all is well in the world, but Zoya isn’t lazy.  Imran (played perfectly by Farhan, who for me had the standout performance of the film) struggles with the idea of meeting his father and when he finally does it isn’t a loving scene.  There are no clichés here, just honesty: Salman (Naseeruddin Shah) didn’t want to give up his life to raise a child, so he left, and tells Imran he feels no remorse.  It’s this second rejection that provides Imran with the emotional release he needed.  Just as Arjun’s  life changed when he overcame his fear of the water, so too did Imran’s as he moved past his fear of meeting the man who abandoned him.

And what was Kabir afraid of?  Two things, as it turned out.  For most of the film we’re led to believe he was afraid of getting married, but things aren’t always as they appear.  He isn’t so much afraid of marriage as he’s afraid of not getting married, and the disappointment of his family that would follow.  He’s afraid of breaking Natasha’s (Kalki Koechlin) heart.  While Arjun’s transformation is more outwardly noticeable (going from uptight, obsessed career man to a dreamy man in love), Kabir is more complex.  As he argues with Natasha (first at a distance, then in person as she joins the boys out of jealousy and suspicion) the easy going personality of Kabira (as his friends lovingly call him) is chipped away, revealing a man just as much in need of catharsis as his companions, perhaps even more.

I hesitate to compare Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara to Luck By Chance; where LBC was so plot driven and focused on the complex relationships between characters, ZNMD is more introspective.  They're vastly different in their scope, though I will say that as much as I admire Hrithik as an actor, I found him more effective in LBC, where his time on screen was a fraction of what it is in ZNMD.  He's so imposing that he almost overshadowed Abhay and Farhan, and while I was interested in Arjun's story line, it was Imran who I wanted more of.  Farhan was stellar in his portrayal of a man who jokes his way through life as a cover for pain that he doesn't want to talk about.  Abhay was the rock of the film, playing parent to Arjun and Imran and finally coming to terms with the decision he had to make.  Hrithik and Katrina had wonderful chemistry, as did Farhan with Ariadna Cabrol, the Spanish actress who plays  his love interest.  I couldn't have been the only one who wanted their post-love scene Spanish/Hindi conversation to go on forever.

I want to say there aren't enough words to describe how moved I was by Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara but that's not true.  I just threw out the three thousand odd that I had left from previous review attempts in favor of these, which are all that are necessary:

It's beautiful.  Go see it.

Ugh, Really?

File this under Things Melissa Does Not Want:

Song of the Day--#1 Punjabi Edition

I've had this in my head all day so it's only fair that it gets stuck in yours as well.  :P

Like Father, Like Son

Kapoor Khazana ended in June but hey, someone's gotta be fashionably late to the party, so why not me?

In keeping with my last post (Chalka Chalka Re vs. Yaaro Yaarodi) here's another video war to vote on.

Two Kapoors.

Two movies.

One song.

Whose Bachna Ae Haseeno was better, Rishi's or Ranbir's?


Bachna Ae Haseeno (Hum Kisise Kum Nahin, 1977):

Bachna Ae Haseeno (Bachna Ae Haseeno, 2008):

Chalka Chalka Re vs. Yaaro Yaarodi

I'm much more of a Hindi film fan than I am of any of the southern industries, so generally when it comes to Bollywood films that have counterparts in other languages I only ever bother to watch the Hindi.  I added Saathiya to my collection last winter and just picked up Alaipayuthey this week.  I haven't watched Alaipayuthey yet (there's never time!) but I did take a few minutes to check out Yaaro Yaarodi, the Tamil original of one of my all time favorite songs, Chalka Chalka Re.

I don't think Yaaro Yaarodi holds up to Chalka Chalka Re--I've gotten used to the pace of the Hindi version and the original seems too fast and a bit jumbled.  My favorite line of any song in the world, "Baabula chhoda tera anganaara," got sort of lost in Yaaro Yaarodi.  Hrmph.

So which video is your favorite?  It's actually a close call for me...I prefer Maddy over Vivek but Chalka Chalka Re wins for me because Rani is just so cute!

Yaaro Yaarodi

Chalka Chalka Re

Bhairavi Goswami, and Lying About Aishwarya For Publicity

How does a second-rate Bollywood actress get her name in the news just long enough to land herself a spot on a reality show/talk show/get a book deal/anything else that'll get her some cash?

You poke at the Bachchans in public.

It would be completely unsurprising if that's what Bhairavi Goswami is doing at the moment.  All that crap the other day about Aishwarya getting IVF treatments so she can continue the line of Bachchan men?  Probably made up off the top of her head.  She gave pretty much the shadiest interview ever to the Times of India this weekend and it's pretty clear she's trying to act like she never said anything.  So either she was lying and it got more attention than she wanted or someone tapped her on the shoulder and reminded her where she stands on the totem pole of film industry power.  Namely at the bottom.

She's got a good point about the desire for male children and good for her for pointing out (yet again) the disparate levels of female vs. male children born in states like UP.  But come on already with the Aishwarya stuff.  Either you know something or you don't.  Don't be f'ing coy, it's so tiresome.  Be a doll and spill the goss' or shut the hell up.

Just saying.