Gossip Roundup

Deepika Endorses Fairness Cream

Deepika Padukone has become the new brand ambassador for Neutrogena Fine Fairness Cream.  According to Deepika, "it’s not about using a product and suddenly becoming fair. The fairness creams are used to even out your skin tone and protect your skin from pigmentation due to harsh sunlight."

Fairness creams are popular in India where a light-colored complexion is often seen as the highest beauty standard, and ads for them are as ubiquitous as those for makeup or shampoo.  Some stars have taken a stand against endorsing such products, most notably Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, as they believe that fairness creams help perpetuate discrimination against those with darker complexions.  Some fairness creams are little more than bleaching agents, and have been known to cause damage to the skin.

I say shame on Deepika.  Surely her natural beauty could be better put to use endorsing less offensive products?

Sonam Kapoor Won't Star for Zoya

Has Sonam Kapoor lost her marbles?  She's just turned down a chance to work with Zoya Akhtar, the critically-acclaimed debut director of Luck By Chance.  Zoya's second film follows a to-die-for cast which includes Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, and Abhay Deol as they roadtrip through Spain.

After her debut in Saawariya and her adorable and well-played turn in Delhi 6, has Sonam decided to only do commercial films?  Let's hope she changes her mind--any semi-attractive Barbie doll can star in a few Bollywood hits, but this is Sonam's chance to claim some ground in the growing success of India's independent cinema scene.

A R Rahman Gets Two Grammy Nominations 

Tune in January 31st to find out if A R Rahman's Slumdog Millionaire momentum can carry him to two Grammy Awards!  The Jai Ho-wallah is nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and Best Song Written for Motion picture, Television or Other Visual Media.  Best of luck maestro!

Song of the Day--Fanaa (Yuva)

Fanaa


Film:  Yuva
Starring:  Ajay Devgan, Abhishek Bachchan, Esha Deol, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Rani Mukherjee
Music by:  A.R. Rahman

Per Danielle's request...nay, demand, here's a great dance number from the film Yuva.  Yuva has an all-star cast and a fantastic soundtrack by AR Rahman (Oscar-winner for his work on Slumdog Millionaire) which is worth owning in its own right.  Want another tie-in to Slumdog Millionaire?  Towards the end of the film people are seen dancing to a music video.  The music which plays is Aaj Ki Raat, from Don, but if you look closely, the actual video in the background is this one.  You can clearly see Kareena dancing on the screen.  Speaking of dancing, who let Vivek anywhere near choreography?  And are those red velveteen pants?!  Oh my.

Five and Dime

If it's Tuesday then it's time for the Five and Dime, where I give you India's top five at the box office and top ten on the radio.

Top 5 Films
Week of Nov. 20-26
(box office receipts come in two weeks off)

1.   Kurbaan
2.   Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
3.   Tum Mile
4.   London Dreams
5.   Jail


Top 10 Songs
Rankings courtesy of  Radio Mirchi

1.   Jaaneman (Radio)
2.   Tera Hone Laga Hoon (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani)
3.   Tum Mile (Tum Mile)
4.   Shukran Allah (Kurbaan)
5.   Rishte Naate (De Danadan)
6.   Al Iz Well (3 Idiots)
7.   Ajj Din Chadiya (Love Aaj Kal)
8.   Iktara (Wake Up Sid)
9.   Man Ko Ati Bhave (London Dreams)
10. Mudhi Mudhi (Paa)

I Discover Bollywood

This probably should have been the very first thing I posted.  Why the obsession with Indian films?  Unlike so many people for whom these movies mean so much, I wasn't raised with them.  I have no fond family memories of sitting around the tv watching Deewar, or of being one of the hundreds of millions who saw Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in a crowded theater.  I came late to the party, without an invitation and without any connections to these films or the culture which celebrates them.

I saw my first Indian film before I knew what an Indian film was.  In high school, bored and flipping through the channels late at night, I caught a brief glimpse of a man staring in perplexed disappointment at a canopy of marigolds, petals showering down as he yelled over the phone.  Though I changed the channel that night, the film--Monsoon Wedding--later became the one I love best.

Fast forward to my sophomore year of college, when my grandparents, for reasons I still can't fathom, suggested we see Bend It Like Beckham at a small theater in Greenbelt.  When the film ended, one thing stood out: an intensely overwhelming desire to experience more of what I had just seen.  The actors, the music, even the food in the film became my new raison d'etre.  I purchased the soundtrack, forcing my roommates to listen to encore after encore of "Jind Mahi" and "Tere Bin Nahin Lagda Dil."  I hunted down Indian restaurants, and became jealous of the time my grandparents had spent in Calcutta and Darjeeling, decades before I was even born.  I craved India.  A year later a roommate offered me use of her DVD collection while she was away on spring break.  The only film I saw on her shelf was Devdas.  I watched it every day.  I was in love.

Starting a blog seems the most reasonable thing I can do.  I'm long past the point where my friends will tolerate my need to listen to nothing but film soundtracks, or my spiels on Saif Ali Khan's script choices.  I need a place where I can get everything out, where people can take it or leave it without hurting my feelings.  I want to share the things I love, the films and songs that I find beautiful and which make me, above all else, indescribably happy.  This is my way of sharing my passion with the great big world, and if even one person takes away from this the idea that this "stuff" is worth watching, I'll be overjoyed.

Song of the Day--Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo (Dum)

Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo 

Film: Dum
Starring: Vivek Oberoi, Diya Mirza, Yashpal Sharma, Yana Gupta, Atul Kulkarni
Music by: Sandeep Chowta

This song was on one of the many Bollywood Hits-type DVDs that Eros throws away for a buck or two on their website.  I haven't seen Dum yet, though it's on my 'list of things I must see due only to the fact that they star Atul Kulkarni.'  Surely Dum is most popular for 'Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo,' Yana Gupta's startlingly well-done item number.  (If you've seen Bunty aur Babli you may remember Amitabh's character asking a stammering tuba player what the season's most popular wedding number was--this is the shaky song he plays.)