Title: Dhobi Ghat (2010) language: Hindi, English internet
synopsis: There are 3 interweaving storylines: a painter named Arun (Aamir Khan) trying to regain his muse, an American banker, Shai, is on sabbatical to take photos, and a washerboy, Munna, (Prateik Babbar) who lives in the slums and has aspirations to be an actor. Their stories revolve around each other as this movie looks at the different classes of people in India. ((Sorry this synopsis is kind of crappy. It's hard to summarize this movie))
The Good + a score from Gustavo Santaolalla, who's style is becoming quite recognizable but perfect for films such as this. He also did the score to Babel, also a movie about interweaving storylines. + Fantastic directing from a first time director (Aamir Khan's wife Kiran Rao). + Prateik Babbar, as often said about this film, is really the star. I was always left wondering more about him and his thoughts.
The Bad + There were some things that were kind of confusing to me, mostly the character Arun. I felt like he was the least developed of the 3 characters and had the least explained about his motives/drives.
Final Thoughts: This movie is a character study or a slice-of-life film. Therefore there isn't really an ending to it, or often people will say "what was the point?" I love these kind of films, but for some reason, I just didn't get as sucked into this film as I often do for this genre. I love that this is from India and so different from the stereotypical cinema coming from there, but there was just something that was lacking from it and unfortunately I can't put my finger on what that 'something' is. To quote an online friend of mine: "The most interesting character was the city of Mumbai".
Rating: 3/5
Favorite song None, since there wasn't anything beyond the background score
film: Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005) language: Telugu DVD
synopsis: Siri (Trisha) and her older brother Krishna (Srihari) grew up as orphans, making their way as farmers in the countryside. When one of Siri's childhood best friends is getting married, she meets Santosh (Siddharth) a wealthy NRI from London who drives her crazy. As the wedding draws near, Siri realizes that she feels 'something something' towards Santosh. In order for him to be with her, Krishna challenges Santosh to grow his own crop and have a better harvest than himself. Will he be able to do it with so many friends and family working against him?
The Good + Fantastic cast! All have excellent comedic timing and there was no flat acting anywhere. + This movie was hilarious - especially the usage of the American pop song Who Let the Dogs Out, and Siddharth's extremely expressive face. + Speaking of expressive faces, I like in the song picturizations how much they did use facial expressions to play off each other. + The characters were relate-able
The Bad + This isn't bad, just there were some gestures made and references to things non-Indian audiences (such as myself) wouldn't understand. But it never hindered the film. + There's one actor's voice that gets quite annoying. I felt sorry for the actor for having such a horrible voice more than anything. + Be prepared for lots of cow poop.
Final Thoughts: Was this movie worth watching? Yes! I'm beginning to think South Indian films > Bollywood, or maybe I'm just watching all the correct films. This movie was highly entertaining and I love the chemistry between Siddharth and Trisha. I've only seen Siddharth in dramatic roles (Rang De Basanti, Aayutha Ezhuthu), but I have a feeling comedic roles are his thing. My friend who is brand new to Indian cinema adored this film as well. Magadheera is the only other Telugu film I've seen, so it was kind of funny seeing some of the same actors.
Rating: 4/5
Favorite Song Adire Adire - c'mon COWS AND PUPPETS! Love it! (btw, this video has Slavic subtitles, so um... yeah) I love the costumes too
synopsis: Arush (Akshay Kumar) is a loser (no lie, they sing about it), quits his job, and goes to London to visit his best friend Bob (Ritesh Deshmukh) and his wife Hetal (Lara Dutta). Unfortunately for Bob and Hetal, Arush is full of bad luck and is jinxed, causing misfortune wherever he goes. Trying to get him off their back, they set him up to marry their boss's daughter. When the newly married couple go to Italy for their honeymoon, it sets off a series of events causing Arush to meet Sandy (Deepika Padukone) and fall in love with her. Calamity ensues when lies get spun out of control that eventually get worse when Hetal's father (Boman Irani) and Sandy's brother (Arjun Rampal) decide to visit London at the same time.
The Good + The music lyrics were HILARIOUS. By far the most entertaining songs I've heard in a movie. + Boman Irani, I've seen him in a ton of films, and he's definitely the best character actor out there. He always invests time into his characters and they always come out great. He's definitely under appreciated. + Despite not being an Akshay Kumar fan, he does have excellent comedic timing and you defnitely can tell the cast got along and had fun making this film.
The Bad + Alot of the scenes cause secondhand embarrassment. You can't help to feel more sorry for the characters rather than laughing. (Or maybe you laugh because you're embarrassed for them) + Weak writing which leads to weak or lame situations + I know it wasn't suppose to be anything like real life, but the ending was just too ridiculous to accept (but the Queen of England knowing Hindi was pretty hilarious) + I hate how older male actors get paired with female leads half their age... but Akshay painfully looks old enough to be these girls' father. I'd like to see him be paired with someone more age appropriate.
Final Thoughts: Was this worth watching? It's debatable. If you like slapstick comedy (which I personally am not a huge fan of) then this is definitely up your alley. If you like Akshay Kumar, than this is up your alley. Some scenes tend to be overacted (and that's mostly thanks to the poor writing) and just stupid but I did have a few good laughs. (Arush vs. the Italian monkey was hilarious if only for the fact there are no wild monkeys in Italy and a very WTF moment. Also the Italian hotel owner's comments trying to create publicity for Arush "attempting suicide" were pretty hilarious too.)
Rating: 2.5/3... there just wasn't enough good to outweigh the bad. And the fact they're making a sequel kind of makes me cringe yet slightly curious.
Favorite Song I really liked all the songs, they were all quite catchy, but this one won due to the song picturization (Arush's wedding night and has never slept with someone before, so he was just going to let his wife show him what to do)
Synopsis: Army officer Jaidev (Anil Kapoor) manages to capture terrorist Abhrush and becomes a national hero. Coming back to his hometown, he meets up with childhood friend Anjali (Madhuri Dixit) who has held a long time crush on him. While at a party, Jai ends up meeting Pooja (Namrata Shirodkar) and starts vying for her attention much to Anjali's jealousy. Angry corrupt politicians take notice and use Anjali's jealousy to help push forwards plans against Jai and of India.
The Good + Good music from the remake of Que Sera Sera, to the love song picturization in the snow + Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor actually make a good pair… and Madhuri is gorgeous as ever + There were plenty of unintentional funny moments… such as the scene with using rocket launchers to take out cars.
The Bad + The movie was SO LONG. Despite me breaking it up over a few days time, there were moments where I would lose interest + Anil Kapoor's character - the stereotypical SUPER SOLDIER. No one can shoot, fight, or know better than him. He's so good, he can beat up people while still successfully drive a car, and single handedly bring down a helicopter + This movie probably had the worst sound effects team ever. I think they only had 2 or 3 sounds in their inventory for fights… there's this one "slapping" sound they'd use that annoyed the hell out of me - it didn't even sound natural! + This is kind of embarrassing, but I had a hard time telling the difference between Madhuri Dixit and Namrata Shirodkar at times. Please don't hate me.
Final Thoughts: Was this movie worth watching? Kind of. I was interested in seeing an Anil Kapoor film (Sadly I've seen more of his daughter's movies than him, and he's by far a better actor) and Madhuri Dixit is always fantastic on screen… This movie really over played the melodrama, and successfully made you feel sad for Anjali, so I did really enjoy the love storyline. (I know, I'm such a girl). But some of the political parts lacked thought behind them.
Rating: 3/5
Favorite Song: Kay Sera Sera... Madhuri and Prabhu Deva dancing together? YES PLEASE!
synopsis: Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) are well known thieves. They end up being caught by police inspector Thakur Baldev Singh, go to jail, and later meet with him once again. Only this 2nd time, Thakur hires them to find and capture notorious bandit Gabbar Singh for a money reward, feeling they are the only two men capable of doing this. As the story progresses, you find out who Gabbar Singh is and why the inspector wants him captured so badly. Veeru and Jai accept this offer only to find out this request isn't as easy as they thought.
The Good + Loved how the comedy fit well with the action. The movie was never too serious or never too silly. An equal balance of both. + Despite the long running time (just over 3 hours), it filled up each and every minute. Sure, some of it might've been slightly excessive (but what Bollywood isn't like this?) but it never got overwhelming or too boring. + Each of the main characters were well fleshed out and developed. + Gabbar Singh, probably one of the few movie villains not afraid to do his evil-doings. He doesn't waste time.
That Bad + Basanti, played by Hema Malini, was annoying at times, but you couldn't help to like her anyway. Gorgeous, peppy, a good dancer - what's there not to like. Just she talked a bit too much. + 70's clothes, what can we say? Not the best era for fashion. + I always loved how old movies, whenever someone got shot/hurt, there was so little or no blood at all. + One scene was a bit ridiculous. "Dance or I will shoot him!" I'm not so sure how I feel that my life is in the hands of a girl dancing... Entertaining nevertheless.
Final Thoughts: Was this movie worth watching? YES! This was a fantastic film! No wonder it's often referenced and considered a "must see". It really did have a very nice balance between comedy and action... I was expecting it to be all action and was worried about it being so long but it really wasn't that bad (then again, I did watch it over 2 days). Also it was kind of fun seeing 2 well-known movie couples: Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri, Dharmendra and Hema Malini. And seeing the actors so young! Wow!
Rating: 4/5
Favorite Song: Yeh Dosti - funny video, nice song, nice friendship between the two characters.
From the Wikipedia page, I thought this was a nice photo of the main male characters.
title: Anjaana Anjaani (2010) language: Hindi online links
synopsis: Akash (Ranbir Kapoor) and Kiara (Priyanka Chopra) have the worst lives ever and decide to commit suicide. Right at the moment Akash is about to jump off a bridge in New York he meets a drunk Kiara getting ready to do the same thing, but both end up getting caught and stopped in their process (him getting hit by a car, and her slipping and falling and hurting her neck). They both wake up and escape the hospital at the same time, and during the process strike up a strange friendship. Giving each other 20 days to spend together fulfilling wishes they had before finally carrying through with their decision to commit suicide.
The Good + the music. I downloaded the music before I saw the film, and I was already hooked on it. + It doesn't really have anything to do with the movie, but Priyanka Chopra causes the biggest hair envy I've known to exist within me. Her hair is always perfect - I wish I had her hair! It's so thick, nicely styled, looks healthy... ok, I'm done. + Ranbir and Priyanka are a cute pair, they had nice chemistry with each other and did look like they had fun together. That being said, they aren't my favorite couple. (I kind of like her and Shahid Kapoor together the best.) I saw them as better friends than potential lovers. + I thought the dialogue was funny/witty at times. I loved the bantering between Akash and Kiara. + I have an amusement in these films where a character has his/her own little theme song. All my friends remember "Sexy Sam! Sexy Sam!" from KANK, but the fact the CAR HAD IT'S OWN THEME SONG? I nearly fell off my couch laughing.
The Bad + Both character's reasons to commit suicide was selfish (but isn't all suicide selfish?). I was kind of angry that it was a little more evident that Kiara needed more help in the psychiatric department, but it was never addressed. + More horrible American acting... I don't know if Bollywood tries to find the cheapest white people they can find, but nearly EVERY SINGLE ONE is a horrible, horrible actor. Do Indian audiences notice how awful they are? + Bollywood manages to bring out the realist in me. That being said, I wish I was a waitress and living in that swag apartment Kiara had. I mean, really? In New York? That had to be at least $2,000 a month. You really have to suspend disbelief and go with it.
Final Thoughts Was it worth watching? Yes, for something light-hearted-ish and fun. Like I said, if you don't think about how dumb it is for their reasons to commit suicide, and if their lives are OMG SO HORRIBLE, how do people's lives worse than theirs look? Anyway, I wasn't exactly a fan of the storyline, but the silly bantering and their time with the car being stolen was rather entertaining. All that being said, I'm really glad I didn't spend money to see this in the theater, since it ended up being disappointing.
Rating: 3/5... if they had just revamped it as more of a road trip across the US, I think I would've enjoyed it more.
Liz's mini Bollywood rant: I'm getting tired of getting caught up in the hype of films, since it's obvious that nearly all the ones I get hyped up about end up being disappointments (I think Kites and Raavan have been the only two that lived up to the hype in my mind). I'm also getting tired of movie trailers that are better than the films.
For Anjaana Anjaani, I was so pumped after seeing this trailer:
I was totally expecting a fresh juicy drama after seeing this trailer. I remember thinking, "YESSS, this movie is going to be super cute and full of drama". WRONG. But this goes for American films too. Very frequently, the trailer is more awesome than the movie. I think I'm just a sucker for the whole longing/angsty look, or the glazed over 'I'm in love' eyes. I think I just need to see KANK again, since that fits my drama needs.
Favorite Song: This is hard, since I enjoyed all the songs, I Feel Good is a fun upbeat song.
I really should make a blog post of my favorite obligatory dance club dances in all these movies... here's the one for this one. (Love the song and the dancing, but not sure what the whole pants around ankles thing was about)
title: Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (2010) language: Tamil youtube
Synopsis: Karthik (Silambarasan) is a Hindu boy who falls in love with his Christian neighbor Jessie (Trisha Krishnan). Their love is complicated by her father's rejection of her marrying a non-Christian.
The Good + Everyone already knows how obsessed I am about cinematography. That being said, for such a basic film, it was filmed VERY nicely. Loved the varying shades of blue and how Trisha's wardrobe always popped against the scenery. + A.R. Rahman did the music. Need I say more? Very catchy songs! + If that really was Kerala, WOW! Very gorgeous place and it totally makes me want to visit.
The Bad + Once again, another film where the boy's perseverance in his love comes off as a totally stalker/creeper (I still think SRK is the master of this role, complete with heavy breathing in Dil Se). + There were a few cultural aspects that didn't quite translate to me. Why was it so horrible that the girl was 1 year older than the boy? Is that a genuine issue? + Jessie frustrated me more than anything with her indecisive nature. "Leave me alone" "no, I want to be with you." "Wait, no leave me alone" - Make up your mind!
Final Thoughts: Was this movie worth watching? This is actually a tough call for me. I know this was quite a successful movie when it came out (made in Telugu at the same time and a Hindi version coming out soon), but I'm really not a fan of these movies where the guy relentlessly chases the girl because he's so in love with her. I actually felt sorry for the girl (then later was frustrated with her in above argument), having been in similar awkward situations she was put in, yet I never did find myself returning the feelings. Maybe I'm biased (I most likely am). I talked to a friend about this earlier today, and he mentioned this was a popular theme in 90's Indian cinema, and is always entertained how the guy gets the girl in the end. I just think this is whole concept sends the wrong message (But then again, who said cinema is real life?). Ok, rant finished. I'd say it's totally worth watching for the music and the cinematography.
Rating: 3/5... the music saved it for me. I was rather disappointed with it overall. I was hoping a really good drama of how inter-religious relationships are totally acceptable. Which it was... but I'd rather not have a stalker as the leading man.
