Rang De Basanti

Film: Rang De Basanti (2006)
Language: Hindi
Netflix streaming

Synopsis: A British film maker (journalist?) had been reading a journal written by her grandfather who worked at a jail during the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. She's inspired by the 5 freedom fighters he had written about and wants to make a movie based off of them, but is refused the funding. Sue then goes to India to make the film herself and becomes involved with a group of college kids whose lives start to prove similar as those of the 1920/1930s. A tragedy occurs that soon catapults them at the forefront of Indian politics fighting for justice.

The Good
+ The acting. This has to be the first Bollywood film I've seen with a foreign actor who was actually pretty decent. She didn't take away from the scenes like most do.
+ The large cast actually meshed well together and I felt like they genuinely got along well.
+ New-to-me storyline, kind of nice to see something other than a typical Rom-Com
+ Madhavan... again, I'm so crushing on this man
+ Aamir Khan really did look like a college-age student for once.

The Bad
+ I felt the movie was kind of long, but I also don't like political films that much, so really, it probably was fine.
+ Political songs are fine, but I didn't feel this was A.R. Rahman's best work (for what it's worth, I'm not a big fan of American patriotic songs)

Final Thoughts: Was it worth watching? Yes. I actually went into this film not realizing how much it was going to be about politics. That being said, the film doesn't revolve 100% around it, I'd say a good 60%. I did enjoy the coming together of the characters and their political activism for their friend's tragedy. A very realistic film, despite the fact they got a little carried away with their plans. I felt the worst for the female characters, though.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Song: Tu Bin Bataye (loved the lyrics)

Alaipayuthey

Film: Alaipayuthey (2000)
Language: Tamil
youtube links

Synopsis: Karthik (Madhavan) is an engineer starting up his own company and comes across med student Shakti (Shalini) and after continuous chance meetings, they fall in love. Their relationship isn't easy especially when their families don't get along and call off the approval of their wedding. Therefore, they secretly get married with help from Shakti's older sister, yet still live in their same living conditions waiting for things to improve between the families. They don't, and they end up moving out of their homes into an unfinished apartment together where their marriage is tested.

The Good
+ The directing (another Mani Ratnam film) coupled with the nice cinematography = very well done
+ Madhavan and Shalini's chemistry. It was very natural and they played off very well with each other. Everything about this film was realistic and believable
+ Probably one of the only Indian films (that I have seen) where a relationship/marriage is realistically portrayed. Not everything is song and dance-worthy

The Bad
+ It's not bad at all, but some of the outfits/dancing were pretty hilariously awful, considering this film is from 2000. But it actually kind of adds to the charm of the film. Really, I can't think of any serious complaints about the film, since it was so realistic depiction of real life.

Final Thoughts: Was it worth watching? Yes! I'm a sucker for indie-like films that are character studies/coming of age/"slices of life". This definitely fit that category. Don't watch this expecting something exciting/fun with friends, it's not meant to be. Mani Ratnam has definitely sealed himself as one of my favorite directors. I've yet to see any of his work to be deemed 'crappy', although Dil Se has to be my least favorite of his films so far.

I adore Madhavan, and this is his Tamil film debut (also one of his first films). I think he's a fantastic actor and love to see more of his things.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Song: Pachai Nirame. I loved it for the colors and the cute/goofy dancing of Madhavan's

Kal Ho Naa Ho

Film: Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)
Language: Hindi
youtube links

Synopsis: Naina lives in New York with her family minus her father who had committed suicide some time ago. She's pretty irritable between the loss of her dad and her grandmother refusing to acknowledge her granddaughter, Naina's sister. Enter her visiting neighbor from India, Aman, who proceeds to initially irritate her more and turn her world upside down. And by upside down, I mean fall madly in love with him. But the entire time, Aman is hiding a secret and works his magic to get Naina together with her friend/classmate Rohit.

The Good
+ Acting, by everyone. Even though the storyline wasn't entirely anything new, it was very well acted.
+ The movie kept me completely invested the entire time. Typically if I'm watching a Bollywood film on my own at home, I never watch it all in one sitting. For this film, I actually did. It never grew sluggish at any point to me.

The Bad
+ The messed up "Oh, Pretty Woman" song. I guess it was great for the hilarity of it all, but bad song cover is bad.
+ The blatant racism against the Chinese. What was up with that? Totally not needed to be in the film and rather surprising it was. Even though, I have to admit the Lagaan song playing during that scene had me chuckle.
+ Some of the wardrobe choices. From SRK's crazy BRIGHT orange pants to Saif's questionable clubbing shirt, I don't know what was going on.

Final Thoughts: This is definitely one of my top 5 favorite Bollywood films, and probably my favorite SRK film. He tends to go over the top in his films (which, honestly, I don't mind typically until he starts crying), but I felt he kept himself in check in this film. It had the right amount of comedy, sadness, and all over joy.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Song: It was hard to pick... It's the time to disco & Kal Ho Naa Ho. (Of all the playback singers, Sonu Nigam is the only one I know/can pick out easily. I LOVE his voice, and feel it fits SRK almost perfectly for his lipsynching)

I Hate Luv Storys

Film: I Hate Luv Storys (2010)
Language: Hindi
in movie theater

Synopsis: Jay (or sometimes J depending on what the subtitles felt like), is a director's assistant. Problem is, he hates romance and anything to do with romantic films, yet of all the jobs he could've had, he's working on one. Simran is a set designer who is obsessed with anything to do with romance and romantic films. She considers her job perfect and has a perfect boyfriend. That is until she meets Jay. They become fast friends both become determined to ruin the other's beliefs about love and romance. Their friendship turns into infatuation, first on her part, then on his. Will they ever see eye to eye?

The Good
+ Imran Khan. Good looking guy, a pretty decent actor, the camera loves him
+ I enjoyed the t-shirts they were wearing (I think it was Sonam's character that was wearing a Mario Bros. shirt at one point?) Very modern.
+ All the SRK-film parodies. I think most of the audience would be lost if they weren't familiar with all the references to these well known romance films.

The Bad
+ Some of the acting. Again, casting awful foreign actors, yet there were some poor acting on Sonam Kapoor's part as well as the actor playing her boyfriend
+ The subtitles were sometimes off or they left some things out. Also, they didn't subtitle any of the songs, which is quite strange. I know alot of the times, the songs don't have to do with the film, but I actually like to know what they're saying!

Final Thoughts Was it worth watching? Yes. It was a cute/funny film. Even though I've only seen Imran Khan in 2 films, he seems to be very promising. The scenery and cinematography were nice too for a romantic comedy. This isn't the best romantic film I've seen from Bollywood, but it's cute and worth a watch on a boring day.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Song: I Hate Luv Storys