tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62059913331194045062024-03-05T16:03:11.651-06:00Deewani for BollywoodSpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-69170806491664761822010-01-03T21:45:00.029-06:002010-01-04T02:21:21.562-06:00Lights Camera Masala: Making Movies in Mumbai<p>I've been reading <em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/3167226/book/54895041">Lights Camera Masala: Making Movies in Mumbai</a>, </em>a coffee table book about Bollywood with pictures by Sheena Sippy and text by Naman Ramachandran. <em></em>Before I take it back to the library I thought I'd write down a few tidbits from the book which amused me:<br /></p><ul><li>I'd heard before that Karan Johar liked to use the letter K in his movie titles because he'd been told that it was an auspicious letter for him. <em></em>But according to this book, the K business goes further than that: apparently when he was born, he was given an entirely different name, but then when he was only six days old, his mother just woke up that morning and decided that his name should start with a K instead, so she changed it to Karan (p. 228*). His original name, would you believe it, was <em>Rahul. </em>(Rahul, of course, was the name of the hero in both of the first two films he directed, <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172684/">Kuch Kuch Hota Hai </a></em>and <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0248126/">Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham</a>.</em>)</li><br /><li>On page 115 there's a full-page shot of Abhishek Bachchan wearing a custom-made basketball jersey**. </li></ul><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422795240962602162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-xKXWQnkd-Jivlux72UjAat2wlhSqSCWdaLXw5ihwU2WnixDlpVuyIBM9m2VmOAu0MNvJ-Vg2Su7OQ6Ius-rkIefdWjn58uGe61p6swXisUPDOjUbuqpqWTDWyAUJnIrdcuUSF2HLLvD/s320/Abhishek+69.jpg" /><br /><p>It looks like it was from the same photo shoot as the current background of Abhi's <a href="http://twitter.com/juniorbachchan">twitter page</a>!! (I am easily amused.) </p><ul><li>And finally, something of an answer to a persistent question of mine: why are films in India so quick to be labeled as hits or flops after what seems like <em>very</em> little time in the theatres? I've gotten the impression that a film which has a poor opening weekend is immediately relegated to "flop" with almost no chance for redemption. What about next week and word of mouth for building an audience? Can't more than one movie at a time do well at the box office? Well, maybe not: "In a country dominated by cavernous single-screen cinemas with a large number of seats, multiplexes were virtually unknown until the late 1990s . . . " (p. 226). I had never thought about the impact that the type of movie theatre (single screen vs. multiplex) would have on the overall movie business. If a single-screen theatre doesn't make enough money on a certain movie in the first few days to justify keeping it going, they have to try something else as soon as possible. A multiplex can afford to show the blockbuster as well give a chance to the smaller movies, and can keep them playing longer by moving them around from bigger to smaller screens or back again as demand requires. While the number of multiplexes is increasing, there are still tons of single-screen theatres throughout the country affecting the economics of how long movies can be kept alive at the box office. </li><br /><li>Oh, and one last thing: yes, the photographer of the book, Sheena Sippy, is the sister of director Rohan Sippy, and the daughter of <em>Sholay </em>director Ramesh Sippy. She is also married to Kunal Kapoor (no not this <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1577858/">Kunal Kapoor</a> :</li></ul><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 163px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422796061916922562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEGz2r-UGxJ0Xajf96mpE_ioEzYsnb3JgvvUjOrE35hhatS9P76wUmn3WBReNi2Epj0Ubi38OYEjjU4XF2wi_4R0IEgj6AeWJVvF40kQ0alW3hQQkQ-Hma5QJOaC58TXuVwIueX8nDNim/s320/Kunal+doing+air+guitar.jpg" /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDHrPEWZhGv4wItNw-gV_L913zeEL1cJMBOqT-XhmQz-3yOauDgNCRbRIszHyo5wYGDipjaX27C6gg569v-RP6nqe61wn101yRoKpbnR2fjN7CGXp94nMKcmsFe10zEF97nT6oY46tf6E/s1600-h/Kunal+doing+air+guitar.jpg"></a></p><p>but Shashi and Jennifer Kapoor's son <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004431/">Kunal</a>. I couldn't find a picture for him. </p><p></p><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">*It took me forever to find that page number. I wish there were an index to the book.</span></p><div><span style="font-size:85%;">**Purple cloth with yellow and white vinyl-looking trim, with the word "Abhishek" sewn across the top of the chest, and the number 69 sewn on the front, also in yellow vinyl, in case you can't see it very well. </span></div>SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-77731543932964036082009-12-28T23:32:00.006-06:002009-12-29T01:47:29.711-06:00Thanks Santa!<div>Now that the <a href="http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2009/12/filmi-secret-santa-project.html">Filmi Secret Santa Project 2009 </a>has finished, I need to give credit and thanks to my Secret Santa: Daddy's Girl (at <a href="http://ilovelovelovedharmendra.blogspot.com/">In Praise of All Things Dharmendra</a>). The <a href="http://deewani-for-bollywood.blogspot.com/2009/12/secret-santa-gift.html">Priyanka Chopra / Who's that Girl</a> video she made for me was just one of her wonderful gifts, but I'm keeping the rest for myself.</div><div> </div><div>Well, okay, here's one other :)</div><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGqyxZ760ZD_o408-t5vNQ2w2WUtBJnaQS1MmI8sqbnoYwhxLWucMotp0HAftGB9N4VUKyl2EljoGim8y_ZBJrzs6ZfZs1ExOl5m-36WcivBSg8X2v0q8z2YHmdq8kA0feWscGb_koWfx/s1600-h/Fanaa2.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420561169299435186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGqyxZ760ZD_o408-t5vNQ2w2WUtBJnaQS1MmI8sqbnoYwhxLWucMotp0HAftGB9N4VUKyl2EljoGim8y_ZBJrzs6ZfZs1ExOl5m-36WcivBSg8X2v0q8z2YHmdq8kA0feWscGb_koWfx/s320/Fanaa2.jpg" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div>I really had a lot of fun finding and making the gifts for my own recipient as well as finding out what my Santa would come up with (presents in your email inbox! just like . . . well, Christmas!). I thought it would be a fun thing to give and receive filmi videos, pictures, songs, whatever else, but when I signed up for it I didn't really think about what it would involve--I drew the name of someone I didn't know at all, so I had a lot of sleuthing to do to find her some things she might like. And then once my own Santa unveiled herself, it turned out to be a great way to get to know more about not one but two bloggers. I'm looking forward to next year already! And thanks to everyone involved! शुक्रिया! धन्यवाद!</div>SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-6926484419489085322009-12-19T18:54:00.002-06:002009-12-20T23:25:24.123-06:00Secret Santa Gift!<p>So I signed up for the (first annual?) Filmi Secret Santa project, dreamed up by <a href="http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Beth Loves Bollywood</a>. One of the virtual gifts I’ve gotten from my Secret Santa (it’s handmade! just for me!) made me laugh like a drain*: It’s a video of Priyanka Chopra pics, set to the Madonna song <em>Who’s That Girl?</em></p><p><a title="http://www.esnips.com//doc/580693a1-fe85-4330-b364-8d12852a43b6/Whos-That-Girl.flv" href="http://www.esnips.com//doc/580693a1-fe85-4330-b364-8d12852a43b6/Whos-That-Girl.flv">http://www.esnips.com//doc/580693a1-fe85-4330-b364-8d12852a43b6/Whos-That-Girl.flv</a></p><p> <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxXlt302EH8Y-7ARrS4djpkFr5sbt8rgfidcGvx2x-IvIXRjj5whm9Wm4DYI0eAJ_qRjqj74QHHZiLTAfJQlQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p>For why this gift is so incredibly funny to me, see <a href="http://deewani-for-bollywood.blogspot.com/2008/10/salaam-e-ishq.html">here</a> and <a href="http://deewani-for-bollywood.blogspot.com/2008/11/or-not.html">here</a>. Oh, and <a href="http://deewani-for-bollywood.blogspot.com/2009/05/yet-again.html">here</a>. </p><p>And as a bonus, there’s a cameo of the original Spygirl, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Femme_Nikita_(TV_series)">La Femme Nikita</a>, at the end of the video!</p><p>Thank you, Santa!</p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:78%;">*Yeah, I don't really know what that means, either.</span> </p>SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-37647336971536181462009-09-03T23:14:00.001-05:002009-09-03T23:14:51.918-05:00Chandni Chowk to China: 1st half too slow, 2nd half much better, more action. Also, what a difference (shaving off) a mustache makes. La.SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-33193993531611810152009-07-02T22:50:00.001-05:002009-07-02T22:50:57.654-05:00The book Bollywood Nights is like Valley of the Dolls without the redeeming qualities. I got bored and didn't finish it.SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-16159960840996271412009-07-01T21:50:00.001-05:002009-07-01T21:50:58.651-05:00Aaja Naachle nutshell review: The second half is much better than the first. Konkona-Kunal and Laila-Majnu are best parts. Plus Irfan.SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-37910307829037539262009-05-19T22:08:00.001-05:002009-05-19T22:08:17.560-05:00Marigold: Ack, they're playing Dhadak Dhadak! A good big chunk of it, too. Easily amused, I am.SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-56698743728456116972009-05-19T21:48:00.001-05:002009-05-19T21:48:40.068-05:00Yes, I'm watching Marigold. The idea of a romance starring Ali Larter and Salman Khan was just too mindboggling NOT to watch.SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-50270092169447071092009-05-19T21:43:00.001-05:002009-05-19T21:43:19.786-05:00Marigold: She lands at Bombay airport, then takes a 10hr taxi to Goa? Are there no flights to Goa? Must brush up on my travel knowledge.SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-36197722283752853682009-05-10T20:35:00.001-05:002009-05-10T20:35:17.387-05:00Confession No. 4<p> </p> <p> <a title="Fanaa" href="http://www.yashrajfilms.com/FanClub/PostersInner.aspx?MovieID=9687b51e-c50c-4a06-b155-062569a3e807"><img height="517" alt="Fanaa" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG9NeXTN83XN_avExau2EC8Mdlb39IMBmnah7IXyibKz76u47l-RUmBCtVV0hdfAO9YK0BGpV5V8BT_XBj7HXdNJZi3lx7H2NSL0lNDAfn04fY9H-SO6dmEuTnDVfKPo_QFSJ408j3xFfZ/?imgmax=800" width="380" border="0" /></a> </p> <p> Yes, I loved <em>Fanaa.</em> It blew me away. It was one of the very first Bollywood films I ever saw, and I had never heard of the Hindi film masala format where a light-hearted romp with a naïve(ish) blind girl on vacation with her friends and a scarf-wearing rascal(ish) tour guide could suddenly turn into an action drama of the type it turned into, namely </p> <p>[SPOILER ALERT - highlight the blank space to see] </p> <p><font color="#000000"> </font></p> <p><font color="#000000">a terrorism action drama, with the romantic hero of the first half becoming the villain of the second half; or if not the villain, then at least a conflicted bomber-type person in love. </font></p> <p><font color="#00ff00"><font color="#000000">What? Who knew that was going to happen? Obviously not me.</font> </font></p> <p><font color="#00ff00" size="+0"></font></p> <p><font color="#00ff00" size="+0"><font color="#ffffff" size="2">[END SPOILER ALERT].</font> </font></p> <p>I saw the movie in the theatre, so there was a proper fifteen-minute intermission, and I can still remember how boggled I was at the turn it took right before the end of the first half (as well as how the intermission chai and samosas tasted, too, mmm. I can smell the cardamom now).  Maybe it's just me and I am an idiot about not paying attention to what's going to happen next; I can usually be easily surprised at plot twists in films because I like to let the movie happen without trying to think too far ahead about how it will come out. And maybe if I had seen other films like it before, I would have had some idea what was coming, but at any rate, I was <strong>not prepared</strong>.</p> <p>Oddly enough, though, I was prepared in one tiny area: I had seen the website of the film, which was quite fancy and high-end (lots of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flash">Flash</a>) in preparation for seeing the movie, and it drilled the soundtrack into my head. And I also somehow knew that this film was Kajol's big comeback after six years away from films to have children (even though I didn't have any previous knowledge of who Kajol really was) </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVMYA18tab9n7ILfdF1beh_8gAX-jYhgGONkTVpUEzyzvMd1HG65yyldqyQxYqTSr0QXUADzD0bhGQv_JX2t4pcgO0vaPHByFJJ73CIog_xX5lbTLDk08b9Ac45rDj5H_J2pCrr5ZaDuZp/s1600-h/Fanaa1Kajol5.jpg"><img height="258" alt="Fanaa 1 Kajol" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVIKE648VwR46wevpNIf1ySpkYZUclTonOOkpqRO0wroJ_knluyjuyCMKZCpHGwRI3_fxX_xC0jR_A26nlY3eHCunbw2_IgBhq6pcZ6YJUMHmA02STJBY0u9ADq_Sv865tEu2xraSz_qe/?imgmax=800" width="413" border="0" /></a></p> <p>and that the buzz was that Aamir Khan was thought to be a little too old to be playing that particular hero, or not as good-looking as he would have been several years earlier (I don't know, I didn't see any problem at the time, but now I can kind of see their point, <em>sort</em> of). </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixT2vzlIaCYoglGa2IGNz2MsIQtcKUEotCTDeL2c-JgtoD8kDH1z9GQjDvp7N1yXgz_Lirj5EAlFpGx4ezP0hvHfKKEp3-ZN0of6XmEJPtDyeH-twGgsQ-et1R2tY6XmIwA6ddhMAtewwO/s1600-h/Fanaa2AamirKhan2.jpg"><img height="258" alt="Fanaa 2 Aamir Khan" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VYzP3CZSXKlcUyQiinrEuBRpyoyJfgAZRB6O80H2NXtLk_jtNJYjI_d4cSY96EO1gdeJGBN_4YNMUer-lGh4mU-pid_FEpBdO7zr6VGndRN-oTRIeV6fnBpqTkDmtIoGM_64rWRW_pIQ/?imgmax=800" width="413" border="0" /></a></p> <p> </p> <p>My experience with Bollywood/Indian films up to that point consisted of <em>Monsoon Wedding, </em><em>Bride and Prejudice,</em> and a couple of Aishwarya films, neither of which had the clearly enormous budget that had been lavished on <em>Fanaa. </em>The fancy movie website! The "Des Rangeela" dance number in the outdoor amphitheatre with the packed audience! That huge beautiful cabin in the mountains! I was totally smitten. And boggled.    </p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-81763507223987268952009-05-09T14:14:00.001-05:002009-05-09T14:14:05.202-05:00Yet AGAIN!<p>I went over to <strike></strike><a href="http://octoberzine.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Anarchivist</a>'s house lthe night before last to watch <em>Billu Barber</em>, and when the film was over and the credits rolled, I turned to her and said, "<em>Priyanka Chopra</em> was in this film? <em>Where?</em>"  My brain acknowledged all the other big stars in <em>Billu: </em>Lara Dutta as Irfan Khan's wife - check; Om Puri as the cheapskate villager - check; Deepika Padukone with Shah Rukh Khan in the sci-fi film set number and then Kareena Kapoor again with Shah Rukh in the "Maarjani" song - check and check. But, Priyanka, no. Even after I <a href="http://deewani-for-bollywood.blogspot.com/2008/10/salaam-e-ishq.html" target="_blank">vowed to remember what she looked like</a>, after I watched and liked her performances in <em>Salaam-e-Ishq</em> and <em>Dostana</em>, somehow she managed to totally get past me here <a href="http://deewani-for-bollywood.blogspot.com/2008/11/or-not.html" target="_blank">again</a> in <em>Billu.</em> This girl needs to get a job as a spy.  </p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-51736977401050414602009-05-09T08:59:00.001-05:002009-05-09T08:59:09.156-05:00Confession No. 3<p>Next up in the <a href="http://deewani-for-bollywood.blogspot.com/2008/12/confession-no-1.html" target="_blank">I-did-not-like-at-all-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love department</a>: <em>Dil Se. </em></p> <p>I did not like this from the beginning, nor in the middle (I never really bought into the so-called love story), nor at the end (well, okay, the ending was dramatic, but if you have zero investment in the story . . . ).</p> <p>I watched <em>Dil Se</em> right after reading two very long discussions (the first one over at <a href="http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Beth Loves Bollywood</a>, about the <a href="http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2008/08/moments-in-filmi-feminism-first.html" target="_blank">Chak De! India scene where the girls beat up some boys who harass them at McDonald's</a>, and the <a href="http://indiequill.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/feminism-chak-de-india/" target="_blank">related discussion</a> of so called "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_teasing">eve-teasing</a>" [i.e. harassing of women; what a terrible euphemism] over at <a href="http://indiequill.wordpress.com" target="_blank">IndieQuill</a>), and I couldn't help but notice that Amarkanth's (Shah Rukh Khan's) behavior in <em>Dil Se </em>matched some of the descriptions of  eve-teasing I had just been reading about in all the blog comments.  It was stalking! He mooned over her, just wouldn't leave her alone when she gave him no encouragement whatsoever (that I could see), and was generally a pest. Blehhh. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but I didn't see that Meghna (Manisha Koirala) had any inner opinions one way or the other about how he behaved to her. He pushed, she didn't reciprocate, he pushed some more, she acquiesced. She accepted his behavior toward her but it didn't seem to matter to her what her own feelings were, or what she herself thought of the whole "relationship". That may have been part of what her character was going through and related to the past problems she was already dealing with, but I just couldn't handle it. </p> <p>And to top it all off, the movie was BORING.</p> <p>On the other hand, and this is getting ahead of myself to Confession No. 4, but I loved another drama with a similar theme that everyone else seemed to think was garbage! There is no accounting for taste!</p> <p><font size="1"></font></p> <p><font size="1"> </font></p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-46432394223451013172009-03-15T21:48:00.001-05:002009-03-15T21:48:03.540-05:00Battlestar Galactica<p>I've recently finished season three of <em>Battlestar Galactica</em>, and now I want EVERYONE I KNOW to watch it too (not the least so we can <em>discuss</em>!!! OMG, I'm <em>dying </em>to discuss). It's that good.  </p> <p>You might think, "eh, it's sci-fi, I don't like sci-fi. Why should I watch it?"  Because <em>Battlestar Galactica </em>is one of the best television shows ever made. In any genre. And it just happens to be sci-fi. </p> <p>So what's it about? Well, it's a long story, but basically this (from the opening credit sequence for season three): "Cylons were created by man. They rebelled. They evolved. There are many copies. And they have a plan."</p> <p>What is the plan? Nobody knows. The humans only know that the Cylons attacked, killing all but 50,000 people, and now these humans, the only ones left <em>in the universe</em> are trying to avoid becoming extinct. </p> <p>What in the world is a Cylon? Questions, questions. Some of the Cylons (the Centurions) look like big scary seven-foot-tall armored robots with guns for hands, </p> <p><a title="Cylon Centurion" href="http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/gallery/index.php?sub=season1"><img height="275" alt="Cylon Centurion" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIwIs8q_W86LRXrfSQ-X8BNrfK7wIk-kLdMyP3YL40RyPjynUTSTqPj92prCzxW2fBvTbHM_QfUS3UDscvgBkd_y6OCzk9Bv_xrVtv3ZUNLPWA32L9sYcqvPNR_KavJuzrwgcwYgAXfgq/?imgmax=800" width="413" border="0" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><font size="1">Creeeeeeeepy.</font></p> <p align="left">but some other Cylons actually look, act, and feel like humans.  <em>Some of them don't know they're Cylons. </em>This is one of the genius ideas of the show. What makes a person a human? Does it matter? It's not like a human-looking Cylon can just cut his or her arm to expose robotic wiring, or circuits, or anything like that, because not only do they resemble humans on the outside, but they look the same on the inside too.  If a Cylon and a human can have a baby together, are they really that different?</p> <p>There are really only three things that distinguish the Cylons and the humans: When Cylons die, their thoughts and memories get downloaded to another copy of themselves on a Resurrection Ship. Second, the Cylons want to kill the humans (well, this is not so different, because the humans want to kill the Cylons too). And finally, the Cylons believe in one god. The humans believe in a pantheon of gods with names like Aphrodite, Zeus, Hera, Athena, and Apollo. (Yes, really.)  </p> <p>While these people may be humans, they are not earthlings. These remaining 50,000 humans in the universe are running for their lives in a convoy of a fleet of starships somewhere in space. <em>Battlestar Galactica</em> is one of the ships in the Colonial fleet. The Colonists, as they are called, are all that is left of the Twelve Colonies (which were named Aquaria, Aerilon, Canceron, Caprica, Gemenon, Leonis, Libran, Picon, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Tauron, and Virgon -- sound familiar?) and which were all destroyed by the Cylon attacks. But the Scriptures mention a Thirteenth Colony, lost to time and memory.  No one knows where it is. They only know it is called Earth. </p> <p>Is it <em>our </em>Earth? Why do the humans believe in a set of gods with the same names as the Greek gods of myth? Are they the same gods? Do the humans ever get to Earth? Do the Cylons ever get to Earth? When is this all taking place? </p> <p>The look and feel of the show is not particularly futuristic, nor is it trying to be; the clothing that the military personnel wear would be acceptable as uniforms and fatigues in any number of navies or air forces around the world, and the civilian clothing is indistinguishable from contemporary fashion (though certainly not on the dowdy end of the contemporary scale).</p> <p>  <a title="Tricia Helfer as Six" href="http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/gallery/index.php?sub=season1"><img height="275" alt="Tricia Helfer as Six" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3usyTGkginsrPvXFLYSyRLPRdtuA9lPe-ofY9vBLdUiBDiJs1q06HT3kyDfqdU-9f4p5MMmvvXxAp_nl9Ek_cbty13G08dUXFPOcEDg2C378PCPnkwM9pFIqRll9Bay_kqQcNFP7iv2XP/?imgmax=800" width="413" border="0" /></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="1">Tricia Helfer as Six</font> </p> <p>The look of the series goes a long way toward making <em>Battlestar Galactica </em>unlike most other shows on television. When <em>Galactica</em>'s pilots take off from the flight deck in their Vipers and Raptors, it feels like something you might see in real life, except that these pilots fly off into the deep black of outer space instead of the wild blue yonder. </p> <p>The series is filmed with a handheld-camera style that gives it a sense of documentary realism.  Even for shots that you know in your head will require special effects, such as establishing shots of the fleet in outer space, the camera work is such that you believe in your heart that it is really happening. For example, a shot may start out with a wide angle and a slow pan, taking in a group of several ships in the fleet moving through the vacuum of space, but then all of a sudden the camera jerks over, finding one particular ship, zooming and focusing shakily as if the cameraperson suddenly found the right closeup and is trying to get a bead on it before it moves away. I'm not doing a very good job of explaining it, but trust me, it makes it look real. </p> <p>Secondly, the cast itself is excellent, and the stories and characters are all great. While this is a large ensemble cast, and even the most secondary characters have their moments, I'm just going to mention a few main characters that stand out right away at the beginning. </p> <ul> <li>Starbuck (aka Lt. Kara Thrace, played by Katee Sackhoff) is loud, brash, rash, and picks fights, and yet is utterly appealing and never a caricature or one-dimensional character. She's the fleet's best and most reckless fighter pilot.  (I haven't seen the original 1978 <em>Battlestar Galactica </em>series, but I know that some of the female characters in this series, such as Starbuck, were played by men in the original series, and I believe that some other female characters are new additions to the current series, making it more evenly apportioned. Original-series-purists grumble, but I think this was a great move, and I love how gender roles are not an issue in the new series.) </li> </ul> <p><a title="Starbuck with Boomer and Apollo" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuvxESDl3swWljsVbpNVRiQA4IYzwqssNyh_sJCfLYF6GlDbsNEt5NuGpSapy8WenPI0xdeEpNFGaAI0o9lX7nvXpnWsya5V-3reqY2poOL2jhJEXe1x4YIPC9ydnldF6mRuRExMu-xivq/s1600-h/battlestar%20galactica%20season%20one%2005%5B4%5D.jpg"><img height="275" alt="Starbuck with Boomer and Apollo" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrridWYtMCBYPVF022BHP72ulJj2VWeFYbT0lENvpE_CyD73LkXpNFMQe-kvr0_iGYRUHlkV2bnKHopCuO2omIPGPfTwQ0esEUZL71w5xhBYo1Gi9n6wyMh26wPQx0FkeY_5_hag3BKEd2/?imgmax=800" width="413" border="0" /></a> </p> <p align="center"> <font size="1">Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) with Boomer (Grace Park) and Apollo (Jamie Bamber)</font></p> <p align="center"><font size="1"></font></p> <ul> <li>Gaius Baltar (James Callis) is a genius scientist who's verrry interested in saving his own skin.  He's not <em>evil, </em>per se, and he doesn't see himself as a bad figure (who does, really?) but his all-absorbing self-interest is focused on maximizing his own lifespan as much as possible (at the expense, if necessary, of whomever and whatever else). But it's not like he actively thinks about how his actions affect other people one way or another -- I would call him bumbling if he weren't so weaselly. His "I'm the victim in all this! I had no choice in my actions!" attitude explains a lot about why he does what he does, but man, what a weasel. Villainous, yet totally realistic. I know people like this. </li> </ul> <p> <a title="Tricia Helfer as Caprica Six and James Callis as Gaius Baltar" href="http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/gallery/index.php?sub=season1"><img height="275" alt="Tricia Helfer as Caprica Six and James Callis as Gaius Baltar" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvwgzWysoHSai2rMcgEWlAJaMiBVmm-J0-TSaHgMDu-sjB7-lEhDnTG0vKkWnLdYw8A96AK9CZ7mNXgMljzPMDCk2GhmjGDWZNYQ3v29PpV48KzI28O7YZNj4idmyBrg0bwBGXz1Dnt-W/?imgmax=800" width="413" border="0" /></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="1">Tricia Helfer as Caprica Six and James Callis as Gaius Baltar</font></p> <ul> <li>Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), the President of the Twelve Colonies, was previously Secretary of Education before the Cylons attacked. When the attack was over, it was discovered that she, at something like forty-second in the line of succession, had just become President of the Colonies.  </li> </ul> <p> <a title="Edward James Olmos as Commander (later Admiral) Adama and Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslyn" href="http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/gallery/index.php?sub=season1"><img height="275" alt="Edward James Olmos as Commander (later Admiral) Adama and Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslyn" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWLXM9e30R4X6xikkH93wKbkwCBvPZKESWqEVo1amLq2oV-NHjkwjwAfcw24BBa-IN_DxWxSob-2-pGpdBYIlYGUcfAUA8W7YL1MpALZTs-S7Cy17axUEdhON2uMOMb9FadMM3R6zftYQ/?imgmax=800" width="413" border="0" /></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="1">Edward James Olmos as Commander (later Admiral) Bill Adama and Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin</font></p> <ul> <li>Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) and President Roslin share responsibilities for the battle fleet and the civilian fleet. He captained a battlestar which was about to be decommissioned and turned into a museum just before the Cylons attacked. The ship was decrepit, out-of-date, and named <em>Galactica</em>. </li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>The final element that puts <em>Battlestar Galactica </em>in a class of its own is the music (by series composer Bear McCreary). I'm totally not a music person, but I'll do my best to describe it. The opening titles include several different sequences -- the music in the first intro bit which explains about the Cylons ("Cylons were created by man. They rebelled....") is orchestral and has a fast-paced, clock-ticking quality designed to put you on edge for the rest of the hour. </p> <p>Below are the opening Cylon credits for both season one and season three. Both contain a very slight SPOILER, but it's nothing you don't find out almost right away. </p> <p></p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:228d9baf-725d-4d37-961d-ccc1f5cc542a" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px"><div><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4Gd5_8K7ES8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4Gd5_8K7ES8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></div></div> <p></p> <p align="center"><font size="1">Season one (with SPOILERS)</font></p> <p align="center"><font size="1"></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="1"></font></p> <p><font size="1"></font></p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:6b4fee4a-4e54-4b78-a89e-ea396e05f0b5" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px"><div><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GyC0A98k-1s&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GyC0A98k-1s&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></div></div> <p align="center"><font size="1">Season three (with SPOILERS)</font></p> <p align="center"><font size="1"></font></p> <p>Then following this short pre-credits sequence comes the first act of the show; after that, you see the actual main credits. This musical sequence here is also orchestral, but slower, spacier, and melodic, and includes wordless vocals (or rather, vocals in another language; some of it sounds English but I don't think it is). At the end of this slow, dreamy credit sequence, the music and the editing immediately segues into a very fast-paced, heart-pounding teaser sequence showing brief flash-forwards to what will happen in that particular episode, accompanied by a military/tribal drum beat that just keeps getting faster and faster, ending in a swirling crescendo of orchestral strings. It's breathtaking. I've been trying to find a good <a href="www.youtube.com" target="_blank">Youtube</a> video of these so you don't have to rely on my crappy descriptions, but it's hard to find good credit sequences for seasons one through three without accidentally wandering into spoiler territory for season four, which I haven't seen yet (eeeee! I can't wait!).</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <font size="1">(Note: all still images from the official Battlestar Galactica website at <a href="http://www.scifi.com/battlestar">http://www.scifi.com/battlestar</a>. Click on a picture to go to the site.)</font> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-53390477182728465052009-01-06T01:48:00.001-06:002009-01-06T01:48:10.604-06:00I thought horoscopes were supposed to predict the FUTURE.<p>My <em><a href="http://www.tvguide.com/" target="_blank">TVGuide</a></em> horoscope prediction for this week of Jan. 5, 2009--almost exactly one year too late: </p> <blockquote> <p><strong>Gemini: </strong>A new interest or hobby will seize your imagination and refuse to let go--and may become a central part of your life over the next year. Don't worry about colleagues and loved ones who think you're wasting your time. What do they know? Not much!</p> </blockquote> <p>(I am not kidding; this is really what it said.)</p> <p>Ever since I first saw <em><a href="http://omshantiom.erosentertainment.com/" target="_blank">Om Shanti Om</a></em> on December 9, 2007, it's been all-India, <a href="http://deewani-for-bollywood.blogspot.com/2008/05/pay-no-attention-to-girl-behind-curtain.html" target="_blank">all-Hindi films</a>, all the time*.  What more could I <em>possibly </em>be obsessed with?</p> <p>-----</p> <p> </p> <p><font size="1">*Well, except for the latest dvd seasons of <em>Doctor Who,</em> and <em>Battlestar Galactica,</em> and <em>Smallville, </em>and <em>Chuck,</em> and <em>Dexter,</em><em> </em>and <em>The Big Bang Theory,</em> and <em>Torchwood,</em> and <em>Heroes,</em> and<em> House, </em>and <em>Lost, </em>and <em>Ugly Betty </em>and<em>. . .</em> .</font></p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-74221014888877631742009-01-06T01:06:00.000-06:002009-01-19T23:51:19.971-06:00Hindi Word of the Day Archives for December 2008<p>kaun? (who? which?)</p> <p>jo (who, the one who, which [relative, not interrogative form])</p> <p>jo koii (whoever; whichever, whatever)</p> <p>jo kuch (whatever; whichever)</p> <p>koii (some, any; someone)</p> <p>koii nahiin (nobody, no one, not any)</p> <p>koii na koii (someone or other)</p> <p>har koii (everyone)</p> <p>kuch (something, anything; some, any; a little, a few)</p> <p>kuch kuch (somewhat, rather)</p> <p>kuch aur (some more, something further; something different)</p> <p>bahut kuch (a large amount)</p> <p>kuch nahiin (nothing)</p> <p>kuch na kuch (something or other; somewhat, a little)</p> <p>sab kuch (everything)</p> <p>kuch bhii (whatever; anything at all); kuch bhii nahiin (nothing at all)</p> <p>manzil (stage of journey; story, floor; destination)</p> <p>rasta (way, road)</p> <p>mushkil (difficult, difficulty)</p> <p>aaj (today)</p> <p>aajkal (these days, nowadays)</p> <p>har (each, every)</p> <p>havaa (air, breeze)</p> <p>faislaa (decision, judgement)</p> <p>ruubaruu (face to face)</p> <p>rishtaa (relationship, connection)</p> <p>havaaii jahaaz (airplane)</p> <p>baar (time, occasion); pahli baar (first time); ek baar (one time, on one occasion)</p> <p>sadaa (ever, always, constantly)</p> <p>samay (time)</p> <p>saal, varsh, baras (year); san (year of calendar)</p> <p>---------------</p> <p>Disclaimers: </p> <p>I am not a native Hindi speaker. The words I list are either ones I have picked up by watching Bollywood movies or from perusing my Hindi reference books, including <em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717687/details/27500138">Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717689/details/27500193">Teach Yourself Hindi Dictionary</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717688/details/30241067">Teach Yourself Hindi Complete Course</a>, </em><em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/4915959/details/26983584">Living Language Hindi Complete Course</a>,</em> and best of all, the enormous <em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1321354/book/34023186">Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary</a>. </em>Despite all these reference sources, it is still totally possible that I read something wrong or misunderstood it--so keep in mind that this list is made by someone who's only been watching Hindi movies on a regular basis since November 2007 and has no previous experience with the language. </p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-75670127925300301122009-01-02T02:07:00.001-06:002009-01-02T02:11:49.017-06:00Kyun? Ho Gaya Na<p>I knew this movie was a romance, and that's about it. The Netflix summary describes the two leads, Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi, as "cinematic lovebirds," which somehow struck me as funny. But there seem to be very few reviews of it out on the internet (admittedly, I didn't look <em>very </em>hard). Because of this, I'm actually going to include a plot synopsis this time. </p> <p>Arjun (Vivek), wants his parents to arrange his marriage for him because he thinks that love is full of deceit and creates nothing but problems, and that promises are made to be broken, and so on. He thinks if it's arranged, he doesn't have to worry about all that. And besides, an arranged marriage was good enough for his parents and grandparents! He lays this all out in the first song, which takes place at a two-story, log cabin-type sports bar that reminds me of the bar in <em>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. </em></p> <p>Meanwhile, Aishwarya, during the same song, is hanging out with two friends at home, singing about how she only wants to marry for love. (I've returned the movie already, and am writing most of this review from memory, so I'm not entirely sure, but I think those two friends appear only in this song and then are never seen again. Strange.) </p> <p>*****Music review interjection: I didn't like this first song <em>at all. </em>I think they tried to make it into some sort of Russian folk song, with a lot of stringed instruments, but it just ended up sounding too . . . Christmassy. And bad. It made me want to hand back my imaginary unofficial Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy fan club badge. </p> <p>The actual Russian-style dancing was all right (yes, there was that), but the music was n<strong>ot good</strong>. Watch at your own risk:</p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:f7e04861-04e0-4cf3-9f93-826fb395b9f8" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px"><div><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-QNi0tLiEF8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-QNi0tLiEF8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></div></div> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QNi0tLiEF8" target="_blank">Pyar Mein Sau Uljhanne Hai</a></p> <p>Ugh. But this song was a hit, apparently. </p> <p>Anyways, back to the plot. Arjun is shown to be impetuous, impulsive, and irresponsible: </p> <ul> <li>He has just participated in a car race against his mother's wishes and without her knowledge. </li> <li>He lost the race by trying to overtake his friend and competitor, but he spun out instead. After the race, his friend told him, "You lost because you were trying too hard to beat me, while I won because I focused on finishing first." </li> <li>When Arjun first meets Diya (Aishwarya), she is a passenger on the train, and he is serving drinks to the passengers as a "pantry-car boy" to earn his train ticket home (he had his bag stolen after he left it with an "Uncle" he didn't know on a bench at the train station). </li> </ul> <p>Of course those qualities must be balanced out by some positive qualities, but we're getting to that. At this point, Diya shows up on Arjun's family's doorstep. Lo and behold, she has come to stay with them while she studies for an exam for her Master's degree.  She and Arjun don't really know each other except from the train, but her father and his parents do, and the parents have arranged all this. (Actually, they have tried to arrange much more; but their children, especially Diya, just haven't gone along with it.)</p> <p>When Arjun's mother (Rati Agnihotri) finds out (thanks to Diya) that he had not, in fact, stayed home like a good boy while she was gone, but that he was at the car rally instead, he charms his mother back into forgiving both him and his father (Om Puri), who knew all along what his son was doing and didn't tell his wife.  </p> <p>Diya settles in to studying for her exam, but Arjun, who is a bit ADD, thinks she is studying too hard and tries to get her to loosen up and take a day off. Here we have a library song. Yay for library songs! And this is a good one. </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:27950635-d428-48dd-82c7-db4b6d5b91dc" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 388px; padding-top: 0px"><div><object width="388" height="322"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KH2qxnEbWqU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KH2qxnEbWqU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="388" height="322"></embed></object></div></div> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH2qxnEbWqU" target="_blank">Main Hoon</a> </p> <p>Aishwarya is particularly appealing in this film because we get to see her acting like a regular girl, instead of the reserved, sophisticated princess she usually plays--which is ironic, because her character is meant to be on the reserved, prim, studious side as a counterpoint to Arjun's roguish impetuousness. But she manages to be vulnerable, and relaxed, and sporty. Here she goes bowling! She plays soccer in shorts and kneesocks! And <em>she</em> is the one who falls for Arjun, while he, on the other hand, goes and plays an incredibly insensitive and idiotic practical joke on her.  But not until after the end of this song: </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:3d7027f3-3c21-4600-9fa3-019bfa32c329" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 400px; padding-top: 0px"><div><object width="400" height="332"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/P9ljDTNeDU8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P9ljDTNeDU8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="400" height="332"></embed></object></div></div> <p>(Youtube lists this song as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9ljDTNeDU8" target="_blank">Aao Na Aao Na</a> but the dvd lists it as Gunji Si Hai.)</p> <p>Wouldn't you be mad if he went and did something really stupid right after that song? And she is justifiably mad about the practical joke, even if the song was all in her head.   She confesses her love in a frustrated shriek to a clueless Arjun (stupid boy!), but gets nothing in return, so she decides to leave. </p> <p>At this point, as Diya is packing to leave Arjun's house, her father's friend, whom she calls Uncle, shows up. (Uncle, hereafter renamed Crazy Uncle, is played by Amitabh Bachchan. I had totally forgotten about Amitabh--despite the fact that he got first billing at the beginning of the movie--because he's not in the first half at all.) With a "Come on Charlie!"  and a "Sab thik ho jayegi! [Everything's going to be all right!]" he cheers her up and whisks her off home. (Why Charlie? I don't know; he's Crazy Uncle.)</p> <p>Crazy Uncle has an orphanage, apparently, with about fifteen kids in it, and Diya has come to help him out with the orphans and to forget about Arjun. Time passes, Crazy Uncle and the kids play several practical jokes on each other (they give him a candy that turns his mouth and teeth bright blue, he puts blue paint in the water while they are washing, etc.) and then Arjun shows up. </p> <p>Arjun is still a practical joker, like Crazy Uncle, but he has begun to realize his feelings for Diya yet doesn't know what to do about it. He wants an arranged marriage, remember? He's not supposed to fall in love! That's not the plan!</p> <p>To make matters worse, Diya's much-extolled-yet-previously-unseen (male) friend Ishaan comes to visit the orphanage and to see Diya and Crazy Uncle and all the kids, and Arjun finds out that he has much to be jealous over. I won't spoil the special appearance for those who haven't seen it, but you can click <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0792911/" target="_blank">here</a> to find out who plays Ishaan.</p> <p>A lot of armchair reviewers on the <a href="http://www.imdb.com" target="_blank">imdb</a> don't seem to like Arjun's character and don't see how Diya could fall for him.  I don't fall for him personally, but I can see how Diya does; he's lively and charming and he likes to tease her (in a good way). She's on the serious side and appreciates his spontaneous and impulsive personality. </p> <p>And chemistry! Whoever said these two don't have chemistry? I didn't realize until after the movie was over and I was looking (in vain, mostly) for reviews or commentary about this film online, that Vivek and Aishwarya <a href="http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/hindi/article/9978.html" target="_blank">used to be a couple around the time of this filming</a>. I wonder if the buzz about their offscreen relationship affected moviegoers' reactions to their onscreen portrayal? </p> <p>I liked the film when I saw it (although I bored myself when I was writing the plot summary; but really, it's a decent romantic timepass). The romance was good, and as I mentioned before, this is one of Aishwarya's most appealing performances. She's warm, endearing, and natural, not overly mannered (a trait I can tolerate in Shah Rukh Khan much more than I can in her). See the movie for Aishwarya, for the romance, and for all the songs except that first one [shudder].</p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-57671961190967758332008-12-18T00:47:00.001-06:002008-12-18T01:35:03.135-06:00Confession No. 2<p>While I may be a swooning idiot for the romances, there is one Bollywood-induced emotion I am apparently immune to: I have yet to cry during a Bollywood film. I'm not admitting this as any sort of accomplishment; on the contrary, I feel like a bit of a freak. Not even <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347304/" target="_blank"><em>Kal Ho Naa Ho</em></a> or <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420332/" target="_blank"><em>Veer-Zaara</em></a> could make me shed a tear and they had <em>totally</em> sad moments.  </p> <p>This is not to say I never cry during movies; I cried during <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110367/" target="_blank">Little Women</a>,</em> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099348/" target="_blank"><em>Dances with Wolves</em></a>, and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433416/" target="_blank"><em>The Namesake</em></a><em>, </em>and <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033563/" target="_blank">Dumbo</a></em>, to think of four at random, and there are plenty of others I just can't remember right now<em>. </em>But no Bollywood films <a href="http://deewani-for-bollywood.blogspot.com/2008/05/pay-no-attention-to-girl-behind-curtain.html" target="_blank">so far</a>. I don't have a whole big theory why this is*; I just had to get it off my chest. Admittedly, not every Hindi movie I watch is a tearjerker, but I've seen quite a few with sad, sad scenes in them, and yet I remain strangely dry-eyed.</p> <p>-------</p> <p> </p> <p><font size="1">*Maybe it's because I know that Bollywood films will usually (<em>usually!</em><em>) </em>end happily despite trauma and heartbreak in the middle bit of the picture?  But there has to be more to it than that. What is it? I haven't been able to figure it out yet. Maybe it's because I'm the figuring-out type and not the heart-on-her-sleeve type? I have no idea.</font></p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-86971967433160493022008-12-10T01:43:00.002-06:002008-12-10T01:47:54.988-06:00Confession No. 1<blockquote><p>This will most likely be the first in a series. This post was originally going to be a set of one-line bullet point confessions by me of my unpopular opinions about several different movies, but once I got started on one movie, I couldn't stop. Man, this article wrote itself! Stay tuned for more!</p></blockquote><p>Confession: I didn't really like <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172684/"><em>Kuch Kuch Hota Hai</em></a><em> </em>(1998) all that much<em>.</em> I really <em>want </em>to have liked it, I do, I do! But my delicate fashion sensibilities* were overwhelmed by the shockingly loud and brightly colored early-nineties style, name-brand type outfits, and subsequently I couldn't pay much attention to the plot. First of all, the clothing was way too reminiscent of the clothing worn by everyone during my own high school years [shudder] (. . . but much, much more garish). <a title="Kuch Kuch Hota hai" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuch_kuch_hota_hai" target="_blank" rel="tag"><img height="475" alt="Image:Kuch Kuch Hota Hai DVD Cover.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fe/Kuch_Kuch_Hota_Hai_DVD_Cover.jpg" width="335" border="0" /></a></p><p><span style="font-size:78%;">This cover doesn't actually come close to portraying the full extent of it.</span></p><p>Secondly, it wasn't just the clothing that tickled my shallow-bone, but also the sets. It's supposed to take place at a college, not a high school. It didn't look like any college I'd ever seen or been to. I just kept getting the (loud, garish) high school vibe. Again, distracting.</p><p>While I was looking for pictures to illustrate my post, I came upon <a title="The Biggest Movie Star You've Never Heard of" href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/popup?id=3322237&contentIndex=1&start=false&page=6" target="_blank">this slide show article</a> from ABC News entitled "The Biggest Movie Star You've Never Heard of" (i.e. Shah Rukh Khan). ABC describes <em>Kuch Kuch Hota Hai </em>as "Archie Comics come to Bollywood," which pretty much sums up the look of it, anyways. I mean, I know why director Karan Johar did it--because he was trying to drag Hindi films into a more modern era with the American designer duds and all, but oh, Karan! Too much! </p><p><a title="Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/popup?id=3322237&contentIndex=1&start=false&page=6" target="_blank"><img height="299" alt="ht_kkhh1_070627_ssh" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVWSWshzgKQmlzwBrp9Rt6_AkcRp0Wke0yeFCf6MLgsyD_VM0-evo7gz3zRMhWd1q_NfyPw2x_Hcdm_aQnq0mamwm67iRS3uTgEmY21s2BpLeGT5TE7fRkzabMpe2nh-UtmW3_oYrYX6eH/?imgmax=800" width="413" border="0" /></a> </p><p><span style="font-size:78%;">I don't even know who that girl is. It looks like . . . Preity? She's not in the movie.</span></p><p><em>Kuch Kuch Hota Hai </em>was one of the first Hindi films I saw after becoming a Bollywood convert. Maybe I would like it better if I saw it again now, a year later. I could ignore the shockingly bad clothing and the sets and just focus on the plot (I <em>will </em>like it! I <em>will</em> like it!). Or at least try my darndest. </p><p>-------</p><p>*If you knew me, you'd probably laugh at this.</p>SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-2100767426122957912008-12-04T00:44:00.001-06:002008-12-04T00:44:03.003-06:00Hindi Word of the Day Archives for November 2008<p>kahaan? (where?)</p> <p>jahaan (where . . . ; in the place where)</p> <p>yahaan (here)</p> <p>vahaan (there)</p> <p>kahiin (somewhere)</p> <p>kahiin nahiin (nowhere)</p> <p>kahiin bhii (anywhere)</p> <p>sab kahiin (everywhere)</p> <p>kahiin na kahiin (somewhere or other)</p> <p>kahiin aur (somewhere else)</p> <p>jahiin (in the very place where)</p> <p>yahiin (right here; in this very place)</p> <p>vahiin (right there; in that very place)</p> <p>jahaan kahiin (wherever; everywhere)</p> <p>kab? (when?) </p> <p>jab (when . . . ; at the time when)</p> <p>ab (now)</p> <p>tab (then)</p> <p>kabhii (sometimes, ever)</p> <p>kabhii kabhii (from time to time, sometimes)</p> <p>kabhii nahiin (never)</p> <p>jab se (since, from the time when)</p> <p>jab tak (as long as, until)</p> <p>jab jab, jab bhii (whenever)</p> <p>ab tab (now and then)</p> <p>ab se (from now on)</p> <p>ab tak (up till now)</p> <p>ab bhii (even now, as yet; even so)</p> <p>abhii (right now)</p> <p>tabhii (just then)</p> <p> -----------------</p> <p> Disclaimers: </p> <p>I am not a native Hindi speaker. The words I list are either ones I have picked up by watching Bollywood movies or from perusing my Hindi reference books, including <em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717687/details/27500138">Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717689/details/27500193">Teach Yourself Hindi Dictionary</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717688/details/30241067">Teach Yourself Hindi Complete Course</a>, </em><em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/4915959/details/26983584">Living Language Hindi Complete Course</a>,</em> and best of all, the enormous <em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1321354/book/34023186">Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary</a>. </em>Despite all these reference sources, it is still totally possible that I read something wrong or misunderstood it--so keep in mind that this list is made by someone who's only been watching Hindi movies on a regular basis since November 2007 and has no previous experience with the language.</p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-47958418633141018662008-12-03T23:46:00.001-06:002008-12-03T23:46:51.883-06:00What just happened here?<p>So, <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061842/" target="_blank">Jewel Thief</a>. W</em>hat? I'm totally lost. </p> <p>Apparently I should have read a detailed plot summary first before I watched it. And followed along. And taken notes.</p> <p>Don't get me wrong; I liked it. I just can't figure out who's who, or what's going on.  </p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-71920202182301445582008-11-20T23:41:00.001-06:002008-11-20T23:41:22.070-06:00Or not.<p>I lied when I said I would recognize Priyanka Chopra whenever I saw  her from now on. I just finished watching <em>The Inner/Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan</em> and I kept thinking, "Who <em>IS </em>that girl?" I should have known.  </p> <p>What is <em>wrong </em>with me? I think there's a bug in my brain's facial recognition software, and only Priyanka triggers it. </p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-78677987758931021572008-11-02T12:52:00.001-06:002008-11-02T12:52:48.756-06:00Hindi Word of the Day Archives for October 2008<p>sahelii (a girl's female friend)  </p> <p>pahelii (puzzle, riddle, mystery, enigma)</p> <p>aana (to come, to arrive, to know a language, to have a skill); aao! (come!)</p> <p>lambaa (tall, long)</p> <p>baat (matter, thing, something said); kyaa baat hai? (what's the matter?); koii baat nahiin (it doesn't matter, never mind)</p> <p>rahna (to live, to stay); some verb forms: rahtaa, rahe</p> <p>himmat (courage, spirit, resolve, nerve)</p> <p>haan (yes); nahiiiiiin! (noooooo!)</p> <p>khel (a game); khelnaa (to play); some verb forms: kheltaa, kheltii, khelte</p> <p>kaagaz (paper, a piece of paper)</p> <p>khilaarii [also transliterated as khiladi] (n. "one who plays", athlete, sportsman; adj. skilled at games, playful, mischievous)</p> <p>milnaa (to meet)</p> <p>jeb (a pocket); duniyaa merii jeb mein (the world in my pocket)</p> <p>filmii (having to do with movies; melodramatic)</p> <p>derh (one and a half); dhaaii (two and a half)</p> <p>dono:m (both)</p> <p>dhundh (fog, mist, gloom)</p> <p>honaa (to be)</p> <p>main huun (I am)</p> <p>tuu hai (you are); tuu = 2nd person singular, intimate</p> <p>tum ho (you are); tum = 2nd person plural, familiar; can also be used for 2nd person singular, polite</p> <p>yah hai (he, she, it, THIS is); vah hai (he, she, it, THAT is); yah = 3rd person singular, nearby; vah = 3rd person singular, farther away</p> <p>ham hain (we are)</p> <p>aap hain (you are); aap = 2nd person plural, formal; also used for 2nd person singular, formal</p> <p>ye hain (they/THESE are; he/she is [formal or respectful]); ve hain (they/THOSE are; he/she is [formal or respectful])</p> <p>baarish (rain); barsaat (the rains, the rainy season)</p> <p>thaa, thii (was); the, thiin (were)</p> <p>thoraa [also transliterated as thoda] (a little, a few)</p> <p>pal (a moment, an instant); pal pal (at every moment)</p> <p>phamsnaa (to stick; to be trapped, stuck, caught, ensnared)</p> <p>chashmaa (eyeglasses)</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>-----------------</p> <p> </p> <p>Disclaimers: </p> <p>I am not a native Hindi speaker. The words I list are either ones I have picked up by watching Bollywood movies or from perusing my Hindi reference books, including <em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717687/details/27500138">Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717689/details/27500193">Teach Yourself Hindi Dictionary</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717688/details/30241067">Teach Yourself Hindi Complete Course</a>, </em><em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/4915959/details/26983584">Living Language Hindi Complete Course</a>,</em> and best of all, the enormous <em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1321354/book/34023186">Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary</a>. </em>Despite all these reference sources, it is still totally possible that I read something wrong or misunderstood it--so keep in mind that this list is made by someone who's only been watching Hindi movies on a regular basis since November 2007 and has no previous experience with the language.</p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-30456471758944354542008-10-25T01:43:00.001-05:002008-10-25T01:43:20.392-05:00Salaam-e-Ishq<p>Because I have trouble keeping track of who-all is in <em>Salaam-e-Ishq</em>, I'm going to list the main cast in pairs here and get it out of the way: Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan, John Abraham and Vidya Balan, Juhi Chawla and Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna and Ayesha Takia, Govinda and Shannon Esra [or Esrechowitz], and finally, Sohail Khan and Isha Koppikar as the unlucky newlyweds who just can't find a spot to have their wedding night without setting fire to their room or ending up in the hospital. </p> <p>You can see a star-studded trailer of the movie <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyCEVRN5aWU" target="_blank">here</a>. This particular trailer also includes the title song from the film (by my favorite music directors, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy), and which is very, very catchy  and quite possibly contains bagpipe music. </p> <p>First off, a mini-review: I knew that <em>Salaam-e-Ishq</em> was based on <em>Love, Actually, </em>so<em> </em>I was prepared for the loosely-intersecting ensemble style, but I thought that the film took a little too long to come together in the first third (it's too long a film to call that section a half). The tone was too varied amongst the different subplot-establishing scenes, but I think the songs went a long way in pulling all of the different stories and styles together. Once it got going, the rest of it was more evenly paced. And other than all that, I loved it.     </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:96d4527b-e748-4786-bf7b-15cc0c2a9270" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px"><div><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z5uR1k4Lw7Q"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z5uR1k4Lw7Q" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></div><label style="font-size:.8em;">Salaam-e-Ishq title song, showing off all our aforementioned stars and the v. v. catchy music</label></div> <p></p> <p>I'm just going to mention a few of the performances from the film. </p> <p>1. This is the fourth Priyanka Chopra movie I've seen, and the first where I've actually remembered what she looks like once the movie was over; the others were <em>Don, Krrish, Bluffmaster! </em>and her special appearance (along with everyone else) in <em>Om Shanti Om</em>. I sort of knew she was going to be in this movie before I watched it, so that helped.  It's not like I wasn't trying to keep track of her before this, either. I was familiar with who she was and what her name was, but just not her face or personality. Or what she starred in. If you had asked me yesterday who the girl in <em>Krrish</em> was, I wouldn't have been able to tell you. </p> <p>To misquote from our movie at hand,  </p> <p>     "Yeh [Priyanka] hai kaun?"          </p> <p>     "Exactly!"</p> <p>However, I should be able to remember Priyanka from now on. I think she finally had a role where she could actually <em>show</em> some personality and spark. I wasn't sure about her filmi, overacting-type indignation in the first half, but since she was playing a Bollywood item girl trying to reinvent herself as a leading heroine, I guess I can see where she was coming from. And anyways, she makes up for it in the second half.</p> <p>2. Strangely enough, and against all odds, I really liked . . . Salman Khan. I can't believe I even just wrote that.  He and Priyanka had a really romantic storyline and great chemistry.  I can't believe I just wrote that either. How girly.</p> <p>3. Juhi was beautiful and heartbroken and real. </p> <p>4. Anil Kapoor. Wow. I don't think he said a word until halfway through the film, yet was thoroughly compelling. On a very shallow note, he looked much better unshaven. </p> <p>5. Frankly, I saw this film for Govinda. I'm sure there are plenty of 'em out there, but I have yet to see a bad Govinda film (okay, I've only seen three Govinda films: <em>Partner, </em>where he was adorable and he danced; <em>Albela, </em>where he was adorable and he danced; and this, where he was extremely adorable but I wish he had danced more). How can you not love Govinda? I suppose I will have plenty of chances to find out. </p> <p>Oh, and I liked that Govinda (as Raju) called Stephanie's boyfriend "jackass no. 1".</p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-56584265316861218542008-10-02T23:24:00.001-05:002008-10-02T23:24:05.463-05:00Hindi Word of the Day Archives for September 2008<p>This month's selection of words is a (mostly) totally random collection. For a while there at the beginning of the month, I thought I had come to the end of my Hindi vocabulary limits (I hadn't been watching too many Hindi movies recently), but some good suggestions got me back on track (shukriyaa Anarchivist, for suggesting milaap, tuufaan, insaan, nasiib, and qasam!). </p> <p>phuul (flower)</p> <p>dhuup (sunlight, the sun)</p> <p>baal (hair); zulfein (tresses, locks)</p> <p>raaz (a secret, a mystery)</p> <p>lenaa (to take, to receive)</p> <p>likhnaa (to write); lekh (something written); lekhaanii (writing instrument)</p> <p>zaruurii, zaruudii (necessary)</p> <p>agar (if)</p> <p>denaa (to give, to let)</p> <p>milaap (meeting; mixing; union, harmony; reconciliation)</p> <p>tuufaan (a storm of wind and rain)</p> <p>insaan (a man, human being); insaanii (human); insaaniyat (humanity)</p> <p>piiche (behind, afterwards, later, back, ago)</p> <p>uthnaa (to rise up, to get up, to stand up); uthaanaa (to lift, raise, pick up)</p> <p>nasiib (destiny, fate, fortune)</p> <p>qasam (an oath)</p> <p>farz (duty, obligation)</p> <p>qarz (a debt, loan)</p> <p>ajnabii (a stranger)</p> <p>dushman (enemy, adversary)</p> <p>bhaasa (language)</p> <p>bhii (even, too, also, as much as, still) </p> <p>phir (again, then, next); phir bhii (even so)</p> <p>lagnaa (to seem, to begin to); some verb forms--lagtaa, lagte, lagaa, lagii</p> <p>pahle (before)</p> <p>gandaa (dirty)</p> <p>bajaa, baje (o'clock [singular, plural]); ek bajaa (one o'clock); do baje (two o'clock)</p> <p>paas (nearby)</p> <p>lifaafaa (envelope)</p> <p>-----------------</p> <p> </p> <p>Disclaimers: </p> <p>I am not a native Hindi speaker. The words I list are either ones I have picked up by watching Bollywood movies or from perusing my Hindi reference books, including <em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717687/details/27500138">Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717689/details/27500193">Teach Yourself Hindi Dictionary</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/717688/details/30241067">Teach Yourself Hindi Complete Course</a>, </em><em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/4915959/details/26983584">Living Language Hindi Complete Course</a>,</em> and best of all, the enormous <em><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1321354/book/34023186">Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary</a>. </em>Despite all these reference sources, it is still totally possible that I read something wrong or misunderstood it--so keep in mind that this list is made by someone who's only been watching Hindi movies on a regular basis since November 2007 and has no previous experience with the language.</p> SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6205991333119404506.post-55498998190442404802008-09-26T23:26:00.001-05:002008-09-28T00:07:42.432-05:00Jodhaa Akbar: A Spectacle-and-a-HALF<p>I'm not generally a fan of Hrithik Roshan; he's usually oddly over-muscled, and his acting style is just not for me (<em></em><em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265148/" target="_blank">Main Prem ki Diwani Hoon</a>--</em>wtf?). </p><p>And while I have seen a lot of Aishwarya Rai films, I can't say she's one of my favorite-favorite actresses. I think it's the little-girl voice she usually does in her films. I've heard her in interviews and was surprised to find that the voice she used for the interviews was much lower and more serious. </p><p>But in <em>Jodhaa Akbar,</em> I was impressed with both of them. <em>I actually forgot they were Hrithik and Aish.</em> That takes some doing, with those two. I was surprised how much I liked Hrithik in this especially. Fellow blogger Anarchivist and I have discussed before how much better he seems to be in the action-type roles than the straight romantic-type roles. This wasn't the same kind of action role as <em>Dhoom 2,</em> but there was enough action so that it worked for him, and the romantic parts were, well, surprisingly romantic. Also plotwise, even the government-type bits were interesting. I didn't think the movie dragged at all despite the three hour and forty-five minute running time, but then, I did watch it in two different sittings. </p><p>Other than Hrithik and Aishwarya, there didn't seem to be many big-name actors, or at least, I didn't recognize many. Kulbhushan Kharbanda was one I knew, but mainly by name, rather than by what he looked like. I recognized Rajesh Vivek, who usually has a bit of the Amrish-Puri-evil-eye going on, but I never knew his name till now. Apparently I've seen him in <em>Bunty aur Babli, Lagaan, </em>and <em>Swades, </em>too, but only remembered him from <em>Nanhe Jaisalmer</em> before this (sorry, Rajesh।) Also, I had never heard of Sonu Sood, who played Jodhaa's brother Sujamal, but I was quite taken with him. If anyone knows of a good movie to watch Sonu in, let me know. </p><p><span class=""><u>Update</u>: </span>I totally forgot to mention the guy who played the mute drummer Bagha in <em>Lagaan, </em>Amin Hajee. In <em>Jodhaa Akbar's </em>qawwali song<em> </em>(I think it's called Kwaja Mere Kwaja) I noticed what looked like two of Amin, one on either side of the main singer. Amin does not have a credit on the imdb for <em>Jodhaa Akbar, </em>but according to the imdb's trivia section, he does have a twin brother named Karim, and I'm pretty sure they are the ones shown in the picturization. </p><p> </p><p>Now, enough about the actors, I should mention the other beautiful parts of the movie: those incredible, jewelry-laden costumes and that incredible, enormous, and lushly designed set. (I don't have any screen caps, sorry, but I'm sure you can find some all over the internet.) I looooved the color scheme of the saris (and of the entire movie): dark ruby red, deep emerald green, and gold. Oh, the clothes porn*! I think this is the best I have ever seen. You must watch this movie on a widescreen hdtv if at all possible. I saw the first half on a 60-million inch widescreen (not mine), and it was extremely beautiful to look at. Sigh. </p><p>*credit goes to <a href="http://octoberzine.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Anarchivist</a> for this phrase.</p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><ul><li><div align="left">Other notes/footnotes: I have heard the movie is not particularly historically accurate, but I think anything that illuminates a previously dark (for me) corner of history is worth watching. It's just a starting point, really. I had no concept of this time and place at all, but, hey, so it's not a history lesson; at least now I have some idea of it that I can use to pin other informational tidbits onto. </div></li></ul><p align="left"></p>SpyGirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09559048129120493591noreply@blogger.com3