Rehman rules the Globe!

HE'S DONE IT!!!

Another Indian achievement on the Global stage worth celebrating!
An achievement in the here & now!
An achievement by a soft-spoken, peace-loving Indian (as opposed to ranting pro-violence losers)!

Here's to a Genuine Winner! A Real World Beater!

Ab isko kehte hain India Shining! ;-)

idiots...

I've often said that I don't want the focus of this blog to be low-lives, but once in a while some idiots come along who excel at being so low that discovering them is akin to the unearthing of Mohen-jo-Daro! Such a discovery needs talking about. Here's another example of a bunch of nobodies using outright lies to malign someone who is their superior by light years!
http://filmikhabar.com/2007/08/05/difference-between-shah-rukh-khan-and-amitabh-bachchan-part-2/#comment-25112

I tried putting up the following comment on this forum, but the idiots are so scared of facts that they didn't even publish my comment. They only want to look at the world from their perspective. Good for them! The less competition to genuine intellect there is the better! I'm having difficulty deciding between "kuen ke mendhak" or "jab haathi chalte hain toh kuttey bhownkte hain. Which one is applicable to them? Both maybe. Anyway, here's my response:

mouse-tafa...
1. Mr. Bachchan's first mega-hit was Zanjeer, a solo. Aren't you forgetting movies like Don, Lawaris etc. etc. Aur yaad dilaoon ya itna kaafi hai aapka muh bandh rakhne ke liye?
2. This overseas market jazz is for people who don't know. There was no oversead market until Yash Chopra & co. started tapping into it late in their careers. And even overseas, Mr. Bachchan got voted as the Superstar of the Millenium in the BBC poll. Bhool gaye kya? Or on purpose?
3. Yeh aapke dekhna ka nazarya hai. I still remember Amitabh's wound up angst from Shakti, not Dilip Kumar's histrionics.And SRK will always remain a poor actor to me. He can't even match Saif, forget matching Mr. Bachchan.
4. I have already answered this in 1 above, but here's a little more. SRK doesn't do movies outside the Chopra-Johar clan. In contrast Aamir Khan does movies with rank newcomers & churns out hit after hit. SRK isn't even as good as Aamir, what're you doing comparing him with India's Cinegod Mr. Bachchan.
5. SRK is rumoured to be bisexual & said to be having an affair with Karan Johar. Is that a cleaner image than Mr. Bachchan's?
6. KANK a hit? When did this happen??? Last I looked it was declared a damp squib.
Aapki zaati rai aap apne paas rakhen toh behtar hoga.
lmfrz...
Outlook Magazine recently had a poll on the most popular star. Guess what margin the eventual winner Mr. Bachchan beat his closest competitor by?
Aap sab log jhoot ka sahara kyun lete hain...?

Afterthought on KKL

A more critical analysis of KKL came to me as an afterthought. It doesn't take away anything from the movie at all for two reasons: The movie is genuinely good; and secondly as my favourite playright GBS put it, "A critic is one who leaves no turn unstoned"!

The part that I'd have liked to see made differently is the absolute ending. There's too much wrong with the ending according to me. The elder brother deserved better & that is what should've been shown. The younger brother deserved much worse and that is what should've been shown, instead of showing him happily returning to his piano. I know for a fact that guilt makes each day unlivable! How happily they've shown the misguided youngster return to a life of normalcy. This according to me, is one flaw in the movie. In short the ending is further from a happy ending than I would've liked.

Maybe viewers with a taste for the quasi-realistic don't share my problem with the ending.

Attempted Crosspost

4 Movie Recommendations

I'm fairly picky about the movies that I watch & even pickier about the ones I like. Any regular reader of this blog will vouch for that. I am recommending 4 movies today for mass consumption. Movies that should probably be made mandatory viewing in India. Just like Sir Attenborough's Oscar winning classic has!

There is no order here, neither chronological, nor preferential.

Aamir:
A thriller worthy of Hollywood. The film starts off fairly innocuously and from there a series of events hurl the protagonist by the same name deeper & deeper into a web of conspiracy & deceit.
The film keeps the viewer feeling edgy all the time, due to the slowly unfolding nature of the subject, the mystery that refuses to unravel, and mainly due to the superb execution of the plot by the director!
Bombay has been grittily shot, realistic, teeming, buzzing, filthy. The glimpses bring memories of the city back to anyone who's stayed there for any decent length of time.
So, brilliant camerawork supports a great plot, a capable cast, and gives us a gritty, gripping thriller that stays with us even after we leave the movie theatre. Surely one of the best made thrillers to come out of India ever!

Dharm:
I haven't seen the movie yet, but my wife has & thinks it should be on a compulsory watchlist for all Indians, specially those who've gone over to the conservative side.

The Message:
Needlessly controversial, banned in many parts, this is a film in the tradition of the Ten Commandments & Ben-Hur, only not that dramatic. It is a representation of facts around the origin of Islam, only more reserved.
The film is a must watch for anyone seeking to dispel any popularly held notions about Islam, for anyone seeking answers about the religion and what it's message is.
Starring Anthony Quinn as Hamza, the warrior uncle of Prophet Mohammad, the rest of the star cast is a bunch of unknown (to us) names. The cast really isn't that important as will be clear when you watch the movie; the movie focuses on the history and the origins of Islam & The Message.
Watch it if you are desirious of developing any know-how about the religion at all.

The idiotic ulemas of the sub-continent and a few other people have made a very poor remake of the film called Al-Risalah. A totally unnecessary butchering of the original. Avoid it & go for the original "The Message. You local pirated DVD wala should be able to get you a good copy. Make sure you ask for a totally unedited one! One never knows these days!

Khuda Kay Liye:
Much talked about, much less seen movie. Although, without a doubt a syllabus recommended, compulsory viewing movie! So important is it's message!
The brilliance of the film is in it's theme, the characters essayed rather well by the cast (that includes our Naseer in a small but very crucial cameo), and to some degree the plot. I know many fans of the movie will disagree, but this is my opinion. Don't get me wrong. It's a good movie. A very important modern work! But the style is somewhat documentary. Not that that shold be a negative for any movie, but I'm a little biased towards Hollywood's style of movie-making. It's brilliant in patches, but stops just short of being overall brilliant!

The songs are quite a rage I hear. I'm not humming them yet, so I will reserve comment on that bit. The cast is good, the theme is brilliant. The movie succeeds in getting it's very worthy message across.

A word of caution here: DO NOT PICK UP PIRATED COPIES OF THIS MOVIE. I have heard that certain conservative elements have edited out the secular maulana's (played by Naseer) very crucial very enlightening speech towards the end!
Go to Planet M, pick up the original CD's from there. BETTER STILL, pick up an original DVD if possible as the subtitles will make it easy to understand the otherwise difficult Urdu.

Weisz not Knighley

The Pune Times today carried a front page article on whether Keira Knightley is apt to essay Elize Doolittle in the remake of My Fair Lady. There were a load of views from everybody & nobody about how she is apt.
I personally have no doubt that she will be to pull of the early Eliza, but I have my doubts whether she will be able to match the grace that Audrey Hepburn exhibited as the revamped Ms. Doolittle. In my opinion, the actress who could come close to looking as graceful & as beautiful as Audrey Hepburn would be Rachel Weisz. That is one classical beauty.

The people polled are off as far other remakes too are concerned. Some suggest names like Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie or Drew Barrymore for Mary Poppins! Even Meg Ryan is considered, which I believe may not be too off. But I am biased here.
The only choice that seemed apt was Julia Roberts for Maria in The Sound of Music. As usual, it is Taran Adarsh who comes closest to being bang on.

Having said all of that, I think it is also important to consider that the makers are masters of showbiz & they know their jobs. Therefore, if they've picked Keira, they've probably done so with good reason.

Now that I've said both things, in the final analysis, does this post matter at all? I guess not! :-)

twerp!

This is one thing I have to get out of my system. You come across all kinds of animals in the blogosphere, but some of them get your goat so bad that despite being unworthy of even a whisper, happen to merit special mention. One such absolute twerp is shaan khan.

I don't know much about the bounder but by the looks of it he is a mulish, wet behind the ears, galling gadfly.

I'd rarely say anything so venomous about anyone, but this one like I said deserves special mention. He also contributes to a theiving site that reproduces my posts without permission, he freely deletes comments from the comments forum if the views don't agree with his. It is impossible to have an intelligent conversation with him (partly because of the absolute lack of intellect on his part) because he deletes any comment that proves his point of view wrong. Like a little schoolboy tearing out pages from a rival's homework!

One look at a few of his posts (please do forgive me for forwarding you there) shows how biased his writing & reviewing is. He has the temerity to be disappointed with Khuda ke Liye, he constantly writes lewd posts about Abhishek-Aishwarya (no well brought up boy would say all that), he considers Jodha-Akbar to be a bad movie, he has an irritating contant anti-Bachchan stance, he can't even spell stellar right! And worst of all, he considers the movie that murdered the sweet memory of Karz, OSO a better film than the ones we just mentioned!

So once all of you have gone through the links & read his puerile vomit once, please do stay away from his bullcrap!

Cinegod...!

With everyone from A to Z in Bollywood being given some epithet or the other, with ALL of them being referred to as superstars or megastars, where does that leave those who are head and shoulders above the rest?
If hrithik is a greek god, if srk is king khan, what does one call Mr. Bachchan? A superstar? Just another superstar? Where's the distinction?
To be fair, Rajnikanth did say that there is only one Shahenshah & that is Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, but the press isn't given to using too many epithets with Mr. Bachchan. This may have to do with his earlier relationship with the press, but boy do those guys hold a grudge!

So coming back to the point of this post: What does someone address a Supernova of Mr. Bachchan's stature as?

I cannot think of a better suited word than Cinegod!

Awaam ki raae...?

The men with the silvern touch...

Not Midas obviously, but close. This is a person whose antics I have resented in the past (with valid reasons at that point in time), but with more maturity & a calmer disposition, not anymore.

Shahrukh Khan. Much of what I said about him previously on this blog & in conversations, I still stand by; but one thing I cannot take away from the guy... practically everything he touches turns to silver. Despite limited acting, he still draws in the crowds; despite doing the same type of movies repeatedly, he still manages to set the cash registers ringing (largely). His touch seems to worked with the Calcutta team in the IPL circus, and the KBC debacle (and the DON damp-squib) notwithstanding, by the looks of it, he is set to romp home with his latest quiz show on TV.

Not that others don't outdo him in all these areas. Aamir, Saif, Hrithik etc. are better actors (and with probably better track records); Akshay reportedly is paid more than him these days. Shekhar Suman's rip off of Jay Leno did better than Khan's KBC... Yet Shahrukh makes all the news. And I am past blaming his PR machinery for that. They're only doing a good job of what they're hired to do!

On a separate note, it is sad that Shekhar Suman doesn't get the celebrity he deserves. The man is probably older than Khan, built up a great physique before Khan, recorded an album (in the process adding to his already long list of many many talents!), yet it was Shahrukh's apparent six-pack that made the news! Quite a shame actually.

Yet, it isn't all of that that I admire the man for. I have very little respect for SRK the actor, but I have immense respect for the man.
To the casual observer, he seems blessed, a modern day Midas (that's why I said silvern. I wouldn't wish that on anyone!); but anyone who has delved a little deeper will realise that he has had more than his share of misfortunes. His parents died young, his sister apparently still suffers from the impact of those early blows. He's had a serious spine problem. He has to face critics like me, worse probably, all the time. Yet the man carries on bravely!
It is this trait that I admire most about him. His ability to keep on moving.
He has got to a point where he doesn't let criticism bother him too much, and this is a trait very few men can develop. He is content to be who he is, and make himself successful with his limited means. Very admirable traits!

So, all the best Shahrukh. Keep on moving!

Similarly, Hrithik. Leads an apparently perfect life, looks like God sculpted him with His own hands; but look a little closer and you'll see. Hrithik isn't perfect. For all his God-made looks, he has two thumbs that give the impression of a claw. And the man has developed the guts to flaunt it on screen. His father was shot at by goons. He was unsure of the industry, unsure of whether he'd be able to make it, yet he hung in there, dug deep and gave it his best shot! And look what he came up with! Again & again!
No one is perfect, no one has it easy, everyone has to stand up & be brave, face his fears, & fight to come out a winner. Hrithik has done all of that and handles immense pressure. Till now. And my he continue to do so. All the best dude!

And who knows pressure better than Sachin Tendulkar? Who has people writing him off time & again? And who slams cricket ball after cricket ball deep down the throats of his critics to silence them again & again? Despite 20 years in the game having taken a toll on his body & mind, despite numerous surgeries, despite recent recurrent injury enforced hiatuses from the game, who comes up trumps again & again? Sachin Tendulkar! Absolutely Saluteworthy!

To these men of mettle...

I'm a fair man

I never thought I'd get round to doing this, so never say never again.
I saw Chak De a few days back. And I'm going to retract part of what I said earlier. And I don't do this grudgingly, I do this with a touch of respect & admiration.
SRK is not a bad actor as I may have sometimes over-aggressively claimed. He is an actor that decides to do good work in patches. Chak De has him in probably the 2nd best performance of his career. Mr. Bachchan's influence over filmdom's collective conciousness is evident even in SRK. In the scene when he's talking to the 2 warring forwards before the final, there are not just shades of Mr. Bachchan, but it almost seems like Mr. Bachchan has taken on a shorter, younger body! ;-)
To be fair there are some scenes that could've been done better. For example the coach pep-talking the team scenes were a little insipid in comparision to Hollywood sports movies. Remember the Titans? But for that one has to talk to the director. Can't blame SRK for everything. I'm actually a little tired of blaming him now. Yes he could've turned the scene around if he wanted to, but compared to what he has been doing recently, this will do just fine. Yes, this will do very well!
Kudos Shahrukh! If only we got to see more of this stuff.

temporarily available on the Mutiny

So the Mutiny is taking up most of my time, eh...? Worry not dear reader. Just giving back to the Mutiny. They're a bunch of wonderful people (most anyway) & they deserve our support.

Here's my latest original post for them. No crossposting! :-)

"Jodhaa-Akbar" review

I'd told Chacko once that I may not be able to find time to write a post solely for the Mutiny, but fate had willed otherwise.

So my first original work for Mutiny lies here.

Do let us know your thoughts.

As an aside, I have been struggling to find like minded people for quite some time in my new city. That didn't happen, but through the Internet, I chanced upon some wonderful folks at the Mutiny.
And also thanks to some commentors on that site, my eyes have also been opened to the abundance of anti-national elements in my India. These are the people that could potentially engineer India's downfall. They must be stopped. Join us in the fight to save India.

Bollywood's two sides

Aamir's supremacy:

I've always maintained that Aamir Khan is the best actor of his generation. And if weren't for the malleability of the media, he would've been universally acknowledged as such.

With TZP Aamir debuted as director. Coupled with the theme he chose, the child star he picked, there were quite a few firsts involved. He was doing things he had never done before. And came up the way he has always done before: Triumphant!

And without the help of media machinations!

Wherever I look, whatever I read, whichever channel I watch, all I hear is praise for TZP. Not one soul has said anything negative about the movie.

In comparison, the apparent success of that OSO-sorry-a-film, was forcefed down our throats! No one seemed to mention that in the UK, DDD Goal made more money than this out & out commercial venture. I picked this tidbit off a solitary news channel, God Bless their souls & may their tribe increase!

Aamir has a history of successes with first-time or little known directors. In comparison, SRK fails even with established directors!

How then is srk the King of Bollywood??? (Commercially speaking, I've heard that Akshay Kumar currently charges more than anyone else in Bollywood?)

Aamir is the true King. And long after their careers are over, & the media has no incentive to back the pretender, Aamir's body of work will establish him as the undisputed King.

.............

Sajid's stupidity:

In response to this, I have the following to say to Sajid Khan:

Sajid... If Hey Baby made more money than VVC's earlier films, it's partly because the times in which you have begun to make movies are more expensive times.
Also people today have higher disposable incomes.
Thirdly, the money a film makes isn't the greatest barometer of a film's worth. Every initial Govinda-David Dhawan film was a big grosser. Doesn't make them works of art.

Lastly, the difference between the likes of VVC & Govind Nihalani and a you is that, Tum log kiranewale ho, woh log artists hain. You're in it for the money, they're in it for good cinema. You're dancers on a kotha, they're part of the bolshoi ballet.

To each his own, like you eloquently began, touting democracy & freedom of speech.

Why I don't like Shahrukh Khan - the actor

I'd said I'd elaborate upon this quite some time back, but am only getting down to it now. To be fair this should've been done a long time back; one cannot allow the myth to be propagated unabated.

I don't have any problems with Shahrukh Khan the individual. I actually admire him for being well read, his generally civilized public demeanour, his sense of humour, for what he has achieved in life. I believe he is an extremely intelligent human being who would have succeeded in any sphere he would've ventured into. But I do have problems with the public image of the man. And I have serious concerns about the blatant media manipulation behind this public image.

While I will give Shahrukh his due (one must): he is very popular, he is an extremely energetic performer, he has a modicum of sparingly used talent as well; one thing I will not concede to is the myth that Shahrukh Khan is a good actor.

Shahrukh is at best a mediocre actor. Even if you do not compare him to previous greats like Dilip Kumar & Amitabh Bachchan, even if you compare him to his generation of actors like Aamir Khan, Akshay Khanna & now Akshay Kumar, he comes up short. And we're not even going down the Om Puri-Naseer-Anil Kapoor path! So that should really put an end to the argument that he is a "good" actor. He is like I said before an actor who has uptil now displayed only limited range. This may be in part because he has hitherto chosen to deliver only what the Indian movie-going masses required. There may be an actor inside him that he chooses to let out only occasionally. Let us examine that argument as well.

To be fair to him, he has recently attempted genuinely different roles (Swades and Chak De India), and he did put in a fairly decent performance in Swades. But again it is not the kind of performance that will come up while Om Puri's, Naseer's or Amitabh's performances are being discussed.

To every well educated, exposed mind it should be amply clear that while SRK is a huge star in crazy ol' Bollywood, calling him a good "actor" is belittling the other more serious practitioners of the craft. They may be too dignified to say anything, but it must hurt them when such irresponsible rubbish is printed.
Enough said about his acting abilities. Let us move on to more the sinister reasons for my dislike of SRK the "star".

Why is it that one doesn't read the opposite point of view in any form of media about SRK? Why hasn't even a single film journo written about SRK's limited talent? There are multiple magazines (and filmi channels now), and he has been around for over a decade. Are you trying to tell me that not even once in the last 10 years has a fair analysis of him as an actor has been attempted? There has to be a reason for this. And while I don't understand the workings of the Hindi film industry(!) or the media that thrives on it's fringes, one thing is clear enough: There is a filmmaker-filmstar-media nexus that is for the first time in Indian Cinema's history, manipulating the already semi-literate Indian moviegoer to further their cause!

When Anil Kapoor was attempting to fill the superstar shoes for a while, the media went all over town calling him manipulative. But you don't hear the media write anything negative about Shahrukh Khan. There's been talk about SRK buying awards, about doing favours to Filmfare & others to win them over & garner more awards, and I agree that it could be nonsense, but there's no mention of it in the media! Forget manipulative, the media has never even referred to his acting style as cinematic, forget a fair, unbiased analysis of the star! No wonder serious journalists have so much contempt for not just the Stardust/Filmfare types but also the Bombay Times kinds. It's quite a shame actually! In a greater sense, it is a reflection of the morality of the modern Indian. There are hardly any champions of truth left.

Anyway, Filmfare awards are hardly the barometer of acting talent. They're essentially popular awards that are voted for by the unqualified general public and very different from the National Awards that are judged by a jury/panel of experts. And the news is that SRK hasn't won any National Awards, while Ajay Devgan & Sunny Deol have been previous winners. Actors like Mamooty, Anil Kapoor, Mithunda & Amitabh Bachchan have all been winners. But no SRK.

So there you have it: I don't like SRK the star because of these 2 reasons:
. His limited acting ability and
. His being part of this blatant media manipulation.

There is another reason to not like him, but since it's a personal decision that he needs to take, I'll only touch upon it here.

SRK can use his stardom for great causes. He can influence public opinion against the BJP in Gujarat, lead an anti-spitting drive to clean up Indian roads, genuinely bring change about in India. But he hasn't done anything!

In contrast Shabana Azmi and even Aamir Khan recently have at least attempted to give back to society. And they're superior actors as well! When will the Indian public wake up???

And while I'm at it, here's the best review ever of SRK's latest OSO sorry film! Seriously! Best review ever! Looks like some of the movie-going public is waking up.

PS: SRK on being voted Sexiest Asian Man: "I get embarassed when people call me sexy."

Me: "You get embarassed??? I get embarrased when people call you sexy!!! What has the world come to!!!"

What's wrong with the PadmaShri?

While civilian awards are meant to honour citizens with noteworthy achievements, the flawed selection criteria leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the richly deserving kind. How come sportspersons & film-folk are accorded the same honour as literary giants, scholars & explorers???

Sania Mirza is barely twenty & with a fairly limited set of achievements has a PadmaShri to her name. Others such as Leander Paes, Azhar, Shabana Azmi & Sachin Tendulkar too have received Padma Shris. No doubt they've made contributions on the world stage, but these are all transient achievements (with the exception of Sachin Tendulkar). Their work will not live on for years to come and will in all probability have no great social impact.

Compare this to the lifelong work of people like Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Dr. Zahoor Qasim and Ali Jawad Zaidi, giants in their own fields, people who put India on the International map in fields like music, oceanography and literature as opposed to sports!
Others like Kaifi Azmi too received a PadmaShri. As did his daughter Shabana & son-in-law Javed Akhtar. Both of them will willingly acknowledge the superiority of Kaifi's brilliance over their own achievements. Yet the Govt. clubbed Kaifi's literary achievements with their (in comparision) dabbles in art?

I'm not belittling sport or cinema here; I'm just saying that most of civilized society will rate the Sistine Chapel over all of Navratilova's Wimbledon crowns! And over Citizen Kane or any other movie you please! And this comes from a die hard Tennis enthusiast! One who had to confirm the spelling of the aforesaid chapel on the net before hitting publish! Yet I realize that science & art has always held sway over sport for some reason.

So why are our awards lopsided? It's bad enough that we have so-called popular awards. Must our Govt. of India awards pander to popular taste too???

I don't want to make any random allegations, but a close look at the Padma Shri recipients list & Padma Bhushan recipients list does seem to point to the existence of lobbying. The more powerful a recommendation/lobbying, the better your chances of an award. As with everything else in the hands of the Indian Govt, I guess...

There is a story about of Ali Jawad Zaidi being shortchanged because of a recommendation/clerical error. He was supposed to have been awarded the Padma Bhushan but erroneously his name made it to the Padma Shri list. Genuine artists are never bothered by such things & Ali Jawad Zaidi let it go. But shouldn't someone in the department have been bothered enough to correct the error?

Why does everything in India seem so warped to me?

I dunno if ranting bloggers like me will help but I sure hope that leaders like Manmohan Singh, young blood like Rahul, Sachin & Jyoti and initiatives like Lead India bring more fairness & transparency into our system.

More ridiculing hindi movies...

Very funny forward that I received. Am reproducing here for your consumption...

This is what would happen if a Hindi movie director was to direct Spiderman....

Bastard Indian Copycats!!!

The one reason why I love Hollywood movies so much & have so much contempt for everything Bollywood is this: Creativity in Mainstream Indian Cinema is Dead. All these so-called Big Banners do is COPY! And they do it so unabashedly. They don't even feel shame at proclaiming themselves as being in the Creative Arts! This is largely the brand of Indian that walks the Earth today: A Lying, Cheating, Unembarrassed Scumbag!

If this post gets read, I'm sure it will ruffle a few feathers, but I dare anyone to prove me wrong. I've heard generalizations are inaccurate (and I agree), but when I say largely I know for a fact that I'm right. Here's a list of why I think so:

Almost every single superhit movie in the past couple of years is aped from the West. Here are a few examples:

The "respectable" Yashraj banner:
Darr: copied from Cape Fear
Hum Tum: copied from When Harry met Sally
Salaam Namaste: copied from 9 Months
Dhoom: copied from The Fast & the Furious
Bunty & Babli: copied from Bonnie & Clyde
The storylines where altered imperceptibly, changing the ends here & there to give it an original feel to them. This is the same Yash Chopra who made Waqt & Deewar...? I'm beginning to wonder. Maybe they were copies too!

David Dhawan:
Mujhse Shaadi Karogi: copy of not one but TWO movies!!! It's a mash of Meet the Parents & Anger Management! I'm pretty sure they're all copies of some movie or the other.

Taxi # 9211: copied from Changing Lanes; and I'm sure anything Mr. Rohan Sippy will produce going forward will be copied or "inspired" from Hollywood.

Sanjay Gupta & Abbas-Mustan (Baazgar=A Kiss before Dying) I'm not commenting on since they are INCAPABLE of original storylines or anything that even remotely resembles creativity. All their crap is aped shamelessly from someone or the other.

And it doesn't stop at film. It extends to TV as well! Jassi, Indian Idol & KBC are legtimate, liscenced copies of the original, but there are copies of English, British & even Spanish soaps competing with Ekta Kapoor's tearjerkers. Right from Zabaan Sambhalke then to Ek Ladki Anjaani Si now. Jet, Set, Go & Business Baazigar(!!!???), are inane copies of the Amazing Race & The Apprentice!!!

This blatant plagiarism reeks of a lack of self respect & a total lack of respect for the image of the Motherland! As long as they're dishing out whatever the audience wants, the makers & the actors have no qualms.

And the media is equally to blame. Instead of interviewing & glorifying the gutsy likes of Nagesh Kukunoor, Ashutosh Gowarikar & Govind Nihalani, they take interviews of idiots like Shahrukh Khan & Ekta Kapoor. Instead of calling the likes of Rakeysh O. Mehra & Aamir Khan the Kings of Bollywood, the bestow these epithets on those with far poorer wares like Shahrukh & Karan Johar! Instead of influencing public thought & opinion, they pander to popular taste.

Disgusting times we live in!

My Favourite Movies: 2

As I'd said in my earlier movie post, this list is bound to get extended.
I recently saw Rang De Basanti and it get's added to my list of favourites. I will classify it under my favourite patriotic movie. There're loads of Bhagat Singh biopics & Nana Patekar/Manoj Bajpai starrers, slogan peppered, with explosions & guns, and with semi-naked Indian girls gyrating to a western beat trying to stir up patriotic fervour in the last decade. But all of them put together couldn't do what a Rang De Basanti did in it's first week of release. When I say this I know that I'm not only speaking for myself; I couldn't sleep after the movie. I lay awake thinking about how futile my existence has been. About how I should stop cribbing about the state of my country & DO SOMETHING! Even if it takes doing what the protagonists in the movie do!
I have always maintained that Aamir Khan is probably the Best New Generation Star-Actor we've had in India for the last decade. His involvement with his films goes beyond acting. And all the film-makers who have signed him in recent times have finally delivered long-overdue winners: Gowarikar, Mathan, Farhan Akhtar and now Rakeysh O. Mehra! The entry of corporates into filmmaking has also made film-makers churn out movies that appeal to the educated class. It's a good sign & may it continue.
Here's to more great movies by Mr. Khan, Mr. Mehra & the likes of UTV.

My Favourite Movies

Here are my favourite movies in descending order. That my tastes are consistent will be apparent once you've read this post. Refer earlier books post.

All of Me:
Steve Martin's best! Any other actor and this comedy would've faded into oblivion within the first few days of it's realease. Instead Steve Martin's antics have held the movie going world in thrall for over 2 decades! I really have no words to describe what Steve Martin has done in this movie (and that is saying a LOT)! You have to see it to agree with me!

Dumb & Dumber:
The Funniest Movie I have EVER seen!!! Packed with gags & each of them funnier than the other. And the gags creep up on you without you noticing until the very last minute; and then you explode in uncontrollable, hysterical laughter! This is also the time when the meaning of term "Rolling in the Aisles Laughter" became apparent to me!

True Lies:
Classic Masala Movie! And I thought only Bollywood made them! James Cameron put together all the elements that draw audiences in and came up with a Masterpiece. Arnold Schwarzneggar- Guns, Explosions, Harriers! Tia Carrere- latino woman, plunging neckline, gown with a slit riding up to the waist! He got Jamie Lee Curtis to do a Striptease, even peppered that with humour! He got Arnold to mouth one liners and even do the Tango!!! He actually made an American James Bond movie that did exceedingly well. Only a James Cameron could've done that & gotten away with it! This man deserves to be the most powerful man in Hollywood!

The Devil's Advocate:
Again purely for Al Pacino's superb portrayal of... Nah! That would spoil your fun! Imagine Al Pacino's acting powers. Imagine a to-die-for role. Put the two together. Enjoy the ride that the man I consider one of the finest actors ever takes you on!

What Lies Beneath:
Robert Zemeckis directs what I found the most spine-chilling movie I had ever seen. Right from the time the movie starts, there is an undercurrent of suspense; that you are going to discover something awful. Zemeckis' use of some great cinematic technique elevates this ordinary script to dizzying heights! I remember the pin-drop silence in the theatre being punctuated by nervous chatter & some whooping... all to no avail. The brave men who were trying to whoop away their nervousness jumped out of their skin exactly when Mr. Zemeckis intended them to!
Not horror-genre, but very chilling!

Kill Bill (Vol. 1 & 2):
Quentin Tarantino returns to the Screen after Pulp Fiction and delivers another great movie. This guy explores different genres, and successfully blends them together and delivers a very stylishly crafted finished product. My personal favourite between them is Vol. 2. I am aware that many have not liked this movie, but then in my opinion their lack of taste renders them insignificant.

Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na:
Kundan Shah's second masterpeice. This man used to be one of India's best directors. And although I despise Shahrukh Khan (more on that in a separate post), this is one movie in which I think he was really good. And that is because he did not try to act in this one. He played himself and it came out really nice & real! The reason why most will like this movie so much is because they will identify with what the protagonist goes through in this movie, but let that not take away from the fact that this "feel good" movie leaves you with a sweet, lingering aftertaste.

As this Blog progresses, this list is likely to get extended. But for now, I'm going to tag Annie to do this on her wonderful Blog.