A few films I Love

I seem to have a problem watching movies when I’m in India. The largest number of movies I saw in recent times is when I was in Amsterdam, I used to invariably watch 2 movies in a month. I guess it was the process of watching a movie which was totally hassle free – no black tickets, no long lines, no noisy crowds… it was almost like watching the movie in the comforts of home…
Anyway, I am an avid Bollywood fan… i.e. I reserve the right to poke my nose into the private affairs of the stars, refer to superstars like SRK, AB as Sharukh, Amit etc as if they were my next door neighbours, look down on people from other parts of India as I shared the same Mumbai with the stars. I think it comes down to that, somehow everyone from Mumbai thinks that Bollywood is almost their fathers business…
Anyway, this year I saw a few really good movies and movies which makes one laugh, cry, want to fall in love, raises hope and faith and something that Bollywood movies rarely do – makes you think..
So here goes my list of my favourite Bollywood movies:

Jodha Akbar
My latest favourite..what a grandiose movie… worth the time that it took to make it and so well made that you actually end up forgiving Ash for all that she and her in laws made up at the time of her wedding… the film is actually the best period film maybe after Mughal-e-Azam. I’m not comparing the two.. can’t do so as I have not seen Mughal-e-Azam…But for once the war sequences have authenticity, the king and the queen really look drop dead gorgeous… its not a love story… there is a love story somewhere in the back ground… I saw an online pirated version of the movie… so maybe I didn’t see the full version… but I intend to see it on the big screen once I’m back in India. It’s the story of a king and how he ruled and conqured…I am not a historian and am not here to examine the veracity of the facts in the movie… as a movie it is great… if anyone takes offence to it… like certain Hindu communities are doing, stop being so over sensitive to everything and crying a victim evertime something happens… suck it up and get on with life… its just a movie.

Chak De India
I saw this movie in Ipswich in the living room of a VP Finance of a division I had gone to audit, along with a bunch of guys who were more intent on seeing the regional Rugby league matches. It was SRK all the way, but there were many things in the movie that made you sit up and take notice. For example the scene where the girls from NE were told welcome to India, which truly showcases the sentiments of the majority of India even today – NewsFlash – Assam, Mizoram and all those north eastern states that you didn’t know existed – you know what – they are a part of India… those “chinkys” – they are as much Indians as you and me… Above the usual and obvious theme of the movie i.e. one India above regionalism and how team spirit leads to victory.. there were more subtle story lines.. women in Indian sports, cricket over all other forms of sports, how women still think that if you want to get ahead in todays world – all she has to do is remove her shirt and more importantly, women today are ready to do even that – despite of where we boast education has brought us today…

Corporate, Page 3 and Traffic signal
This guy, Madhur Bhandarkar, has a knack for churning out movies which are so realistic that it scares us..We who go to the movies to see SRK in a sweater romancing a 20 year old bimbo and to see Sallu bhai drop his shirt at the drop of a hat… for us to see our daily lives flashed across screens for all to see is terrifying… someone actually knows what filth and grime the “common man” face everyday, trudge through everyday and moreover we pride ourselves in mastering the back stabbing techniques to survive in the corporate world. Who could have though that someone like Bips was actually capable of acting? The bitter realities behind our daily dose of entertainment and the eternal truth in todays world “there are no permanent friends and enemies….” The nuances of daily life in Mumbai…somehow all that we see everyday in our lives and things we have taken for granted, taken to be a part of our being…. It is amazing how a person can put it down on a canvas so honestly and kind of open your eyes to the only enlightening truth “Life ain’t fair, baby!”

Omkara
Except for the “bidi jala” song which even Javed Akhtar is ga-ga about, I loved the movie. The movie is fantastic not because of the story, the climax – it is amazing because of the performances. No-one expects Saif to actually act – he acts and its again a fresh breath of air.. it’s a movie with a story which has been told a million times before – but with a twist – in all the previous versions, there was a happy ending… never before has a Bollywood movie been made where melancholy and tragedy has been potrayed so intensely and that too without having the name Devdas anywhere in the background. The intrigue, the politics, the whiff of romance and the shroud of suspicion…all come together to give a potent dose of excellent worldclass cinema.

Cheeni Kum
What a remarkable change from the movie just spoken about.. so British, so modern, so funny, so ”in your face”…Even the satyagraha scene by Paresh – which my husband was a wee bit over the top… even that was rib tickling funny… and again – the crux of the movie was that it made you think… why do Indians as a people stop living for themselves after a certain age… It is written a certain someplace (I have no idea where) that you spend the 1st 20 years of your life doing one particular set of activities, the next 20 doing another set of activities … all I know is that at the end of it all you are supposed to take “Sanyas”… give up all worldly possessions and pleasures…Why??? Why do u have to retire from work and life? Anyway, the Indian way of life currently is such that you only end up working for the whole of your life.. so whats wrong in living it up when you finally can – when you have the time and the money and no practical responsibilities. Amitabh is a good actor and he reiterates that in Cheeni Kum, but the show belons to Tabu and only Tabu.. its really hard to believe that a 30 something year only woman is still getting good roles in our old Bollywood where women used to come with an expiry age of 18..

Jab we met
Watching this movie was like reading the novel “Love story” – it was so simple – it was so beautiful. I have always been a big fan of the 1st family of Indian cinema – contrary to common belief – it is not the Bachhan family – it is the Kapoor khandan – starting from Prithviraj Kapoor (1931) to Ranbir Kapoor (2007) – that’s 7 decades of filmdom. I have digressed, but there is a reason, my love for the Kapoor stopped with the guys – I was never fond of Karishma or Kareena. But I guess with genes as strong as those, talent just can’t be held back..it just oozes through Kareena’s potryal of Geet. The music is awesome and the fact that the whole world knew that the Shahid-Kareena romance was ending when the film was being shot, made the performance even more commendable… they kids are really good actors… they almost make you fall in love with the concept of Love…

Namastey London
Akshay Kumar and Katrina – not two people I have too much regard for in the acting world, but the movie was really good. I think I am a sucker for romantic comedies and honestly there are not too many of them – at least good ones – in Bollywood…This was a good one.. a feel good movie, the parts in Punjab are actually funny and not the usual slapstick that Bollywood is used to and even with Katrina in the movie – it is a clean movie. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

Ta ra rum pum
Don’t know if the movie was a box office success. I am not a supporter of the popular belief that Rani is an outstanding actress. But the thing about the movie that I actually liked is that it does say something about the life style of my generation and in its own Bollywoody way has tried to send across a sensible message – a rarity in Bollywood.. the music was good, it is shot for the majority part in New York and I love NY… never having been actually there… Don’t know why I actually liked the movie – maybe because I was stuck in a long flight to London with nothing else to do!

Tare zameen par
It’s dfifficult to like an Aamir Khan movie, especially when you dislike him with the intensity that I do. But the fact that I actually think the movie was one of the most thoughtful movies ever made since the early 1950’s in India actually means that the movie is really good. The young actor – he walks away with the glory. The theme was over hyped, as is everything in Bollywood, but the humane treatement of the character by the young fellow, puts the likes of AB, SRK and Aamir himself to shame… that’s a class actor. And maybe quite un noticed, but the actor who played the mother was really good and brought a lot of credibility to an almost clinical movie. Good movie – really long and I didn’t like the songs too much… but the movie is good – no denying that.

Rang de basanti
Awsome movie… Clearly one of the best movies made in India. Thought provoking, excellent directorial tactics and for once a good ending – not a happy one…one that really brings down the message – you may be the hero of the movie – but if you do the crime, you do the time!
Bride and prejudice
It was more Bollywood than Bollywood itself. Goa, Golden Temple, Punjabi weddings, Garba and the London Eye… all packed into one… deadly combination. I loved the movie, simply becase I have seen it something like 7-8 times and still don’t get fed up of it. A real entertainer.

Iqbal
I think this is the only movie about the game that drives the whole nation crazy that has actually succeeded. Naseer proves why is considered the best actor in India and one of the best in the world. A simple tale, told simply – a tale of courage, perseverance…a tale that tells you that if you dream and work hard enough, your dreams do come true… Never a good idea to see a Madhur Bhandarkar movie after watching something like this… kind of kills the mood… but the underdog succeeding is always a story worth telling and if well told it becomes a movie worth watching.

Parineeta
I watched this movie when I was in Coimbaitore and till the climax scene was not sure I was seeing a Bollywood movie. I had never seen such a restrained movie where everything was just perfect – the dialogues, the emotion, the romance, the genre of old time Calcutta, the performances by the protagonists.. everything was so measured – it was almost like watching a Hollywood masterpiece… till the last scene. The scene where Saif breaks down the wall between the two houses to meet his Parineeta – that was classic Bollywood and that was the scene I finally broke into a smile… the director just couldn’t help it – could he.. how could he ? He was from Bollywood? How could he not be melodramatic.. that’s a cardinal sin… but despite the last scene or maybe because of the last scene… it was a movie that should be counted among the best made movies in India.

Main hoon na
SRK, SRK and SRK…. The movie doesn’t require any more description as to why I love it… it has SRK…but the thing that struck me the most when I 1st saw the movie was that it took a female director to make the best action film made till then in Bollywood… It was slick, stylish and fluid.. almost as if Sunil Shetty and SRK were in a ballet of sorts.. graceful, powerful – beautiful… I can’t believe that I just described an action sequence as beautiful, but that’s what it was…And very rarely has a female character has packed in so much oomph so effortlessly.. I don’t care if feminists go on a rampage and say that women are made out to be sexual objects in Bollywood movies… I would be damned if someone with the body and attitude of Sush were not portrayed so…

Laqshya
A movie which didn’t do too well at the box office. A movie again too idealistic and one-man’s heroic effort – but the best part of the movie was the transformation of the main character from a boy to a man.. a change which is both physical and psychological… and despite the bad hair styles in the movie… the Barkha Dutt impersonating Priety Zinta was good…. A movie, which except for the histronics of AB, really measures upto its directors reputation of being a good film maker…. There’s one scene worth remembering in the movie where AB tells the jawans to give a soldier’s burial to the Pakistani men killed in fire and they refuse. He says that we are not like them… kind of puts into perspective the entire essence of what is today called “Indianness” – we are a world apart from the world and for us to try to emulate others blindly is retarted…that’s my opinion and I stand by it.

Swades
Inspiring….an action that most Indians living in the US of A would maybe want to take, they just simply lack the guts to take any action which is life altering…A restrained performance by SRK and the leading lady… no idea of her name or where she is now… but a good earthly feel to the movie.. lent especially by the old lady… SRK’s surrogate mother..a lot of issues put out for discussion in the open.. a lot of issues which force us Indians to think, evaluate our rationale for thinking the way we do…a kind of realistic movie… if you have the money and you have your heart in the right place, you can actually do it…make a difference…. The two scenes - where an Bisleri loyal SRK buys water from a kullad for 25 p from a child at a station and where the light from a bulb lightens the age wrinkled face of an old village woman – someone who has never seen electricity in life – where she breaks into a toothless grin of amazement “bijli”… tugs at your heart’s strings…you ain’t human if they don’t move you.

Kuch kuch hota hai, K3G & DDLJ
Flakey, feel good, life is beautiful movies which have opulent sets, beautiful locales, foot tapping music – these are movies which are loyal of the Bollywood genre by the book…. They are movies which actually make you forget your soddy, miserable life for 3 hours and gives you hope – false maybe – but hope none the less… and more importantly brings a smile to your face… these film makers deserve the money that they make – because they may be dealing in fanatasy and they may be conning honest folk like us into believeing that all is good about the world… but they do the impossible.. they do something that no one in the world has time for today… they bring a smile to the face of millions of strangers… they are like placebo… they make you strangely happy and even energize you for sometime…. Every once in a while, people deserve a boost like that….a shot in the arm to get you through the day!

Hyderabad blues
My very first “adult” movie…the propagator of the “jump and pump” theory.. a cynical look at NRI’s and their line of thnking and a lot of goofy fun… its about a bunch of guys with raging hormones… what else do you expect… but a 1st of its kind of movie that I saw in the Indian – a kind of American honesty.. enjoyed it… is not a Bollywood movie but was widely seen and was a cult movie while it lasted.

Arth
Should be a text book for all aspiring actors in the world… you can’t get two more talented actress in the same frame… Who outshone whom was a major question… a point of debate… music by Jagjit Singh was the first time I felt that even Ghazals are worth listening to and appreciating. A master piece.

Chupke chupke
Who does not like this movie… it must be one of the best comedies made in Indian cinema… Dharm paji really outshone himself in the movie and the dialogues had everyone in splits and the music had everyone trying to be a singer and who could forget that it is the most educational movie… teaching hindi, botany and English all at the same time. Ah – those lessons about corolla, the purity of the national language and the barstardness of English..and of course the poet in James a.k.a Keshto Mukerji – remember those eternal lines “Aaj bag me khilenga ek gulab, pilade, pilade, pilade saaki..ek gilaas julab!”…

Pakeezah
My favourite Hindi movie of all times. A legend of a movie – 14 years in making… I can’t even maintain my diet or exercise regiment or for that matter anything worthwhile for 14 days together and here is a movie which evoked so much passion in the makers that they carried it in their hearts for 14 long years…A path breaking film in terms of concept – “kothe se kabhi doli nahi uthi hai”…Meena Kumari’s best performance. The picturization of “Chalte Chalte” is a lesson in itself. It has the most romantic scene in all of the 7 decades of Bollywood…the scene where Meena kumari’s naked feet brushes against Raj Kumar’s knees…. No skin show, no lewd dialogues and it is still the most erotic scene picturised in Bollywood… that was the directors skill… “Aap ke paon dekhe, bahut haseen hai. Inhe zameen par mat utariyega maile ho jayenge” – the classic dialogue…everything about the movie was outstanding including its title “Pakeezah” – the pure one, for a prostitute…

Choti si baat
A rib tickling comedy about a mousy accountant, played by Amol Palekar, who later perfected the character, from Mumbai who takes love lessons from Ashok Kumar to own up his love for Vidya Sinha. An innocent love story which is really a lot of clean good fun and almost no melodrama… it is one of my favourite Amol Palekar. I do love all his movies with Utpal Dutt which I think are the pillar stones of comedies in Hindi cinema, but this movie is more close to my heart compared to all others.

Sahib bibi aur ghulam
The only Guru Dutt movie I have seen. All his other movies are on my wishlist. Between this movie and Pakeezah I don’t know which is a better performance of Meena Kumari.. but she being my favourite actress and someone who dominated the movie throughout, the credit for the movie needs to be given in a huge part to her. Her portrayal of the historic character “Choti Bahu” needs to be a studied as a lesson in world cinema. The perfection with which this role is played is amazing. If she were still alive or alive in the same genre as Shabana or Smita, I am sure we would have one more name to be added to the list.. I remember seeing the movie and being shocked at the revelations in the movie… makes me feel that we have become more prude as the times have progressed… the song “Piya ais jiya….” Is raw sensuality and it is not vulgar.. it is just the best artistic expression of sensuality… I guess this generation can learn a lot about expressionism from this movie.

Sujata
A issue movie which maybe was not Nutan’s best performance.. simply because she was such an immensely talented actress, that all her performances stand shoulder to shoulder with each other. But the issue that the movie brough out – that of untouchability and the message of equality was tremendously relevant for the time it was made in. The music was really great and Sunil Dutt was eye candy. Nutan’s effortless performance leaves you asking for more. It is so sophisticated …I really think if India and Indian movies were half as publicized then as they are now, we may have seen many Oscar winners due to movies like these. It may not have been as publicized a movie as Bandini.. but I like it better…


My movie wish list –

Movies that I really want to see
Pyaasa, Kagaz ke phool, Do bhiga zameen, Dus kahaniyan, Gandhi my father, Shootout at lokhandwala, The namesake, Khosla ka ghosla, Bheja fry, Being cyrus, Maqbool, Chandni bar….