Random Friday
Bollywood movies for your Christmas escape – 2012 edition! Last year I had suggested Jodhaa Akbar. This year we have an exhibition about Akbar in Rome, and my mum gifted me with the catalog of the exhibition, saying some of those things look better in the catalog (might save me 10euro entrance fee, LOL) and that the catalog mentions also the Bollywood movies about Akbar (I’m seeing now they were also showing Bollywood movies, pity I missed them all because it was until Dec.9). So I jumped to the chapter about Bollywood first – out of curiosity, and found a list or Bollywood movies depicting the emperor, with more in-depths reviews of Mughal-E-Azam (anyone who has seen it, feel free to quip in) and Jodhaa Akbar (or I wouldn’t have mentioned it in this post, LOL!).
They say the movie is historically correct, as the director was helped by various Hindustani universities to rebuilt Akbar’s time and the only creative license is the fact that in the movie it looks like Akbar had only one wife – I took it as “Jodhaa was his first beloved wife but then he married more” (because I read the Wikipedia entry), but whatever! 
And I still recommend it, if you like historical movies and haven’t seen it – it’s an epic movie with no dance numbers if that’s what irks you Westerner watcher… But it has battles and conflict and it’s a great love story and it has tolerance between religions and… I don’t care if it’s three hours, you won’t even notice, I promise! 
Now, to this year’s list. Period pieces The Dirty Picture and Om Shanti Om that are set in old (and new) Bollywood. Both have great songs and, yes, dance numbers, because that’s what Bollywood is about! I’ll throw Luck By Chance in the lot as well – although it’s supposed to be contemporary Bollywood. So if you want to know more about it all, check any of those three. The Dirty Picture has actually a heroine – with a tummy by the end of the movie, so it’s not your usual anorexic beauty (thank you, ). Unfortunately the English subtitles are sometimes missing… see why I need that basic Hindi?
Sci-fi: both Ra.One and Love Story 2050 have things I like and things I hate. I love the songs for both. I don’t like the geeky protagonist in the first (glad he dies almost immediately – he is too stupid to live, LOL! And robotic G-one is better than him, haha) and I HATE the pink, talking teddy bear in the second. Stories are both fine.
Comedies: Dil To Pagal Hai (great music, and great dance numbers by
Sequels I look forward to in 2013 (because I loved the previous one(s) for various reasons):
Dhoom 3 (can’t wait to see Jai Dixit and Ali back in action! And it was shot in Chicago!)
Krrish 2 or 3 (technically 2, but the first one wasn’t called Krrish, so they call it 3 and it’s a trilogy. First one forgettable, but I actually love Krrish, and sure hope Wonder Boy Krishna gets smarter in the sequel, that supposedly explores his darker side – he was too much of an innocent in the first movie, and I think it picked up when he became Krrish, LOL. Aaaand… he’s clean-shaven! No more stubble, yeah!)
Dostana 2 (because the first one was so hilarious and I wonder what else they can do with that couple!)
And after watching Intouchables on DVD (which includes a short documentary on real-life Philippe), I decided to put on the list also Guzaarish after watching the trailer. No, I don’t want to count how many Bollywood DVDs are now on the list, LOL!
Enjoy your movies! I’ll close this with my favorite Agneepath song (not the most obvious, but maybe the best for the upcoming Holiday season?).
One last thing – back in 2007 I ordered a U Star Novel with me and my Muse… I’ve seen they expanded (and have US and AUS sites now) to include paranormal, and even classics, so if you want to gift someone with a classic revisited, that’s the site to go to! Have fun trying the excerpts… and remember it’s romance/erotica – unless you choose a classic revisited, that is! I might try the m/m title some time… I loved the personalized story I bought back in 2007! Have fun and happy Holidays!
