tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843Sun, 19 May 2013 07:08:26 +0000seven days of 70sBollywood in fictionpodcasthouse favorite: Neetu SinghNeetu Singh-Alongavoid yaar - and other very bad endeavorsDeol Dhamakasuperwowhouse favorite: Abhishek BachchanMini Khan ExperienceRekha Monthcompletely fictitiousSassy Gay FriendShashi Week 2009house favorite: Shashi KapoorPEIBBMSridevipaloozamasala zindabad | R(ecommended) M(asala) A(llowance)Bollywood resources (books articles websites etc)house favorite: Soumitra ChatterjeeBob's Your Unclehouse favorite: Rekhathoughts on moviesFilmi Secret SantasKapoor KhazanaKhanna-O-Ramaquid pro quohouse favorite: Rani Mukherjihouse favorite: Khanna khandan (Vinod; Akshaye; Rahul)research questionsindexhouse indulgence: Kareena KapoorShashi Week 2010Cha Cha Cha Bahut Accha Awardknitting in Bollywoodhouse favorite: Shahrukh Khanlunchtime pollWhat would Rekha do?http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)Blogger914125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-7776666353979833921Sun, 12 May 2013 23:24:00 +00002013-05-13T00:39:45.965-05:00thoughts on movies I'm just back from a strange cinema experience. Yesterday an acquaintance on twitter alerted me to the presence of Go Goa Gone at the multiplex that shows the occasional Indian film in a town about an hour's drive from here. To my knowledge, all the previous screenings of Indian movies have been organized by a very small handful of people who know how to work the local networks and get the word http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/yLPxypHgTE8/go-goa-gone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)4http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2013/05/go-goa-gone.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-8741552571737395835Sat, 04 May 2013 01:10:00 +00002013-05-03T20:11:52.314-05:00house favorite: Neetu Singhhouse favorite: Soumitra Chatterjeesuperwowhouse favorite: Shashi Kapoorhouse favorite: Rekhahouse favorite: Rani Mukherji Midway through the day I was overcome with emotion at the very thought of it all, and I tweeted an ill-formed (and incomplete) list of things I like about Indian cinema. I then collected and illustrated them all on Storify. Click here for the experience. At some point I will write something more than a few sentences about the centennial of Indian cinema, but there is just too much work this http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/rqsQcIzv6pw/happy-cinecentennial.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)3http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2013/05/happy-cinecentennial.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-8909104380244609273Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:13:00 +00002013-04-27T11:24:29.297-05:00house favorite: Shahrukh Khan 



I have been underwhelmed with everything associated with this movie except for the basic concept of the film itself, so let's discuss the similarly disappointing title song. The idea of the song is great—who doesn't like a big cavalcade of stars sort of number—but overall I find this bland. Even the way each person's "themesong" was sampled in is unimaginative. But on the other hand, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/xun4oUK2DO0/the-utterly-vanilla-bombay-talkies.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)4http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-utterly-vanilla-bombay-talkies.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-2496144065227159368Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:45:00 +00002013-04-10T09:45:45.253-05:00 Filmfare has just tweeted the cover of their "100 Years of Cinema" issue. from https://twitter.com/filmfare/status/321993066003169280 from https://twitter.com/filmfare/status/321993066003169280/photo/1 There are no women depicted or named on this "collector's edition," "your ultimate guide to the 100 iconic Hindi films." And no one under 45, for that matter. I don't know how much the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/C8j4v-7rOFs/oh-bravo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)4http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2013/04/oh-bravo.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-557704717461934412Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:55:00 +00002013-05-04T16:34:38.100-05:00Bollywood resources (books articles websites etc) This is a dangerous OCD sort of path, isn't it? I do not claim that any of these family trees I'm working on is "complete"; I'm generally making do with what I can find fairly easily and only adding what interests me, which is almost entirely movie-related.  The Irani sisters (Honey, Daisy, and Menaka), the Akhtars, the Azmis, and the Farah Khans. I already knew the basic sketch of these http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/uFqRo6VmxUg/more-family-trees.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)8http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2013/03/more-family-trees.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-3756980929545008099Sun, 17 Mar 2013 14:56:00 +00002013-03-17T16:55:05.548-05:00Bollywood resources (books articles websites etc) ...but in January I was manically packing and getting my full-time job into good shape so I could leave it for India, where I was for almost all of February, and now I'm back, but I'm still unpacking and doing laundry and catching up at work. In the meantime, I do tweet about the films I'm watching here and post silliness about 1950s–80s Bengali cinema at Bongalong (co-authored with Indie Quillhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/QjSQN3l62k4/still-here.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)3http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2013/03/still-here.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-4930534619203749722Mon, 14 Jan 2013 02:56:00 +00002013-01-30T12:50:40.650-06:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Soumitra Chatterjee Abhijan True confessions: I don't think I understand this film. With the exception of the abysmal Shakha Proshakha, Satyajit Ray's films have overwhelmed me (in good ways), but this one...no. Reading what other people have to say about it indicates that some find the casting of Soumitra as the Rajput taxi driver Narsingh—a cultural identification the dialogues emphasize over and over http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/u6FFuvd5jgk/mini-review-marathon-old-ish-bengali_13.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)10http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2013/01/mini-review-marathon-old-ish-bengali_13.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-6597295238915988494Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:04:00 +00002013-03-04T09:39:59.680-06:00thoughts on movies The internet indicates that there is an Uttam Kumar/Soumitra Chatterjee camp rivalry. Helen above, I find the fan camp thing so irritating and tiresome. But since I have six films to discuss and only energy to write about three, here is the Uttam half of my recent Bengali viewing (Soumitra's soon to follow—never fear, Sonpapdis!). Before getting underway with the films, I'd like to recommend ahttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/LtDxI3GZbgY/mini-review-marathon-old-ish-bengali.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)11http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2013/01/mini-review-marathon-old-ish-bengali.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-622936686071318996Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:08:00 +00002013-01-23T22:46:02.928-06:00thoughts on moviessuperwowhouse favorite: Rani Mukherji I meant to do this, and then I was on the Tripple Eggs podcast for the same purpose (in which I discuss some of these same ideas in longer form), and even contributed a smidge to Upodcast's year-end episode, so then it felt redundant. But now everyone seems to be writing things down, and I feel left out. So. Here you go. (Apologies to Get Filmy and everyone else who did the "long, specific, andhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/7sVaHo3mMSc/whatay-my-best-of-2012.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)11http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2013/01/whatay-my-best-of-2012.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-4587265425073593520Sun, 30 Dec 2012 01:09:00 +00002012-12-30T10:54:35.831-06:00thoughts on moviessuperwow Shanghai If  you asked after the first half hour of Shanghai whether I thought it lived up to the very high bar Dibarkar Banerjee has set for himself with his previous three films, I'd most likely have said no. But now that I've seen the entire film, I am as impressed with his body of work as ever. I say that even though Shanghai is not as much "Beth's typically preferred kind of movie" as his http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/qO75__BT--c/mini-review-marathon-new-ish-hindi.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)7http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/12/mini-review-marathon-new-ish-hindi.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-5738323302495184844Mon, 24 Dec 2012 01:19:00 +00002013-01-13T19:46:15.499-06:00thoughts on movieshouse indulgence: Kareena Kapoorsuperwowhouse favorite: Rani Mukherji It's one of those spells of spending more time seeing films than thinking and writing about them. To address the imbalance, there will be a series of short reviews on the last dozen or so things I've seen that didn't get written about elsewhere, grouped into the user-friendly, subjective, and highly unscientific  categories of new-ish Hindi films, prime vintage Hindi films (that's late 60s http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/p7Hs20U3o7k/mini-review-marathon-new-ish-hindi-films.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)7http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/12/mini-review-marathon-new-ish-hindi-films.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-2777756447917891678Sat, 22 Dec 2012 08:16:00 +00002012-12-22T10:48:03.826-06:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Khanna khandan (Vinod; Akshaye; Rahul) When I was a Brownie scout, we played a game called "Strut Miss Lizzie." People pair off and form two lines facing one another, with the pair at the top of the lines strutting—preening, hopping, grooving, moving in whatever ridiculous way she chooses—through the aisle made by the rest of the participants, and then when she finishes her partner imitates her. As each pair takes their turn, the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/mNiOGak49gY/dabangg-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)7http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/12/dabangg-2.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-7231752031931979728Sun, 09 Dec 2012 01:24:00 +00002012-12-08T19:27:30.722-06:00thoughts on moviesavoid yaar - and other very bad endeavorshouse indulgence: Kareena Kapoor What angers me most about Heroine, like Fashion before it, is that Madhur Bhandarkar expects us to buy into the idea of these almost manically ambitious women who will sacrifice all aspects of their well-being for success in their career yet they behave as though they know absolutely nothing about their chosen industries. If you pay any attention even to stereotypes about the Bombay film http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/6mXzQpO7fYU/what-angers-me-most-about-heroine-like_8.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)6http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/12/what-angers-me-most-about-heroine-like_8.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-889698460788941806Mon, 03 Dec 2012 02:26:00 +00002012-12-16T13:41:30.695-06:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Soumitra Chatterjee Fair warning: even if this movie is recommended for a wider audience than just Soumitra Chatterjee enthusiasts (aka sonpapdis*), this blog post might not be. Trolling the internet for Soumitra Chatterjee films, as fangirls are wont to do, Indie Quill found Khudito Pashan, adapted from Tagore's short story, and we leapt upon it immediately. We were in love with it from the get-go as a http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/tIJ86IxcyU0/khudito-pashan.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)5http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/12/khudito-pashan.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-8779918420490055897Sat, 01 Dec 2012 04:00:00 +00002012-11-30T22:00:01.275-06:00 If you missed it, the quiz is here. 1. Of course, it's the 1979 Gol Maal, source of what might be the most famous mustache in Hindi cinema. 2. Noorie. I hoped Farooq's pouty lower lip would be a big clue. 3. Chunaoti 4. Charas. Note Tom Alter in on the act at the bottom left. 5. Deshdrohi. The day after I posted this, the auteur behind this horrendous film, Kamal R. Khan (top http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/oFMPXWNGB4g/mustache-madness-quiz-2012-answers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)0http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/11/mustache-madness-quiz-2012-answers.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-1098320729491499651Thu, 29 Nov 2012 03:37:00 +00002012-11-28T22:36:09.822-06:00 In honor of Movember and the #MouchoPrema Indian Cinema Mustache Appreciation Week, I present you a special mustache-only filmi quiz! Can you identify each of the 5 films below based only on their mustaches? The collages do not depict all the mustaches in any of the films, and many of the mustaches are fake, either for the film in general or within the film as part of characters' disguises. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/ii7gCRnvpW0/mustache-madness-quiz-2012.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)5http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/11/mustache-madness-quiz-2012.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-9208392409147382228Sun, 25 Nov 2012 03:17:00 +00002012-11-25T13:46:21.180-06:00Sassy Gay Friend (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see the real Sassy Gay Friend on the Second City Network!) SPOILERS! Meet the bored and lonely titular heroine of Satyajit Ray's Charulata. Charulata husband's Bhupati is a newspaper editor with Big Issues on his mind and no time to pay attention to her. Her life is turned upside down when Bhupati's little brother Amal comes to visit. Amal http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/0AVwILUMUGU/sassy-ray-gay-friend-noses-through.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)0http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/11/sassy-ray-gay-friend-noses-through.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-2456598403818722041Thu, 22 Nov 2012 23:19:00 +00002012-11-24T17:54:06.413-06:00masala zindabad | R(ecommended) M(asala) A(llowance)avoid yaar - and other very bad endeavorshouse favorite: Soumitra Chatterjee Through masala-appropriate coincidence, I happened to watch what is maybe one of the last great gasps of 1970s style masala, Jagir, right on the heels of an unspeakably awful film from late in the career of Satyajit Ray. Shashi ki kasam—Soumitra ki kasam, even—I did not intend to couple a boring, depressing, shouty, badly acted, and irritating arty film with cracktastic Decline and Fall Masala, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/SvtzgYNtlkk/jagir-with-brief-introductory-note.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)3http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/11/jagir-with-brief-introductory-note.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-9131411423857474899Mon, 19 Nov 2012 02:20:00 +00002012-11-28T15:05:00.420-06:00thoughts on movies [I keep reading that title as Bhanu Goenda Johar Assistant, and as we all know, Karan Johar is the  assistant to no one.] In addition to comedy so often not translating very well due to various challenges to or impossibilities of culture-to-culture of communication, especially through the filter of inexpressive subtitles, typically I find Indian comedies unbearably juvenile, loud, and forced. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/loY6yHXmz7U/bhanu-goenda-jahar-assistant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)6http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/11/bhanu-goenda-jahar-assistant.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-5639668093527553186Mon, 12 Nov 2012 03:02:00 +00002012-12-08T19:28:51.002-06:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Soumitra Chatterjeesuperwow For a week now, I've been trying to come up with a way to link all three of the short films in Satyajit Ray's Teen Kanya (all adapted from short stories by Tagore). The thread I keep coming back to is "heaven help you if you're female: variations on a theme." I'm not going to propose that that sad idea is what either Tagore or Ray intended to be the feeling of their work, but I could not escapehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/EredwK_1Xkc/for-week-now-ive-been-trying-to-come-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)3http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/11/for-week-now-ive-been-trying-to-come-up.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-1889270419151172147Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:00:00 +00002012-11-06T12:37:09.177-06:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Neetu Singh Yesterday I made Danny of Movies by Bowes watch The Great Gambler with me, and then today, because I couldn't think of anything in particular to say about it other than "LOOKY!!!!"- and in my defense, how you can you not yell "LOOKY!!!!" about a film that contains things like Zeenat Aman in a giant silver hat and possibly proto-Missoni dress and Shetty in actual black blackface fighting Amitabhhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/WVpYh1h3xuc/the-great-gambler-my-first-ever-team.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)0http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-great-gambler-my-first-ever-team.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-7541941026996514181Thu, 01 Nov 2012 03:49:00 +00002012-11-01T11:23:51.851-05:00 It's a weird sensation to realize that Om Prakash makes more sense than anyone else in a film. It's also a weird sensation to realize that you're watching something very close to Abhinetri, which, in my opinion, is not a movie that needed to be re-imagined, certainly not just a few years later. Thankfully this one stars Jeetendra instead of Shashi as Amar, its insufferable hero, a http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/E-GD-AXdCZY/ek-hasina-do-diwane.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)1http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/10/ek-hasina-do-diwane.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-928582501904439033Sun, 28 Oct 2012 15:28:00 +00002012-11-16T15:54:03.449-06:00 A week ago I was asked to write a piece on Yash Chopra for Rediff, and it has just been posted! The title is a little misleading; while I do think he made some gorgeous films, thinking through his career to write this piece made me realize just how brilliant he is at the dark sides of the human experience: despair, longing, isolation, fear. I also realized that my problems with Yash Chopra http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/q_gOqvbqJFQ/remembering-yash-chopra.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)5http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/10/remembering-yash-chopra.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-7312312949460245942Wed, 17 Oct 2012 01:08:00 +00002012-12-08T19:28:51.004-06:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Soumitra Chatterjeesuperwow [Note: isn't that corporate logo in all the screen shots a drag? Do not buy the Reliance Home Video editions of Ray films.] Oh how I love the ferocity of Devi, its strength within storytelling that is clear and calm. Even after making my way through roughly half of Satyajit Ray's filmography (as director), I'm still amazed by Devi. The critique of religion in Mahapurush, the political http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/J_EMKkRXqJA/devi.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)8http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/10/devi.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-8044444491082396353Wed, 10 Oct 2012 03:12:00 +00002012-12-08T19:28:51.006-06:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Soumitra Chatterjeesuperwow brain: What a line. rest of self: Take me now, Soumitra. This is a darling little film I stumbled across while digging through youtube for Soumitra Chatterjee films with subtitles, and what a find it is: gentle, sad, and incredibly dear, with quiet but rich performances from Soumitra and Sharmila Tagore. I had no idea what to expect of it going in because I haven't been able to find a http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/y6Naw1kNX7E/barnali.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth Watkins)10http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/10/barnali.html