tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:27:13 +0000seven days of 70sBollywood in fictionpodcasthouse favorite: Neetu SinghNeetu Singh-Alongavoid yaar - and other very bad endeavorsDeol Dhamakasuperwowmoments in filmi feminismhouse favorite: Abhishek BachchanMini Khan ExperienceRekha Monthcompletely fictitiousShashi Week 2009house favorite: Shashi KapoorPEIBBMmasala zindabad | R(ecommended) M(asala) A(llowance)SridevipaloozaBollywood resources (books articles websites etc)Bob's Your Unclehouse favorite: RekhaFilmi Secret Santasthoughts on moviesKapoor 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 pollI'm in the sunshine, arms outstretched, spinning around, driving off with Shashi Kapoor in a convertible - because I love Bollywood. It's the time to disco - for ours are crazy hearts!http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Beth)Blogger849125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-2109167787277240639Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:51:00 +00002012-01-14T10:54:05.351-06:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Shahrukh Khan How did Yash Chopra manage to make Darr creepy from the very first scene That's the hero talking to the heroine through the letter, though it doubles as exactly what the villain could be saying —and is probably thinking, since he, not the hero, is nearby. but so brain-bashingly stupid? A story that uses fear to contrast definitions and depictions of love would be so much more effectively ifhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/_DMFH92Rh0Q/darr.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)11http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/01/darr.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-355630438758415242Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:26:00 +00002012-01-09T09:24:56.179-06:00thoughts on moviesmasala zindabad | R(ecommended) M(asala) A(llowance) Reader beware: extremely picture-heavy post. Also a note on the title, before we get started: the subtitles translate the word "charas" as opium; a friend in Delhi told me it means heroin; and the Oxford Hindi-English dictionary says it's a kind of resin-based preparation of cannabis. I'll just say "drugs" and be done with it. Charas is fantastic. It's glorious, giddy, jam-packed but http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/ajxPqSZdZJQ/just-say-yes-charas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)7http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2012/01/just-say-yes-charas.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-1804145915786243762Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:04:00 +00002011-12-24T17:21:40.413-06:00thoughts on movies When members of the Mysterious Order of the Skeleton Suit decided to play Secret Santas, I knew I would be in for a treat. Last week I opened my mysterious package to find Mothra vs. Godzilla (trailer here)—a film I knew only by reputation, and what a reputation!—courtesy of Monster Island Resort. A perfect emissary, I think, given that it features two monsters (or four, depending on if you http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/72c5nqQmAUk/in-conversation-with-minikhan-mothra-vs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)4http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/12/in-conversation-with-minikhan-mothra-vs.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-3116072428467958115Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:58:00 +00002011-12-20T21:59:05.466-06:00 I can count on one hand the number of points that I agree with in this piece by Tony Mirchandani entitled "The 70s—Cheap Stunts, Loud Music, Stale Stars"—and one of those is that villains often wear "silver, blonde, or even purple wigs." Some of the observations just don't hold up under the privilege of hindsight; for example, we would probably all agree that Amitabh Bachchan has had http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/0_1-lehnWJI/unmitigated-trash-opinion-piece-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)4http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/12/unmitigated-trash-opinion-piece-on.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-3809277533772875964Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:14:00 +00002011-12-23T22:05:06.560-06:00thoughts on movies Haatim Tai, which begins with giant glittery letters forming the production house emblem, whooshing stormy winds, and a booming voiceover, hints at certain pleasures from the onset: flying giants, underwater pastel palaces, fire-breathing mouth-shaped lair portals, that kind of thing. With the caveat in place that Temple and I watched this without http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/y-K6PDmAwXE/haatim-tai.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)10http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/12/haatim-tai.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-7318105082912408861Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:10:00 +00002011-12-03T12:10:00.394-06:00 Answers! # 1 Shatrughan Sinha # 2 Amitabh Bachchan # 3 Kabir Bedi # 4 Ashok Kumar # 5 PRAN! # 6 Shammi Kapoor # 7 Shashi Kapoor # 8 Vinod Khanna # 9 Amrish Puri # 10 David Abraham # 11 Ranjeet # 12 Tom Alter # 13 Asrani # 14 Keshto Mukherjee # 15 Prem Chopra # 16 Raza Murad # 17 Parikshit Sahni # 18 Sunil Dutt # 19 Sudhir # 20 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/cQkTGm9EbsQ/moucho-prema-1970s-masala-mustache-quiz.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)5http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/12/moucho-prema-1970s-masala-mustache-quiz.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-2298514542815528901Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:53:00 +00002011-11-30T22:34:28.847-06:00 Just in the nick of time for Movember/Moucho Prema and inspired by the Bollywhat South Indian hero mustache game, here's a Hindi masala film mustache quiz! Each image below is a different Hindi film actor wearing a mustache from film(s) in the 1970s. If the image is a collage, it is of the same actor wearing different mustaches, sometimes in different films, sometimes not.  (Of course you http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/6XpERzsJ3cc/moucho-prema-1970s-masala-mustache-quiz.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)5http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/11/moucho-prema-1970s-masala-mustache-quiz.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-1549965923989894905Sat, 26 Nov 2011 20:23:00 +00002011-12-23T22:06:06.764-06:00Cha Cha Cha Bahut Accha Award Inspired by "Kabootari Bole Kabootar Se" from Suraj, I put heads together with Gunmaster  G9 and the Buddha Smiled to come up with more songs about or featuring pigeons. As someone who grew up in a small town without any sort of "flying rats"—and a lover of Sesame Street, in which of course Bert is very fond of pigeons—I have never harbored any ill-will towards these jolly-looking, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/F2p7FrxESys/cha-cha-cha-bahut-accha-award-for-birds.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)7http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/11/cha-cha-cha-bahut-accha-award-for-birds.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-2529285815552370100Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:56:00 +00002011-11-09T19:58:29.389-06:00 Given my recent investigation into skeleton suits in Hindi films, how did I never find this incredibly fantastic song that seems to be more full of skeleton suits than the rest of Hindi cinema put together? "Rajni Hai Mera Naam" from Aafat  I apologize for the breathless, rushed tone of this post but I had to share this RIGHT AWAY, and really what is there to say about it that is more http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/ywcDuPzgZtQ/holy-great-ghosts-and-all-that-is-good.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)0http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/11/holy-great-ghosts-and-all-that-is-good.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-3523533478945926410Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:13:00 +00002011-11-06T23:38:10.529-06:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Shashi Kapoor Phaansi features Shashi Kapoor circa 1978 at the height of his...I was going to say "powers" but really it's his lovely curls and big eyelashes. Even when costumed insanely. Head-to-toe peach is not acceptable on anyone, not even Shashi Kapoor. He plays a sort of character I haven't seen him do before: a sort of heroic lone gunman who growls, sweats, and shoots more than he grins andhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/QfYJAo6FVPE/phaansi.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)6http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/11/phaansi.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-1268022156810148934Mon, 31 Oct 2011 04:22:00 +00002011-11-01T10:05:28.841-05:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Shahrukh Khan Ayooooo! My thoughts on Ra.One are still swirling around, so I thought I'd talk it over with Minikhan. After all, who understands rubbery SRK better than he does?  Before we begin, a disclaimer about our conversation: I do not have an informed opinion about superheroes generally or superhero films more specifically. I'm not sure what Minikhan reads and watches while I'm at work, so for all Ihttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/F_ffIETFa_A/in-conversation-with-minikhan-raone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)3http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-conversation-with-minikhan-raone.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-2194521256358065044Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:09:00 +00002011-10-24T18:04:51.358-05:00thoughts on movieshouse favorite: Rekha First, an overdue announcement: the wonderful site Without Giving the Movie Away (WOGMA) is holding a blogging contest in honor of its fifth birthday. The gist is that you should write something about your favorite film, however you wish to define the term. Click here for details. [This post contains a significant spoiler about the end of the film. I'll warn you again when it's imminent.] Forhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/SQbwASVXAcI/khiladiyon-ka-khiladi.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)8http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/10/khiladiyon-ka-khiladi.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-8072085481384782500Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:50:00 +00002011-10-21T20:53:03.572-05:00 You may have noticed a new link in the sidebar to a site called the Mysterious Order of the Skeleton Suit. If you're into poppy, sometimes monster-y, other times spy-y, always silly goodness, you will probably love reading (and listening to!) the works of my fellow MOSS agents (who include long-time friends Memsaab, Die Danger Die Die Kill, the Horror, and Teleport City). Our October http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/iByz1zLcwPk/mysterious-order-of-skeleton-suit.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)3http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/10/mysterious-order-of-skeleton-suit.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-6513107176422137834Sat, 15 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +00002011-10-15T07:33:44.889-05:00 21. A difficult song that you wish you could sing Anything that uses or depends on structures or techniques from classical Indian music is beyond me (all my decades of musical training and experience are western), so much so that I don't even know how to talk intelligently about what I hear—or, more to the point, what strikes me as difficult. Lately the song I love the richness and http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/q6VoXO2CWw8/30-day-bollywood-song-challenge-part-3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)5http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/10/30-day-bollywood-song-challenge-part-3.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-3670786491033366545Sun, 09 Oct 2011 03:32:00 +00002011-10-10T08:36:44.876-05:00 Somewhat distracted by all the delightful friends who were there, I managed to catch seven films at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival last weekend: a short, three documentaries, and three features. short The Eclipse of Taregna (2011, dir. Rakesh Chaudhary) So much happened both to the characters and to me in this tiny film that I hardly remember it's a short. There is full character http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/ddjt9X7Tvv0/mini-reviews-from-chicago-south-asian.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)5http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/10/mini-reviews-from-chicago-south-asian.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-1852777454705789272Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:22:00 +00002011-10-14T23:33:32.581-05:00 11. A song that can be potentially used as a chat-up line "Right Here Right Now" remix from Bluffmaster. "Yeah I'm a bad boy" / "But I'm a good girl." Nobody said it had to be a good pick-up line. I just have so much fun imagining Abhishek's hip-hop avatar sidling up to someone in a bar and saying that. Plus the woman gets a line too! 12. A song to express matters from the heart I'm absolutelyhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/H8Dwd3mpvoc/30-day-bollywood-song-challenge-part-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)9http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/09/30-day-bollywood-song-challenge-part-2.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-1572166507082947961Sun, 25 Sep 2011 23:02:00 +00002011-09-26T08:10:11.874-05:00thoughts on movies Subtitles? I don't need no stinkin' subtitles! Okay, so maybe I do, since the mere presence of Prakash Raj seeming to do very good needs had me puzzled and I had no idea what the Brahmi and M. S. Narayana threads were about. (For those of you who are new-ish to Telugu films, as I am, there are in fact some visual clues to those threads that in retrospect are obvious, and I can only blame my http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/AdeLZFtGCd4/mini-review-continuing-saga-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)13http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/09/mini-review-continuing-saga-of.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-6378287466283262010Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:40:00 +00002011-10-14T23:31:54.281-05:00 Entries 1 through 10 of the 30 Day Bollywood Song Challenge, brought to you via Bollystalgia and originating with the facebook group of the same name. Join the game on twitter with the hashtag #30daybollysongchallenge! Now that I'm caught up, I'll be putting my entries there, but I will also do summary posts like this with a lot more text. (Who me? Want more text? You don't say!) 1. A song http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/LCV6hIIC5GM/30-day-bollywood-song-challenge-part-1.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)5http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/09/30-day-bollywood-song-challenge-part-1.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-8719637504819338258Sun, 18 Sep 2011 21:37:00 +00002011-09-26T18:13:58.492-05:00thoughts on movies Before the mini-reviews begin:  any film history lovers might really like reading about the fantastic exhibit Bollywood Showcards at the Royal Ontario Museum (through October 2). I interviewed the curator in my most recent "Bollywood Journal" column for the Wall Street Journal India Real Time blog. Museums + Bollywood + history + Toronto = one of the best topics Beth could ever be lucky enoughhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/aW5BA4nCUtY/late-summer-mini-reviews.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)11http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/09/late-summer-mini-reviews.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-5363811266617465132Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:03:00 +00002011-09-11T17:03:42.993-05:00thoughts on moviesquid pro quo [Housekeeping note: Blogger has a new post editor that makes it very difficult to arrange images the way I usually do, so I think from here out posts are going to look a little different.] Even after watching Do Badan twice, I'm not sure why I don't like it...or even what's wrong with it. Asha Parekh is probably my favorite heroine of the era; Pran is orange-haired, selfish, and evilhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/c3EVKG6PgZ0/quid-pro-quo-adventures-in-1-dvds-part.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)10http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/09/quid-pro-quo-adventures-in-1-dvds-part.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-2835024828884155624Tue, 06 Sep 2011 05:14:00 +00002011-09-06T00:14:00.090-05:00 I am absolutely over the moon to announce that I am a new columnist for the India Real Time blog of The Wall Street Journal! My column, "Bollywood Journal," appears Tuesdays and covers...well, basically whatever filmi topic I want to write about in under 1,000 words that isn't gossip or movie reviews. Squeeeeeeeeee! The first one was published this morning and discusses a handful of foreign http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/HbWtXRc8jc0/new-column-bollywood-journal-on-wall.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)14http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-column-bollywood-journal-on-wall.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-7473165305047878520Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:49:00 +00002011-08-24T09:13:53.765-05:00thoughts on moviesThere are certain people who could ask me to jump off a cliff and I would probably do it. So when BLB favorite Temple of Cinema Chaat put out the call for posts in honor of Chiranjeevi's birthday, an activity far less objectionable—and probably far more glitter-encrusted—than jumping off a cliff, I enlisted right away. Then I realized I don't own any Chiranjeevi films. And don't even know muchhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/HE1-QT9Fqjk/megabirthday-2011-puli-bebbuli.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)5http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/08/megabirthday-2011-puli-bebbuli.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-5704286539149100028Sun, 14 Aug 2011 16:12:00 +00002011-08-14T15:19:55.298-05:00thoughts on moviesA basic but gorgeously dressed fairy tale of evil queen, savior child, and guardian, Anaganaga O Dheerudu has splashes of Drona (weird villain stopped by a guy with shaggy hair and a sword after passing through many trials), Magadheera (shaggy-haired sword-swinger is in name the protector but in execution the hero; grand CGI architecture; villains in scary headgear), Dharam Veer (costumes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/yFpnLQU0_1g/nag-panchami-film-fessssstival_14.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)13http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/08/nag-panchami-film-fessssstival_14.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-4804794698572854604Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:22:00 +00002011-08-11T19:39:18.528-05:00With all this snake-watching going on, how could I have almost forgotten a essssssential serpentine scene from my own cinematic history? Hey! I recognize that song! Mary Bennet/Maya Bakshi doing a cobra dance for all of her family, Mr. Darcy, the Bingleys, and Mr. Collins! Say what you will about Bride and Prejudice, it will always hold a very special place in my heart, partly for some clever http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/BnbVEH1LKO0/nag-panchami-film-fessssstival-blasssst.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)11http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/08/nag-panchami-film-fessssstival-blasssst.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-7205691514355934113Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:21:00 +00002011-08-09T11:03:16.307-05:00thoughts on moviesavoid yaar - and other very bad endeavorsDespite its promising title sequence imagery Fun fact: the only thing I could find online about this "dance" credit is that a choreographer with a very similar name was expelled by the Kannada Film Dancers' Association for crossing picket lines. Also fun: "This film is totally imagination and all the characters in the films are imagination." and the appearance of a Munchausen's Jeetendra (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kKej/~3/4Q9dQdsHHGY/nag-panchami-film-fessssstival.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Beth)3http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2011/08/nag-panchami-film-fessssstival.html