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Post by emily on Dec 15, 2015 3:10:41 GMT
In honor of Rajji's birthday, watched the first 40 minutes or so of Sangam, cause the dude looks so good in Technicolor. Now I've got "Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega" stuck in my head.
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Miss Braganza!
Junior artiste
Posts: 60
Favorite actor: Rahul Bose, Irrfan, Ranveer Singh, Rajesh Khanna
Favorite actress: Konkona Sen Sharma, Vidya Balan, Sharmila Tagore
Upcoming release you're most excited about: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Dear Zindagi, Befikre
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Post by Miss Braganza! on Dec 15, 2015 13:08:20 GMT
This week I'm reliving my Bollywood roots and watching Devdas (the 2002 one). I think it's like the third B-wood film I watched and the first one I picked out by myself--because I knew both Aishwarya and SRK. It took me forever to watch it, because I could not deal with the overly-theatrical acting and the fact that everyone cries pretty constantly past the 1-hour mark. Eventually I got sucked into the story and finished it. It's different watching it again. I can see all sorts of foreshadowing that I missed when I didn't know what was going to happen. I guess I've gotten used to the acting style although there are still a few spots that seem more like a 1970s TV movie about alcoholism. Now that I've seen a few more SLB movies it seems like he's a bit obsessed with beautiful shots of women's hands.
I think I might follow this one up with either the Bangla Debdas or Dev D but I'm not sure how much Devdas I can withstand.
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Post by ShantiSal on Dec 17, 2015 7:05:12 GMT
This week I'm reliving my Bollywood roots and watching Devdas (the 2002 one). I think it's like the third B-wood film I watched and the first one I picked out by myself--because I knew both Aishwarya and SRK. It took me forever to watch it, because I could not deal with the overly-theatrical acting and the fact that everyone cries pretty constantly past the 1-hour mark. Eventually I got sucked into the story and finished it. It's different watching it again. I can see all sorts of foreshadowing that I missed when I didn't know what was going to happen. I guess I've gotten used to the acting style although there are still a few spots that seem more like a 1970s TV movie about alcoholism. Now that I've seen a few more SLB movies it seems like he's a bit obsessed with beautiful shots of women's hands. I think I might follow this one up with either the Bangla Debdas or Dev D but I'm not sure how much Devdas I can withstand. Dev D has a different ending.
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Post by ShantiSal on Dec 17, 2015 7:16:29 GMT
Recent viewing - Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak - being based on Romeo & Juliet you know it isn't going to end well but still a nice watch. And didn't Aamir look so young and sweet-faced The Lion of Punjab - a Punjabi movie. It was just OK - villagers going to the big smoke in the hope of getting some help from their local politician. Exposing of same politician as being corrupt. Righting wrongs - but I think in the wrong way. Duljit Thingo only gets away with it cos he has a cute smile (in my book, that is). Anywhere else he'd be arrested for GBH and assault... Another hot day and my MCF friend came to visit - we revisited Om Shanti Om. I haven't seen it for ages, it was one of the first BW movies I saw and on re-watching it I got the jokes in the movie titles that OK was nominated for at the award night - 'Main Phir Hoon Na' and 'Phir Bhi Dil Hai NRI'. Also does anyone know if actual footage of a younger Rishi Kapoor was used at the start of the movie or was a doppelganger used? Ditto in the Dhoom Taana song - some of the lead men in the sequences had a vintage vibe about them and I haven't decided if there were camera tricks or whether doppelgangers were used. I caught sight in the end credits of 'dupes' - meaning duplicates/lookalikes?
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Post by moviemavengal on Dec 18, 2015 6:16:23 GMT
I saw the Malayalam movie Premam earlier this week, a tour de force for Nivin Pauly who has romances at three different stages of his life. I've discovered that the Kerala Mundu (similar to a lungi) is very hot and sexy to me. The way he flicks it up to fold it to kilt length. Hubba hubba More on Premam later. Of interest to more of you, I found out that a theater near me would be showing Dilwale a day early! I went and waded through huge crowds of Star Wars fans dressed up in their Chewbacca pajamas to see it tonight! The theater showing Dilwale wasn't even a half full. I'm not sure people realized it would be showing today. And it was $20! I think SRK is taking a page from Baahubali and other Telugu movies that charge a premium. I will try to be spoiler free. I enjoyed it, but I was not blown away. Let's just say it will not go down as my favorite SRK/Kajol film ever. The action parts were very good, the SRK/Kajol story line had meat to it, and they gave it their all. But it's very much a Rohit Shetty film. There were lots of comedy bits to the movie that just weren't funny to me. Lots of Johnny Lever and a young friend of Varun's. I don't think the Desi audience I saw it with found those parts hilarious either. And I like Boman Irani, but he and the other comedic actors felt like they were trying too hard or something. For those of us who've seen a lot of Bollywood films, there's one comedy scene in a cafe where the TV keeps changing channels with lines from old films that is very amusing. Some parts of the SRK/Kajol storyline were very swoonworthy. Varun had great chemistry with SRK, but his female costar has no sparkle. She's no Kajol. And the very last line of the film made me very happy. I wonder if it's my expectations going in. I want the SRK/Kajol reunion to be directed by Aditya Chopra, not Rohit Shetty with flying cars every which way. It's like wanting Nora Ephron and getting Michael Bay.
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Post by moviemavengal on Dec 19, 2015 3:26:04 GMT
I caught Bajirao Mastani today. So, so gorgeous on the big screen. The costumes, sets and Jewelry are out of this world. The first half is the best, and all three actors are great. The last maybe 20 minutes or so I found to be a bit ponderous.
I was particularly impressed with Ranveer. Only in that one war celebration number does his usual kinetic personality come through. He is so intense and "chill" as Bansali asked him to be.
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Post by emily on Dec 19, 2015 5:23:02 GMT
Went and saw Dilwale tonight. It was pretty much what I expected it to be--Rohit Shetty film to the core! The absolute best part of the movie was obviously SRKajol. Varun did great as well, and it was nice to see some familiar faces like Johnny Lever and Vinod Khanna.
Also saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens last night. It. Was. AWESOME.
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Post by ShantiSal on Dec 22, 2015 6:48:16 GMT
Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman - one I had been meaning to see for ages.
An old favourite - Veer Zaara
Dilwale - see the Filmfare board.
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Miss Braganza!
Junior artiste
Posts: 60
Favorite actor: Rahul Bose, Irrfan, Ranveer Singh, Rajesh Khanna
Favorite actress: Konkona Sen Sharma, Vidya Balan, Sharmila Tagore
Upcoming release you're most excited about: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Dear Zindagi, Befikre
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Post by Miss Braganza! on Dec 22, 2015 13:24:23 GMT
I made it through about half of Rajdhani Express before deciding nothing was ever going to happen. It's supposed to be a thriller but it seemed like the central mystery was over whether one of the characters was really gay.
Then I saw--don't judge--Gunday in its entirety. I know, I read the reviews, but I can't wait to see Bajirao Mastani and it will probably never come to Japan, so I thought something else with Ranveer in it might do the trick. I went in with no expectations and did get some entertainment out of it. One line ("I'm in love with the bathroom lady!") made me laugh out loud. But, it's mostly bad. Ranveer has a fish-fight (literally, a fight using fish as weapons) in a market with somebody. Ranveer and Arjun have a fight where they first rip each other's shirts off. Priyanka has to say the line "They are innocents, with love in their hearts" with a straight face and honestly this gave me new respect for her acting skills. Mostly I was just mesmerized by Ranveer's buff, chiseled, waxed, glistening chest, which is never completely covered in the movie and probably had its own lighting crew and make-up man. I think this officially makes me a fan girl.
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Post by moviemavengal on Dec 24, 2015 16:40:53 GMT
Then I saw--don't judge-- Gunday in its entirety. I know, I read the reviews, but I can't wait to see Bajirao Mastani and it will probably never come to Japan, so I thought something else with Ranveer in it might do the trick. I went in with no expectations and did get some entertainment out of it. One line ("I'm in love with the bathroom lady!") made me laugh out loud. But, it's mostly bad. Ranveer has a fish-fight (literally, a fight using fish as weapons) in a market with somebody. Ranveer and Arjun have a fight where they first rip each other's shirts off. Priyanka has to say the line "They are innocents, with love in their hearts" with a straight face and honestly this gave me new respect for her acting skills. Mostly I was just mesmerized by Ranveer's buff, chiseled, waxed, glistening chest, which is never completely covered in the movie and probably had its own lighting crew and make-up man. I think this officially makes me a fan girl. I have a soft spot for Gunday. I love Ranveer and Arjun together! I went to see Dilwale again. As I suspected, I enjoyed it so much more the second time without my stratospheric expectations. Seeing the first half, and knowing where the twist is coming gives you such a different perspective on Kajol's acting in the flashbacks! I was going in the second time just to rewatch the SRK/Kajol bits, and just endured the other storylines. They are fluff and filler to what would have been a good stand alone movie. Not having to read every word of the subtitles freed me to really watch the performances of Kajol and SRK. Varun's crying was a little less annoying. But that Sharma kid is even less funny the second time. And Boman Irani!! WTF. He can be a scary villain if he wants to be, but lowering your voice for one or two lines does not erase you doing the nutty professor bit the rest of the movie. Argh. I normally love him, but here he just encapsulates the whole ridiculous drugs are bad for those youth who want to have fun subplot. His comedic tone and that Sharma kid I really hate. Only the TV scene got big laughs. The rest of their schtick -- not so much. Also, I am more sympathetic to Shriti. She's not given much to work with, and she's okay. I'm not dying to see her in anything else, but she's not annoying like Sharma. I heard a new term when talking with my son about how much the new Star Wars film is like the episodes 4, 5 and 6. Josh said that the new film "rhymes" with the old, which I guess comes from something George Lucas once said about the prequels. And that's what I think Varun and Shriti's scenes do with SRK and Kajol. They rhyme. What seems like filler the first time in so many scenes -- you then see the second time as foreshadowing, and mirroring or rhyming. They use the same lines. "We need to tell our families about us before they learn from someone else." Kajol says it, Shriti says the same thing. I really do think Varun and SRK had great chemistry. The slash fic fan videos practically make themselves! I'm half way through the Tamil Mrs. Doubtfire - Kamal Hassan in Avvai Shanmugi. The little kid in it is possibly THE best child actor I've seen in an Indian film. She's totally adorable with Kamal Hassan, who is really funny.
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bollylitsa
Dancing in the chorus
http://letterboxd.com/bollylitsa/
Posts: 30
Favorite actor: Anil Kapoor
Favorite actress: Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi, Nithya Menon
Upcoming release you're most excited about: Baahubali 2
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Post by bollylitsa on Dec 27, 2015 17:29:36 GMT
"I saw the Malayalam movie Premam earlier this week, a tour de force for Nivin Pauly who has romances at three different stages of his life. I've discovered that the Kerala Mundu (similar to a lungi) is very hot and sexy to me. The way he flicks it up to fold it to kilt length. Hubba hubba More on Premam later." This is on my watchlist
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bollylitsa
Dancing in the chorus
http://letterboxd.com/bollylitsa/
Posts: 30
Favorite actor: Anil Kapoor
Favorite actress: Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi, Nithya Menon
Upcoming release you're most excited about: Baahubali 2
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Post by bollylitsa on Dec 27, 2015 17:40:43 GMT
I saw quite a few movies this Christmas holidays and did a bit of catch up: Rudhramadevi: great story, god-awful graphics. Also, somehow not strong emotionaly although it had the potential. Singh is Bling - I actually enjoyed it, but I hated how they turned Amy Jackson a weak woman at the end while she was badass during the whole movie... Anegan - again, great story, but bad at the details, and confusing... Dhanush great as always, but he could drop those unrealistic fights... we get it that he is a star now Pattam Pole - My first dissapointment with Dulquer Salman
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Post by ShantiSal on Dec 28, 2015 1:25:51 GMT
A couple of 'started to watch but gave up' - Rudhramadevi -had wanted to see this at the movies but am quite glad I didn't shell out $20 to do so. What I saw of it , in my opinion, had a soap opera quality, a tone similar to the TV serial Maharana Pratap. Very frustrating because it could have been done so much better.
So then I tried 'Soldier' (1998) - with Bobby Deol & Preity Zinta. It was just OK until it got to the point where Bobby's character flies to Australia - we see shots of Sydney Opera house etc.. - suddenly he is on a Melbourne tram and when he gets off the tram he is in Sydney again. Gawd, if the director is going to use foreign locations at least be true to them! But worse than that, Johnny Lever was a clown-like conductor on the tram. Then he pops up as traffic control, then as a waiter - and there is confusion about him and his twin brother. And at that point I declared to myself 'this is crap' and gave up.
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Post by chrisanthi on Dec 28, 2015 22:44:39 GMT
Hello from cloudy Frankfurt Yes, I was supposed to be in Athens by now but luckily, or unluckily (depending on how you look at it), I got sick (nothing serious) and my friend absolutely forbade me from leaving (the doctor she took me to also advised that I stay for a few days) and so I got to see Bajirao Mastani on the big screen!!!!!! Words cannot explain how happy I am that I saw it on the big screen (if it were socially acceptable, I’d be dancing around the hotel lobby (I’m dancing on the inside)). I had thought that the subtitles were going to be in German so I wasn’t expecting to understand much but the subtitles were in English (more happy dancing). Ok on to the movie now. It goes without saying that it was beautiful - it is Bhansali after all; the clothes, the jewelry, the sets, the hall of mirrors, the shots, the colours all absolutely beautiful - at one point it felt like a bit too much but so beautiful. My problem was that I didn’t feel the love story - for a woman who has left behind her family, friends, home state, everything she knew for the man she loves and, on top of all that is constantly being insulted I found Deepika to be quite cold. I can get behind the argument that they’re warriors so they don’t show their feelings but show something in the eyes, in the voice something to hint at the emotion; at least the first time that Ranveer sees Deepika you can see interest and curiosity on his face (unfortunately after that he goes into stiff, cold mode around Deepika but is good otherwise). I thought Priyanka was pretty good. The mother, the son and the brother were excellent - the mother was especially good; I wanted to slap her. On the whole I enjoyed it but I didn’t feel it.
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Post by moviemavengal on Dec 28, 2015 23:56:09 GMT
Hello from cloudy Frankfurt Yes, I was supposed to be in Athens by now but luckily, or unluckily (depending on how you look at it), I got sick (nothing serious) and my friend absolutely forbade me from leaving (the doctor she took me to also advised that I stay for a few days) and so I got to see Bajirao Mastani on the big screen!!!!!! Words cannot explain how happy I am that I saw it on the big screen (if it were socially acceptable, I’d be dancing around the hotel lobby (I’m dancing on the inside)). I had thought that the subtitles were going to be in German so I wasn’t expecting to understand much but the subtitles were in English (more happy dancing). Ok on to the movie now. It goes without saying that it was beautiful - it is Bhansali after all; the clothes, the jewelry, the sets, the hall of mirrors, the shots, the colours all absolutely beautiful - at one point it felt like a bit too much but so beautiful. My problem was that I didn’t feel the love story - for a woman who has left behind her family, friends, home state, everything she knew for the man she loves and, on top of all that is constantly being insulted I found Deepika to be quite cold. I can get behind the argument that they’re warriors so they don’t show their feelings but show something in the eyes, in the voice something to hint at the emotion; at least the first time that Ranveer sees Deepika you can see interest and curiosity on his face (unfortunately after that he goes into stiff, cold mode around Deepika but is good otherwise). I thought Priyanka was pretty good. The mother, the son and the brother were excellent - the mother was especially good; I wanted to slap her. On the whole I enjoyed it but I didn’t feel it. I'm so happy for you!! It's really a movie for the big screen, and how wonderful that the subtitles were in English!!
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